Head Coach Kenny Atkinson, Brooklyn Nets
On what kept the team from winning tonight’s game:
“They were the more aggressive team. I thought they really took it to us physically. The more aggressive team usually wins and I give them credit. They imposed their will on us.”
On Brook Lopez’s performance tonight:
“Brook was great. He hit the threes. Obviously we went small and he took us down on the post and made some plays. He played a great game.”
On the team’s shot selection during the game:
“Collectively we’re just not moving the ball like we were in the beginning of the year. We better find the solution to that quick because teams are just too good defensively. We’re not a one-on-one team. That’s not how we’re built. We’re built on ball movement and player movement. We have to get back to that."
On Allen Crabbe’s performance tonight:
“I think he’s finding his rhythm. I think he’s going to get better and better. I said this before, I think he was struggling because he missed a fair amount of time at training camp. I think he was physically at his peak. I think you’ll see him get better as the season goes on.”
On how he thinks the team will get back in rhythm:
“We have to execute. I wish we could say we practiced, but we haven’t practiced. We’re 16 days without practice. We will have some practice days coming up. That’s big. When you do have a couple practice days in the NBA you have to take advantage.”
D’Angelo Russell, Brooklyn Nets
On why he thinks his team lost the game:
“They [Los Angeles] played great team defense. We weren’t making shots. We just had to be better.”
On how he thinks the team can improve on offense:
“We have to get our confidence back. Going into the next game I think we’ll be alright.”
On why he thinks the team has been out of rhythm during the past four games:
“Honestly I don’t really know. I just think we have to become a more defensive minded team, and then our offense will click better. I think it’s as simple as that.”
On if he was satisfied with the team’s shots:
“Yes. We just missed. We make those shots at every game. We just missed shots.”
On how he felt playing against his former team:
“It was different. You go out there and play your first five minutes, and you get over it.”
On how he thinks the amount of injured players affected the team’s cohesiveness:
“It gives another person the opportunity to step up and you can easily use it as an excuse, but like I said it gives an opportunity for someone to step up and make plays.”
Allen Crabbe, Brooklyn Nets
On how he thinks the team can improve its rhythm:
“Our biggest thing this year has just been defense. We keep preaching that but we have to make improvements individually and collectively. That’s one of the main things we have to do.”
On what he tells the younger players after experiencing several lossesd:
“It’s the NBA. It can happen to any team at any given time. Being young, we just have to stick together, just keep coming in and fixing the things that we need to improve on. It’s still early, only nine games into the season. Just stick together and keep working at it. It will click and it will turn around. We’ll be alright.”
On why he thinks the team is out of rhythm on offense:
“Coach feels like we try to do it individually when we get down and stop moving the ball. We just have to get back to what works—getting back to the film, getting back to those preseason games, getting back to those three wins, and looking at what we did in those games.”
On his shots during the game:
“I’m a shooter. You go through slumps but you get out of it. Shooters keep shooting. Nobody on this team is telling me to stop. They were going in tonight. I got that free throw line and got to see the ball go in a few times. It was a good night.”