NBA Post-Game Quotes
Minnesota vs. L.A. Lakers
December 10, 2005 @ Target Center

L.A. Lakers 82
MINNESOTA 95

Minnesota Coach Dwane Casey:

"I thought tonight was an excellent victory for our guys. We scrapped on the defensive end. I thought Los Angeles was playing as well as anybody in the league, moving the ball and executing the triangle. We did a good job of disrupting them and causing problems. Kobe is one guy who keeps coming. He's an unbelievable talent. Trenton did a heck of a job on him. Every shot was contested by Trenton. On the other end, Trenton was very aggressive."

"I'd like to say one thing about Eddie Griffin. This morning, Eddie Griffin could barely get of bed and barely made it to shootaround. We sent him to Dr. Burns and had IVs put in him. He had 12 boards tonight and four blocks, but he got out of his flu bed. Hopefully the other guys don't catch it, but he came in and performed. He did a great job on the boards after being administered IVs. It was a heroic effort on his part."

"(Garnett) played like the All-Star he is. He carried us down the stretch. The 1-2 punch of he and Wally was big for us. Kevin has such a wide range of shots. He's not like your typical 6-11, 7-foot guy. He can step out on the floor. He can post up. He can bring the ball up the floor when there's pressure on us. He did an excellent job of breaking pressure and getting the ball to the guards."

"I thought our defense was fantastic. I was really excited with our guys. They took away the things we wanted to take away. W only got beat on the pick-and-roll once. The rest of the time, our guys competed. I hope our fans appreciated our defensive effort tonight."

"We needed someone to give us some offense and to give Wally a blow with Troy being out. I thought we needed another shooter. Richie was cold and Rashad had done a good job in the first half. As he earns his time and his keep -- and he's doing that -- he will earn playing time. He made some silly fouls defensively, but he was aggressive and made some nice moves. He's earning his keep."

Minnesota Forward Eddie Griffin:

"I felt better going into the game. Once I started playing I felt fine, so it really didn't affect me... We just wanted to play tough defense. That's something we've been stressing all year, but really these last couple games we've been doing a good job as a team. We know Kobe is going to get his points, so we just have to slow everybody else down as much as possible."

"We wanted to just look at this game as another game. Not worry about continuing the winning streak, but this was a big game for us. We wanted to get out there and stay focused. We knew the Lakers were hot, too. Before the game, Coach told us that the Lakers were playing like a different team because Kobe was looking more to get his teammates involved and they weren't the same team we played 10 days ago."

Minnesota Guard Marko Jaric:

"After coming off the road trip, I was really concerned before the game how we were going to show up tonight. But everyone surprised me. We played very well, and defensively we executed very well."

"When AC came in, he played very well defensively, and we all did. It was team defense tonight... I think Trenton did a good job of stopping Kobe tonight, even though he had 35 points. He really forced him to take some difficult shots and Kobe had seven turnovers, and that's what it takes."

"I'm definitely feeling more confident now with the team. We understand each other better and confidence reigns -- and not only mine, but the whole team. I knew it would take some time, but we're on a roll right now... It's weird, but I do feel better when I play a lot more minutes. The more minutes I play, I feel more rested."

"That's what a superstar does. (Garnett) just took over the game. He hit every important shot, and he sent the Lakers home."

Minnesota Forward Kevin Garnett:

"Defensively we're playing at a really high level right now. It's fueling us winning games and giving us confidence, so hopefully we can stay consistent with that... Defense was the priority coming into training camp. It's the priority every time we step on the practice floor. The priority is defense. We're going to sometimes look bad -- not hitting all our shots -- but the effort, consistency and the focus on defense has to be there night in and night out. Right now, that's what's winning games for us."

"Our personnel has changed. We're a different team with a lot of different variables, so you have to anticipate (with) younger guys. Our pick-and-roll defense has changed because we've done different things to it. We've actually worked on it more than we've worked on a lot of different stuff, so we had to anticipate getting better at some point, and it has."

