Postgame Quotes: Kings vs. Raptors
March 10, 2010 by kingsconnect
KINGS HEAD COACH PAUL WESTPHAL
“Obviously we really enjoyed the night. I think it was a treat for the fans to come out and honor Tyreke (Evans) that way and for him to have his first career triple-double – there’s going to be a lot of them. Our defense really did it. I thought the fact that in the first half we were only down five, turning the ball over, and really playing as poorly as we did, I thought that really said a lot for our defense. Then, in the second half, it all came together for us. That’s the vision of how we want our team to play – getting stops, limiting them to one shot, no turnovers and attacking with a lot of different players. So, that was very much validation for our players, (with) a tough back-to-back, to be able to put together a game like that. It was really exciting to see Tyreke have such a fitting night when there were people that came out for him.”
On Chris Bosh
“Between Carl (Landry) and Jason Thompson primarily, and help from different places at different times, he had a rough night. Now, we know a player as good as Chris Bosh a lot of times, it’s just because he missed, but we made him work and he did miss. We did a good job of limiting them to one shot and it was primarily Carl and JT.”
“Well (Omri Casspi) played like he has shown he can play, with a kind of energy and passion. I just give him a lot of credit for coming out and proving that he’s not too tired to compete. I thought Donte (Greene) did a really nice job at that position too so between those two players they both struggled a little bit last night in Portland and they came out of it in a big way and they both helped us quite a bit.”
“I think awards have their place and there are a lot of really good rookies this year. I wouldn’t want to downplay any of the things that they’ve done – there have been some phenomenal performances by some really talented young players. But when you just look at it objectively from day one, all the way through now, (Tyreke) has consistently been up there averaging over 20 (points), five boards and five assists and really taking steps to change the culture of this team. I just think that his consistency, as well as the obvious talent that he has, just really makes it an open and closed vote. I really don’t see how anybody else could get a vote if people look at the totality of the season. Now, there are some great players and they might end up having more successful careers than Tyreke – how can anybody predict that – but for this year, it’s just not even close. For what he’s done game after game all the way through, he’s one of the most consistent rookies I’ve ever seen.”
Tyreke Evans
“Coach told me that he wanted me to get it (a triple-double). He kept telling me to find people and he said I had a limited amount of time too, so I was trying to get it as fast as I could.”
On Defense
“It was a good job by Carl (Landry) and Jason (Thompson). They played (Chris) Bosh really well. I think we got the win because they got the stops tonight and we were able to get our fastbreak points.”
On RekeROY night
“It was exciting and it reminded me of college at Memphis. It was a college atmosphere out there and I had a lot of fun. The crowd was into it and we played really well in the second half. Beno (Udrih) started out good, than Donte (Greene) and Jason (Thompson) and Carl (Landry) were all hitting shots. That was when we were at our best, when everyone was playing well.”
On having a great second half
“They did a good job on (Chris) Bosh, they took some tough shots and got fastbreak points, I was able to get Carl a couple of baskets and Beno hit a couple three’s. From there we kept it going and were on a roll.”
Carl Landry
“Coach told us that this is one that we needed to have. We went out there and the first five minutes of the game we just stayed aggressive and attacked. We pretty much sucked the air out of them.”
“It was really fun. Having a chance to see Omri (Casspi) get on the board after he had a tough first half of the game. In the third quarter to see him score, that was fun. We are all like brothers in here. We are with each other eight months of the year. It was a good feeling out there tonight.”
On their confidence tonight
“That is all a young team needs is confidence. We are all playing here, and with confidence I think this team is going to get to the next level.”
On Tyreke
“He is a phenomenal player. He had a great game today. I think it was his first triple-double. That is something that a lot of people in this league won’t accomplish and he accomplished that as a rookie. That is a great accomplishment.”
Beno Udrih
On coming out with energy in the second half
“We were down five points (coming into the third quarter) and we said that we were going to bring the energy and we did. We moved the ball, we played good defense and whenever you do that, even a playoff team can’t do anything about it. We just kept the momentum going into the fourth quarter and just played good.”
On playing good defense
“I think that my mentality about basketball is defense wins. So today we did that and we played good defense on Bosh and the Raptors. We definitely came out and played defense and that is why we won.”
Toronto Raptors Head Coach Jay Triano
Tonight’s game…
“I think we got really selfish. We had guys coming down and taking shots and other guys are not happy that they don’t touch the ball. We miss the shot and they get the rebound and then fastbreak points. It’s a 10-0 run before you know it. We caved after that. We tried to call timeout and tried to bring them back together but again it’s the same thing. This is a team that if you give a little confidence to, they didn’t have it the first half and they did the second. It just streamrolled from there.”
Back-to-back games…
“Honestly I didn’t see a lot wrong with our energy. Sacramento played last night too. The biggest difference tonight was two words - selfishness and confidence. We got selfish and they got confidence.”
Tyreke Evans…
“In the third quarter I thought we started to come back tonight then he just picked us apart. We can’t stop him with one guy. Their confidence was rolling so he kicks it out and they start making threes. He’s tough to guard.”
Jose Calderon, Toronto Raptors Guard
Selfishness effecting tonight’s game…
“It’s team defense. Sometimes it’s good when you don’t want your man to score but you should be able to help your teammates too. Hopefully we’ll have a day off, practice Friday and be ready for the next game.”
Chris Bosh, Toronto Raptors Forward
Tonight’s game…
“Tonight was a tale of two halves. I think we let our offense dictate too much defensively. You are going to have nights when you struggle offensively but you can’t let that dictate your mood.”
The most memorable and most significant part of this game for me was JT and that dunk.
Face up, and attack the rim….more please….
Certain players "awe" to take the open shot (catch and shoot) and stop those useless little 1-2 dribbles… Keep the ball up and stop getting stripped….
Great win for the Kings! Tyreke's triple double was very rewarding to watch and very well deserved by our young rookie! Beno's consistent play should not be over looked. Carl and JT did a great job defensively as well as Donte Greene. Francisco Garcia was the cherry on the cake he went 5 for 5 from the floor and was perfect from the free throw line, one can only imagine what might have been for Cisco had he not injured himself earlier in the season. Hopefully the Kings can close out the year with some w's and build on that for the next season!