Wolves vs. Sonics - Postgame Quotes

NBA Post-Game Quotes
Minnesota vs. Seattle
March 27, 2007 @ Target Center

Seattle 114
MINNESOTA 106


Minnesota Coach Randy Wittman:
"Well, we just stopped playing. It's been the same thing. We play the right way for three quarters -- they trap, we swing, they rotate to me, I swing it, it's what we've got. We need to stop doing it. We're running down, making behind-the-back passes in traffic, our fast break, they layup. You're up 20, now it's 18. Try and split a trap instead of moving it, and then it just snowballs."

"(I didn't say) very much. Not anything. We didn't have anybody that wanted to step up and say, 'Let's go. Enough.' They were playing like, once it got tight, when they made it a game. We were playing, hoping the clock would run out, rather than playing to win the game."

"Inexcusable. And the thing of it is, this isn't the first time it's happened with this team, Seattle. Three games. All three games -- same. We don't have that, we don't have the mix of guys. You know, it's time to put our foot on their neck, and squash it right away in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter. Now let's go out and play and try new things, all right? Not make the extra pass when there's a guy standing next to you who is wide open. I don't understand."

"I don't know, you tell me. I mean, we've got to play tomorrow night. All I can do is continue to hope that it clicks. Three quarters, you know, we were good. We didn't care if we shot the ball, we didn't care who had it, we just played basketball. We were pretty good."

Minnesota Forward Craig Smith:
"To have such a big lead and lose it in the final minutes of the fourth quarter is tough. There is nothing you can say about that. Their team played hard and they rallied back and got the win... It's the same thing they did the last three games against us, they rallied back and won."

"We were pretty aggressive at the beginning of the third quarter and built the lead to 25, and slowly and surely we started to slow it down instead of just keep attacking. They played aggressive, they played solid in the third and then made a big run in the fourth."

Minnesota Guard Randy Foye:
"We just have to finish teams off. There is nothing you can really say about that. We were up 25 and let them come back and beat us. It was embarrassing for the team, so right now I just feel bad about the whole situation."

"I agree, we got away from basketball, the basketball that got us up 25. When you do things like turn the ball over, you make it easy for the other team. They start to get easy baskets and everything starts to go their way, and that's what happened tonight."

"When you get a 25-point lead then basically the other team should be dead. And if you have it in the third quarter the other team should be dead. But they came out and were more aggressive, we stopped making shots, they started hitting shots and our defense just couldn't pull us out of it."

Minnesota Guard Mike James:
"The teams that are the seventh and eighth spots are losing bad games just like how we are losing bad games. The West is not as strong as it has been in the past. But we're going to have to -- what have we got, 12 games left? -- we're going to have to win at least nine of these last 12. Which isn't hard to do, but giving up games like this makes it more difficult to do."

Minnesota Forward Kevin Garnett:
"We made our beds and we are going to lay in them. We got too conservative the second half, and I know better than that. I was telling everybody after we went in that I felt like it was my fault... Because as the leader of this team, I know it is up to me to be aggressive for 48 minutes. I am very good at dictating and understanding the game, and how things should flow. I feel like I let that get away from me. I am very aggravated and discouraged with that."

"Maybe not, but I am very good at understanding how to take teams apart. I'm very good at dissecting things. I am knowledgeable at how we do things... and that bothers me. You know we did some things great in the first half. We got a great lead in the first half, but I just didn't keep things together in the second half. Mike Wilks came in, shook up the game a bit. Shad (Rashard Lewis) started to go to the line..."

"Once momentum is gathered, then you have to make a run and slow down theirs and find a way to alter theirs. If you are conservative like we were, with no sense of urgency, things tend to go in the wrong direction. An aggressive team is going to come out and prevail on top... I don't look at the scoreboard, I like to look and listen to the crowd and see how much momentum is around in the crowd. We kept saying, 'Let's pick it up'..."

"In the league there are ups and downs, no matter what team you are. You can win one night and blow a 25-point lead and feel horrible. We were too conservative... and I know better. I know better."

Seattle Coach Bob Hill:
"I was having a hard time comprehending the way that we played in the first half. I got a technical foul and threatened to get kicked out of the game. At halftime I sat in my office for quite a while and tried to gather my thoughts. I walked in and I didn't really yell and scream today, which I usually do... I dwelled on how difficult the season has been, but that we are all professionals and that no matter what our record is that we are paid to work hard, be prepared and play to win. And they must've heard me."

