See what the Nets had to say after their 125-106 loss to the Chicago Bulls.
KENNY ATKINSON
On Nets performance:
“Just give us a poor rating overall. Our defense was just non-existent. Couldn’t keep them in front of us. Couldn’t guard them. There wasn’t one or two guys, I thought collectively we couldn’t guard them. Give them a lot of credit. I thought they played great. They obviously made shots. They added shooting with Otto (Porter Jr.) in there. They played great; our defense, it was really poor.”
On Caris LeVert:
“If I had to take one positive from tonight that was a positive. I thought he looked good, looked athletic, he was athletic, came downhill like he does, make some passes. Obviously there were a few bumps here and there, but for the most part I think he was a plus-five on the sheet, so he had some positives tonight and played well.”
On if they looked past Bulls, ahead to All-Star break:
“No, I just think you have to have humility in this league. Every team is tough. If you look at their roster, there are a lot of good players on their roster. There are no easy games. I don’t think our guys did that. I think they understand what’s at stake. They’re professionals. We’ve always been a humble team. We don’t think we’re better than anyone else coming into a game. I will say sometimes when these games happen, you have to look at the other team. They played with great spirit, they shared the ball and they shot the heck out of it. Again, what I’m disappointed in with us is how much they got downhill on us. Every player, if it was a one-on-one matchup, they were blowing by us, lay-up, lay-up, lay-up. We have to guard better. Just plain and simple.”
ALLEN CRABBE
On Nets defense:
“We just weren’t really locked in defensively tonight. They basically got whatever they wanted, did whatever they wanted to do. I don’t think we gave them any resistance on the defensive side. Guys were comfortable out there. They’ve got guys who are capable. It’s the NBA, regardless of their record, every team has players who can play, and we just weren’t ready to play tonight and they took advantage of that.”
On Caris LeVert:
"He looked comfortable. I'm pretty sure game rhythm may have been a little off for him. He hasn't played in three months. But he looked good. Looked aggressive, looked comfortable. Got to the basket like he usually does. It's going to take probably not even that long for him to get back to himself, but I think he looked great. I don't really think he lost too much of a step. I think he looked pretty good out there tonight."
On five 3-pointers, 19 points in second game back:
"Just being aggressive. Going out there doing what I can for the team. Trying to find my offense within the flow of the offense and just trying to be aggressive."
CARIS LEVERT
On return from injury:
“It almost didn’t feel real. It went by kind of fast for me honestly, and even leading up to today’s game it just felt that three months went by kind of fast. But like I said the first couple minutes I was kind of getting my feet wet, getting back into it, but then after that I felt like I was more comfortable.”
On how he felt physically:
“I was kind of tired the first little stint I played, the first six minutes, but after that I kind of settled into the game and got more comfortable.”
On tieing career high with five steals:
"I feel like a lot of them I was just in good position. They kind of just threw me the ball. A couple of them I gambled and it turned out the right way."