Kayte’s Kings Player-by-Player Breakdown

The season is over, and now we can delve deeper into what is ahead for the Kings.

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Postgame Quotes: Kings @ Cavs

SACRAMENTO HEAD COACH PAUL WESTPHAL

(On the game):
“I don’t know if Cleveland was ever thinking they were going to lose that game, but we sure thought that we played as well as we could play under the circumstances. We were trying to stay close and find a way to pull it out at the end. When LeBron (James) hit that shot from about six or seven feet behind the line with one second on the shot clock, that pretty much took care of things.”

(On the Kings):
“I was really proud of our team. You could say we turned it over a little bit too much in the first half. We were playing with one guard (Beno Udrih) and one center (Jason Thompson) and, really, seven players and I thought we got some phenomenal efforts from a lot of people, and we’re very proud of our team.”

(On the Kings bench):
“(Laughing) You mean Ime (Udoka) and (Andres) Nocioni? They were very important. Nocioni has been struggling with his shot lately. He’s a real pro and I thought when he got it going, it was nice that we could ride him. He gave us a real big lift off the bench. We had no backup for Beno, so he had to go the whole game and we had no backup for Jason Thompson and he went the whole game and (Carl) Landry played a lot. You could see it, the last few minutes, Beno was wobbly a little bit, but what a sensational game he played. He handled the ball for 48 minutes against that team and run the show the way he did, is just really a great effort.”

(On LeBron James and the problems he causes teams):
“You don’t even know where to start with him. He’s such a complete player. He doesn’t ever seem to get tired and he does it at both ends (of the court). You really just sort of hope he has an off game because there’s not much you’re going to do to make him have a bad game. You double him, he’ll pass it and they have enough good players to make you pay. He’s a great ball handler, he can pretty much pick his spots and inflict his will on the game whenever he wants to. He’s really that good.”

BENO UDRIH

(On the Kings effort with the injuries):
“I think we played great with the best team in the NBA right now. We were right there basically, we knew a couple of guys were going to have to play a lot of minutes and we were pacing ourselves and trying to get some stops. I think we were good out there. At the end, we came up short a little bit and that’s because of the guys getting hurt. It is what it is.”

(On his possible fatigue from playing the entire game):
“I paced myself. Sometimes, I run around a little bit more. This time, I had to pace myself a little bit more. I wasn’t as tired as I thought I would be. I think I was keeping my energy as much as I could.”

(On his triple-double):
“I found out I had a triple-double, Spencer (Hawes) told me so. It is what it is, it doesn’t matter at the end, we still lost. It would be much sweeter if we won.”

(On LeBron James in the fourth quarter of close games):
“He’s just a great player. I can’t really give him enough credit. He does everything. He rebounds, he pushes the ball, he finds his teammates. I remember him when he came to the league and he was struggling with his shot a little bit. He’s improved his shot and is much better. A lot of people, I think, still think of him like he can’t shoot. But, he knocked down some big shots and he knocked down that big three-point shot at the shot clock and that basically gave them a seven-point lead, and against teams like that, once they get a nine-point lead, you know it’s basically over. His teammates know exactly where he is and even if you double team him, somehow they will get him open and get him the ball. That’s how it is supposed to be, you have to give the ball to the main guy to make plays.”

OMRI CASSPI

(On the end of the game):
“I think, at the end of the game, you have to make shots and we came up a little bit short. LeBron made shots and sometimes you lose games by the little things.”

(On his performance):
“I felt good out there. I had an opportunity to play a little bit more and get a little rhythm. I’m just happy I could go out there and compete. “

CAVALIERS HEAD COACH MIKE BROWN

(On tonight’s win):
“It was a good win. I thought that in the fourth quarter, we stepped up our defense and that was the difference in the ballgame. The game was a little disjointed, a little ugly, but it was good to be able to get the win, especially with the way Beno Udrih played tonight. He had a big night obviously, and (so did) Landry, Thompson and Nocioni off the bench. For us to step up defensively in the fourth quarter and get this win is great. We have still got to keep trying to continue to build on that edge that we had and if we can, we will be fine going down into the playoffs.”

(On having Z back as a Cavalier):
“It’s great. This is Z’s third game that he’s played with us and it’s been terrific having him back in a Cavs uniform. He’s a great guy, his wife is terrific and he has done a lot for this organization and community.”

(On missing Anderson Varejao in the lineup):
“Andy is a big piece to what we do, so the bench doesn’t just miss him, but the whole team does. For him to be out means that others guys are going to have to step up, and I thought Leon did a terrific job, especially late in the fourth quarter, of stepping up.”

(On missing the energy Anderson brings to the floor):
“That’s what he does. He does that for us. Not to say that the other guys don’t, but he comes up with some big hustle plays and big plays around the rim. We missed that a little bit in the second half against San Antonio and we missed it a little bit tonight. I thought that Leon was big for us in that area coming up with some 50/50 balls and stuff like that, especially around the basket.”

