Wolves - Warriors: Postgame
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NBA Postgame Quotes
Minnesota vs. Golden State
December 19, 2007 @ Target Center
Golden State 111
MINNESOTA 98
Minnesota Head Coach Randy Wittman:
"Until we as a team or as a group of five players -- whatever five players are on the floor -- you cannot squander (a lead) when a team comes out, whether it is the start of the second or third quarter and comes and attacks you. You have to man up. At some point, we have to stand up and say enough is enough."
"I called a timeout with 8:34 left in the third quarter, and body language told it all to me. We walked off with our heads down after three-and-one-half minutes. They came out and threw a punch. Until we can come out and receive a punch and throw back, we are going to have repeats like that."
"Did we eventually catch our feet? Yes, playing an even fourth quarter, but it was over. Right now we don't have that as five guys on the floor together to stand up and say, 'Enough. Not happening tonight.' That's what it boils down to. We play hard. We had a great day and they came out and executed. We knew they were going to come out and zone us. We worked against the zone and tore it apart. Then you've got to know a group like that, a veteran group -- Davis, Jackson, Harrington -- a veteran group like that is going to come out and knock you right down. Three-and-a-half minutes in the game we didn't get back up. That's what it boils down to. It's not who's getting touches, who's getting shots. I wish it was."
"It shouldn't. A guy makes a hell of a shot (at the end of the first half). We couldn't have defended it any better. As I told the guy, Craig I think it was, we defended him. I said, 'Son, you couldn't have played him any better. He made a hell of a shot. Let it go.' That's what was said, all right? But we've still got an eight-point lead. If we're going to let a shot like that deflate us, to lose the game to come out in the third quarter, we've got bigger problems."
"We're begging for it. These are answers we have to figure out. I can't answer that. I'm begging for it. I'm begging for one guy, five guys, all right? There's five guys that have got to play the game. They're standing up and saying, 'That's enough. Come on.' Looking each other in the eye. I had five guys at 8:34 and I couldn't see any of their eyes, and I'm sitting right in front of them."
"I'm not worried about individuals right now. I could care less about individuals right now. I know that doesn't answer your question. I've got bigger concerns right now than to worry about individuals. And we're playing too hard and we let it all slip away as a group. Gerald came in, he was ready, he came in and played well. I thought he came in and tried, made some shots. He was active. He was ready. We talked about that all year."
Minnesota Guard Rashad McCants:
"We have to learn to get our games back in third quarters. Third and fourth quarter, we have to sustain... We have a lot of athletic guys and we have a lot of guys that can get up and down. We can create mismatches, and we can play uptempo. We have a chance to get guys tired and get them on their heels first."
Minnesota Forward Gerald Green:
"The third quarter it seems like we just lose it, but we have to overcome and play the next game. We just have to take charge and say this is not going to happen again. There's always four or five plays that could keep us in the game."
"I've been trying to focus lately and I feel like I can do more on the basketball court. I've been playing better defense and I've had more energy, but I could've brought more energy."
Minnesota Forward Al Jefferson:
" Most of the guys couldn't really get a rhythm going, and we let the zone take us out of our game... We started attacking the zone in the third quarter, but we should've attacked it from the jump and then it would have gone our way... When they hit us, we have to hit them back -- especially in the third quarter."
Golden State Head Coach Don Nelson:
"The lads decided at halftime that they didn't want to lose this game tonight. They were going to have play harder and better if they didn't want to lose here, and that is exactly what they did in the third quarter. It was an outstanding quarter for us. There was determination with the guys that were out there. It was just terrific."
"We're going to get beat one of these nights if we start relying on that, if we don't take care of business and play four quarters. Sometimes you can get away with that, but not very often. We have gotten away with that at least twice this year so far."
"Al was good, but I thought Biedrins was the guy that anchored everything for us tonight. He was really a good player on the boards and defensively, and just was really good."
Golden State Forward Al Harrington:
"It was a good run. It was what we needed... Obviously, Coach was very upset (at halftime), but I played on a team like this before. When you're a young team, you come out with a tremendous amount of energy, making shots, all that type of stuff. But when a veteran team decides that they're going to get some stops on defense, you lose your confidence. I knew that was just what we had to do, just play man-to-man, be aggressive and get those guys to stop scoring easy baskets. Once we did that, I felt that we had a good chance at winning."
"I felt that our man-to-man gets us aggressive. If you look at our stats sheet, when we get a lot of deflections on defense, we're a very dangerous team. That's how we get into a lot of our fast breaks and get a lot of easy baskets. You can't get deflections in a zone, really."
"For us to be the team that we want to be, we can't lose these games. There's no disrespect to them, but they're the worst team in the league. We feel that we're one of the top 10 teams in the league, so this is a game we must win."
