Postgame Quotes: Spurs vs. Jazz 5/22/07
Gregg Popovich
Tim Duncan
Tony Parker
Michael Finley
Robert Horry
Bruce Bowen
Jerry Sloan
Carlos Boozer
Deron Williams
Derek Fisher
Andrei Kirilenko
Matt Harpring
An interview with:
COACH GREGG POPOVICH
Q. Pop, do you think that was a wise investment, that $50,000 to get the energy back?
GREGG POPOVICH: Well, yes, I do. No way to quantify it, but yes, I do.
The best part is that it wasn't my money (smiling).
Q. Pop, can you talk about Tony's play in the first half there and finding the shooters.
GREGG POPOVICH: Tony did a great job. Their aggression defensively is fantastic. They really had, you know ‑‑ did a great job on our pick‑and‑rolls as far as keeping Tony out of the deal, but he was smart enough to move the basketball and get other people involved and that ball movement helped us out.
I don't think our movement was as good in the second half. I thought we tended to stay on the dribble a little bit too much and it made their defense more stifling, in a sense.
Q. Pop, you've stuck with Brent and given him an opportunity. How important was it for him to get going with the three ball tonight?
GREGG POPOVICH: It adds another player that can go out on the court and contribute. Somebody else doesn't have to be played extensive minutes that way. I thought he did a good job. He obviously made some shots but he worked hard on defense, trying to rebound a little bit, and that just gives us a longer bench and that's always a good thing in the playoffs.
Q. Pop, Utah was down 2‑0 to Houston. What do you expect going to Utah now?
GREGG POPOVICH: I expect more of the same and even better. It is a proud group. It is a young, athletic group as we've all stated many times. They execute really well.
They don't care if they're up by 10, down by 10 or any score you can pick. They are going to play it to the end and they are going to do it with class.
So we will have two real tough games in Utah, I know.
Q. How important was it ‑‑ as good as they are on the boards, how good is it to establish it early and stay consistent with it throughout the game?
GREGG POPOVICH: It is key for us because they are great at it. They are the best in the league in pursuing the basketball, and we did a pretty good job of that tonight, better than we usually do against them. And it is a key for us.
Q. Did the turnovers give you something to psychologically keep prodding your team?
GREGG POPOVICH: Our turnovers?
Q. Yeah. You are playing so well. Does that give you something to motivate them for the next game?
GREGG POPOVICH: I will use that. Thank you for that.
Q. Do you welcome the three days off now or do you wish you had a game to play Thursday?
GREGG POPOVICH: I have always felt that when there is a lay‑off, neither team likes it. If you win the game, somehow you feel if you have got a little momentum you want to go play. If you lose the game, you feel miserable for longer and you like to go play.
So whatever scenario you want to pick, I believe that team would rather go ahead and play than wait.
Q. Is there anything specific that you were doing to get that advantage back on the rebounding?
GREGG POPOVICH: No, nothing.
Q. You didn't challenge your guys?
GREGG POPOVICH: No, they're not very intimidated by me. I think I might have said "rebound more," something really magical like that probably. I don't know.
An interview with:
TIM DUNCAN
Q. Tim, give me a sense on what you guys were not able to do against Carlos tonight. He just continues to have bigger and bigger games. He was an integral part of the comeback when he finished with 33 and 15.
TIM DUNCAN: He played well, he really did. Shot the ball well. I still believe he took the shots that we wanted him to take. He shot the ball well from 15 to 17 feet, knocked some shots out there.
As you said, he was really good on the boards for them. And that's his role. That's what he is going to have to do to contend. We expect that from him and we will have to counter it and do a little better job with him next time.
Q. Tim, these first two games in the series, you guys have sensed going for the kill in the second quarter. Is that something you guys have thought about?
TIM DUNCAN: No. It is what it is. We are going to play the game and take the shots that are there and make the plays that are there and those are the times we have made our runs. It is not by design. It is not by anything else other than we are playing possession to possession, and unfortunately they have been able to get back in the games in the second half a little bit. But we really hadn't changed our game plan or done anything different from half to half.
Q. After losing the rebounding battle by 13, 15 in Game 1, how big was it for you to win it tonight the way you did?
TIM DUNCAN: We knew it was a huge feat coming in here. We couldn't give up another 20 offensive rebounds to those guys and give up that many second shots. They get ten more shots than us. All in all, their second‑chance points are under control a little bit. Still a little bit more than we want obviously, but if we win that battle in games throughout this season, we win the rebounding battle, we win the games. So that's big for us.
