Postgame Quotes: Spurs vs. Lakers 5/25/08

On his thoughts on Kobe’s consecutive three-pointers in the fourth quarter - “I thought he was on fire but we had a big lead so we weren’t really worried and we knew at some point he was going to miss one. I didn’t think they would come back by just shooting three’s because we were scoring on the other end as well.”

On being able to get to the rim tonight - “A little bit. I tried to pick my spots tonight but Manu got us going, he played great and got us going off the bench.”

On the Lakers adjustments in the second half - “To be honest with you, I don’t really worry about them. I just focus on us, how we have to play and what we have to do to try and beat them. Tonight we just played with a lot of energy, played pretty good defense and hopefully we can do the same thing on Tuesday. They are going to come out with a lot more energy in Game 4 and we are going to have to be able to match that.”

On how the team feels physically - “I think we’re feeling pretty good. It obviously feels good to be back home, we were on the road for a long time with all the plane problems and now we’re back home and it feels good.”

On how being at home energizes the team - “I have no idea. The fans and the crowd give us that extra energy and it feels good to be back home.”

On expecting Manu to take blame after Games 1 and 2 - “Definitely. He didn’t play very well the first two games, that can happen to anybody and he came back and was very aggressive tonight and it was good to see that. It shows a lot of heart, he took some crazy shots but they went in and that is the Manu we know, he was playing unbelievable tonight.”

On the ball movement - “I thought we did a pretty good job of moving the ball. When Brent came in he was making great passes and moving the ball. I thought we did a good job of running our offense.”

On Tim’s game - “He played well like always. We barely talk about him and then you look at his stat sheet and see he had a good game. It’s always like that with him."

On the difference in tonight’s performance - “I just think we had a better flow than the previous two games. Our offensive was flowing pretty good and we were making shots. A lot of times when you make shots it’s difficult for the other team to start their break and get open shots on the other end like they did in the first two games. Tonight our made shots slowed them down.”

On carrying over the good ball movement into Game 4 - “Ball movement is key for us. Once we kick it to one side it gets everyone involved. With bad ball movement, it makes it easy on the defense when they only have to focus on one side. Tonight we moved it around and got different guys involved.”

On what caused the Lakers troubles tonight - “I just think it was them not shooting the ball well and it didn’t have anything to do with us. It had to do a little with them trying to get familiar with our home floor but I don’t think it had much to do with us and more that they just missed shots.”

on why didn’t play as well as normal tonight - “I don’t know. I felt good. I was aggressive. My shots didn’t go. I kept trying to go [to the rim]. A couple of times I can remember in the game that I missed shots that I could have made, then you come back and you take it too personally and try to make a play. When that doesn’t work you hurt the momentum of the game and the momentum of the team.”

On Ginobili - “He’s going to do that. As I recall, he would make plays and then you look up and we’re still just 6 or 8 points down. It just comes down to us taking a punch and then coming back down and executing. We didn’t do that tonight.”

On struggles at the free-throw line - “It felt good. Some of them rattled in and out. Like they say…when it rains it pours, and tonight I guess it poured.”

On the difference between games in LA and tonight - “We let them control the tempo of the game. They played too comfortably for most of the game. We let their shooters get going, and they feel more comfortable and they feel better at their place. Unfortunately we couldn’t catch them after the second quarter, and we jut didn’t play good enough.”

On Duncan’s performance - “We disappointed. We’re upset about it. He didn’t shoot the ball well…7 for 18…which is okay…but the fact that he got 21 rebounds really bothered me. I’ll try to do a much better job on that in Game 4.”

On the Spurs’ overall performance - “They played well. They played their game. They played how they play…unselfish and they move the ball well. We didn’t do a good job moving the ball and sharing the ball the way we usually do. We missed shots that we usually make, and we didn’t finish the way we usually finish. It’s more our fault than their credit.”

On Pop letting the Spurs run a motion offense - “It wasn’t much of a surprise. I think we pretty much anticipated that they would try and do a few more things out of motion as opposed to straight pick-and-rolls or straight individual post-up for Duncan. We didn’t do the things we need to do to slow some of those things down…keeping bodies on guys and denying some of the swing passes. We have to improve a great deal before Tuesday night in order to slow some of that offensive rhythm down.”

On the Lakers’ offense - “Ball movement. We didn’t move the ball very well. We did have some decent opportunities on the inside, but those shots didn’t go in. We didn’t shoot the ball terribly, but we didn’t move well enough in order to get the assists up…fast break points…transition points…which is normally an advantage for us in terms of getting out and getting into the open court. You play halfcourt offense against a very good defensive team every possession and it’s going to be hard to score. We have to try and do a better job of getting stops on our end which will allow us to get out into the open court a little better.”