Kings Coach Rick Adelman
“I thought our guys did a good job of following the game plan that we wanted to follow with (Denver). We wanted to control the tempo and make them guard us. We had over 20 fast break points and tonight they only had 12 – that was a big part of it. Down the stretch, Ron (Artest) made some good decisions. The guys were cutting and being active and they got a lot of things. It was a good win; obviously it was a win we really needed.”
”With smaller people you can post up bigger people and get around them. At the end of the game when you’re going to go to a player, he has to be able to make a play for himself, make free throws, and make plays. (Artest) is very willing to do that and it gives us something we really haven’t had – a guy you can put on the floor to break people down. I think as we get more used to it and have a chance to work on things we’re going to be able to get things out of it. Like I said, we’re just kind of going on the fly right here. Yesterday I gave them the day off even though it’s important to get on the floor. We were just on a 10-day trip and the guys just needed to get their legs back. So now we have a couple days and hopefully we’ll be able to do what we want to do.”
“(Kevin Martin) came in, he was aggressive, and he made shots. If we’re going to be successful, we’re going to need those guys to step up off the bench and I think he really gave us a lift in the second quarter. I think Brian (Skinner) did a good job on the boards; Kenny (Thomas) was good on the boards all night. Having Bonzi (Wells) back is a big difference – 14 rebounds – so it’s good to have those guys and maybe someday we’ll get Brad (Miller) back and we’ll have everybody.”
”Well we’ve lost a lot and with Brad (Miller) out, because Shareef (Abdur-Rahim)’s back, they think he’s ‘back,’ and maybe sometimes he really shouldn’t be. He’s lost a lot so much weight and if you watch him, he’s not as explosive.”
Kevin Martin
“I was just being aggressive. It’s definitely harder to find your rhythm coming off the bench. I had started the past 19 or 20 games, but you’ve got to give yourself a chance coming off the bench, so I’m going to be a little bit different. Yeah, there’s no doubt now that I’m going to have to score off the bench.”
Ron Artest
“I did what I had to do to draw a double-teams on me, and pass to the open guy and anyone of the guys can make something happen. I was more focused on playing with Bonzi (Wells). It was my first time playing with him, so we had to get a rhythm going together. I just wanted to make sure that my focus was on the game at all times. I caught myself being in the moment at times. First home game’s over with and now we can focus on our goals - which is making the playoffs.”
“It was good. We needed it bad and this win was very important. We can go far as long as we play together. We played together tonight. The thing I like about this team is that we all have confidence in each other. Guys take shots, nobody gets down and we all get back and we just play. My first two games were not as comfortable as I wanted them to be, but today was more comfortable. First game, I took a lot of jump shots and that’s not really my game. I just got to get comfortable shooting and attacking the rim.”
Bonzi Wells
“I’ve been ready to go for like a week or so. But our trainer just wanted to make sure that I wasn’t feeling any pain when I was going up and down the court. You have to do everything basketball style, like slide on defense, running and stopping in opposite directions. He (the trainer) wanted to make sure I could do all that with no pain. He just told me to wait another week until I’m totally healed. It felt good today. Even though I couldn’t hit those shots, it still felt good.”
“Ron’s a great player to play with. You saw what he did today. He’s a great inside-out player, he’s a great teammate and he’s a great defender. He really put the clamps on Carmelo Anthony in the first half and late in the fourth quarter. He made big stops for us. He encouraged us as a team to get stops too. That’s what we needed right there, a guy that’s going to get in our face a little bit. It was refreshing. He’s a load. He’s going to help us out in so many ways, especially on the defensive end.”
http://www.nba.com/kings/news/Postgame_Quotesvs_Denver-166638-58.html
Love the Artest/Bonzi quotes!
Cool of Rick to actually recognize Skinner... I hope Skinner plays or starts in the next two games vs. Utah, preferrably starting. Don't know about SAR subbing for Brad at all..
Last edited:
