RAPTORS: Post Game Quotes

Post Game Quotes

Mitchell

SAM MITCHELL

On the game…
We can always move the ball better. I thought Andrea Bargnani and Chris Bosh were very aggressive, from the way we played last night. Chris got Dwight Howard in foul trouble. We’re just not shooting the ball well. I think we had some good looks and their perimeter game gave us some trouble. When you look at their player’s, 6’10” and 6’10”, Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis, calls for some match up problems. They hit some tough three’s. It’s tough with Dwight Howard because you can’t just leave him out there by himself because he’s hitting free throws, he’s smarter. We did our key work. Five games into the season. We know what we are capable of doing when we play better. We just have to get back to doing it.

What about Chris’s aggressiveness in the fourth quarter?
I think Chris (Bosh) and Andrea (Bargnani) were very active in the third and fourth. He (Chris) was aggressive going to the baseline. Andrea made some moves that we’ve been waiting for him to make and not just setting for jump shots and the more he does that the more he’s going to open up space. We have to figure out a way to get our two and three men going. We took 89 shots. Chris took 15 shots. We’ve got to make shots.

Ford

TJ FORD

After the team took the lead in the fourth quarter, Orlando went on an 8-0 run. Were they just open looks?
I think down the stretch the rotation was good, but they made some tough shots, so we have to give them credit.

As a team, are you getting the shots you want?
I feel everybody is working hard but the shots aren’t falling. I think guys are taking good shots, so as long as it’s a good shot you really can’t complain. I think everybody on this team is trying to make every shot they shoot and they haven’t been going in.

Thoughts on the game…
It was close but it’s so tough when you put yourself in hole and you have to spend so much energy just to get back into the game. When you finally get it close and they come back and make a shot, it’s kind of tough.

Bosh

CHRIS BOSH

On back-to-back losses…
We just have to do a better job of concentrating on getting the ball to the basket. We’re falling short on a lot of our jump-shots. I think everybody on the team is falling victim of that. We just have to do a better job of getting easy shots first and then working our way out, trying to get a few trips to the free throw line, a couple of lay-ups. I think the 18 or 19-foot jump shots.

How do you think your team did on keeping the ball moving?
I think the ball is moving. We know that it’s one of our strengths, we know we play that to our advantage. The ball is moving, we just have to be more aggressive. Like I said, going to the hoop, not settling for those jump shots because when the ball is moving like that sometimes you can have a lot of open lanes to the basket. After you set a couple of lay-ups, the defense will stat to pack it in.

Van Gundy

STAN VAN GUNDY

On a strong start tonight…
A very strong start. I thought we really got off running extremely well, defending extremely well. You play teams like Toronto who have highly skilled guys, you know they’re going to make a run. We got into some foul trouble in the second half and had some tough combinations on the floor. Bargnani (Andrea) hit the three and they go up one, and for two nights in a row for us on the road we responded off a big run by another team, so I was really happy with that. To hold a good offensive team like that to 38 percent, though some of it was us, a lot of it was they missed some darn good shots, especially early in the game. I thought our defense was pretty good, and to outrebound them by ten. That’s the first time we’ve outrebounded somebody, so that was huge. And to have two guys get double figure rebounds, and not either one of them be Dwight (Howard), I thought was very big. So some good steps forward for us tonight and a very good win for us on the road against a good team.

On three straight road wins….
Yeah, I think it’s good, so now you’ve got to win four. That’s the thing, you can’t get hung up in this league on what you’ve done and looking in the rearview mirror because there’s always somebody and somebody good, staring you in the face and there’s the next challenge. You win three in a row, you can turn around and lose three in a row quicker than anything.

Howard

DWIGHT HOWARD

Thoughts on the game…
We feel great, coming into tonight’s game playing against a great team in Toronto off of a back-to-back is tough. We just came out with a conscious effort to dominate the whole game.

You and Rashard (Lewis) make a great one-two punch…
We are trying, but it is the whole team. Everybody is playing with confidence. Keith Bogans is shooting well from three and also (Hedo) Turkoglu. Everybody is playing with great confidence, so we have to keep doing that in order for us to win.

Why do you play so well in Toronto?
I don’t know. Playing against Chris (Bosh) brings out the best in me. We have been talking about playing each other all summer long.

Lewis

RASHARD LEWIS

The team came out flying tonight…
We knew we had to come in and play defence. They are a great offensive team, who spread the floor, and shoot three’s well. We knew we had to play defence and our defensive transition made us run our offence.

You have now had three straight road games…
We are a little tired but it is all mental. It is part of the NBA season, so we have to be ready for back-to-back games. We are 3-0 right now, we are going into New York on Friday to play a tough New York team, but we will be ready.

You seem to be fitting in well with your new team…
Well that is a good thing because Dwight (Howard) demands so much attention down low in the post, we spread the floor well and knock down threes . When he is playing his man one-on-one, he is so dominant now it is hard to stop him.

You and Dwight (Howard) make a great one-two punch…
Yes, but even with (Hedo) Turkoglu, the three of us provide a lot of offence and tonight he (Turkoglu) did a great job of rebounding.