(On the reception the fans gave Z for his first home game back):
“It was great. We have the best fans in the league and it was terrific to see them give him the reception that they did. It was definitely well-deserved.”

(On thinking about the playoffs):
“We need to just keep taking it one game at a time. There’s really nothing flashy, crazy or out of the box that we are doing right now. We have just got to keep trying to get better every day, whether it’s playing a game or practicing with contact or not practicing with contact. We can’t get too far ahead of ourselves because there are still some things that we need to try to iron out with Z back in the lineup before we get going in the playoffs.”

LEBRON JAMES

(On the fourth quarter defensively):
“They started to miss some shots and we also clamped down. The fourth quarter is winning time and we made our stamp on the game then.”

(On Z’s first home game back):
“We laughed and joked that it was the second-most anticipated comeback besides when Jordan retired. These fans and Z have something they cherish in one another and it was good to see the fans really appreciate him coming back. I was very delighted and happy to have him back as a part of this franchise.”

(On the Kings’ performance):
“Even with Tyreke out, they’ve got some good scorers. The Western Conference is very tough, but they’ve got some good pieces.”

(On Antawn Jamison playing at small forward):
“Tawn can definitely take advantage of the small three’s because he’s a natural four. His ability to post up really helps us a lot. He can guard three’s well too, which is really good for our team and we took advantage of that.”

(On balancing finishing the season strong and getting rest):
“We rest on off days and days we don’t have games. We want to close out the season playing the way we’ve been playing. We will take full advantage of our schedule (taking rest where we can) as we don’t play until Wednesday.”

(On upcoming stretch of games):
“We want to continue to play against the best, especially coming down the stretch. We look forward to (Milwaukee and Atlanta) coming into our house and then going on the road Sunday against Boston.”

ANTAWN JAMISON

(On Z coming back):
“He’s meant a lot to this community. He has been here his whole career. It seemed like it fit for him to come back here and get an opportunity to achieve something special. I’ve battled with him my whole career and now we’re teammates and it’s a good feeling. It was one of those things that was meant to happen and I’m glad that it did.”

(On the fan’s ovation for Z):
“It speaks for itself. He has been here for the bad and now the good, and it’s unfortunate that things happen as far as the business side and getting traded, but it’s fortunate that they were able to work something out. When he was gone, fans were saying how much they missed him and how much they wanted him to come back. It’s amazing what he has meant to this organization and, more importantly, to the community and the city of Cleveland.”

(On being on the floor with Z):
“It moves me to the three a little bit more and when they post me up, it opens the floor a little bit more. He is a five that can stretch the floor and knock down a jumper. We are still trying to get everything down chemistry-wise offensively. He’s been in the system for a while, which has made it easier for me. Defensively we all have each other’s back. He has a high basketball IQ and he knows how to play the game and make the game easy.”

(On playing the three position):
“When LeBron sits down, they want me to come in and play the three. The thing about it is when I play the three, I can post up most three’s in this league, and that is what I’m successful at as far as getting on the post and using my quickness and my strength a little bit. It’s one of those things where I have been given an opportunity to put the ball in the basket. My teammates have done a good job of getting me the ball where I can be successful and I have been able to do that lately. Talking to LeBron and the coaching staff, they want me to be aggressive and do the things that I have been doing my whole career.”

ZYDRUNAS ILGAUSKAS

(On the fan’s reception):
“It was great. It was a little emotional the whole day. The crowd was awesome as they always have been for me throughout the years. It was something that I will remember for a long time. People appreciate what I have done over the years and I appreciate what they have done for me and my family for the last 14 years.”

(On his feelings before the game):
“I haven’t been nervous before a basketball game in a long time. From the time I woke up, I just wanted to get here and start playing because it’s been a long time. We got a win so it was a good day.”

(On going forward in the season):
“For myself personally, I know I have to keep working and get better. Each game I feel better and better as far as basketball goes. We have a chance to win it all and that is my only wish for this year.”

(On the team’s championship prospects):
“We have the best record in the NBA. I always thought that if you knock on the door long enough, eventually it will open and we’ve been knocking for a while and came up short a couple of times. Something feels special about this year.”

