Postgame Quotes: Kings @ Lakers

Kings Coach Paul Westphal

on tonight’s game:
“Tonight was not that different from forty or fifty other games this year. We hung around, did a lot of good things and we had a couple of breakouts. We had a lot of good efforts tonight. We felt that Jason Thompson did a lot for us tonight on the boards and offensively, but he had to play the whole game so he didn’t get any vacation until the final horn.”

on the team’s performance this season:
“I am proud of our team and I told every one of them. They only won 25 games, but they really maximized their effort this year. They have heart and they respected the game. We will get better, we will absolutely get better. We will add some pieces, but the first thing we had to learn to do this year was compete and we did that. One of these days we will learn how to win.”

on rookie Tyreke Evans contribution this season:
“This season was one of the best rookie seasons any of us has had, but that is not the only measure of success. We had a great noteworthy season and the thing about Tyreke Evans is he really didn’t play for stats. He plays to win and is a very versatile ball player. He almost never had a bad game. He is a very mature professional and will only get better as he goes about this league. I think everyone will tell you what a good teammate he is and that says something about his future with the Kings.”

on recapping the season:
“Honestly I am sorry our season is over. We knew we had a climb, but this team is only just beginning. The team last year was the worst team in the league winning only 17 games, as well as the worst defensive team and the worst rebounding team. This year we are in the top half rebounders now, we are out of the bottom third in defense, we added eight more wins and some players that we can build around. By any measure there was improvement and we are optimistic that there will continue to be improvement. I am sorry it is over, I really like this team.”

Beno Udrih

on the assessment of this season:
“The whole year we’ve been playing, trying to compete at the end of the game and that’s a step forward from last year, definitely. We’ve just got to get better with closing the close games down and winning a couple ones. Hopefully we’ve learned something this year for next year and we think we can win a couple more games.”

on taking this game into the offseason:
“The Lakers, they’ve been together for awhile they know exactly how to finish games. It’s a long process for us but we want to be like… young teams that are rebuilding and trying to get to the playoffs and we’ve just got to learn.”

Carl Landry

on what the Kings have to do to improve:
“I think we just have to play together a little more. We’ve got the pieces here and we’ll add a couple of pieces with the free [agency] and the draft and we’ll be alright. We’re [one of the] youngest teams in the league… so if we just improve our basketball I.Q. I think we’ll be alright.”

on looking forward to the offseason:
“We never really got blown out. We just had a hard time finishing games, probably due to the inexperience of this team but I think this summer we’ll go back to the drawing board and correct those mistakes.”

Jason Thompson

on looking back on the positives of the season:
“We came out, especially early in the year, not a lot of people had high expectations for us and we had five-game win streaks two or three times. We started getting this city going and a lot of people started to notice us.”

on what the Kings have to look forward to this offseason:
“Just knowing that our future is bright. With the trades that we’ve had that are helping us out and… learning how to play with each other. So we’ll get some new additions in the draft, maybe some trades… and hopefully we’ll be on top.”

Lakers’ Coach Phil Jackson

on tonight’s game:
“Got that game competitive after getting a little 13 point lead at the end of the third quarter. Had to kind of dig in a little bit at the end of the game to sustain that victory. Good game by Pau Gasol and Shannon. They led us in the scoring tonight and we had some help off the bench.”

on Sasha Vujacic:
“He’s an offensive rebounding machine. That’s what he is now.”

on Jordan Farmar’s injury:
“He’ll dress tomorrow. He’s played 81 games this year. I want him to dress and be on the active roster for tomorrow’s game.”

on the fallout of Jordan Farmar leaving tonight’s game early:
“I wanted to have short minutes for Derek. He ended up playing less than 20 but extended Shannon’s minutes and obviously Sasha’s minutes and had Lamar have to come out and play that guard role.”

on the impact of Luke Walton:
“He helps. I don’t know if he’s going to be able to sustain the effort in the playoffs and that’s why I have to look at him a little bit and get him some game activity. Offensively he does things that create a little offensive rhythm for us and offensive opportunities.”

on Sasha Vujacic’s solid performance tonight:
“It’s got to make him feel much better about his game. He knows he’s got an opportunity to play some minutes and have some opportunities.”

