KingKong
Starter
Rick Adelman
“That was a lot better than these close ones we’ve been having. I was really proud of the way the team played. We had the 10-point lead, the 11-point lead, and in the third quarter we got back up to 11. In the fourth quarter we just kind of slowly opened it up. We just kept defending, we rebounded – it was just a solid game. I don’t remember having many dead periods in that game so you have to give our guys a lot of credit. We came back after those two games in San Antonio and now it’s a three-game series. It’s really gratifying the way the we played.”
On having a healthy roster:
“I don’t even want to bring that up. We are playing at a really nice level. I would like to clarify one thing though – I always talk to Corliss (Williamson) in a game like this. He told me that he’d just assume not playing. In the final minutes he finally said he would go in. He goes in and he scores. Very rarely do I put him in a game like that when he’s been sitting the whole time – it was fun to see the crowd’s reaction and him getting in there and getting the basket.”
“(Bonzi's) just been a monster. They have a hard time guarding him – he’s quick, he’s aggressive, he’s strong obviously. I think the most impressive thing is the way he rebounded the ball – he had 17 boards tonight. He really went to the basket a couple of times strong, finishing at the rim. He’s just been spectacular – that’s all you can say about him. Tonight when we really needed him in the second half he was the one who kept coming at them and coming at them.”
Bonzi Wells
“I just try to hustle – that’s all I can really do. We’ve got so many other guys that are so much better than me and I just try to fit in and get in where I fit basically – make the hustle plays, do the little things that guys may not want to do.”
“It’s just unbelievable sometimes when they chant your name. Look where I came from and how hard people have been on me over the years – it just feels great to be a part of something special.”
“We just protected our home court the way they protected their home court. They won the first two games in their house and maybe we should’ve won one, maybe not – they probably feel the same way on our court. We’ve got to go down to San Antonio and get a victory. In order for us to win this series we’ve got to win on their home court so hopefully in Game 5 we can go down there and steal one. We might not even call it a steal – we know that we can play with this team and we can beat them.”
“I’m going to give the effort – I don’t know if I’m going to give 25 (points) and 17 (rebounds) every night but understand that I’m going to give a tremendous effort. I’m going to go out there and lay it on the line for the full 48 minutes. Getting hurt with a groin injury (during the season) was hard on me mentally but I’m glad that the organization was patient with me and a guy like Kevin Martin stepped in and played excellent. Now that I’ve gotten a chance to get back, I’m just happy with where I’m at right now.”
Mike Bibby
“It’s ugly, I have a gash on my lip. It’s not looking too good. It’s alright, it’s basketball.”
"We just have to give ourselves a chance. In Games 1 and 2, we didn’t give ourselves a chance. We have to put ourselves in a position to come away with a victory.”
“If Game 2 would have bounced our way, it could’ve been different. It’s a could’ve been, should’ve been, but that’s basketball. It’s going to be a really good game. Gregg (Popovich) is a really great coach and they have really good players. It’s definitely going to be a nice battle.”
“The crowd has been great, they are so energized. They get pumped. They get a little bit out of control at times but they just have so much energy. We try to feed off of them. We need to remember that we are still playing one of the best teams in the league. Arco Arena has really been rockin’.”
Mike Bibby
“We’ve been playing good lately. In our eyes we should be at 3-1 right now but we’re not. We have a lot of confidence. We played good, and we played good against them in the regular season. We know we can play with them, we just have to go out there and do it. We played both ends of the court tonight. I told you, we’re hard to beat when we play like that."
"We know it is going to be a tough game. They have a great record at their place. We beat them once out there during the regular season. Like I said, if we play like we did tonight, we’re going to give them a tough time.”
"He has been playing good. Bonzi plays tough, he plays hard. I knew coming in that he would play like that. He’s just doing everything.”
“We have to go in there an play like we are playing at home. We have to play together at both ends of the court and see what happens.”
"Everyone is playing good -- Kevin (Martin), Bonzi, Ron (Artest), you can go down the line. Everyone is having a good series with the exception of the first game. We just have to keep getting it from everyone.”
Shareef Abdur-Rahim
“(Tonight), we didn’t have any letdowns. In the other games we kind of had a drop-off at certain points during the game. We kind of just kept building and building and building. We’ve gotten a lot of confidence in the way we’ve played after Game 1. This series could be 3-1 really easily. You just have to take it a game at a time. [The crowd] was really into it. I don’t know if there’s another arena as far as fans getting into it and everything. We’re moving the ball and we got guys like Brad (Miller), Mike (Bibby) and Kevin (Martin) that can make shots. So, it’s just kind of sacrificing your game to get the best shot.”