Postgame Recap: Kings vs. Bucks

MILWAUKEE 114, SACRAMENTO 108 2OT

March 19, 2010 - At ARCO Arena, Brandon Jennings hit a career-high eight 3-pointers en route to a game-high 35 points and John Salmons added 27 points as the Bucks outlasted the Kings, 114-108, in double overtime. Milwaukee rallied from a nine-point deficit with 2:28 left in the fourth quarter to tie the score at 95-95 on Ersan Ilyasova’s 3-pointer with 6.4 seconds left in regulation. A jumper by Beno Udrih with 59 seconds left in the first overtime session tied the score at 101-101. Neither team could score on its final possession, forcing a second overtime. The Bucks led by five, 110-105, at the two minute mark, but the Kings closed to within two, 110-108, with 59.6 seconds left in the second overtime. However, Salmons hit a bank shot and Ilyasova made two free throws to seal the comeback win for Milwaukee. Tyreke Evans’ night ended when an Ilyosova elbow caught him in the jaw as both players went for a rebound with 27.3 seconds left in regulation. Evans, who suffered a concussion and a laceration on his gums, finished with 15 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals. Udrih led the Kings with 26 points. Ime Udoka grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds off the bench, one shy of his career-high. Spencer Hawes and Carl Landry each tallied 16 points. Andrew Bogut (21 points, 11 rebounds) and Ilyasova (12 points, 11 rebounds) recorded double-doubles for the Bucks, 13-3 since the All-Star break.

Kings Season Ticket Holders Privy to Exciting Ride

Like many post-practice days, Carl Landry and Joey Dorsey hung out after another intense practice.

They talked trash, shared laughs and played videogames.

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Postgame Quotes: Kings vs. Clippers

KINGS HEAD COACH PAUL WESTPHAL

“On a night that we didn’t shoot the ball particularly well, I thought our defense won the game for us. I thought that we played 48 minutes of first class defense, really for the second game in a row. When our offense let us down a little bit and our free throw shooting let us down a little bit, we still hung on because of the defense until we were able to make the shots we needed to win the game. So I view this as a big step forward in our progression as a team – to be able to get a defensive win against a team that just handled us pretty easily last week. I thought Ime (Udoka) probably made the play of the game when we missed a shot and we had a one-point lead and then he stole it and we ended up scoring and it gave us a little bit of breathing room. I thought that Carl (Landry) was huge for us down the stretch and of course Tyreke (Evans) started making some of those shots he was missing to put the game away for us. So I feel great about our effort. I thought Spencer (Hawes) played a good complete game. Even though in the second half he didn’t score, I still thought that he was a big part of the win. It’s great to not shoot the ball very well and still get a win.”

“Even though we weren’t really able to score that much, the fact that we only turned it over nine times (shows that) our offense didn’t beat us. If we would have had 20 turnovers and shot 43.2% percent, we would be talking about a loss. It’s been two games in a row where we’ve done a good job of taking care of the ball and we didn’t do anything to beat ourselves.”

“It always puts smiles on people’s faces when you win. We’ve tried to maintain confidence in the players, and have them feel our confidence, because we know that a lot of the tough breaks that come in this league aren’t because of lack of effort. We need more experience, we need more experience together, and so because you don’t have those things, there’s no reason to be mad. I think our team has done a pretty good job of keeping the focus on continued improvement and I think that’s probably why we’re smiling as much as the wins in a lot of ways.”

“I’ve got great confidence in Ime. He’s a player that the other guys respect for his knowledge and his toughness and his experience. We lean on him at both ends of the floor in pressure situations.”

“We’ve made strides. We understand the need to become a good defensive team. We’ve had two good defensive performances in row, and I think three out of the last five we’ve played 48 minutes of good defense. If we can have that be our calling card as well as to be an offensive team that’s tough to guard – which I think we’re a lot more balanced now with Carl to be able to go into the low post and get some big fourth quarter hoops, get to the line – I think that we’re taking some good steps toward becoming a legitimate NBA team that can expect to win whenever we play, at least hope to win whenever we play.”

“Well we view every game as important. We want to win any time we play. We want to learn from whatever the lesson is from that day, every time we play, and at the same time we want to develop our young players. We won’t give young players playing time – they have to earn it. But if it’s a situation where we can develop them, I think it’s in the best interest of the franchise. We’re counting our wins; we want to get as many as we possibly can and build on that next year.”

Tyreke Evans

“It felt pretty good. We played good defense. Spencer (Hawes) came out and gave us a good start. I think that is what carried us on from there.”

On playing better defense tonight
“Coach told me to keep attacking, and when I attack I put the pressure on the defense. I was trying to attack and find the open guys and Beno (Udrih) and Omri (Casspi).”

On the Clippers winning the previous match up
“I wasn’t thinking about the loss (to the Clippers last game) but I knew I wanted to get them back. They beat us and then they came into our house and we just wanted to get a win.”

On Baron Davis
“I have known Baron since I was coming up in basketball. We played AAU basketball. I talk to him a lot and we were just talking about if I fouled him or not. We know each other pretty well.”

Spencer Hawes

“We have a tough road trip ahead, but we have some good momentum of basketball going into it.”

On setting the tone early
“I think that it was key not only for myself, but for the team. We came out and were being aggressive and assertive early. We were trying to put the pressure on the defense and also trying to open up for the other guys.”