Q. Tim, can you talk about the role‑players like Oberto and Barry, two straight games for Oberto?
TIM DUNCAN: Oberto has been great. He understands the game. He understands where he has got to be and he continues to get open and every shot he takes is right at the rim, so you can get shots like that on a consistent basis.
Also, he has been great on the defensive end. He has been very physical with those guys and a very physical ball game. He's taking some shots from guys, giving some shots to guys. We need that kind of energy. We need that kind of physicality to continue.
Q. Tim, how are you building that wall to keep Boozer from the dunkings and all the stuff he likes to get at the rim?
TIM DUNCAN: I don't know that we are doing anything else other than recognizing it. I think we are understanding what he wants to do and where he wants to be and we are countering it by being there. We are not giving up those angles. We are not giving up ‑‑ trying not to give up the easy stuff. I think he worked hard ‑‑ really hard tonight and got some stuff, got some offensive rebounds, got some and‑ones. Their motion to throw it up to the corner and throw it right in there I think we have done a good job of containing that.
Q. Can you talk about Tony's ball distribution tonight? 14 assists.
TIM DUNCAN: Yeah, that was great for us. I think that was a big point coming into this game. Pop got on him about that and knowing they are packing the lane in and that our shooters are going to be open and I thought he did a great job of using enough dribbles to draw people and finding our shooters.
He got Brent off. He got Bruce off in that fourth quarter. All of those shots were because of his penetration. If their shots are going to be there, we love our shooters to shoot their shots. We've got some of the best shooters in the league. If we can get them wide‑open chances, we like our chances.
Q. Can you talk about going to Salt Lake and how difficult you expect it to be?
TIM DUNCAN: Very difficult. Obviously we've lost two games there this year. And they haven't lost a game in the playoffs there.
So we understand that they are going to use that crowd's energy. They will be a lot more confident playing in that building and we are going to have to bring a much better effort than we had here to beat those guys.
So we are going to go in there and try to get that first game and really put the pressure on them.
(What was the difference on the boards?)
“Our focus was better. I thought we really made a real effort by everybody to go to the boards, even the small guys. We wanted to help Timmy (Tim Duncan) and Fabio, (Fabricio Oberto) and everybody was focused on that. We knew it was a big key against them because they really count on those second chance points and stuff like that, so I thought we did a good job of controlling the boards tonight.”
(On Fabricio Oberto…)
“He’s been great. He’s doing a great job on Carlos Boozer and offense he’s always at the right place at the right moment. He’s just moving and setting picks. He does everything, all the little stuff that you don’t see on stat sheets. He’s playing great.”
(On looking for the open three as part of the offense…)
“That’s what they’re giving us. Every time I penetrate they are wide open so I guess they’re forcing us to make our best shot and tonight we made our shots.”
(On the dominating second quarter again tonight…)
“It was huge. Once again we got a big lead and so that helps to be up 17 at halftime. Second half we kind of just held on to that lead.”
(On the playoff career-high 14 assists…)
“I was just trying to be aggressive and just trying to find my teammates. Vvery time I penetrate they collapse in the paint. They forced us to make shots tonight and we made them. Bruce (Bowen), Brent (Barry), Michael Finley, Manu (Ginobili) and everybody made shots.”
(On the boards…)
“We as a team knew that the reason that they win a lot of their ball games is because of the job they do on the boards. We wanted to make an emphasis of that. We thought as if last game we didn’t do the job on the boards and we got kind of lucky. So tonight we didn’t wanna take that chance.”
(Was that vintage Michael Finley in the second half on the dunk?)
“Every once in a while I can do a little bit. “
(How much do you think the series has been decided from the perimeter?)
“I think it’s a total team effort. I don’t think it’s just perimeter oriented because one of there better players is an inside guy and one of our better players in an inside guy. I think both of the teams rely on those guys setting the table for everyone else. Although the guards have been having tremendous games I just think it’s an overall team effort thing.”
(Do you look forward to rest the next couple days or would you rather just play Game 3 as soon as possible?)
