Nov. 8, 2008 at Conseco Fieldhouse
Pacers 98, Nets 80
PACERS COACH JIM O'BRIEN
“It was a great defensive performance (in the second half). We really pressured them hard, locked them down and held them to under 30 points in the second half. We were very happy with our performance. We were on a back to back. They were on a back to back and it was our third game in four nights. It was a good test to play the second half with that type of intensity."
(On his rotations) We’ve had a nine man rotation. I don’t know if I’ll go to 10 man rotation (when Rasho Nesterovic gets back). It doesn’t mean I won’t play 10 people. I’ll play the best nine.”
PACERS GUARD T.J. FORD
(On missing the triple double) "Close but can’t seem to quite get there. One day it will be my night and I’ll get there. I’m really proud of my rebounds tonight. As a team we started slow but finished strong. I think losing three of the four games that we lost, helped us prepare ourselves for this game. These were all tough teams and games that we could have won. We learned from these games and got the W when we needed it."
(On Devin Harris not playing) "Devin is a good ball player. It definitely hurt them but they had to play on as we need. We must continue and move forward Monday night.”
PACERS CENTER JEFF FOSTER
"We were down in the beginning. Didn’t play that well so we had to take pride in what we were doing and how we were doing it. The three games that we lost we could have won but we couldn’t dwell on that. We had to continue our strong effort and we will have to do that Monday to get ready for Oklahoma. We had lapses but were able to put our stuff back together. Our defensive schemes helped because defense wins ball games and that can lead to championships."
(On his free throw shooting) "10-13 is not too bad. That’s almost 80 percent. We know what we can do, we just have to do it.”
NETS COACH LAWRENCE FRANK
(On the Pacers) "I’ve got a great deal of respect for Indiana. Larry Bird and Jim O’Brien really know what they’re doing. Danny Granger is an emerging star and they have everything going in the right direction."
(On the Nets second half play) "We were very poor. They turned up the intensity. Our shots were poor. They beat us in all the main areas of the game. And our offensive efficiency really hurt us.”
NETS GUARD VINCE CARTER
(On the difference in his shot selections from 1st half to 2nd half) "It was a lot different. I forced a few especially the first couple of shots in the second half. I don’t need to do that on this team. We’ve got guys that are capable. I forced a lot of things up, you learn from your mistakes. They felt good when they left my hand until they got about half way to the rim, then they didn’t feel as good."
(On missing Devin Harris) "It puts more responsibility on me. But that’s no excuse either. This is a team game and it’s going to take a collective effort to win games. We had a pretty good first half and we had a not so good second half. As the leader of the team, I take responsibility. It’s disappointing to not follow up last night win with a better effort. We came out and did a good job in the first half but we have to be able to put together two good halves.”
NETS FORWARD JARVIS HAYES
(On the second half) "They played harder than we did. They made more plays than we did, and they made more stops than we did. Coming off of last night, it’s disappointing. We are always looking for consistency in our effort. But we haven’t found that balance yet."
(On not having Devin Harris) "It always affects you when you lose your leader, your point guard. Keyon (Dooling) stepped up tonight and played well. So we can’t really use that as an excuse.”