On Chris Kaman
“He is an All-Star, there are no bones about it. He is so skilled down there and for me it is kind of like playing against myself. He goes left or right, and can really create so many problems when he gets rolling. I think our team did a great job of containing him.”

“It is good to have the fans out here and supporting us. It is good to have that swagger back at ARCO.”

Beno Udrih

On if the team is feeling looser and not so tense
“Coach was trying to tell us all year long to push the ball up the court faster and to get some easy buckets if we can. We have been getting into our offensive sets faster lately. Before, we were fighting against the shot clock. Now, we fight maybe one or two times. We are just playing a lot faster and we have been moving the ball much better. We also are not turning over the ball as much anymore and we are learning. It is a long process.”

On putting in hard work
“This year we have been working really hard. We had two good practices. We beat Utah, we beat the Clippers now, and we all feel good about ourselves. We are making steps forward and we need to keep making steps forward so we can get better everyday.”

Los Angeles Clippers Kim Hughes

On how they lost the game

“I thought we took that first half off. I don’t believe we are a good enough team to play the first half like that with poor energy, a little bit selfish at times. I thought we competed in the second half. I was disappointed in our bigs. I thought we turned the ball over way too many times. All of them, collectively, were really loose with the ball. I think we gave up 25 points off turnovers and we only got six from them. That is a 19-point differential. That is the game.”

On the communication between Rasual Butler and Baron Davis

“No, they got into it. We want guys to talk. We are not a very verbal team and we plea and cajole for that all the time. I like the bantering in the second half and telling each other what to do. But, we are not a one half team. We have to play like that out of the gate. Losing Craig Smith hurt, but I think DeAndre came in and gave us valuable minutes. It is tough as well when you shoot 37 percent from the field. I don’t really know how to explain it because Sacramento is not a very good defensive team.”

On Tyreke Evans’ play

“He attacked the hoop. He had a nice lay-up. He is a tremendous talent. I thought we did a good defensive job on him. The primary focus of our defense was to stop him. He is virtually impossible to guard one-on-one. He has great size, speed and quickness. He broke out at the end. He is going to hit some shots. The time he made the lay-up down the stretch, our bigs did not help out enough in pick-and-roll coverage and that happens with fatigue or a poor decision. We are going to give up some lay-ups, but I thought, in the second half, we were much more solid defensively.”

Los Angeles Clippers Forward Drew Gooden

On play of Tyreke Evans

“He put a lot of pressure on us defensively attacking the basket and on pick-and-roll and being in the teeth of our defense.”

On falling behind early

“First half we started out sluggish down 12, 14 or whatever it was at halftime. We clawed our way back towards the end but we just didn’t have enough pressure. I don’t think we had enough poise to close that game out. It was still anyone’s game towards the end.”

On not making enough shots

“You got to make shots. They shot 43 (percent). You hit a few more shots and the game changes. It was a tough night for us.”

Los Angeles Clippers Center Chris Kaman

On not being able to put together two good halves

“It was a tale of two halves. The first half wasn’t ours. We did a great job in the second half of fighting back and keeping the game close. We just didn’t have enough to win it.”

Postgame Quotes: Kings vs. Jazz

KINGS HEAD COACH PAUL WESTPHAL

“Before I get started, I just want to say a lot of people have been asking about my wife and praying for her and I appreciate all of the concern and prayers. She’s doing a lot better; (she) had to see a lot of doctors and things are doing pretty well. So thank you for all of the concern. I know she was watching and enjoyed this game tonight. This was a vision of the way we want our team to play. To be able to beat one of the best teams in the NBA – one of the hottest teams – in a solidly-played game is very gratifying. I knew those two days of practice would help us; I didn’t know they’d help us that much. We really played defense, moved the ball, had very few turnovers and played a very solid NBA basketball game. I think it’s how we envision this team being. I’m so happy for Spencer (Hawes) I can’t even really talk straight about it. He showed what he’s made of tonight and we want that every game now, that’s all we ask. It was really an excellent effort by him and certainly Beno (Udrih) responded in a big way. Tyreke (Evans) made the plays down the stretch and throughout the game was sensational. Ime (Udoka) off the bench was really right on time with some great defense and hustle plays. It’s just a lot of fun when it’s like that. The building was very much behind us and we care about that.”

On the chest pump with Spencer Hawes:
“If you want to see that again you’ll probably have to go back to YouTube. I doubt if I’ll pull that one out again for a long time. We talked about it today; we thought it’d be kind of cool to do that. I know everybody wanted to make a bigger deal out of what happened – it’s been three days of reading about coach and player hating each other and that was never really it. It was just kind of fun.”

On Spencer Hawes:
“That’s exactly the kind of performance he’s capable of. It’s hard to bring that every night but he was one of the absolute key reasons we were able to get this win tonight. At both ends of the floor he was exceptional.”

