Postgame Quotes-vs. Seattle
Kings Coach Rick Adelman
“It was a disappointing loss. The guys really played hard they just made some mistakes down the stretch and it cost us the game. We had some mismatches, we couldn’t make enough adjustments too but we still had every chance to win that game.
We gave up an offensive rebound, a long rebound, we had guys starting to leak out, went for steals twice, once on (Vladimir) Radmanovic and once on (Rashard) Lewis, and it gave them a chance to get to the basket instead of making them take shots. We had Cuttino (Mobley) isolated on (Reggie) Evans and we had two guys run over into his area so we had to take a forced three and we did stuff like that to win games, especially when you have disadvantages all over the court. You just can’t make those mistakes. But again we are playing a lot of different combinations that we haven’t played. I give those guys a lot of credit. The only thing that was disappointing, again, was we lost our composure in that third quarter. You’ve got to stay in the game and we can’t have Brad (Miller) and Mike (Bibby) on the sideline in a game like this. Plus getting technicals and we know who the officiating crew is and you’ve just got to play through it. We really gave them a good effort. We came back on them in the fourth quarter and we had a couple good looks. We just couldn’t get them to go down. They made the points in the last minute and a half.
Cuttino Mobley
On playing injured:
“Sometimes you’re just a decoy. Sometimes being a decoy out there kind of helps us too. Sometimes you’ve just got to stick it out. If you have a full roster, then maybe you can sit down, but right now we need it.”
“We played well. We made them take tough shots and we didn’t let them get to the basket too many times.”
On all the injuries on the team:
“I’ve been through it before. My second year in the league, Steve [Francis] was out, Dream [Hakeem] was out, Charles [Barkley] was out, and I was the only second year. Every one else was a rookie. I played the whole season getting triple-teamed. I was just telling the guys that when you’re on a great team, you’ve got to be grateful for it. You’ve just got to do your best and give it your all.”
Mike Bibby:
“There were a couple times when hustle plays came into effect at the end of the game that might have pushed it over the end for us. But we played well and that’s all you can ask for.”
“We’ve just got to forget about it and play tomorrow. The good thing about this league is that we get to play tomorrow and make up for it.”
“On this team, when people are down, other people step up and that’s what everybody has been doing.”
Michael Bradley:
“I just try to help in anyway when I get out there.”
“I stay ready. This is my fourth year, and things haven’t always gone my way. I’ve had to fight for every opportunity that I’ve had. I’m going to stay ready, stay in shape, and when I get called on, I’m going to do the best I can.”
“It would have been a big win for us. We were about tied with them, record-wise. We were without two of our best guys, three including Bobby. It would have been a huge win for us, we gave it a good effort and just came up a couple plays short.”
SEATTLE SONICS
Assistant head coach Dwane Casey
“Rashard did a great job. He brought the team together. He held them, he was their captain throughout the night. He did a great job of rallying the guys together and made sure they stayed together when things got a little frayed. He did an excellent job in the post, took his time, made great decisions except the last couple of decisions, but throughout the game he made the right decisions down in the post.”
“It was a good game. Guys came out and gave an effort. You know again, this is not my team. This game tonight was for Nate’s (McMillian) family. I’m so proud the guys came out and competed. That’s what I thought we lacked last night.”
“I thought tonight we gave a hard, vicious effort that we needed to win the game.”
Forward Danny Fortson
“My thing is if we’re all going to play physical let it be physical. No sense in jumping in and stopping it. We got the win, that’s all that matters.”
“It’s a good win, to come in here without Nate [McMillian] and Ray [Allen].”
Forward Vladimir Radmanovic
“You have to stop a team in order to win, especially in the fourth quarter, and that’s what we did. I know [Chris] Webber and [Peja] Stojakovic aren’t playing. This is an NBA team—everyone can play, so you have to find a way to stop these guys and execute them at the other end of the floor.”
Ronald Murray
“I know I had a bad game yesterday, but I didn’t let that hold me down. I knew when I came out I was going to have a better outing. I told them before the game, I was going to have a better outing tonight than what I did last night. They believed in me, they put the ball in my hands and I tried to make something happen.”
