Quotes: Spurs vs. Clippers: 3/13/2010

On giving Tim and Manu rest - “On back-to-backs if I can give those guys rest its very important and tonight worked out well.”

On Matt Bonner and Roger Mason - “Matt was playing well before he got hurt and had a tough time coming back. He is just getting back into his rhythm and lately he’s felt pretty good and looked real good. Roger got some shots up tonight, got to make some shots as well. He has been in a bit of a slump and this will help him a lot.”

On George Hill's coaching in the fourth quarter - “Sometimes it’s good to let the players do some of the coaching. It makes them think a little bit and gives them confidence in what we are doing as a group. He didn’t really draw up a play – what he was showing Cedric Jackson was about the defense error that was made on a double team of the post and he was explaining that to the group. After that, he does get the credit. He asked ‘Pop, what play do we run’ and I said whatever you want. They ran whatever he wanted so he gets credit for that. The timeout was because of the defense.”

On his jump shot - “I am feeling very confident. I am going to shoot when I am open. Some nights I am going to be on fire like tonight and some nights I won’t like last night. The important thing is to keep shooting with confidence and that’s what I have to keep doing.”

When asked if he practiced his over the backboard shot - “…only when I play horse. This is like the one chance of my career to make the top ten plays – I have my fingers crossed.”

On the bench settling into new rotations - “It seems that way. It’s taken a long time and hopefully it’s a sign of things to come.”

On the upcoming schedule - “I think our goal coming into this past stretch of the schedule was to use it to gain some confidence coming into the harder part of the schedule coming up. I think we did that and we are going to go in and play hard, play with confidence and hopefully be successful.”

On the flowing of the offense - “That happens when we move the ball well. If everyone looking to penetrate and pitch and the guy that receives it attacks and pitches it again, it’s easier to make shots. If you consistent defensively it relieves a lot of pressure too. It was great overall performance.”

On the mindset for the upcoming schedule - “Just to be smart, rest as much as you can because there are many back-to-backs coming against tough teams, in tough cities, so this is when the regular season is going to get decided. We really want to climb a little bit more in the standings and try to reach six, five, four, so it’s very important for us to get some wins and play better.”

On team pride - “You either do or you don’t when it comes to pride. It’s like being a tough guy or not being a tough guy it’s what you are. We need to have more tough guys that put the team first and stats second. I think the guys on this team can do that it’s just up to them.”

On DeAndre Johnson - “He’s good energy. I made some mistakes but he tried. He had some honest mistakes that weren’t mental. I thought he was a competitor tonight.”

On Travis Outlaw - “Yes Travis does need to get better with defense but he’s not a good defender. I have no issues with Travis. I think he competes and get better as the game progresses. At this time he’s not going to be a good defender but he’s trying.”

Revisiting the Spurs team - “Other than Tony Parkers injury this team seems the same. Unfortunately this team has been prone to injuries all season but players like George Hill have been about to step it up. DeJuan Blair is playing some good basketball off the bench.”

On defense - “Our transition defense wasn’t good tonight and we really struggled. I think everyone on this team means well however ill be the first to tell you playing hard is contagious and if you do it all the time it will turn around for us.