Dec. 13, 2008 at Milwaukee
Bucks 121, Pacers 103
PACERS COACH JIM O'BRIEN
(On losing a tough game) “It’s tough to have a half like we did, and climb all the way back. Especially on back-to-back games like we did. We just didn’t have enough down the stretch.”
(On their poor defense) “Yeah, that’s not good. We’re not cooking on all cylinders on our defense. We’re not playing up to the level that I think our team is capable of playing on the defensive end.”
PACERS GUARD T.J. FORD
(On losing a tough game) “It’s tough, losing doesn’t solve any problems. Most of the time when you start losing you see teams get divided and you hear more complaining. This team I think we’ve done a good job staying together and staying positive. We just need to stick together, that’s the only way we’re going to get through it.
(On their second half play) “We were just more aggressive, we started to pick up the intensity. When you’re in a hole the only thing you can do is try to get out of it, but we shouldn’t have put ourselves in that sort of situation from the beginning.
PACERS CENTER ROY HIBBERT
(On learning from Andrew Bogut) “The way he moves around with his size and how he gets position. Also he knows how to get his teammates open.”
(On his first career start) “I just tried to go out there and play. I just tried to shake off all the rookie jitters. Yes, it was my first career start, but now that’s in the past, it’s time to move forward.”
BUCKS COACH SCOTT SKILES
(On tonight’s game) “We had an outstanding first half again and we appeared to be running out of gas a little bit in the third quarter. We were able to get it back together and we made some big plays at the end of the game. We had contributions from basically everybody that played in the game. I was concerned in the third. We’ve had a brutal schedule and I thought maybe the guys we going to completely run out of gas but we were able to fight for it and we made some big plays.”
(On Andrew Bogut’s performance tonight) “He was very good. He was just active like seven-footers should be and he scored. He was very, very good.”
(On the 19-0 run to close the game) “Several things happened. We got a wide open jumper from Ramon (Sessions) and we got a wide open jumper from Luc Mbah a Moute. They knocked both of those down and those were big shots. I left Richard (Jefferson) out maybe a hair too long. I felt like he was winding down a little bit. He came back with a big burst of energy for us. He scored, he hit Michael for the wide open three. Andrew was active on the glass and we were able to get stops right at the end of the game. It all factored in. Generally, in the 10 wins, this is what’s happened. We’ve had multiple players making plays. Everybody had a hand in this one.”
BUCKS GUARD MICHAEL REDD
(On tonight’s game) “It was a good win for us tonight. It really was. Indiana never gave up. They kept playing hard and made some timely plays themselves, but we dug in. RJ made some huge shots. Andrew was huge on the boards and making his free throws tonight. That was the game for us.”
(On how the team was able to close the game out) ”There’s a comfort level that we have at home. I knew we were going to make shots eventually. We were getting too many wide open shots and eventually they started going down.”
BUCKS CENTER ANDREW BOGUT
(On hitting eight of his nine free throws) “It’s been a focus for four years. It was just one of those games where I got in a groove and I’ve been putting in extra time at practice. I still have a long way to go; I’ve got to do that night in and night out.”
(On having one of his best games of the year) “I had three bad (games) on the West Coast and we had three bad ones as a team on the West Coast. We hit a bad patch today in the third but we dug it out and it’s a good win for us.”
(On getting off to a good start tonight) “I just got in a groove and got some cheap baskets early. Some offensive rebounds helped me out. Obviously knocking down my free throws helped. If I can do that night in and night out I’d be up to 15 or 16 points (per game) if I knock down my free throws.”