Postgame quotes and notes: Blazers 98, Bobcats 79
Official postgame quotes and notes following the Portland Trail Blazers’ 98-79 victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday night at the Rose Garden.
BLAZERS POST GAME QUOTES
Monday, Feb. 1, 2010 – Final Score: Portland 98, Charlotte 79
COACH NATE McMILLAN
On a win without much drama:
“All the wins are good. All the wins are great. I thought the guys tonight did a nice job of establishing solid play on both ends of the floor. Charlotte was hot their last ten games. From start to finish, the defense was good. The offense was good. We had 18 turnovers but I liked the way we played tonight… it was a great win. We enjoyed this.”
On both first and second units stepping up:
“I thought Bayless got his game going in that first group and then Rudy and those guys did a nice job. Nic, that group, Dante kept coming off the bench. We knew they would play small basketball and we could match up with them. They did a nice job of getting stops and then running out and making shots.”
On transition game:
“We’re making an effort to get the ball up the floor. We’ve been talking about that forever it seems like. I thought tonight we got a few. In the Dallas game where we started to advance the ball and Bayless was attacking and we had LaMarcus in deep post position – trying to get that basketball up the floor and getting it to the basket or to LaMarcus with about 18 seconds as opposed to 10, 11 seconds. Then we can get into our spacing. I thought tonight they did that and we got some easy baskets. Charlotte was coming off their fifth game so they had heavy legs and we wanted to try to get into their legs.”
“It is a good win for us with our upcoming schedule and the schedule we play. But Charlotte was playing good basketball and we needed to play good basketball to beat this team and we did. From start to finish, we were pretty consistent, pretty efficient with our offense, our defense. I thought the gameplan was a good gameplan where the guys followed that. We wanted to make them shoot the ball from the outside. Two areas that we needed to really get better and improve were taking care of the ball and rebounding the ball. They had a ton of offensive rebounds in the first half and we were turning the ball over. Once we did that, we did a good job of executing.”
On getting ball to Patty Mills at the end of the game (turnover):
“You’re not trying to embarrass a team or anything like that but I was letting them play.(Smiling) He was so far off the floor – I mean, I’ve never seen a guy that far off the floor looking for the ball. It was almost like he was taking the ball out of bounds.”
LAMARCUS ALDRIDGE
“Any night, it’s always good for that. A lot of guys played well tonight and worked hard to guard. We had multiple threats on the floor. Tonight, we did a good job of moving the ball and guys getting to the basket.”
Did Dallas game recharge spirits?
“I think that was a big game for us but I think just being at home and saying that we had lost 3 in a row, guys were just trying to do anything they can do to win right now. We don’t want to fall too far in the standings so I think guys are just trying to play better right now.”
“The bench was great tonight – blocking shots, D.C., Jeff, those guys have been huge for us in the Dallas win and tonight being active, blocking shots, knocking down open shots. We’re a better team when they play like that.”
On the impact of having Rudy and Nic back:
“Nic is a great defender. He get’s easy steals and big rebounds. Rudy is that guy that is always moving and people can’t really stay with him.”
BOBCATS POST GAME QUOTES
Monday, Feb. 1, 2010 – Final Score: Portland 98, Charlotte 79
COACH LARRY BROWN
ON GAME
“You can name any area. We took 23 threes, I think we had 14 assists until the last 10 seconds…We didn’t pass the ball, we didn’t match their energy, and they were so much sharper in every area. They played with unbelievable energy, shared the ball and did all the good things. They were ready to play. Every time they got a lead we came back and forget how we came back. There bench was great: Batum, Cunningham, Fernandez, and Blake, there bench was so good. I think their starters did a good job but their bench was far superior. I think they really determined the game”
ON TURNOVERS
“They had 28 points on turnovers and we didn’t pass the ball. We shot 3-pointers; those are things that kill you, especially on the road. You have no chance of correcting that plus they are a really good transition team.”
Stephen Jackson
ON GAME
“We didn’t compete. We let them do whatever they wanted to do on offense. We played on our heels all night. We didn’t have that aggressive mentality that we normally have…We’re a lot better team than what we played tonight and we did not fight at all”
ON ROAD GAMES
“You can’t make excuses…We have to come play every day. You can’t saw ‘we’re road weary’ but I think at the end of the day we still have to come compete and give all we have and I don’t think we did that tonight.”
POSTGAME NOTES
Portland 98, Charlotte 79
February 1, 2010
— Tonight marked the 97th consecutive Trail Blazers sellout at the Rose Garden (including playoffs), dating back to Dec. 21, 2007.
— Portland has now won the season series with Charlotte for the third time in the six-year history of the Bobcats.
— The Trail Blazers have now won 44 straight games when allowing their opponents to score 90 points or fewer, including a 17-0 mark so far this year.
— Portland’s 19-point win marks the largest margin in a Trail Blazers game since a 122-98 win vs. Chicago on Nov. 23.
— Charlotte’s 79 points are the fewest allowed by Portland since Minnesota totaled 78 on Nov. 21 at the Rose Garden … The Bobcats failed to reach 80 points in either game with the Trail Blazers this season (74 on Nov. 14) … Dating back to last year, Portland has held Charlotte under 80 points in three straight games.
— At 29-21, the Trail Blazers are just two games behind their 50-game pace from last season (31-19).
— Portland improved to 17-3 at home this season when shooting at least 42.5% from the field.
— The Trail Blazers earned their fifth wire-to-wire win of the season … In 14 wins this season, Portland has not trailed by more than one possession (three points) at any point in the game.
— Dante Cunningham hit new career bests tonight with 10 points, five field goals made and 31 minutes, all highs previously set on Dec. 30 vs. the L.A. Clippers.
— Nicolas Batum’s nine rebounds tied the career-high mark he achieved two games ago (Jan. 29 at Houston).
— Jerryd Bayless has now scored in double digits in seven straight appearances (1/20-2/1) for the first time in his career and has done so in 15 of his last 24 games overall … Bayless scored eight of Portland’s first 14 points tonight, leading all players after one quarter (3-3 FG).
— Andre Miller tallied double figures in assists for the seventh time this season.
— Patty Mills appeared in his second career NBA game and his first in Portland.
— Charlotte’s 14 points in the fourth quarter are the fewest scored in the final quarter by a Portland opponent this season.
— The Bobcats turned the ball over a Trail Blazers opponent season-high tying 21 times.
— Portland held a 45-19 advantage in bench scoring tonight.
— The Trail Blazers outscored the Bobcats in the paint, 26-16, in the first half and 48-32 overall.
— Four different Trail Blazers hit a three-pointer in the first quarter.
— Charlotte’s 24-23 record still marks the latest into a season the team has been above .500 in franchise history … The Bobcats had won three straight and 12 of their past 16 games coming into tonight.
— Stephen Jackson has scored in double digits in all 38 of his games with Charlotte … His 38-game streak is just one shy of Gerald Wallace’s franchise-high 39 game run.