Golden State Forward Stephen Jackson:
"Everybody knew that we could play a lot harder and a lot better (in the second half), and we knew we were better than this team. We just came out in the third quarter and got back to our old selves... A win is still a win, but at the same time, this is a game that we knew that we had to win. It would've been upsetting if we would've lost this game. They've got some great players, but they're still 3-21. We felt that to be a team that we want to be and the team that we know we can be, we have to win games like this because these games are must-win for us, games that we should win, and we approach the game like that."
"BD said this the other day, that Al is probably the only guy that can probably get 40 a couple nights in a row. I'm streaky, BD's streaky, Al is solid. Al's just a flat-out scorer. He's got the total package -- inside, out, all that. We lose a J-Rich. J-Rich was that guy last year that could just get 40 any given night. I think Al's that guy (now). That's how Al can play. Al's just trying to get his confidence back. His minutes have been kind of shaky, coming in and out, but we expect that from Al. That's how he can play and that's what we expect from him... The good thing about Al is, Al's a professional. Whether he's starting, whether he's playing five minutes or 20 minutes, he's going to come out and be productive, and that's what we need on this team."
Golden State Guard Baron Davis:
"We didn't want to dig ourselves a hole. We wanted to play better in the first half. I think that we just got complacent. A lot of times we rely on our shots to get us going instead of relying on our offense to get us easy shots, and in the first half that's what happened. Then it kind of fed into our defense -- and the lack thereof -- so we had to battle ourselves out of a foxhole. We came out the second half and made a concerted effort to move the ball, to move ourselves defensively, play with a little bit more energy, and you see the results. You see what type of team we can be. The first-half team is the team we don't want to be. The second-half team is the team we do want to be."
"We've got to get better. We've got to realize that individually we're okay, we're talented, but the more we use and play off of each other, the more dangerous we are as a unit. That's just something that's going to continue to come as the season progresses. We're only at the 25-game mark... My job is a lot tougher this year. It's just trying to figure out how to get all these pieces to work and how to get everybody off and going early in the game, as well as keeping myself in the game. It's just a work in progress."
"We want Al to get those 20 points a game, because he's such a mismatch problem for opposing teams -- especially when he's playing the '5' or even playing the '4'. He has a great low-post game that we haven't been using effectively, and we want to get him the ball as early and as often as possible."
"It's a good problem to have, to know that we are above .500, we're playing decent basketball, but we could be playing better. I know I can play a whole lot better, and those days are coming. So I know that I can come out and just establish myself and establish the way that I'm going to play each and every game. Right now, we're just trying to figure out some type of flow and some type of rhythm... This team feeds off of me. This team feeds off of my energy defensively and offensively, and I just have to be a better player for this team to win, and win consistently."
NBA Postgame Quotes
Minnesota vs. Golden State
December 19, 2007 @ Target Center
Golden State 111
MINNESOTA 98
Minnesota Head Coach Randy Wittman:
"Until we as a team or as a group of five players -- whatever five players are on the floor -- you cannot squander (a lead) when a team comes out, whether it is the start of the second or third quarter and comes and attacks you. You have to man up. At some point, we have to stand up and say enough is enough."
"I called a timeout with 8:34 left in the third quarter, and body language told it all to me. We walked off with our heads down after three-and-one-half minutes. They came out and threw a punch. Until we can come out and receive a punch and throw back, we are going to have repeats like that."
"Did we eventually catch our feet? Yes, playing an even fourth quarter, but it was over. Right now we don't have that as five guys on the floor together to stand up and say, 'Enough. Not happening tonight.' That's what it boils down to. We play hard. We had a great day and they came out and executed. We knew they were going to come out and zone us. We worked against the zone and tore it apart. Then you've got to know a group like that, a veteran group -- Davis, Jackson, Harrington -- a veteran group like that is going to come out and knock you right down. Three-and-a-half minutes in the game we didn't get back up. That's what it boils down to. It's not who's getting touches, who's getting shots. I wish it was."
"It shouldn't. A guy makes a hell of a shot (at the end of the first half). We couldn't have defended it any better. As I told the guy, Craig I think it was, we defended him. I said, 'Son, you couldn't have played him any better. He made a hell of a shot. Let it go.' That's what was said, all right? But we've still got an eight-point lead. If we're going to let a shot like that deflate us, to lose the game to come out in the third quarter, we've got bigger problems."
"We're begging for it. These are answers we have to figure out. I can't answer that. I'm begging for it. I'm begging for one guy, five guys, all right? There's five guys that have got to play the game. They're standing up and saying, 'That's enough. Come on.' Looking each other in the eye. I had five guys at 8:34 and I couldn't see any of their eyes, and I'm sitting right in front of them."
"I'm not worried about individuals right now. I could care less about individuals right now. I know that doesn't answer your question. I've got bigger concerns right now than to worry about individuals. And we're playing too hard and we let it all slip away as a group. Gerald came in, he was ready, he came in and played well. I thought he came in and tried, made some shots. He was active. He was ready. We talked about that all year."
Minnesota Guard Rashad McCants:
"We have to learn to get our games back in third quarters. Third and fourth quarter, we have to sustain... We have a lot of athletic guys and we have a lot of guys that can get up and down. We can create mismatches, and we can play uptempo. We have a chance to get guys tired and get them on their heels first."