“Rest is good. It’s good for everybody, both physically and mentally. We’ll still be able to get in the gym the next couple of days to work on our games, but at the same time it’s always good to get away and come back rejuvenated.”
Robert Horry
“ We just came out aggressive and really took care of the boards. You have to take care of home court and how you do that against this team is to take care of the boards.”
“If I’m Utah I don’t get down. You have to think hey they took care of things on their home court, in their gym, where they shoot the ball well. Now let’s go do the same in ours, in our gym where we shoot well. If I’m Utah, that’s the attitude I take.”
(on Duncan)
“It’s incredible really. What he does night in and night out is incredible, especially in this day and age when defenses are designed sometimes to shut guys down. Our offense runs through him, he is the head of our snake and everyone knows that yet he still manages to produce. It’s a testament to his abilities. His place in history is sure to find him as one of the best power forwards to ever the game. But don’t tell him I said that.”
“Our three point shooting was key. They forced us to make shots and down the stretch, everyone, well everyone but Robert Horry, came up huge and hit big baskets when we need them.”
Bruce Bowen
(On the win tonight)
“There’s an old cliché that says you practice that shot all summer, but it’s true. You practice in game situations all summer and it pays dividends at this time of the year. All of us where hitting shots, making that extra pass to find the open look. Sometimes you get the ball and don’t have that open shot, you might not be open, so you make that extra bounce pass to find that guy who does. On this team it doesn’t matter who that guy is.”
“We understand that going there is going to be much tougher. In fact it is going to be tougher than some of the other places we’ve already gone to play. They have a long streak of success in that building in the playoffs and they are tough to play there. So now we just have to rest up, get our bodies right and try to carry this momentum into Utah.”
“I don’t think there is any chance that they will get discouraged. They have a great leader over there in Jerry Sloan and I don’t think he would ever let them feel that way. He understands that basketball is a game of runs and we’ve just had some great 2nd quarters. By the same token we haven’t had a great first quarter yet. We need to try and focus on that and not waiting till the second to get things going.”
“Being up 2-0 just looks good on paper. If you go on the road and lose there, it’s no longer a big deal. You have to give a consistent effort. We remember being up 2-0 versus Detroit and giving some pathetic efforts up there, and in Dallas too in the past. You have to continue to give great effort. If we go up there and do that I think that’s all Pop can really ask of us. Nine times out of ten, if you do that, good things happen.”
“I think Tim is just a steady man. I’m not really watching his stats the way you guys are, but a guy with his ability has to touch the ball a lot. It’s a pleasure to play alongside a guy like that because he opens up so many shots and creates so many opportunities for guys like me. It’s an honor to play with him and it shows in his 2 MVPs and all-NBA stats year in and year out. It’s truly incredible but he would never tell you that. That’s his humbleness and we need more of that in this world.”
An interview with:
COACH JERRY SLOAN
Q. Coach, same song, different verse. How disappointed are you in again another poor second quarter tonight?
JERRY SLOAN: Poor second quarter and then we got back in the ball game. I think it was a seven‑point ball game. Whenever it would happen, we would shoot ourselves in the foot. We would give them an easy basket, a layup or a wide‑open shot. They just took advantage of our inability to be able to see what's going on.
Q. Coach, is there one thing ‑‑ one single quality about them that's most impressive?
JERRY SLOAN: Their ability to execute what they want to do. They get the ball in Duncan's hands, or Parker or Ginobili or one of those guys, and they always make something happen. They are willing to pass the ball. They are able to shoot the ball and they do things very efficiently and that's ‑‑ you know, that's the mark of a very, very good team.
Q. Jerry, you have been in this hole before 2‑0 to Houston and came back then. How do you feel at this stage with this team?
JERRY SLOAN: I hope our players feel like they can come back. That's the most important thing, and gain a little confidence and hopefully play better and try to gain a little knowledge about how to play better and not do things that's going to hurt you every time.
We get in tough situations. We fail to bump on screens, give guys layups and got lost defensively. I don't know how many times simply because they did a great job of ‑‑ they back door cut us a couple times. We were totally lost. Our big people, their heads were spinning like a top.
Q. Jerry, what can you do to get back in the series? It seems like every time you come back, they have an answer for you.