"To begin the third we were not lackadaisical, but they were making a nice little run and (Casey) just told us to push the ball. He thought we were playing a little tentative. He told us to be a lot more aggressive and push the ball at them. He called a couple of different sets in which we could be aggressive. I think before then we were just cashing shots, didn't really have a real rhythm. I think World got a couple buckets, got a little rhythm going there, and everybody sort of followed that rhythm and never looked back from then on."

"When you win, it fuels confidence. It helps with chemistry in the locker room. When one through 14 guys are confident in themselves, it sort of spreads like a virus. So winning early is very, very, very important. It not only fuels you, but the morale in the locker room is up. That's what you want going into the latter parts of the year."

Los Angeles Coach Phil Jackson:

"It wasn't a pretty game for us tonight. We didn't move the ball well or create the kind of assist ratio that we have been used to. You have got to give credit to your opponent. Minnesota did a nice job getting up and denying and making it difficult for us. We made a couple runs back at them -- got some opportunities to get back in the ballgame -- but we couldn't sustain the effort late in the ballgame when Szczerbiak got hot and got some things accomplished."

"It (four games in five nights) all figures in. It's all part of the package. I thought the players looked tired the first quarter. I played them a little bit too long in that first quarter. I thought Lamar and Kobe both looked a little bit tired. We played relatively well and had some games that they didn't have to stretch themselves to far... They beat us tonight on the boards and the hustle points, ant those are usually the indicators that tell you a little bit about how a team's feeling about themselves."

"Lamar relaxed, and then (Szczerbiak) hit a 'three' and then had a three point layup... We were playing really well at that time. They had a little spurt with those two three-point plays and it vaults them to 10 points instead of being a six- or eight-point game. There were little things that Wally did tonight that he got away with, and it irritated Lamar. He got an offensive foul and came down and exasperated the point, and consequently doubled our mistake."

"The last two games they outsurvived us… The single thing that is most difficult for us is Kevin Garnett. He's on the post (and) he is an effective playmaker. He hits guys for shots on a sequence of plays when he is double-teamed. When he is not double-teamed, he's an effective shotmaker at the end of the game."

"(Bryant) played within the bounds of his game. Obviously the stats will show you that he had seven turnovers. A couple of those were late, but he did get himself in situations that were difficult at times. He shot 50 percent or better from the floor. I thought he held up well and kept us in the game."

Los Angeles Guard Kobe Bryant:

"The important thing is that we kept battling and kept fighting. They hit big shots when they needed to make them. When they needed to make some shots, KG stepped up and made them. Wally stepped up and made some big shots right when they needed them, which kept us at arm's length... We're looking forward to going to Dallas and then to Memphis and finishing off this road trip the right way."

"I think the next time we play them is in March, so it will be interesting to see how much we develop. We've improved significantly just on this road trip. We've improved our execution. But tonight defensively, we weren't able to make them uncomfortable. They came off screens and got open looks, and we didn't do a good job squeezing up on them. In the second half we were able to do that, but then we didn't rebound the basketball and they got second opportunities."

Los Angeles Forward Lamar Odom:

"We could've played better tonight. They beat us tonight on execution. They seemed to have our number... We've got to be able to fight over picks, communicate. Guys were wide open, used a pump fake and would drive to the bucket. They'd kick it out and get a bucket. It all came down to execution. We've just got to execute. Especially on the road -- that's how you beat teams. We gave up a lot of offensive rebounds tonight, and that's how we got beat."

"They were attacking the hole and the calls just didn't go our way tonight. We're pretty much a driving team, but they were playing at home. It just goes like that sometimes... Wally is not a one-on-one player. He plays off his teammates. He's not like guys like Carmelo Anthony or Tracy McGrady that put it on the floor. He doesn't beat you that way. If he runs into the lane and has an open jumper, he hits it. He's a great shooter."