Minnesota Forward Gerald Green:
"The third quarter it seems like we just lose it, but we have to overcome and play the next game. We just have to take charge and say this is not going to happen again. There's always four or five plays that could keep us in the game."
"I've been trying to focus lately and I feel like I can do more on the basketball court. I've been playing better defense and I've had more energy, but I could've brought more energy."
Minnesota Forward Al Jefferson:
" Most of the guys couldn't really get a rhythm going, and we let the zone take us out of our game... We started attacking the zone in the third quarter, but we should've attacked it from the jump and then it would have gone our way... When they hit us, we have to hit them back -- especially in the third quarter."
Golden State Head Coach Don Nelson:
"The lads decided at halftime that they didn't want to lose this game tonight. They were going to have play harder and better if they didn't want to lose here, and that is exactly what they did in the third quarter. It was an outstanding quarter for us. There was determination with the guys that were out there. It was just terrific."
"We're going to get beat one of these nights if we start relying on that, if we don't take care of business and play four quarters. Sometimes you can get away with that, but not very often. We have gotten away with that at least twice this year so far."
"Al was good, but I thought Biedrins was the guy that anchored everything for us tonight. He was really a good player on the boards and defensively, and just was really good."
Golden State Forward Al Harrington:
"It was a good run. It was what we needed... Obviously, Coach was very upset (at halftime), but I played on a team like this before. When you're a young team, you come out with a tremendous amount of energy, making shots, all that type of stuff. But when a veteran team decides that they're going to get some stops on defense, you lose your confidence. I knew that was just what we had to do, just play man-to-man, be aggressive and get those guys to stop scoring easy baskets. Once we did that, I felt that we had a good chance at winning."
"I felt that our man-to-man gets us aggressive. If you look at our stats sheet, when we get a lot of deflections on defense, we're a very dangerous team. That's how we get into a lot of our fast breaks and get a lot of easy baskets. You can't get deflections in a zone, really."
"For us to be the team that we want to be, we can't lose these games. There's no disrespect to them, but they're the worst team in the league. We feel that we're one of the top 10 teams in the league, so this is a game we must win."
Golden State Forward Stephen Jackson:
"Everybody knew that we could play a lot harder and a lot better (in the second half), and we knew we were better than this team. We just came out in the third quarter and got back to our old selves... A win is still a win, but at the same time, this is a game that we knew that we had to win. It would've been upsetting if we would've lost this game. They've got some great players, but they're still 3-21. We felt that to be a team that we want to be and the team that we know we can be, we have to win games like this because these games are must-win for us, games that we should win, and we approach the game like that."
"BD said this the other day, that Al is probably the only guy that can probably get 40 a couple nights in a row. I'm streaky, BD's streaky, Al is solid. Al's just a flat-out scorer. He's got the total package -- inside, out, all that. We lose a J-Rich. J-Rich was that guy last year that could just get 40 any given night. I think Al's that guy (now). That's how Al can play. Al's just trying to get his confidence back. His minutes have been kind of shaky, coming in and out, but we expect that from Al. That's how he can play and that's what we expect from him... The good thing about Al is, Al's a professional. Whether he's starting, whether he's playing five minutes or 20 minutes, he's going to come out and be productive, and that's what we need on this team."
Golden State Guard Baron Davis:
"We didn't want to dig ourselves a hole. We wanted to play better in the first half. I think that we just got complacent. A lot of times we rely on our shots to get us going instead of relying on our offense to get us easy shots, and in the first half that's what happened. Then it kind of fed into our defense -- and the lack thereof -- so we had to battle ourselves out of a foxhole. We came out the second half and made a concerted effort to move the ball, to move ourselves defensively, play with a little bit more energy, and you see the results. You see what type of team we can be. The first-half team is the team we don't want to be. The second-half team is the team we do want to be."
"We've got to get better. We've got to realize that individually we're okay, we're talented, but the more we use and play off of each other, the more dangerous we are as a unit. That's just something that's going to continue to come as the season progresses. We're only at the 25-game mark... My job is a lot tougher this year. It's just trying to figure out how to get all these pieces to work and how to get everybody off and going early in the game, as well as keeping myself in the game. It's just a work in progress."
"We want Al to get those 20 points a game, because he's such a mismatch problem for opposing teams -- especially when he's playing the '5' or even playing the '4'. He has a great low-post game that we haven't been using effectively, and we want to get him the ball as early and as often as possible."
"It's a good problem to have, to know that we are above .500, we're playing decent basketball, but we could be playing better. I know I can play a whole lot better, and those days are coming. So I know that I can come out and just establish myself and establish the way that I'm going to play each and every game. Right now, we're just trying to figure out some type of flow and some type of rhythm... This team feeds off of me. This team feeds off of my energy defensively and offensively, and I just have to be a better player for this team to win, and win consistently."
