October 30, 2017 | BrooklynNets.com
Head Coach Kenny Atkinson, Brooklyn Nets
On the biggest contributor to their second half play:
“Just not ready to play for some reason. I thought we were pretty good defensively for three quarters and the third quarter we gave up 40 points. Felt like the ball stopped moving collectively and sometimes bad offense turns into good offense for the other team. Just a disappointing third quarter, I think that’s where they got their edge. ”
On looking at tonight’s offense and defense separately:
“No, they’re related. Obviously taking care of the ball is important, shot selection is huge. I thought we settled, we started playing too much one-on-one, you know that’s not our game. Then they got out, got in transition, got some good looks. (Jamal) Murray obviously made some good shots for them.”
On D’Angelo Russell’s shooting performance:
“I think collectively, again I said it before the game, it’s a collective team effort and we have to be clicking on all cylinders for us to be good. I thought he had some good looks but they didn’t go down.”
Joe Harris, Brooklyn Nets
On what was happening in the third quarter when the game got away from the Nets:
“It’s just the defensive end, really. You can’t give up 40 points in one quarter. Obviously they got comfortable, came off with a little more energy than we did and that was the game right there. There was a big point differential, and any time you give up 40 points in a quarter, especially when you’re not necessarily firing at that level as well, or similarly, it’s tough to come back from that.”
On whether poor offensive possessions are leading to poor defensive possessions:
“Yeah, definitely. They go hand in hand for sure. If you take a bad shot a lot of times, it’s very similar to a turnover, so a lot of stuff we can go back and nitpick it. But really what it boils down to is just having a little bit more of a competitive edge and grit to you and not giving up that many points, taking more ownership on the defensive end.”
On what the key to turning this around on Tuesday night is:
“I think it’s about having a good practice tomorrow. I’m sure we’ll have an intense, short practice where, hopefully we compete a little bit and we’ll come out on Tuesday night with a little bit of an edge. The way that we played tonight, we’re not going to beat a lot of teams playing that way, so we’ve got to step it up, particularly on the defensive end.”
D’Angelo Russell, Brooklyn Nets
On how the game got away in the third quarter:
“Defense. We struggled to get stops, they capitalized. That was it.”
On turning the tide:
“Just gotta look at the film, capitalize on what we can control, figure it out and be prepared for the next team."
On if things not going the Nets’ way started Denver’s offense:
“Teams are good, so when you turn the ball over or struggle to get good offense, other teams will make something happen out of that – and they’re a great offensive team so, like I said, they made something happen.”