Quotes: Spurs vs. Bucks: November 23, 2009

On Keith Bogans - “He’s out there because of his aggressiveness and defensive ability. The team reacts to that.”

On the improvement in rebounding - “Basketball, as I’ve said before, is a game of mistakes. People concentrate on the things they’re doing poorly. This is a good character group, so they focus on the things that are not going so well.”

On halftime adjustments - “We let up at the end of the first half and let them get into the game – and even let them take the lead going into the break. We just knew we had to come out with energy and intensity and if we played hard on defense and executed on offense, the points will take care of themselves.”

On the offense of the Spurs the last two games - “It’s hard to guard a team where everyone is contributing, when everyone is scoring and everyone is dangerous. We just have to keep rolling with that.”

On coming off the bench vs. starting - “It’s a lot different, they don’t really differ as far as execution or game plans but for sure mentally there is a big difference. I am quite comfortable coming off the bench and watch the game develop and settle and then come in and make some shots to help the team.”

On the next game against Golden State - “We are going to have to work hard in transition defense. You know how they love to run up and down the court and put a lot of points on the board.”

On the Spurs bench - "We are a deep team. It’s everyone’s responsibility to bring it, no matter when you are in the game. And if you are coming off the bench you have to bring it quicker. Definitely guys know that we get in we try to push the tempo."

On Matt Bonner - "Matt Bonner was ‘el fuego’ tonight; I was just trying to get him as many passes as possible because it looked like every shot was going in. He doesn’t move on his jump shot – he catches and shoots. It’s something that’s quicker and it’s hard to contest that. Anytime you can beat your man and get him an open shot we will try to do that."

On team defense - "Our defense is improving over time. Obviously you want to continue to improve and win games at the same time. When we can improve defensively and still win it’s good."

On Duncan taking over early in the 3rd quarter - “It was both halves…the start of the game and the start of the 3rd. We got back into it in the later stages of the second quarter. Our defense noticeably picked up. Our ball movement got going and we started knocking down some shots. Then we kind of came out in the 3rd quarter and went back to how we were in the beginning of the game. That’s a good club and you have to be on at all times. We were just too up and down. We had too many not-quality possessions on both sides of the floor.”

On their defense against Duncan - “Danny was doing a good job of getting in front of him. The problem was when they brought Bonner in. We went to playing behind Tim at that point because we were trying to stay with Bonner on the perimeter. We ended up not doing a good job of either one. Bonner got loose on us on the perimeter and Tim went down low and scored some as well. We had a hard time in general. We had a hard time keeping them out of the paint. We got destroyed on the boards. Balls were bouncing around and we’ve been getting those balls and tonight they got them and we didn’t.”

On Jennings’ performance tonight - “I don’t think he was forcing shots. He went to the rim a few times there in transition and came up empty. They played pretty good defense on him. He had some looks that he has been making and just missed tonight. I don’t think he forced too much tonight.”

On Matt Bonner - "We know how great a shooter Matt Bonner is. Matt is on of those players that when he gets the ball and he’s open you may as well cont the points. It’s a tough task when you have Tim Duncan in the post who is one of the post players in the league and then you have Matt shooting the way he was tonight it is very tough to guard. Matt did a great job making the shots tonight."

On the Spurs - "The Spurs are a good team and they know what they are doing. They came out tonight and took it to us and we need to take this game and learn from it."