Shannon Brown

on jumpstarting the bench with the tone he set as a starter:
“It’s different starting. When you start, you get to set the tone. Then guys get to play off of what you start off with. We got the ball moving today and then everybody got good looks.”

on tomorrow’s game against the Los Angeles Clippers:
“We definitely got to win this game tomorrow. We have to get better every day. We’re waiting for Andrew [Bynum] to get back and for Kobe [Bryant] to get back so we can get our first couple practices in together as a full unit again.”

Sasha Vujacic

on tonight’s game:
“We played great as a team. We played good defense. From my personal view, in the last few games, I’ve been getting more and more minutes and when that happens, you get a feel for the game which is good.”

on most important thing about playing Oklahoma City in the first round of the playoffs:
“It depends when we play them. They have one player that is individually good, on and off, and now they play great as a team. The coaching staff did a great job and they execute. So we have to take that away from them and we’ll see how they can handle the pressure of the situation.”

on his overall performance this season:
“You just have to stay consistent. This season was from my personal point of view, ups and downs. What is done, is done. It’s behind us. We’re looking to the present and to the future. My focus now is how can I help our team…and how can we win as a team.”

Lamar Odom

on tonight’s game:
“I look at it, honestly, like we’re practicing against the other team. You want to run all the sets and do everything the right way. We want to play almost how we play in practice. It’s just a practice in front of 20,000 people.”

Luke Walton

on playing in tonight’s game:
“It felt great. It was a lot of fun out there, playing again and being out there and not having pain. To be out there and move and stuff was a lot of fun.”

Open Net: Kings at Lakers

The Kings take on the Lakers tonight at 7:30 p.m.

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Open Net: Kings vs. Rockets

The Kings take on the Rockets tonight at 7 p.m.

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Open Net: Kings vs. Mavs

The Kings battle the Mavs tonight at 7 p.m.

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Open Net: Kings vs. Clippers

The Kings take on the Clippers tonight at 7 p.m.

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Open Net: Kings vs. Spurs

The Kings face the Spurs tonight at 7 p.m.

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Open Net: Kings vs. Blazers

The Kings take on the Blazers tonight at 7 p.m.

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Postgame Quotes: Kings @ T-Wolves

Kings Head Coach Paul Westphal

“It is always something, isn’t it? Some nights we rebound well but turn the ball over. Some nights we rebound well and don’t turn it over, though we can’t shoot well. Other nights like tonight, we shot well and didn’t turn the ball over but couldn’t rebound. We couldn’t get stops and that is for sure. If the Wolves have shot better than that all year I am not aware of it, especially from the three-point line.”

“When a team shoots fifty-six percent on you and dominates you on the boards, they are usually going to win. I know the Wolves have been playing a lot better basketball than their streak would indicate and they were due, and they got us.”

On team’s urgency:
“It certainly did not manifest itself, though I’m not saying that we didn’t have it. It didn’t seem like we had it, though I don’t think our guys would say that they weren’t trying.”

On Wolves rebounding advantage:
“I think the biggest reason was Milicic, Jefferson, and Love really played great. I’m not so sure we would’ve out-rebounded them if we had Spencer [Hawes], it would’ve been nice to have him although I just give those guys credit. They were outstanding on the boards.”

“We don’t like to double [team] that much, but because they were hurting us so much inside we had to double. And when you double and a team moves the ball and makes a couple of passes, they are going to get open shots. It seemed like they were knocking them all down. So you take a risk when you double, and I give them credit for moving the ball and knocking down shots.”

Jason Thompson

On T’Wolves height advantage: “They can bring two different dimensions. Al is more of a shooter who can use his quickness, and Darko is trying to get as deep as he can and try to use his left jump hooks.”

“Early on we were not as active. We would get our hands on balls but not finish it out with the rebounds. They would get the loose balls that would lead to easy buckets making it easier for them and their offense.”

Beno Udrih

“We did our best. They were knocking down shots and we were not playing defense the way we should. We lost this game on defense.”

“We put ourselves in a big hole and were just trying to come back the whole time. We made a couple of runs but it was still not enough.”

“We would’ve been happy to go home because we had a goal to win these two games in a row, but we didn’t do that. Instead we lost all five of them, and we are not really happy to go home without the wins.”

Tyreke Evans

“We had times when we had a hand up contesting the shot and they still made it. They had a couple of good looks and once they started hitting they never stopped hitting.”

“We should’ve had one the game before this in Indiana. This one was a battle in the first half, and in the second half they came out still hitting their shots, so there was nothing we could do about that. It was a tough loss for us but a good game for them.”

