RAPTORS: Post-Game Quotes

Post-Game Quotes

Mitchell

SAM MITCHELL

Thought On The Play Tonight…
We got to the free throw line tonight and we had a lot of guys play well. We also played well as a team tonight, we struggled in the first quarter but after that we got some easy baskets, the point guards controlled the game and Chris (Bosh), when you look at the results had a fine game and I thought we just played well after the first quarter. It was just another game we played well and we just have to continue to carry it over and just keep playing well and working on the things that we need to do to get better. It has been important that Jose (Calderon) starts the game well and that TJ (Ford) has been able to come in and get the minutes that will allow him to get back into the groove quicker than he normally would. We need both of those guys, they do a good job with the ball, they don’t turn it over and they make us better as a basketball team. We did a good job tonight of getting to the free throw line. We got there 28 times and we usually make them when we get there and those are the things you have to do.

Moon

JAMARIO MOON

Sam Mitchell has been on you a little bit defensively, what are you focusing in on now?
That’s the main thing I am focusing on, if I do not start doing the things that coach wants me to do than he is going to stay on me. He is just like my father away from home, he is going to make sure I do the right thing.

What’s the key to the team’s home success?
We just want to come out and play hard and try to get to the teams before they get to us. We have been doing a pretty good job of keeping them off the glass and we have been penetrating to the basket and making our free throws. We just have to continue to come out and jump on them early. Are you paying any attention to the standings in the east?
We are just coming out and playing basketball. We are really not paying to much attention to the standings right now, we just want to come out and get the job done.

Bosh

CHRIS BOSH

Thoughts on picking up the play in the second quarter…
Early in the game we were not making shots we normally make so we had to take it to them inside. Get a couple of lay-ups, get the crowd into it, get the fast break going and build some momentum for ourselves on defense.

Thoughts on winning with only three, three-point shots made…
That is a good challenge for us. On nights when we’re making ten or twelve threes, we are going to score a lot more points and beat teams even worse. It is good to know that if we are not shooting the ball well we can still win in a dominating fashion.

Thoughts on playing better at home…
I think guys have more confidence in their shots. We have the crowd behind us and it is about that time and we have to start protecting home court. Games are getting more crucial down the stretch and we have to do a better job at home.

Wittman

RANDY WITTMAN

Was it hard to carry the momentum from last night?
Well, we got off to a good start. Second and third quarter was the difference and it wasn’t so much as what we did offensively although in the second quarter we began holding the ball. Again, we make things so easy for us as we did last night in the first quarter where the ball just moved around to the open guy and the open guy scored. We have that tendency then to say I’m going to exhaust the dribble or hold the ball which makes it hard. I think we had 14 turnovers at halftime and 20 for the game and it was our doing more than anything else. They attacked us, Toronto played good. Bosh (Chris) came out and when he’s making his jump shot from the perimeter like that it makes him double hard to guard because he can put the ball on the floor, he can post-up or he can try to go smaller.

Thoughts on the play of Al Jefferson?
I thought offensively he was fine. The next step he has to take in his game is to become a better defender.Offensively he’s doing a lot of good things. He’s making a lot of good passes and things of that nature and now we have got to get that transferred to the other end.

Thoughts on the Raptors…
They can shoot the ball and that’s their strength, their ability to perimeter shoot and space the floor. That stuff makes them tough, they are a tough match-up. I think their two point guards run the show pretty good, they get the ball moving.

Jefferson

AL JEFFERSON

The team had a great start in the first quarter…
I thought that we stopped moving the ball on offense. I think we had like 11 assists in the first quarter and in the second quarter we had like four or five. I thought that was the difference.

Thoughts on Chris Bosh…
He is a very talented player. He is so quick, you just have to be on your toes when you go against him. I always take that match-up seriously because if you don’t he will embarrass you.

Was it a disappointing loss after last night’s win?
We have to be more consistent I have been saying this all year. We played a great team last night and we faced another great team tonight. Like coach said, that is what makes a great team, a great playoff team is being consistent and coming on a back-to-back playing two great teams and finishing it. I think it is something that we are going to pick up as we get more experience in this league. It is something we are going to have to do as we talk about being a playoff team.

Foye

RANDY FOYE

You got off to a good start...
In the first quarter we played together and we moved the ball really well, we stopped doing that and that’s when Toronto took advantage of the turnovers and steals, got out on the break, got the crowd into it, got going and took off from there.

Were you fatigued coming off of a back-to-back?
You can’t use fatigue as an excuse, we are professionals. You have to go out there even if you play three games in a row and you still have to go out there and give it all you got. The main thing tonight was turnovers I would say.

Is it disappointing considering the way you played last night?
It is definitely disappointing. That is the thing that I think upset coach the most, how we played last night, how we brought it, how we played so physical against Utah and tonight we let Toronto beat us up. It was real disappointing.