JERRY SLOAN: Well, I think you just got to keep playing. We have not ‑‑ I don't think we put together a full game where we really laid it out there. I mean, second quarters kill us obviously. I think if you can try to overcome that, stay in the ball game and just continue to do what we have to do, and that is execute. It is not drop your head and take shots, which we have a tendency to do. Think, haven't touched the ball a little bit and I will fire one up there and it doesn't go in. Everybody thinks we have to shoot three‑point shots. And here we miss them and then they go to the other end of the floor. Those are things we have to learn how to do.
I'd rather the guy drive the ball to the basket and come up with something there rather than pulling up on some of those shots we took.
Q. They haven't been a great three‑point shooting team all year. They seem to be making a lot of them. Are those open shots?
JERRY SLOAN: They have done a great job getting themselves open. In my opinion, we have let people get on top of the basket. We haven't been able to keep people off the penetration. We had a difficult time keeping them in front of us. When that happens, you open yourself wide open. That's a natural reaction. Most of these guys have played basketball for 20 years, the natural reaction is I've got to help inside and as soon as you do, they throw it to the corners.
Q. Going home has got to give them a lift, though, you think?
JERRY SLOAN: We will see. We hope it does. We have a bunch of guys that want to do well and hopefully they will fight back and give us an opportunity to win.
An interview with:
CARLOS BOOZER
DERON WILLIAMS
Q. This game seemed to follow a familiar pattern, almost identical to what happened on Sunday. Did you feel familiar or similar to Sunday for you guys?
CARLOS BOOZER: Yeah, it was. The second quarter, they took a pretty decent lead, they missed some shots, didn't shoot as well as we should have. We were down at 17 at the half. We have to fix that problem if we are going to have a chance.
Q. In Game 1, they really dominated the paint tonight 13 for 26 from behind the yard. What does that do in terms of altering your game plan for Game 3?
DERON WILLIAMS: They are just a great team. They take what the defense gives you. They can hurt you in so many ways. Tonight it was from outside. I mean, they were even with us in points in the paint, it is not like they weren't getting those inside touches, those inside points.
They just happened to be hitting tonight. That's how they are. You've got to pick your poison with the team and they make you pay in so many ways. You just got to be ‑‑ we got to come up and be defensive minded. We got to make sure we get stops because it is important for us.
Q. Carlos, you were down 0‑2 in Houston and overcame that. What gives you confidence going back to Salt Lake?
CARLOS BOOZER: I think we can take the fact we played well, just not well enough on the road. We proved we can score against this team. We haven't proved we can stop them yet. That's a little discouraging. We know if we tighten up our defense a little bit more in Salt Lake, we should have a much better chance. We just need a couple more guys to step up, give us a little bit more help and hopefully be a much better game in Salt Lake on Saturday.
Q. How surprised are you guys that their movement has been so effective with the back‑cuts tonight? Draw, kick and dish, the dribble penetration, all the stuff they have been able to get?
DERON WILLIAMS: No surprise at all. We watched film on the guys. We played against them. We got to know that when Tim Duncan has the ball, Oberto is cutting to the basket. That's what he does. That's how he gets his points. We just have to be able to stop it.
We haven't been disciplined to stop them. They put up 100‑plus points. You can't beat a team ‑‑ like I said last game, you can't get down to a team 20 points in the first half and expect to come back against a team like this. They make you pay in so many ways.
Q. Deron, how much can you take from being down 0‑2 to Houston? Can you draw on that experience?
DERON WILLIAMS: We can take the fact that we came back and won that series. That's definitely a positive thing we can take back and we still have a chance. The series is not over. I think we're ‑‑ it is a lot worse to be down 2‑0 to the Spurs than it is to the Rockets because they are a better team, defensively, offensively.
They have championships and the guys know how to win. They are also a much better road team. They play well on the road.
It will be tough for us to get these two victories, but that's what we have to do to even things back up and hopefully come back here 2‑2.
Q. Deron, it seemed like every time you made a run they were able to hit an open three. They made 13 threes on the night. What enabled them to get so many open threes and how much did that hurt you guys?
DERON WILLIAMS: Every time we started making a run, they made a 3. They made a big basket. Barry, Finley, stepped up and hit shots, Tony Parker in the fourth quarter.
It definitely hurt us. We didn't do a good job of defending the three tonight and it cost us.
Q. Did Sloan get on you ‑‑ Sloan got on you pretty hard after the first half in Game 1. Did he say much at halftime for Game 2?
