BOX SCORE
Wolves-Grizzlies Recap
NBA Postgame Quotes
Minnesota vs. Memphis
March 19, 2008 @ Target Center
MINNESOTA 98
Memphis 94
Minnesota Coach Randy Wittman:
"It was a tale of two halves for us. I don't know if we just thought we had to show up to win. I didn't think we were ready to play in terms of what we had to do to win. Our effort on either end in the first half was probably as bad as it's been in a while. As I told them at halftime, even though we were down 14, I said, 'It's up to you guys. All it is is effort and going out and getting after them. We're going to get after them, we're going to score points and we've got to get stops."
"I thought in that second half, right from the beginning, we got after them -- moreso than we did in the first half. We got ourselves, within four or four-and-a-half minutes, right back into the game, which was key. It got our confidence going and got everybody back involved. Even though we didn't shoot the ball particularly well, these are the games you've got to learn how to win. We've talked about that. When you shoot 39 percent, you've got to make it up somewhere else and we made it up at the free-throw line. We got 35 free throws, which helps us. We only turned the ball over eight times, which was key for us. It gave us the chance to score 60 in the second half."
"We hope we learned the lesson that we've got to come out every night. If you look at some of our wins against some of the top teams, I've told them, 'It doesn't matter who you are in this league, you can't take anybody lightly.' You have to respect every foe that comes in here and go into attack mode every night."
"Al got going. I thought it was everybody, it wasn't just Al in the first half, it was everybody. It's like we were a step behind in everything. Offensively, our moves were a step off, our cuts were a step slow, and we had no sharpness in our pick-and-rolls. The second half was totally different, Al included. When he gets into his move that quick, they can't double him. Sometimes he allows himself to be doubled, which I thought he did in the first half. He caught it, kind of stood there, then waited, now you're caught in a double-team. In the second half he said, 'I'm going to attack and if I do get doubled, I'm going to kick out.' And that's where he's hard to double."
"(Snyder) has been solid. What is he? He does everything decently. He's been a good defender for us, he handles the ball well, he's strong, he can rebound, he can make open shots and get to the free-throw line. Like I said, he's worked himself into my confidence in games. In tight situations, I don't have any problem having him out on the floor. We liked him right away. He hasn't really played anywhere in the league. He had a short stay in New Orleans and he didn't really play at all in Houston, so we really hadn't seen him play before he got here. I just remember him at Nevada, coming out of the draft, that he was a kid that had some talent."
"(Gomes) hit a big shot. That was huge. That's what he's got to do. That's where Ryan, I think, has taken a step here throughout the year. When he's not shot the ball well, he's kind of shied away from shooting the ball. He can't do it. If he goes 1-for-11, he's got to expect a lot of makes coming his way, the way he can shoot it, and he stepped up and make that big shot at the end."
Minnesota Guard Marko Jaric:
"We knew we could come back (at halftime). It was definitely tough in the first quarter for us. They really came out with a ton of energy and we didn't expect they were going to play like that. They really ran like crazy in that first quarter. In the second half we made some adjustments and tried to match their energy. We just stayed with it and it turned out in our favor."
"We need to win these types of games. We needed to beat Memphis to prove to ourselves that we are not the worst team in the West. And I know it's hard to get fans motivated right now because we are not going to the playoffs, but for us right now as a young team, this win means a lot."
Minnesota Guard Randy Foye:
"I'm just trying to get everybody involved right now. That's the way I'm trying to play -- get rebounds, take open shots, score and create... We played bad in the first half and we didn't shoot the ball well. You're going to have games like that, but you have to win those games and we're definitely coming together as a team. We probably would've lost a game like that earlier in the season."
"We had to turn it up. They were getting way too many open shots and it was embarrassing for us. Being on our home court in front of our fans and seeing them swing the ball and hitting wide-open shots and making dunks, it was embarrassing. So we just had to bring it in the third quarter, and that's what we did... We just got back, just running back and getting to the paint and protecting the basket and let them go around the arc, and then we picked them up from there stopping the fast break."
"There were two or three guys on (Jefferson) and they couldn't stop him tonight, so we just kept going to him. Whenever he gets going like that, you have to give him the ball every time. He is a force and one of the best power forwards in the game, so you have to keep feeding him the ball. He was just going around guys and dunking on them, so you had to get him the ball."
Minnesota Forward Ryan Gomes:
"The more guys you have out there being aggressive and trying to make plays, the more it's going to open things up for everyone... It's not all about offense. We needed to get stops and in the fourth quarter that's what it's all about -- getting stops. It's not about trading baskets, it's about getting stops. They had some open jump shots, but we contested them and got a hand up and they didn't go down for them late when they needed it, and that was a big difference in the game."
Memphis Coach Marc Iavaroni:
"You've got to play two halves of basketball. We didn't handle success very well. They did a good job. They came out with a lot of fire at the beginning of the third quarter and chipped away at a 14-point lead. They took away our insurance there and we didn't react well... Give them a lot of credit for stepping up their defense. Al Jefferson had his way in the second half, made some big plays, put a lot of pressure on us and we didn't react well to it."
"They scored 60 points in the second half and that is not going to be good enough to win on the road, and we understand that. If you do that, you have to be perfect from the free-throw line, and we weren't... Those are the little things that added to a loss."
"The whole effort, the whole thing was a night-and-day game. It was two games. In the first half we had Jefferson bottled up, and in the second half we let him get the ball. And when we trapped, we didn't squeeze our traps. When the shot went up... he got on the glass and we didn't get the boards. Two different games. Good execution in the first, and they did a good job and we didn't step up to the challenge in the second half."
Memphis Center Darko Milicic:
"We just played a totally different game in the second half. From the beginning of the second half we just didn't play like we are used to playing in the first two quarters. We talked about it in the locker room, coming back in the second half and playing tough, but we let them come back in the game. They are a good team and talented team, and to let somebody play that way and come back..."
"(Jefferson) just played the same. He was missing some shots in the first half. He was just playing his game and his shots came up and he started making his shots. He's a good player."
Memphis Guard Michael Conley:
"We came out flat in the second half and they came out and hit a couple of shots and made us kind of think twice about what we were doing, because it was almost like we were happy with the lead we had. I thought we shouldn't have came out with that kind of attitude and we should've come out with the attitude that it was 0-0. I thought we didn't come out aggressive."
"We got knocked out of rhythm, I think. Guys like Juan Carlos and Mike Miller, they normally make shots all the time. And when they made a run, it kind of limited our offensive possessions -- we had turnovers and were not getting good shots -- so they kind of got out of their rhythm, which got all of us out of our rhythm because those are our scorers and we couldn't put the ball in the hole."
Memphis Forward Rudy Gay:
"We played two different games. The first half we played our game, we got out and played pretty good basketball. The second half we didn't do any of that. They hit shots, our defense let up. It was tough for us once they got started -- it's hard to stop any team once they get started."
"Personally, that's the way I think the game has to go. When your shot's not falling, you have to get to try and get to the line. That's the way I feel."