“I mean, Tim is Tim, so you just have to battle and make his shots tough. He’s really long so even when you get there and play good D, he can still get his shot off. The first two games they shot the heck out of the ball, so we tried to take that away, and keep us from rotating and battling him hard.”
“We’re going in there and trying to get us a win. It’s a three-game series now. We’re going to go out and battle them, go out there and fight and have some fun.”
“Bonzi’s been playing huge for us this whole series, and really the whole year. He’s been really putting a lot of pressure on their guards. Posting up, and getting all those boards, he’s been a monster.”
Brad Miller
“We’ve still got a lot of work to do. Obviously, we just did what we’re supposed to. Now we need to try to get one on the road. We lost the first two and came back and got our two here. It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve made one of those shots (jumpers). I’ve been working a little bit extra on it. It just felt good to finally hit those shots with confidence. We’re just staying more focused."
“Obviously it was a big emphasis, they cut it to like to six points or something, but then we pushed it right back to double digits. It’s a three game series. We have to go in and win one game in San Antonio. There have been lots of adjustments. Tuesday’s going to be a lot different because they’re going to come out a little bit more focused. Playing at home adds quite a few points and quite a few extra buckets, so we’ve just got to stick with what we’re doing and keep our adjustments.”
SAN ANTONIO SPURS
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
“I think the Kings did a great job tonight. They beat us in just about every facet of the game. They were very physical, aggressive, showed a lot of desire, played well on top of all that, and we didn’t match it.”
“Bonzi (Wells) has been great. He’s been a one-man wrecking crew. Not that other people haven’t played well also, but he’s been pretty special on both ends of the court. Scoring and rebounding have been magnificent for him.”
“The turnover in Game 3 had nothing to do with the way (Manu) played tonight. That had more to do with Ron Artest. Manu’s a competitor and he plays, but I think that Ron has done a great job on him. But that game’s over. We gave up a tough turnover, but Manu’s mature enough to let it go and play.”
“We’re playing at the tempo that we usually play at. We got it up the court. We probably could have done it better at times, but the tempo has been fine. We don’t want to play too slow, that’s for sure.”
“(Brad Miller) hasn’t shot like that thus far, and that’s helped us do a variety of things as far as pick and roll defense. But when he’s making that shot it makes everything a lot tougher.”
Tim Duncan
“Defensively we were not very good. On top of that those guys (Sacramento) shot the ball very, very well. Bonzi (Wells) was incredible, and Brad (Miller) seemed to hit every open shot that he had which really opened up the court for them. We just couldn’t get a stop out there. We predicate all that we do on our defense and we were just not very good tonight.”
“Defense. We are just going to have to find a way to really contain these guys. Bonzi (Wells) has had one hell of a series so far. We have done a pretty good job of contesting open shots in this series but it seems like Bonzi (Wells) continues to get open and continues to get to the rack. We are going to have to do a better job on the defensive end.”
“I think that Game 2 really gave (Wells) a lot of confidence, when Ron (Artest) was out. They (Sacramento) really had to go to him (Bonzi). He just kind of flowed from there. He is going to be the guy that we are going to have to find an answer for.”
“I thought we had good energy and I thought we had good focus. Our game plan was solid, we went out there and executed as well as we could. I think we had a couple of mental mistakes early. Our turnovers hurt us, especially when facing a team as hot as they were. It’s just about righting the ship; we need to keep them off of the offensive glass, keep our turnovers down, and defensively find a way to really contain these guys.”
Tony Parker
“I think we need to call more stuff for (Ginobilli). Out of the transition he didn’t get a lot of stuff tonight. Maybe we need to call his number some more, or maybe try and slow down a little bit and go with a half court set. We need to get him going, because we definitely need him.”
On the similarities between this series and those of last year:
“It’s very similar. Ever since I have been with the Spurs we have gone up a lot of times 2-0, only to lose two straight. It happened in our first championship against Phoenix, and it happened in last year’s championship. We just have to focus on Game 5, because it’s the only thing that counts right now. We have to take care of our home court and try to put the pressure on them. It’s going to be a big game for us on Tuesday.”
http://www.nba.com/kings/news/Postgame_Quotesvs_San_Antoni-177784-58.html
“That was a lot better than these close ones we’ve been having. I was really proud of the way the team played. We had the 10-point lead, the 11-point lead, and in the third quarter we got back up to 11. In the fourth quarter we just kind of slowly opened it up. We just kept defending, we rebounded – it was just a solid game. I don’t remember having many dead periods in that game so you have to give our guys a lot of credit. We came back after those two games in San Antonio and now it’s a three-game series. It’s really gratifying the way the we played.”