On the starting lineup:
“Tyreke and Beno have worked really well together all year. The main reason I was bringing Beno off the bench even before Kevin (Martin) came back was because I knew that would be his role when Kevin came back. I brought him off the bench for the first few games after the trade just because we only had two point guards on the roster. But then Francisco (Garcia) has been coming around, looking really good in practice and able to handle that position a little bit so I just decided that we would try to go with the players that have played the most minutes this year together. Beno has really played well enough this year to deserve a crack at that position. We would worry about a backup point guard if that issue came up but we tried to start the game with our strongest team.”

On Tyreke Evans:
“Well it’s just another example of how amazing and special he is. He’s not only talented but he’s consistent and he thrives under pressure. You can’t really ask for anything more than that in any NBA player let alone a 20 year-old.”

“It’s always great to have a lot of passers on the floor. Both Beno and Spencer are excellent at reading situations, passing the ball and keeping the defense honest because of their ability to shoot the ball. I think it really helped our offense and our continuity. I thought our offense was the best it’s been all year with the ball movement, the decisions and the patience. It was really nice to see.”

Tyreke Evans
“That was a big win for us. After the game I told Beno this is where we need to get better, in closing out our games. Some games we let slip away from us, but today we did a good job in closing it out.”

On if the win will help their confidence
“Hopefully this win can help us finish out the season strong. We need to be able to come back next year and be a playoff team.”

On him and Beno playing together
“When Beno goes in there and gets that pull-up (shot) going, he is smooth. He was doing a good job of pushing the ball and stopping the ball and getting the shots up. That also helped open it up for everyone else. He gave me the opportunity to drive and get to the line. We could have won by more if we would have made our foul shots, but the most important thing is that we just got the win.”

On Utah Jazz’ Carlos Boozer
“I think that (Carlos) Boozer and those guys just play hard. Their big men stepped up to the challenge tonight and they didn’t back down. Boozer is a good player and a good post-up player so he can get those tough shots, but (Carl) Landry and (Joey) Dorsey came in and did a good job (of guarding him).”

Beno Udrih
“We had good practices the last two days. Coach decided to go with this starting line-up for tonight. We brought the aggressiveness from our practices to the game and that is what we have to do more often. Sometimes we can get lackadaisical and just don’t play as hard in the game as we do in practices, but today we brought it and that is why we won.”

On him and Tyreke playing together
“Tyreke and I like to play with each other because sometimes it takes pressure away from him and sometimes away from me. We just like to play together and it works for us.”

On not getting much practice in
“We have been struggling and then all the trades happened. We really didn’t have any full practices before the last two days. We couldn’t really get to know the new guys, they basically just ran those plays at games and they saw it on the board, but they couldn’t really play. The last two practices really helped us and they have been good.”

“They (Utah Jazz) had won seven games on the road. It is definitely helping our confidence and hopefully we don’t get satisfied with this win today. In two days we have the Clippers and we have some payback to do. We didn’t play a good game against the Clippers in L.A. We have to get that win too.”

Utah Jazz Head Coach Jerry Sloan

Tonight’s game…
“They got us early in the ball game. They did a great job getting on top of the basket and scoring the ball inside. They blew by. We couldn’t stop them. That was pretty much the pace all night. We gave them 50 points in the paint. When you let a team get you in that situation it’s pretty tough to win. I thought they played real well.”

Last 2 minutes of the game…
“You have to be able to make shots. We didn’t shoot the ball very well. They put the ball in the basket. It’s pretty hard to miss when you shoot lay-ups. They drive by you. They got after us and we never did respond in any period of time except for about 3 or 4 possessions. That was about as far as we would go. They made us turn the ball over. They had 19 points off of turnovers.”

Deron Williams playing against Tyreke Evans…
“He’s a terrific player. He’s a big man. It’s tough to try and put someone on him that can keep him out of the paint. He can beat you with the dribble. He can go inside and post you up. He’s probably one the biggest point guards since Magic or Oscar Robertson, someone like that. He’s got a big body and very strong. Well poised for a young man.”

Ending seven-game road winning streak…
“It’s disappointing but that’s what basketball is all about. See if you can bounce back. We’ll see what kind of toughness we have to get ready and finish up the season. We have a lot of basketball yet to play and a lot of tough games to play. Hopefully we will respond to the pressure we have on us. If you like to play basketball this is the time of the year to play. Step up and be counted.”

Deron Williams, Utah Jazz Guard

Playing against Tyreke…
“He played really well down the stretch. It’s a tough matchup for any point guard. He makes me look small. He’s able to do so many things around the basket and when he gets in the lane you think you have him contained but he gets right up over you.”

Last 2 minutes of the game…
“You have to give credit to them. They got stops. We could have done a better job executing but we didn’t.”