"We couldn't get to the foul line in the first half, so I put a different set in to start the second half that we have never used before. We just posted Rashard on one block and Chris on the other, and said we have to go to the basket and force the officials to call fouls so we can get into the bonus and score points with the clock off, so they did."

"Mike Wilks and Earl Watson were something special. Mike Wilks brought energy. They couldn't keep him in front of them. He made big shots. The pass to (Wilcox) to tie the game or put us ahead one was spectacular."

"If you would've told me before the last Minnesota game that I would put Rashard on Kevin Garnett, I would've given you my salary, but Rashard did it again tonight. When he guards Kevin, he is just active. He is active and he gets those long arms out there and makes it a little difficult on him. We gave him some help tonight on the bounce off the top."

"We went to (Lewis) at the end of the game when we had to have them and he came through. He had Garnett on him, he had Hassell on him, and he made tough shots and made his free throws. That was a great comeback, it really was... (I felt we had a chance) when there were like four minutes left and we had it to six, as I recall, because we had the momentum and it was a matter of getting stops."

Seattle Guard Earl Watson:
"I think in the first half they played great. In the second half, I think our level of play picked up. KG went to the bench and we took advantage of him going to the bench... I noticed in the fourth quarter (that) we had a chance. It was very similar to the game we had in Seattle a couple of days ago, and I knew going into the last five minutes we had a chance. In the back of their minds, they knew they blew a lead similar to that in Seattle."

"You've got to get into your guys and you've got to have constructive criticism, and you have to be encouraging at the same time. I think (Hill) did a little bit of both... We came in (at halftime) and we knew we had to raise our game level up to the highest level and match theirs, and then push it forward. It's a huge deficit to come back on the road, and it takes a lot out of you, it takes a lot of energy out of you. But at the same time, we knew we had to do whatever we could to get back into the game."

"I think we were loose and they kind of tightened up, trying to make sure they could win the game. At the same time, we were just playing free-spirited, trying to just get back into the game... I don't think it was a lack of confidence. It was almost like we were riding such a huge wave, and we just took advantage of the situations we had on offense (and) limiting them to one shot, doubling Garnett in the post. We got some turnovers, we got some charges and we were lucky, actually. A lot of calls went our way."

Seattle Forward Chris Wilcox:
"We felt good about this. We were in the same situation back in Seattle. We were down with them the whole game and they let us back in. So we knew not to let up. We just kept fighting and we came through in the fourth quarter... I think we played harder (in the fourth quarter), we defended and we helped each other out. We all contributed and everything worked out."

"You've just got to play hard all the way through the game. KG is a great player, and you've got to match his energy and just go out and play hard, just make him take tough shots, and that's what we did on him."

"(Coach Hill) definitely chewed us out at halftime. We knew what we had to do, and we just came through. We just played together as a team. We had guys come in -- Earl Watson, guys like that -- just came in and gave us more energy, and we just came through and won... Rashard definitely helped us out a lot by attacking the basket and getting to the free-throw line. That's what we needed from him."

Seattle Forward Rashard Lewis:
"I was trying to be more aggressive, just trying to put my head down and go to the basket and try to get a layup, because I felt my jump shot wasn't falling. I wanted to either get a layup or get to the free-throw line, and they started calling fouls."

"(We were trying to) make it a little reasonable. We pretty much figured we would lose the game, but we didn't want to be embarrassed. We just got embarrassed a couple nights ago by San Antonio, in which we got beat by 40 points. It's really more embarrassing than anything to lose another game that way, so I think we were trying our best to make it a little reasonable. But the score started getting closer and closer, and we were able to get the win."

"When we were down 25... Coach told us at halftime that he felt we were hanging up on the season, we were giving up, that we were quitting. We might as well just go ahead and go to Denver instead of playing the second half, because he told us he was going to get ejected if we continued to play that way. My main focus was just to make it reasonable, make it 15 or 10 points if we were going to lose the game. We just got blown out by San Antonio by 40, and we don't need another night like that."

"He questioned our manhood at halftime, but at the same time, you know you've got to have some type of respect for yourself -- after you get beat by San Antonio the way we got beat, and you come out here tonight. Minnesota's not a playoff team. You can tip your hat to San Antonio, they're a great team, but Minnesota's in the same position we're in. So there's no reason why we should be down like that."