On having a healthy roster:
“I don’t even want to bring that up. We are playing at a really nice level. I would like to clarify one thing though – I always talk to Corliss (Williamson) in a game like this. He told me that he’d just assume not playing. In the final minutes he finally said he would go in. He goes in and he scores. Very rarely do I put him in a game like that when he’s been sitting the whole time – it was fun to see the crowd’s reaction and him getting in there and getting the basket.”
“(Bonzi's) just been a monster. They have a hard time guarding him – he’s quick, he’s aggressive, he’s strong obviously. I think the most impressive thing is the way he rebounded the ball – he had 17 boards tonight. He really went to the basket a couple of times strong, finishing at the rim. He’s just been spectacular – that’s all you can say about him. Tonight when we really needed him in the second half he was the one who kept coming at them and coming at them.”
Bonzi Wells
“I just try to hustle – that’s all I can really do. We’ve got so many other guys that are so much better than me and I just try to fit in and get in where I fit basically – make the hustle plays, do the little things that guys may not want to do.”
“It’s just unbelievable sometimes when they chant your name. Look where I came from and how hard people have been on me over the years – it just feels great to be a part of something special.”
“We just protected our home court the way they protected their home court. They won the first two games in their house and maybe we should’ve won one, maybe not – they probably feel the same way on our court. We’ve got to go down to San Antonio and get a victory. In order for us to win this series we’ve got to win on their home court so hopefully in Game 5 we can go down there and steal one. We might not even call it a steal – we know that we can play with this team and we can beat them.”
“I’m going to give the effort – I don’t know if I’m going to give 25 (points) and 17 (rebounds) every night but understand that I’m going to give a tremendous effort. I’m going to go out there and lay it on the line for the full 48 minutes. Getting hurt with a groin injury (during the season) was hard on me mentally but I’m glad that the organization was patient with me and a guy like Kevin Martin stepped in and played excellent. Now that I’ve gotten a chance to get back, I’m just happy with where I’m at right now.”
Mike Bibby
“It’s ugly, I have a gash on my lip. It’s not looking too good. It’s alright, it’s basketball.”
"We just have to give ourselves a chance. In Games 1 and 2, we didn’t give ourselves a chance. We have to put ourselves in a position to come away with a victory.”
“If Game 2 would have bounced our way, it could’ve been different. It’s a could’ve been, should’ve been, but that’s basketball. It’s going to be a really good game. Gregg (Popovich) is a really great coach and they have really good players. It’s definitely going to be a nice battle.”
“The crowd has been great, they are so energized. They get pumped. They get a little bit out of control at times but they just have so much energy. We try to feed off of them. We need to remember that we are still playing one of the best teams in the league. Arco Arena has really been rockin’.”
Mike Bibby
“We’ve been playing good lately. In our eyes we should be at 3-1 right now but we’re not. We have a lot of confidence. We played good, and we played good against them in the regular season. We know we can play with them, we just have to go out there and do it. We played both ends of the court tonight. I told you, we’re hard to beat when we play like that."
"We know it is going to be a tough game. They have a great record at their place. We beat them once out there during the regular season. Like I said, if we play like we did tonight, we’re going to give them a tough time.”
"He has been playing good. Bonzi plays tough, he plays hard. I knew coming in that he would play like that. He’s just doing everything.”
“We have to go in there an play like we are playing at home. We have to play together at both ends of the court and see what happens.”
"Everyone is playing good -- Kevin (Martin), Bonzi, Ron (Artest), you can go down the line. Everyone is having a good series with the exception of the first game. We just have to keep getting it from everyone.”
Shareef Abdur-Rahim
“(Tonight), we didn’t have any letdowns. In the other games we kind of had a drop-off at certain points during the game. We kind of just kept building and building and building. We’ve gotten a lot of confidence in the way we’ve played after Game 1. This series could be 3-1 really easily. You just have to take it a game at a time. [The crowd] was really into it. I don’t know if there’s another arena as far as fans getting into it and everything. We’re moving the ball and we got guys like Brad (Miller), Mike (Bibby) and Kevin (Martin) that can make shots. So, it’s just kind of sacrificing your game to get the best shot.”