Kings’ backcourt…
“They (Tyreke Evans and Beno Udrih) played really well together tonight, when Beno comes out and gets 25 points its tough to beat them. He played so well. His mid-range game was on today. He was attacking the basket in transition. He was doing great things out there on the court.”

Carlos Boozer, Utah Jazz Forward

Tyreke Evans’ game…
“That kid can play. They put the ball in his hands. His jump shot is getting better. He can get around guards. He can finish with contact. He can play.”

Postgame Quotes: Kings vs. Warriors

KINGS HEAD COACH PAUL WESTPHAL

“I’m not going to lie, it feels good to get a win. Obviously it wasn’t the prettiest win anybody’s ever seen in this league – we shot 38 percent, they shot 32 percent, we had 21 turnovers – and we still found a way to win. So I’m not going to quibble about that. I thought we got some really phenomenal performances from Spencer (Hawes) and Sean May. It was very, very professional how ready (Sean) was to play. That’s a hard thing to do when you’re out of game action as long as he’s been out. To come in there and do what he did was much needed and very good. I thought that both Donte (Greene) and Ime (Udoka) did a real, real good job on (Corey) Maggette. It was their job to try to make his life tough and he missed a lot more shots than he usually misses but I think they probably had a little bit to do with it anyway. So it was great to get out of here with a win. I thought certainly Beno (Udrih) off the bench was back to playing how he’s been playing most of the year and we needed every bit of his contribution. So we’re off the snide.”

On the decision to utilize Sean May:
“Well (Jon) Brockman got hurt yesterday and he was the next big in our rotation. He’s been playing well in practice, working hard, and we thought that he deserved a look.”

On Spencer Hawes:
“He’s had some good games already this year, some really good games, but I would put (tonight) right up there with his best and it wasn’t just because he was making shots. I think that his balance, his presence on defense and (his play) offensively – he’s spreading out and playing big like we want him to play. So I saw the most progress in his game with his intensity that I’ve seen all year.”

“I think on the middle of this road trip, you’d have to ask him to verify it or not, but to me it seemed like a light bulb went on for Spencer. He has made some of the adjustments in his game that we think he needs to work on to make himself the player he wants to be and can be. I think that it’s really been coming on for a few games now, this kind of presence that he’s been bringing. So it wasn’t just tonight, he’s been showing it to us both in the game and in practice. Even though the team hasn’t played well, I think Spencer has improved in his play lately.”

On the play of Donte Greene:
“Well you need players like Donte when you play one of Nellie’s teams because they run a lot of big and small lineups at you, make changes, and you have to be able to guard. Donte can guard really all of the positions that they can present so he was a very valuable piece for us at the defensive end particularly. He’s a versatile offensive player too. I thought one of the biggest plays of the game was when we went to him down in the post and he delivered down there. He made a big block defensively and he inbounded the ball under pressure a couple times which is a tough thing to do. He’s got some toughness about him under pressure that really gets him minutes on the floor.”

On the struggle and confidence of Kevin Martin:
“Well I’m sure his confidence is rock-bottom right now – he’s 1 for 7, 1 for 7 and 1 for 9. He’s human but at the same time he’s trying to play through it and be aggressive. It wasn’t his night tonight but he’s going to get there. It’s confidence, it’s timing, it’s seeing the ball going through the basket a few times, it’s a little bit of conditioning – it’s all of those things. I thought that he approached the game in a positive way today and things just didn’t go that well for him. He’s still going to be a big part of this team real, real soon production-wise.”

Sean May

“It felt good to be out there. It feels like it has been forever and my adrenaline kicked in. One thing in this league is you have to stay ready. I have talked about that before and I have talked to coach about it. One thing I continue to do is work and stay ready waiting for my opportunity. It came tonight and luckily we got a win.”

When asked if a win is a win
“Obviously we got a win, which is great, especially coming off the road and having six losses, but the good thing is we can enjoy it tonight and get into the gym tomorrow. When we dissect the film, that is when he (Coach Westphal) can bring out all the bad stuff. There were a lot of things in this game that went wrong. We wilted in the fourth quarter, but luckily they shot horrendous tonight. We also beat them on the glass. There is something to be said on gutting out the win. We got one.”

On being ready to play
It feels good. From the guys that I have played with - Nazr Mohammed, who was a guy who didn’t play at all last year and now he is getting minutes this year. Last year he told me, ‘you just always have to stay in shape.’ You never know when someone is going to go down or what is going to happen. It was my motivation. Just stay in shape, your number is going to be called. Too many things can happen within a course of a season, with injuries or whatever. If you are not ready, it is no ones fault but your own. Everyday I come in, I do cardio and I treat practices like games. I just try to go hard and prove to them that I deserve to play. Hopefully that is what (Coach Westphal) saw and that is why he decided to play me. Jon (Brockman) went down, which is unfortunate, but it was an opportunity. Hopefully, he will come back in a couple games and it just makes us that much deeper.”

