More quotes...
More quotes from Kings.com
PHILADELPHIA 76ERS
Philadelphia 76ers Head Coach Jim O’Brien
“We got the type of looks that we wanted down the stretch, but unfortunately they didn’t fall the way we wanted them to. It’s a tough loss for our basketball team.”
“I think we started out well, in the first quarter and the third quarter, when we created the tempo that we wanted. Unfortunately, we were not able to sustain the tempo. I thought we broke well out of halftime. I’d like to see us sustain our tempo a little better, but I thought Chris (Webber) and Rodney (Rogers) played well, for not having been with us for very long.”
“Chris played 37 minutes, that’s probably too many minutes. He needs to get a break, but I would not disagree that his tempo was down at some points. I think that was a lot of time to play, considering what has gone on in his life, in the last couple days. He flew from Sacramento to Dallas, got traded, flew from Dallas to Sacramento to DC, got his physical, and then headed to Philadelphia to have practice. I think the fact that he played 37 minutes at the level that he did, is a real tribute to him.”
“Sacramento is a tough team to guard. They run a wide-open attack and are a perimeter-oriented basketball team. I think they utilized Corliss (Williamson) well to try to take Kyle (Korver) out of the game. They succeeded in doing that because Kyle had five fouls. But I’m not sure about the defense.”
“I definitely think that this is a good starting lineup.”
Philadelphia 76ers Guard Allen Iverson
“They did whatever they had to do to get the win. They played better, obviously. We’ve just got a long way to go.”
“It was great. It was good. It hadn’t been like that in a while. So I’m happy the fans are coming out and support us. Hopefully it will continue.”
“Coach (O’Brien) told me to miss the shot. So I tried to make it hit off the backboard, and then hit off the front of the rim. I told Chris (Webber) that the rebound was going to come long. Everything happened right. We just couldn’t finish it.”
“It’s great. Like you said, the atmosphere was great. Fans showed great support for him. We were happy to see that, see them embrace him like that. Hopefully it’s the start of something good. I wish he could have got his first game here a win, start things off right, but hopefully we’ll get that done in Milwaukee. But it was a lot of positives in this game. I think for the little time that he had to play with us, and Rodney (Rogers) too, for that matter, they did an excellent job. Now the whole thing is just trying to get some chemistry.”
“It was cool. I expected it to be a little up and down. I didn’t expect everything to be peaches and cream. But it can be better. You got one day, not even a practice, just a shoot around. But our shoot arounds are practices. But one practice. He (Chris Webber) looked good out there. So I’m still happy, I’m still looking forward to the rest of the season. I still think we’ve got a shot to do whatever we want to do.”
“Obviously, it will help me out. I’m used to guys double-teaming, triple-teaming me. It’ll be good for a change to have somebody on the floor that’s getting double-teamed. I think it only can help me in the long run. But we’ve just got to understand that this is just game one. Even if we would have (come) out here and blew that team out, it’s still only one game. I still feel happy about our opportunity, the chances we have to be successful. I’m just ready to try to get it done.”
Philadelphia 76ers Forward Chris Webber
“I’m disappointed. I wanted to win bad, and I know these guys wanted to win for me. And we had our chances at the end. A team playing its first day together, it’s not acceptable, but you see where the improvement can be made. And there’s so many little things. And those little things take time. You’ve just got to get to know each other. So I’m definitely disappointed about the loss, but I’m encouraged about the team I’m on here because I think we have a lot of good pieces, and I actually got to play with these guys. So I’m encouraged, definitely.”
“I think we missed the free throws, and Allen said ‘Come back to me. Don’t go inside because I’m gonna hit it hard. And for some reason that play never works, and I just knew it was going to work this time. It bounced, I tried to get it out of my left hand and throw it up, thinking time and all that, and then there was more time than I thought. After I missed it, it was a letdown. I just tried to get the rebound and force it back up as quick as I could to tie the game, but it didn’t go. Believe me, I wanted to win and make that more than anybody, but tonight it just didn’t happen. But we’ve got a game Tuesday and we’ll be ready.”
“I think I definitely need to be in a system. We need to get to know each other as far as the team and me. They’ve definitely tried to make me very comfortable by putting things at the odd post and things like that. But I definitely feel like I could do more, and that’s what’s encouraging as well.”
On the differences between the systems of the two teams
“It’s like the difference between cursive and shorthand. It’s crazy. I will make an adjustment.”
On playing against his old teammates…
“It was cool. It was more like an intense practice, because like I said, it’s just been two days. I wasn’t even able to build up anger, just energy, trying to play. But we have them again, and I’m sure next time we won’t be so familiar.”
On playing with Allen Iverson…
“He’s incredible. The one thing I will say is I’m coming from one great point guard to one of the greatest, so that’s another thing, just the movements. Mike is deadly and slow. [Iverson is] quick, sassy… he’s gonna hurt you bad, quick. So there’s differences like learning pacing, learning what guys are like, learning their pet moves, and things like that. I just tried to stay out of A.I.’s way. Before I could go back and forth and pick and run all day, but I just tried to let him feel as comfortable as he could so that he could keep this thing going while I fit in. I need to make an adjustment to the team. The team doesn’t need to adjust to me.”
On whether he was nervous…
“Oh, definitely. I’m human. But it was the good butterflies. Before a job interview, if you have a good feeling about it; before a game, if you have a good feeling about it - those things that you have a good feeling about but your stomach’s still nervous, that’s what it was. It wasn’t a fear or scare because usually you’re nervous up until the jump ball, and when the fans did that and I hit my first shot and they reacted that way, it was like, ‘OK, this is gonna be home.’ It felt great, from the signs to everybody. I’m just disappointed that I couldn’t bring a win home.”
Philadelphia 76ers Center Marc Jackson
“It’s very tough. They have three of our ex-team members, too, so it is kind of personal for us. We lost; we let it slip away. We have to close out better, we have to keep our runs going and we have to finish plays.”
“It was a great trade. We welcome it. It is going to help the ball club and that is all that counts.”
“We have a [defensive] scheme here. They have only been here for two days, [Chris] and Rodney, so once they get going and get the skinny of it, we’re going to be a better team. It is going to take time - it has taken us up until now to get it - so we can’t expect them to get it in two days.”
Philadelphia 76ers Forward Kyle Korver
“We really had it going early on, it was fun and the crowd was into it, and then it just stopped happening for us. We know we have to have time to gel, but, obviously, we wanted to have a big win tonight. It doesn’t always work out like you want, but we’ll practice tomorrow and try to get better.”
“It was just really fun for a while. It was just a really fun brand of basketball. We had guys passing the ball and moving and cutting. It was a different feel than before the trade. We still have to improve on some things and get on the same page, but it is exciting to see the potential of this team.”
“A bunch of that will happen. I just have to do my part and knock down my shots, which I didn’t do tonight.”
http://www.nba.com/kings/news/Postgame_Quotesat_Philly-133641-58.html