Timberwolves Head Coach Kurt Rambis

“Obviously that feels really good, the guys in the locker room were very, very happy about that. I think more so that more than anything else they supported each other, guys were happy to see Sasha step up in the ball game, three guys with double doubles, one guy almost with a triple double, everybody contributing offensively and defensively, Al getting 6 blocks, those types of things were huge. We turned the ball over still a lot, a couple of times critically but they did not give the number that we usually give up when we turned the basketball over, so that was big. Our transition defense was there most of the game, we protected the paint; we didn’t allow them a whole lot of opportunities. So, overall I was pleased, there were gaps, yes Greene was able to get open on shots, we didn’t do a good job of closing out all the way to him and body up and gave him too many easy scoring opportunities but overall I thought our guys stuck to the game plan, they did a good job of moving the basketball offensively and thus why we had the number of guys we did in double figures. Ideally for me that’s what I like to see, a nice even distribution of points and scoring opportunities.”

“Its hard in a lot of ways, just the sheer number of tough teams that we were playing made it incredibly difficult to get wins, just the number of losses that were mounting, how guys were absorbing that, and letting that weigh on them. The team has been resilient all year long, yes its frustrating, but they hung together, they can find ways to laugh in the locker room, they still can get along, even when the losses were mounting. We had moments in all of those ball games, I shouldn’t say all, for a majority of those ball games where we played really good basketball, we just had these moments where we had these incredible collapses and then we were trying to find ways to get back into the ball game and it just became too difficult for us. We had stretches where we played really well in all of those games, well most of the losses like I said.”

“Yeah, Id have to say [this is the happiest I've seen the team after a win]. The fan support, the encouragement that means a lot to the players, so many players playing well so that they feel good about themselves, I was very happy to see everybody encouraging and acknowledging Sasha who struggled a lot. They jumped all over him when he came to the bench at one timeout, I like that camaraderie with the guys. Anytime you win its good, but when you have those number of losses its a very relieving feeling.”

Darko Milicic

On how the win feels:
“It feels good to get a win finally. We kept our composure and finished the game well.”

“I got here a month ago and I see these guys here, nobody really wants to lose. These guys got a lot of talent and they want to win. Its tough on all of us, we have to focus and finish the season as strong as we can.”

On team chemistry:
“I think we play smart and share the ball. We’re going to score with these talented players, as long as we play defense.”

On progress:
“I am still trying to work with these guys in practice and bring it into the game.”

Jonny Flynn

“We really got after it out there, I think we played a complete game and we held them on a lot of their runs that they went on. Especially at the end of the game, we weathered that storm so it just feels good after sixteen losses to get a win.”

“We knew had great efforts from everybody. Ryan Gomes almost had a triple double then you have Sasha coming off the bench playing one of his better games of the year. When guys are stepping up like that all you can do is win.”

On losing streak:
“Its tough, it’s not easy losing that many games. You just have to come to work everyday with the same mindset, come to get better and stay positive. I think we have a good locker room; our coaches really keep us together.”

Al Jefferson

On the Win:
“We play well against this team; every time we play them they always wind up blowing the game up in the second or third quarter. It was great to see three guys in double figure rebounds; it was great to see guys sharing the ball, making the right decisions. It just proves that we can play well and the right way.”

On getting other guys going and defense:
“We play well when I play great defense. Coach challenged me on Friday; just finish the season off right. Being a leader on defense not just offense.”

On losing streak:
“We could of won a couple that we had played, but we just have to keep our head in it and play hard.”

On Brewer:
“He played great D on him (Tyreke Evans). Corey did a great job maintaining him and making him think a lot.”

On Darko:
“Darko is just as good with his left hand as I am with my right hand. When I see him take a shot with that left hand I feel so good about it. He’s so big and so long, he’s so smart. He should help us out as far as rebounding, as far as blocking shots. He’s kind of the point guard when he has the ball in the post; he makes great decisions passing the ball. He’ll provide a lot especially when things are going well for him.”

On the Kings ability to battle back:
“My teammates decided to come inside to me and they came through to hit some big shots, Corey hit that three.”

“I’m happy. It feels good to get the win and to prove to us that we can play the right way; we can play hard on defense.”

Open Net: Kings at Timberwolves

The Kings face the Timberwolves tonight at 5 p.m.

It’s Open Net time! Discuss the game here on Full Court Press before the game, during the game and after the game. Leave a comment below to begin the discussion.

Open Net: Kings at Pacers

The Kings face the Pacers today at 4 p.m.

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