Spencer Hawes
“It feels good, especially after that road trip and it had everyone down. To turn it around, especially against a team in our division is nice.”

“I saw the other day I got a D+ (grading by the Sacramento Bee) and you have to use stuff like that to motivate yourself. I know that I haven’t been playing as well as I think that I should be and I knew it was time to get back on track.”

On how he keeps it going from here
“I am going to continue to play with intensity, try to use the defensive end and rebound to help get me going early on, instead of relying on offense.”

Tyreke Evans
“We came out aggressive and I thought that we should have closed it out better in the fourth quarter. We are still trying to find our rhythm and get the big guys going. I thought that I should start out early and not hold anything back.”

“It feels pretty good, especially since we lost seven straight. To come back home and go out there and play hard - it felt pretty good. We just have to stay focused and do the same thing on the road.”

Golden State Warriors Head Coach Don Nelson

Tonight’s game…
“We got back into the game some how. We played a pretty good second half. I didn’t like our first half at all. I didn’t like the ball movement. In the second half I think we moved the ball and shared the ball. We did a lot better job. We just didn’t make enough shots earlier in the game. When we shoot 32 percent for the night, we’re not going to win the game shooting that percentage. We did get back in it so it turned out to be a pretty decent game.”

Stephen Curry’s performance tonight…
“It was a good performance. He has played well now almost every game for a long time.”

Monta Ellis’ importance to the team…
“It’s so hard to score and do the things that we are used to doing right now. We’re not making shots. We need Monta back.”

Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors Guard

Getting back into the game…
“It was defense no doubt about it. We tried to play from behind and came out in the third quarter with a big run and cut the lead down to six points. They pushed it right back to double digits. We just had to make big stops. We just couldn’t get enough rebounds to get in transition we like we wanted to. We had to play a small lineup. Our defense really kept us in the game. We didn’t shoot the ball too well tonight so something else had to (keep us in the game), to give us a shot.”

Team’s performance…
“First half we were kind of stagnant. Even when we had ball movement our shots just weren’t falling. We shot 32 percent for the game. It felt like we were right there. We didn’t make enough plays to get over that hump. We made it tough enough on them to give us a chance to win down the stretch. We just didn’t make shots earlier in the game.”

Cartier Martin, Golden State Warriors Guard

Team’s performance…
“Second half we were more assertive. We played more as a team. We slowly got back into it.”

Team’s struggles tonight…
“We just had one of those bad shooting nights. I shot 1-of-6 from the 3-point line. We just didn’t shoot the ball well from the outside tonight. So we tried to get inside, get fouled and tried to make it happen on the inside so we could get to the line and possibly get our rhythm going.”

Postgame Quotes: Kings @ Heat

HEAD COACH PAUL WESTPHAL

On the Game:
“They played very well, there is no doubt about that. You give them a lot of credit for execution on both ends of the floor. I thought our defense, rebounding, poise and energy left a lot to be desired. That’s what happens when you play against a team that played as well as they did tonight.”

“I give Miami’s aggressiveness some credit. We have a tendency sometimes to compound our mistakes. If we make one mistake we try to rectify it and it leads to another mistake.”

On Kevin Martin:
“Kevin was very frustrated. He hasn’t found his rhythm. We know Kevin Martin is a big time scorer in this league and an energy player but he didn’t look like he was able to show that kind of game, that we know he has in him. I’m sure he’s disappointed and frustrated.”

Donte Greene

On the game:
“We were just going backwards. I don’t know what we are doing. We got to keep playing hard and get better as a team. Nothing comes easy in this league. It’s all mental. We’ve got to run the plays down the stretch and execute. We need to keep progressing, keep moving forward.”

Ime Udoka

On the game:
“We’re frustrated with ourselves. Everyone needs to look in the mirror and get on the same page. We need to get back home and regroup as a team. A lot of it is mental. There’s a mental wear on a lot of the guys and we need to fight through this and get back to the way we were playing earlier in the year. The good thing about this team is that we never quit.”

Tyreke Evans

On the game:

“It was just one of those games; we couldn’t make shots. We’ve got to keep working hard. Hopefully we can put this behind us and get back on track and start winning. It’s tough but we have got to work hard.”

Kevin Martin

On the game:
“It is frustrating. We just had another bad night.”

MIAMI HEAT HEAD COACH ERIK SPOELSTRA

On the game:
“Well what I just told the guys is there’s some honesty. Guys were honest with each other and it was real in terms of what we’ve done in back-to-backs. We caught the Kings probably at the right time, similar to us coming off the road trip at Oklahoma City. Our energy, our disposition and our motor was much different than it’s been in our back-to-backs. Again, what we’ve been talking about the last 24 hours is just to be real about it, to be honest with each other, and give an honest effort where we can all look at each other in the eyes after the game. So I was encouraged by that. I think the guys in the locker room can look at each other without putting their heads down, and we move on from here. At the end of the day, after the week, we are three [of] four. It was a positive week. We have to move on from that Charlotte game. The other three performances we had have been extremely high energy. We have to continue that. We obviously have a big one on Monday.”

