RAPTORS: Post-Game Quotes

Post-Game Quotes

Mitchell

SAM MITCHELL

On the defence down the stretch and in overtime…
I am proud of them. We played tough defence, we got some key stops. Every time we needed a stop, we got a stop. We were out manned, they had some size advantages on us. Our guys just sucked it up and guarded their guy. Down the stretch we stopped trapping, we just started playing their guys straight up. Everyone just took the challenge to guard their man.

On the play of Andrea Bargnani…
We were proud of Andrea (Bargnani). He had a tough game in Philadelphia. He came back, he was quiet yesterday and quiet this morning. He came back and his first two baskets were dunks, he was very aggressive going to the basket. Down the stretch I just felt like he was playing well so we left him in the game. He was giving us another option, shooting the ball, driving and posting up guys. He was active defensively, he was going after the ball. I am proud of the way he bounced back, he didn’t play well in the first game but he came back . We couldn’t have won the game without the way Andrea played, his scoring, his defence and some of the blocks he had down the stretch.

Parker

ANTHONY PARKER

Thoughts on the circus shot that went in…
I could have sworn I was hoping to get a foul on that. Thank God it went in because it would have looked real bad had it not.

Thoughts on the open looks due to the presence of Chris Bosh and Jermaine O’Neal…
We feel teams now have to make a decision because we have two guys that if you leave them alone on the block, they are going to score. We feel confident they are going to score, so they have to play them straight up and stay at home on the shooters or go and double, they have their choice.

On the win tonight...
It was really good for us to win tonight. This was one of the games that last year would have been tough to win. They play with such a big lineup and they isolate and do some things you might not see and cannot really practice for. I was proud of the way we battled back especially in the past five minutes in regulation to give ourselves a chance to win.

Bosh

CHRIS BOSH

Thoughts on the team’s play in the last five minutes of regulation and in overtime…
It was one of those games where playing against this team it’s all about getting stops. We have to clean up our defensive rebounding but we made them miss and we held them to one shot. We knew we were going to score, that is never a problem for us. We just have to make sure that we play good defense.

Is this the best you have seen Andrea Bargnani play in a while?
Yes, we were like “who is number seven?” He just played aggressive and I think that is good for him. He’s posting guys up and people are starting to switch pick-and-rolls with him now. He’s making people pay now.

Thoughts on the play of Anthony Parker…
We know that AP (Anthony Parker) can score. We’ve been telling AP to stay aggressive and put pressure on guys. He’s a pure shooter so you really can’t give him too many open looks. When he gets it going it does nothing but help us.

Nelson

DON NELSON

On tonight's game…
I guess it was a good game. I thought we competed for most of the game. It wasn’t meant to be at the end, I guess. We had our shots at the end, we just didn’t make them.

Turiaf

RONNY TURIAF

What is it about this teams that differentiates from last year’s?
I can’t speak about how it was last year because I wasn’t there, I can speak about this team. I know that it’s a bunch of guys that like to be tough, like to play defense for each other. Tonight we came up short but we put in a great effort just trying to scrap, trying to get steals, trying to get easy opportunities on the offensive end.

Why do you think the big lineup worked so well tonight?
We were all active, we could switch and make sure no one is at the top of the key, or at the bottom. I was just trying to cover for those guys, if someone was getting beat to the basket I was trying to block shots or bother shots. I think I did a good job doing that and I think overall everybody knew I had their back and we had each other’s back. So I think it was a good lineup. If coach asks me to play big once again I would love to, that’s what I do, I enjoy being out there on the basketball court, too bad I got six fouls.

Maggette

COREY MAGGETTE

Thoughts on the game…
In the beginning we weren’t making shots, but we hung in. Stephen Jackson made some shots late in the second quarter and (Andris) Biedrins kept us in the game as well as Al (Harrington). Through the night we did a lot of good things. We had an opportunity to win the game. (Chris) Bosh was a handful down the stretch.

Thoughts on going with a big lineup…
It was good because it gave us the opportunity to switch from one kind of pick-and-roll and have Stephen Jackson guard (Chris) Bosh a little bit. He is a hell of a player. We had the game but lots of errors towards the end just killed us.

Thoughts on the team…
We are still under-manned, we just have to get out there and play as hard as we can. Scrappy as possible and rebound, we need a better effort from the smaller guys rebounding. In order for us to win we have to make shots and we have got to play defence and use our defence to win ballgames.