CARLOS BOOZER: What he said basically is we have to play harder and come out with more determination. It wasn't the same spiel as Game 1, dig deep and fight back. Don't give up.
We tried to come back I don't know how many times. We cut it down to maybe seven or eight. You guys know better than I do. But it just seemed like right when we needed a stop, they got a layup, they got a three and the lead jumped right back up. Or we had a turnover or what have you.
You know, we did a good job of scoring when we had to score and we have to make the game more like two or three or have the lead or when we are down make it one or two possessions as opposed, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven. You know what I mean? That's what we have to do.
Q. Deron, how frustrating is it when you play well six quarters and the other two quarters are basically all that separates you from winning and losing games?
DERON WILLIAMS: It is definitely frustrating, especially because we're running ourselves ‑‑ when we started the second quarter, this is where they hurt us and we come out and do the same thing. We come out and play even with them until about eight, seven minutes and it seems like they make a run.
A team like that can hurt you with runs because, like I said, they are so sound defensively. They are going to get stops and they make you pay, whether it is inside with Tim Duncan or tonight with Bruce Bowen with threes.
Derek Fisher
“It just seems as though in that second quarter we can’t sustain the intensity the way we start the game and the way we are playing in the second half. We have to figure that out, and we obviously need contributions from more of our guys which will help. Overall, collectively we aren’t playing well, and when you play against a team this good, you need to play well as a team. We’ve had really solid individual performances from some of our guys, but collectively it’s just not flowing. Individually the guys that are struggling, including myself, need to consciously make an effort to get it going. We have to figure some more things out as a team to be more effective as a group.”
On Bowen’s three’s
“Tony Parker was really getting into the paint…in particular in the first half really more than the second…almost at will. We have to stop penetration and help guys when they are beaten off the dribble. We don’t feel bad about doing that, but obviously we have to do it in a way that allows us to get back to the shooters and close the gap a little bit more. They shot the ball well though, so what we really have to try to figure out is how to stop the penetration a little bit higher up the floor…a little bit earlier…and not down in the paint where if you go to help you don’t have time to get back to the shooters. We have to try and slow the ball down at the point of attack and see if that will help us as far as staying a little bit closer to the shooters.”
On being hot against Golden State and cooling off against the Spurs
“I think it’s just part of the business. Things go well for you at time and you can’t even explain that sometimes. Things just kind of turn around and they’re not going so well for you there’s really no excuses or reasons why at times. It just kind of happens. Guys that have been around the league long enough and have confidence in themselves are able to work their way back and find a rhythm to help the team, but ultimately it’s about winning games. Guys on winning teams sometimes don’t shoot the ball well, but because their teams win it doesn’t really matter. On the losing team, individually you feel bad because you feel that if you made some more plays or some more shots you could have helped your team win. Definitely I want to play well and shoot a high percentage, but if I go 1 for 9 and we still win, then that’s what really matters.”
Andrei Kirilenko
“They tried to confuse us the whole game. For some reason there in the fourth quarter we didn’t get confused, but in that second quarter we were just frustrated, and I don’t know why.”
On Parker penetrating into the lane
“I don’t think it’s Parker…it’s everybody. They start making shots…they start executing their offense…and we struggle defensively…and they build up a 20-point lead in the second quarter. It’s the same type of game as the last game. We need to do something about it.”
What to look forward to in Game 3
“Definitely home court…the extra energy. We can beat this team. We know that. You can see at the end of the game we are playing them hard, but some little things are missing. Like lay-ups…we get close and then a couple shots they get easy lay-ups. We can’t allow them to score so easily. We need to work hard and make them earn their shots. We didn’t do that tonight.”Matt Harpring
“We put ourselves too far in a hole tonight. We made a good comeback but when you only give yourselves one quarter against San Antonio it’s kind of hard to win. You have to give the Spurs credit, they know how to find the open man and make points. During the second half we focus on shutting down lap-ups. All that did was open up the outside shot for San Antonio.”
“We are really happy to be going home. We play a lot better basketball on our home court, however, we need to win in San Antonio to keep playing basketball.”
“This team has a lot of confidence in themselves. I mean we are in every game; we just need to capitalize on missed stops and open shots. We need to take the games back home and forget about these two losses.”
NBA.COM is part of the Turner Sports and Entertainment Digital Network.