Minnesota Phoenix Quotes

MINNESOTA TIMBERWOLVES 103
PHOENIX SUNS 101

Timberwolves Head Coach Dwayne Casey:
“I thought it was a clean block at the end. They clamped down so much on Kevin that they open up other players to hit keep shots. We had a lot of open shots on the perimeter and they did a good job collapsing in the paint. I told the team this morning “You are going to get all the looks you want tonight.” Marcus Banks is really developing and McCants is also developing too.

Timberwolves Forward Kevin Garnett (19 points, 12 rebounds):
(On last play)
“It was my rotation. I rotated and blocked the shot. It was a good block. As soon as it left his hand, I got it. I’m sitting here with a win. ”Everybody came out and contributed something. We came out with a lot more energy. Golden State was an embarrassment. Phoenix is a type of team that will just embarrass you. We knew that if we came in here and played around or didn’t play with the right mind set, we were going to get blown out. We came in, took some of their threes away. Steve Nash was Steve Nash, but we sort of controlled everybody else.”

Timberwolves Guard Marcus Blanks (19 points, 2 assists):
“It felt really good to win and it was really a team effort. I hope we can get a couple of wins in a row. The bench has to bring it every night. If the first team’s adrenaline isn’t rushing the second team needs to get in there and pick up the slack. They have to give the starters a breather and really get in there and get the rhythm going. Kevin Garnett is a great guy to play with and he really found all the openings in the defense and he got the rest of the team the ball. We grinded it out and we played defense and when you play defense you usually get rewarded.”

Suns Head Coach Mike D’Antoni:
“Well that was a tough one. We didn’t play very well and they shot the ball very well. I saw the final replay and it is what is. We have to win by ten points to avoid that type of final play. They shot the ball extremely well and we were not sharp at all tonight. We just didn’t play well enough to beat them. We played really tight; not as loose as we should and this is just a tough one to swallow. They threw a lot of small, athletic guys out there and we had a hard time matching up. We didn’t punish them as much as we should have. Boris [Diaw] did a few times but now we just need to learn how to finish off and win games like tonight’s. We just weren’t sharp down the stretch. We prepare for these types of situations but unfortunately we didn’t play.”

“We shouldn’t let them get that close and they had Ricky Davis and Marcus Banks who create their own shots. When you add in [Rashad] McCants they have the possibility to do what they did. We just didn’t play well the whole game and we kept turning our defense on and off and we got caught up.”

Suns Forward Shawn Marion (14 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists):
(On being aggressive on the court with eight steals)
“I was trying to be. I think I took the initiative to be active and help my teammates as well as I could. But on the other hand, it wasn’t enough; we just have to find a way to win these games.”

“They (Timberwolves) shoot the ball very well from the outside, with a hand in their face they were still knocking down shots, but I think we should have won the game.”

Suns Guard Raja Bell (19 points, 7-13 FG):
“It is frustrating to lose no matter what the circumstances are. We put ourselves in the situation where anything could happen and we had a chance and the ball didn’t bounce our way.”

(On being in the game, despite the Timberwolves shooting 56.9 percent from the field)
“It shows we are pretty good offensively, but it also shows that we aren’t playing well defensively right now. You can’t allow a team to shoot 50 percent from the field and expect to be in the game.”