RAPTORS: Post-Game Quotes

Post-Game Quotes

Mitchell

SAM MITCHELL

On the play of Will Solomon…
I thought Will(Solomon) did a good job of pushing the basketball and getting us into our spots. Roko (Ukic) controlled the tempo for us and we had the chance to get some easy baskets. When we had to set up, we got the ball to people who we wanted to get the ball to.

On the progress of Jermaine O’Neal…
He’s going to get better in 10 game increments. Every 10 games, Jermaine is going to get better. He is getting back into the rhythm, he’s able to practice everyday and he is able to work on his body. When you miss two years, it is hard to come back and just walk right back into it. There is no workout that is going to simulate game things you try in practice, but there is no workout that is going to replicate a game. Every day he is going to get a little bit better.

On the play of Andrea (Bargnani)…
Early on we were able to get the ball to Andrea (Bargnani) and he was able to score for us which got us going. He made some plays for us driving the ball, he caused some matchup problems. He made some plays for us. I thought Jamario (Moon) coming in, played well coming off the bench. I just thought Andrea gave us a lift to start the game because he was scoring and really aggressive with the basketball.

O'Neal

JERMAINE O'NEAL

Thoughts on being the defensive anchor…
I’ve always enjoyed blocking shots. I’ve kind of tried to challenge myself every single year to see what I can do defensively. I know this team brought me in to really sure up some of the defensive struggles they have had over the last few years. A night like tonight, I want to try and be consistent on the defensive end and also rebound the basketball. I’m starting to get my legs and feeling comfortable rebounding. I’m not quite there offensively, but everything is starting to come into play like we thought it would.

Thoughts on the lineup change…
We are so big, obviously we know there are going to be matchup problems. Defensively, we can switch everything. It was pretty smooth today, we only had one real day to work on it. We had a really good practice and came out today and looked really good for the most part.

Bosh

CHRIS BOSH

Thoughts on team defense and team rebounding in today’s game?
We did give them one shot a lot of times and when they did miss, we ran and got easy buckets. We got a lot of offensive rebounds and those second chance points really helped us out. We did turn the ball over and the shot wasn’t falling but every day, you can play good defense. That will keep you in a lot games and keep the lead for you.

Thoughts on the depth of the team…
We’ve been saying it all season, the best thing about our team, we can play a lot of ways and a lot of people. All 15 guys can play.

Solomon

WILL SOLOMON

Do you think you were able to show some things today?
Well, you know we just go over these things every day in practice. I feel confident in my ability being out there, especially with the guys I’m playing with. They make me feel comfortable and the coaching staff makes me feel comfortable. Whatever you bring to practice, just bring to the game, that’s how I look at it.

Do you appreciate a double-double in today’s game?
Really, I appreciate the win. We came into the game aggressive and we worked hard. This was what we were looking for, a victory at home for the fans and our self confidence.

Spoelstra

ERIK SPOELSTRA

Thoughts on today’s game...
Our energy is totally elusive, we just didn’t bring any kind of disposition or competitive spirit on our defensive end. Then again, for some reason on the road we are confused about who we are and what our identity is. We think we can go out and win games offensively, and it was coming to us easily in the first half. We were sparring with them and scoring and they were scoring at an easy clip also and then it just turned. That is what happens, and we didn’t have any of our defensive effort or energy or real competitiveness that we’ve shown at home.

Thoughts on the team’s offense…
What happens with us, with this young team, is that we have to have a defensive disposition and that fuels everything for us right now. We could have been a little more efficient with finding the open man, moving the ball, get to our secondary options which we didn’t get to, we got a little too impatient. Once they started to score then we started to go to one option on each set. I think more in the first half we were moving the ball, we were scoring fine. Defensively, this is a totally different team than what we were showing the other night.

On the team’s energy…
I just think overall our entire team energy was just different. We were down and they absolutely pounded us on the glass, which I was very surprised about. I thought we were going to be able to rebound and get out and play our game. They also established their low-post game, it was their size versus our speed and they won out on that.

On status of Dwayne Wade…
He is getting looked at right now and we will see how he is doing tomorrow.

Wade

DWYANE WADE

Thoughts on the game...
It was just a matter of what team turned it up. It was a game for both of us to win going into the fourth quarter. We kept sparring with them and they finally turned it up a notch.

You tried to take the game over in the fourth?
We tried to make some things happen, but it happened too late once we got down. Unfortunately I wish I could have done more earlier.

What was specifically wrong on defence?
Not a lot of energy. We gave up a lot of offensive rebounds to them, giving up a lot of second chances. We had mental breakdowns at the wrong times. It is the little things that turn into the real big things especially with the shooters that they have. You can’t give them that many opportunities. Coming into this game they were the worst rebounding team in the league and they outrebounded us by 17. We can blame ourselves for this game.

Marion

SHAWN MARION

What happened in the fourth quarter?
They hit a couple of shots and we missed and I think that was pretty much it. We kept trading baskets for most of the quarter. We were in the game until the beginning of the fourth, they got an eight point lead, and we couldn’t connect and be efficient. For the majority of the game there were a lot of loose balls that we weren’t getting. We would tip them but we weren’t able to get the rebounds and they were able to get second chances and that kept them going. For the most part I think that we were in it for the whole game until the beginning of the fourth quarter. We need to regroup and learn from it.