“I mean, Tim is Tim, so you just have to battle and make his shots tough. He’s really long so even when you get there and play good D, he can still get his shot off. The first two games they shot the heck out of the ball, so we tried to take that away, and keep us from rotating and battling him hard.”
“We’re going in there and trying to get us a win. It’s a three-game series now. We’re going to go out and battle them, go out there and fight and have some fun.”
“Bonzi’s been playing huge for us this whole series, and really the whole year. He’s been really putting a lot of pressure on their guards. Posting up, and getting all those boards, he’s been a monster.”
Brad Miller
“We’ve still got a lot of work to do. Obviously, we just did what we’re supposed to. Now we need to try to get one on the road. We lost the first two and came back and got our two here. It feels like it’s been forever since I’ve made one of those shots (jumpers). I’ve been working a little bit extra on it. It just felt good to finally hit those shots with confidence. We’re just staying more focused."
“Obviously it was a big emphasis, they cut it to like to six points or something, but then we pushed it right back to double digits. It’s a three game series. We have to go in and win one game in San Antonio. There have been lots of adjustments. Tuesday’s going to be a lot different because they’re going to come out a little bit more focused. Playing at home adds quite a few points and quite a few extra buckets, so we’ve just got to stick with what we’re doing and keep our adjustments.”
SAN ANTONIO SPURS
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
“I think the Kings did a great job tonight. They beat us in just about every facet of the game. They were very physical, aggressive, showed a lot of desire, played well on top of all that, and we didn’t match it.”
“Bonzi (Wells) has been great. He’s been a one-man wrecking crew. Not that other people haven’t played well also, but he’s been pretty special on both ends of the court. Scoring and rebounding have been magnificent for him.”
“The turnover in Game 3 had nothing to do with the way (Manu) played tonight. That had more to do with Ron Artest. Manu’s a competitor and he plays, but I think that Ron has done a great job on him. But that game’s over. We gave up a tough turnover, but Manu’s mature enough to let it go and play.”
“We’re playing at the tempo that we usually play at. We got it up the court. We probably could have done it better at times, but the tempo has been fine. We don’t want to play too slow, that’s for sure.”
“(Brad Miller) hasn’t shot like that thus far, and that’s helped us do a variety of things as far as pick and roll defense. But when he’s making that shot it makes everything a lot tougher.”
Tim Duncan
“Defensively we were not very good. On top of that those guys (Sacramento) shot the ball very, very well. Bonzi (Wells) was incredible, and Brad (Miller) seemed to hit every open shot that he had which really opened up the court for them. We just couldn’t get a stop out there. We predicate all that we do on our defense and we were just not very good tonight.”
“Defense. We are just going to have to find a way to really contain these guys. Bonzi (Wells) has had one hell of a series so far. We have done a pretty good job of contesting open shots in this series but it seems like Bonzi (Wells) continues to get open and continues to get to the rack. We are going to have to do a better job on the defensive end.”
“I think that Game 2 really gave (Wells) a lot of confidence, when Ron (Artest) was out. They (Sacramento) really had to go to him (Bonzi). He just kind of flowed from there. He is going to be the guy that we are going to have to find an answer for.”
“I thought we had good energy and I thought we had good focus. Our game plan was solid, we went out there and executed as well as we could. I think we had a couple of mental mistakes early. Our turnovers hurt us, especially when facing a team as hot as they were. It’s just about righting the ship; we need to keep them off of the offensive glass, keep our turnovers down, and defensively find a way to really contain these guys.”
Tony Parker
“I think we need to call more stuff for (Ginobilli). Out of the transition he didn’t get a lot of stuff tonight. Maybe we need to call his number some more, or maybe try and slow down a little bit and go with a half court set. We need to get him going, because we definitely need him.”
On the similarities between this series and those of last year:
“It’s very similar. Ever since I have been with the Spurs we have gone up a lot of times 2-0, only to lose two straight. It happened in our first championship against Phoenix, and it happened in last year’s championship. We just have to focus on Game 5, because it’s the only thing that counts right now. We have to take care of our home court and try to put the pressure on them. It’s going to be a big game for us on Tuesday.”
http://www.nba.com/kings/news/Postgame_Quotesvs_San_Antoni-177784-58.html
