Interview: Webster, McMillan discuss Game 3 against Suns

Portland Trail Blazers guard Martell Webster and coach Nate McMillan spoke with the media following a Thursday morning shootaround at the team’s practice facility in Tualatin, Ore.

Webster on how he felt about his performances in games 1 and 2 versus Phoenix:

I feel fine. I feel great out there.

On being ready to bounce back tonight after a blowout loss in Game 2:

Why wouldn’t we be? I think a lot of people start doubting after one loss. Just tell the fans to calm down. It’s one game. We know the bad things that we did, and the things that we need to clean up. I think everything’s fine. There’s no need to start panicking right now. The series is tied 1-1. We actually went up there and we actually did something that we wanted to do. We succeeded in getting the first win on the road, let alone getting a win on the road in the playoffs. It was a bad loss. But now the taste is out of our mouth. We just want to come back with a little bit of vengeance and try to reclaim what is ours.

McMillan on defending Phoenix’s Jason Richardson and Grant Hill:

We’ve got to do a better job of denying their catch. They will be aggressive. We didn’t match that intensity. That sense of urgency that we talked about, we never got to that. And they were aggressive. They took those spots. And basically, once they caught the ball, they didn’t wait; they just attacked us. So, we’ve got to do a better job of denying those catches and then controlling those guys.

On defending Phoenix’s Steve Nash:

Well, the assists are going to those guys who are attacking. If he’s passing the ball, then your weakside has got to defend that. The night before that, the first game, he had 25 points. So, everybody has got to do a better job of controlling the ball. Controlling those guys who are very capable of scoring.