“It was a disappointing loss. The guys really played hard they just made some mistakes down the stretch and it cost us the game. We had some mismatches, we couldn’t make enough adjustments too but we still had every chance to win that game.
We gave up an offensive rebound, a long rebound, we had guys starting to leak out, went for steals twice, once on (Vladimir) Radmanovic and once on (Rashard) Lewis, and it gave them a chance to get to the basket instead of making them take shots. We had Cuttino (Mobley) isolated on (Reggie) Evans and we had two guys run over into his area so we had to take a forced three and we did stuff like that to win games, especially when you have disadvantages all over the court. You just can’t make those mistakes. But again we are playing a lot of different combinations that we haven’t played. I give those guys a lot of credit. The only thing that was disappointing, again, was we lost our composure in that third quarter. You’ve got to stay in the game and we can’t have Brad (Miller) and Mike (Bibby) on the sideline in a game like this. Plus getting technicals and we know who the officiating crew is and you’ve just got to play through it. We really gave them a good effort. We came back on them in the fourth quarter and we had a couple good looks. We just couldn’t get them to go down. They made the points in the last minute and a half.
On playing injured:
“Sometimes you’re just a decoy. Sometimes being a decoy out there kind of helps us too. Sometimes you’ve just got to stick it out. If you have a full roster, then maybe you can sit down, but right now we need it.”
“We played well. We made them take tough shots and we didn’t let them get to the basket too many times.”
On all the injuries on the team:
“I’ve been through it before. My second year in the league, Steve [Francis] was out, Dream [Hakeem] was out, Charles [Barkley] was out, and I was the only second year. Every one else was a rookie. I played the whole season getting triple-teamed. I was just telling the guys that when you’re on a great team, you’ve got to be grateful for it. You’ve just got to do your best and give it your all.”
“There were a couple times when hustle plays came into effect at the end of the game that might have pushed it over the end for us. But we played well and that’s all you can ask for.”
“We’ve just got to forget about it and play tomorrow. The good thing about this league is that we get to play tomorrow and make up for it.”
“On this team, when people are down, other people step up and that’s what everybody has been doing.”
“I just try to help in anyway when I get out there.”
“I stay ready. This is my fourth year, and things haven’t always gone my way. I’ve had to fight for every opportunity that I’ve had. I’m going to stay ready, stay in shape, and when I get called on, I’m going to do the best I can.”
“It would have been a big win for us. We were about tied with them, record-wise. We were without two of our best guys, three including Bobby. It would have been a huge win for us, we gave it a good effort and just came up a couple plays short.”
SEATTLE SONICS
Assistant head coach Dwane Casey
“Rashard did a great job. He brought the team together. He held them, he was their captain throughout the night. He did a great job of rallying the guys together and made sure they stayed together when things got a little frayed. He did an excellent job in the post, took his time, made great decisions except the last couple of decisions, but throughout the game he made the right decisions down in the post.”
“It was a good game. Guys came out and gave an effort. You know again, this is not my team. This game tonight was for Nate’s (McMillian) family. I’m so proud the guys came out and competed. That’s what I thought we lacked last night.”
“I thought tonight we gave a hard, vicious effort that we needed to win the game.”
Forward Danny Fortson
“My thing is if we’re all going to play physical let it be physical. No sense in jumping in and stopping it. We got the win, that’s all that matters.”
“It’s a good win, to come in here without Nate [McMillian] and Ray [Allen].”
Forward Vladimir Radmanovic
“You have to stop a team in order to win, especially in the fourth quarter, and that’s what we did. I know [Chris] Webber and [Peja] Stojakovic aren’t playing. This is an NBA team—everyone can play, so you have to find a way to stop these guys and execute them at the other end of the floor.”
Ronald Murray
“I know I had a bad game yesterday, but I didn’t let that hold me down. I knew when I came out I was going to have a better outing. I told them before the game, I was going to have a better outing tonight than what I did last night. They believed in me, they put the ball in my hands and I tried to make something happen.”