On the mental part of the win tonight:
“It’s an opportunity in the NBA and we all looked at it as a challenge and an opportunity to exercise this demon. We’re tired of talking about it. We looked at it ad nauseam now for the last few days and watching the film. Guys have taken it to heart. That’s what tonight was about, the honesty of it. Guys showed up in the right frame of mind just to come out and compete and play with a great deal of energy and do it together. That Sacramento King’s team has a bright future. You can see why they are excited about that team. They have a lot of nice young pieces, a lot of size, a lot of quickness. Pretty much all of them are skilled, in terms of shoot, pass and dribble.”

Udonis Haslem

On the game:
“Any time we get beat by a lot and tend to get counted out, we somehow pull together and bounce back. Hopefully we won’t have to get beat by thirty or forty in order to come out with this kind of effort. We should be bringing this kind of effort every night regardless of whether we won by forty or lost by forty the night before. We knew what our situation was on back-to-backs. We know we have not performed well in getting beat by twenty plus points on back to backs.”

Michael Beasley

On the game:
“It feels good. Coach made it a big point that we were 1-6 on back-to-backs. We wanted to come out and prove that we can win those games. You can say you play hard, but the tape won’t lie. We came out early, got a lead and never looked back.”

Dwyane Wade

On the game:
“It’s always good to get these kind of wins. We came out and we took care of business. We have a tough road ahead of us and we just have to continue to take it one game at a time.”

“We’ve had some tough back–to-backs and in this league, especially on the road, it’s tough to go in there and get those games. To have our first back-to-back at home and to take care of business is what a veteran team is supposed to do.”

Postgame Recap: Kings vs. Magic

ORLANDO 109, SACRAMENTO 88

January 12, 2010 – At ARCO Arena, Dwight Howard led all players with 30 points and 16 rebounds in leading the Magic past the Kings, 109-88. Sacramento matched the Southeast division-leading Magic for the first three quarters, entering the fourth leading, 78-76. However, Orlando opened the fourth quarter on a 12-2 run and outscored the Kings, 33-10, in the quarter. The Kings’ offense struggled as the team made just four of its 22 field goal attempts for a 18.2 percentage in the final quarter. Tyreke Evans led the Kings with 18 points. Omri Casspi recorded a double-double with 11 points and a team-high and career-high-tying 11 rebounds. Beno Udrih added 15 points off the bench. Mickael Pietrus recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 boards. Orlando became just the third team to hold the Kings to under 100 points in 21 home contests.

NOTES: The Kings used their 16th different starting lineup of the season with Omri Casspi, Donte Greene, Jason Thompson, Ime Udoka, and Tyreke Evans.

Postgame Recap: Kings @ Warriors

GOLDEN STATE 108, SACRAMENTO 101

January 8, 2010 – At ORACLE Arena, Monta Ellis scored 13 of his game-high 39 points in the fourth quarter, helping the Warriors rally from an 18-point deficit to defeat the Kings, 108-101. Sacramento built an 18-point lead early in the third quarter, but the Warriors managed to trim the lead down to 10, 86-76, heading into the fourth quarter. Golden State used a 13-4 run to open the fourth quarter to close within one, 90-89, with 8:07 remaining. The Kings led, 98-91, after Ime Udoka buried a three-pointer to cap an 8-2 spurt. The Warriors then went on a 15-1 run that turned the Kings’ seven-point advantage into a seven-point deficit, 106-99, with 12.1 seconds left. The Warriors, who had not led since 18-16 in the first quarter, took the lead for good on Ellis driving lay-up with 2:51 remaining that made the score 100-99. Anthony Morrow followed that with a three-pointer to put the Warriors up, 103-99. Tyreke Evans finished with a team-high 25 points, two rebounds, six assists, three steals and a block. Udoka, getting his first start as a King, recorded a double-double with 19 points and a game-high and career-high 14 rebounds. Beno Udrih added 14 points off the bench. Corey Maggette contributed 24 points for the Warriors and Andris Biedrins grabbed a team-high nine boards.

NOTES: The Kings outrebounded the Warriors, 47-39. Golden State made their first 21 free throw attempts. The Warriors scored 32 fastbreak points, the most the Kings have allowed an opponent this season. Sacramento outscored the Warriors, 61-46, in the first half; in the second half, the Warriors outscored the Kings, 62-40. The Warriors went to the free throw line 23 times in the second half, compared to the Kings’ six trips to the foul line.

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