Nov. 4, 2009 at Madison Square Garden
Pacers 101, Knicks 89
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PACERS COACH JIM O'BRIEN
(On tonight’s game) “We started to – Roy [Hibbert] and Solomon [Jones] – started to become more aggressive guarding pick-and-roll. We started to get into Chris [Duhon]’s face and started to get our hands on more balls. We just kept the tempo; our guys are in terrific condition to be able to play that hard in the second half after playing back-to-back nights. It shows how hard they worked up to this point.”
(On Dahntay Jones) “Dahntay has been playing very aggressive offensive basketball for us. He’s going to end up becoming a better playmaker than he is right now. He’s never had the freedom that we’re giving him and he’s taking full advantage of it.”
KNICKS COACH MIKE D'ANTONI
(On tonight’s game) “They got into us a little bit with their line-up. We had a hard time creating something, trying to find different things. They did a good job with the pick-and-roll. And then, we just weren’t fluid. We would throw up a three when we should’ve driven it and vice versa. We had guys open and (we) pummeled the ball. I don’t know if it’s a question of just trying a little bit too hard or wanting it too bad, but we’re just going to have to do a heck of a lot better job than this.”
(More on tonight’s game) “The problem was we just couldn’t get around them and get to the hole. They were quick and they played small. Every time we did, they did a good job of stripping it, and doing things, making us fumble the ball. We were pretty selective at first, about our threes and driving. I thought we did a pretty good job first half shooting 45%. For whatever reason, it just seems every time we get stuck or whatever instead of having a little bit more determination or patience, we just jack that up. That kind of got us in the second half I thought.”
(On the Knicks) “We have to be more efficient. We have to better defensively. It’s just so may missed assignments. I know these guys. I know it’s not a question of desire, it’s a question of being able to channel your energy in the right way.”
KNICKS FORWARD AL HARRINGTON
(On tonight’s game) “We were fighting. I had a few turnovers trying to get into the middle. Certain things offensively need to be more efficient. We’re working were trying to get a good balance of shooting jump shots and getting to the basket. We’re just trying to find that happy median. We have two big games coming up Friday and Saturday.”
(On Friday’s game) “No it doesn’t matter. It’s a game. We just have to protect our home floor and try to win the ball game. It’s not like if we beat them we get two wins.”
KNICKS CENTER DAVID LEE
(On intensity) “I don’t feel that our intensity was off. I thought we played hard and together as a team. Maybe we just missed shots. Our execution wasn’t where it was supposed to be.
I thought our defense was okay in the second half. Our defense wasn’t horrible but we have to look at our offense to see what the problem was.”
(Ineffective pick-and-roll) “They were packing the lane a little bit. I just felt that when I was rolling there were three or four guys in there we didn’t shoot our best from the three-point line but offensively these aren’t the type of numbers were looking to put up.”
(Trouble getting to the line) “We were certainly going to the basket settling for jump shots wasn’t the problem. Al [Harrington] was the only guy who got to the line as much as we would like. He did a great job of drawing fouls.”
(The Pacers' lineup in the 4th quarter) “They had a lot of guards out there. T.J [Ford] was very effective in the 4th quarter. He was a difference maker for them. He hit some tough shots that [Chris] Duhon did a good job defending. He’s tough when he gets going because he’s small and fast. He’s a little bit like Nate [Robinson].”
KNICKS GUARD LARRY HUGHES
(On tonight’s game) “We didn’t play terrible, so the game was kind of close. We were up 10 early but we just didn’t execute the times we needed to. There was no execution. Being in the wrong spot, turning the ball over, we didn’t allow ourselves to get good shots. Also on the defensive end we were putting them on the free-throw line. That’s where the execution comes in.”
(More on tonight’s game) “You have to realize that we didn’t execute 70% of our sets on offense or defense. I don’t think we completely threw everything that we’ve accomplished these last couple of games. It’s just that we got things going in the wrong direction, and were not good enough right now to catch those things on the fly. But we can watch film and definitely see what we’ve done and I think we’ll carry that into the next game. It’s another thing when you can control things on the fly. That’s when you know you’ve become a pretty good team when you can stop things from snowballing from you.”
(On the lineup changes) “We had some guys out there that were in different situations tonight. We had some lineups out there with guys that haven’t played together during the course of the year. Being a young team, and being a team that’s trying to get somewhere we have to figure those things out, and I think film is the best way for that. Like I said when you’re a team that up and coming it’s hard to do that on the fly, cause if you get going in the wrong direction it’s kind of hard to stop it, but I think if we go back and watch the film I think we’ll carry what we see into the next game.”
KNICKS GUARD CHRIS DUHON
(On tonight’s game) It’s some of the things where we fall into the same traps we were in last year. We had opportunities a couple times early on to put them away. We built up a double digit lead and we let them right back in it. In the second half they just out played us. Through the whole second half our energy never matched theirs, they deserved to win.”
(On fatigue) “It shouldn’t be fatigue. They’re the ones that played the night before. We should have had all the energy in the world. I think that we thought it was going to come easy. They were undermanned but they kept fighting, and they played harder than us.”
(On the team's aggressiveness) We should have been more aggressive. They had five team fouls with about eight minutes left in the game. That right there should have made it so we were more aggressive to the hoop, just because even if we don’t hit the shot, we know if we get fouled we’re shooting free-throws the rest of the way.”