Nash/TNT

[MavsFanFinley]

I'll delete this thread in case it's nothing, but coming up on the TNT halftime break, they're going to air some interesting post-game quotes from Nash according to EJ.

[Drbio]

I'm watching now.....not quite halftime yet. I'll listen and report.

[grndmstr_c]

I may miss them cause I'm about to go out, so if somebody could take careful notes I'd be greatly appreciative.

[Drbio]

Nash said....



Defense is a concern.....
I won't cry that we don't have the right players.....
We will keep running....
We may not be the best defensive team in the playoffs, but you have to play us.....

[MightyToine]

I swear....if he would've said that he was retiring at the end of the season and then goes APRIL FOOLS.......GRRRRRRRRRRRRR!! [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-mad.gif[/img]

He made an excellent point though....Mavs are by no means a defensive juggernaut but we will score and if you don't keep up with us, we will run you out of the gym. [img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/img]

[MavsFanFinley]

It was nothing. It was almost the same quote he had the other night.

He talked about not being the best defensive team, not having defensive players. They need to stick with what they know best and that's run. If they don't do that, they allow teams to take away their strength.

[Drbio]

I took the right players comment to mean one of three things:
1. Maybe the players here now don't fit Nellie ball <or>
2. Nash thinks some moves in the offseason are needed
3. Nash misses NVE

[MavsFanFinley]

Mavericks Head Coach Don Nelson

That was a good win for us. We played well for a long, long period of time and then we went to sleep for a little bit. We couldn’t guard anybody in the fourth quarter, but we had a big enough lead and kept scoring that it was never in jeopardy.

It was good to see Eddie Najera step up and have a good game. He played terrific tonight. I was glad to see that because it’s important to us.

Marquis continues to play well. He’s a pretty special rookie. Josh Howard has a hamstring that he’s injured a couple times this year and couldn’t get it loose. He did not re-injure it, but we did not want to take any chances in a game that we had a big lead in. It gave Mike a chance to play a lot of minutes. We needed him to be good tonight.

Mavericks Forward Antawn Jamison

On the Kings being a tough test:

Well we wanted to stop the bleeding a little bit. The have the best record in the League, so we knew it was going to be a dog fight coming in.

On using this game as a springboard:

It can. I think once we got back from the road trip and we got into this homestand we knew we had to get some wins. It was a game that we could have slipped up in so guys do what is expected of them.

On possible Playoff scenerios:

We just need to play good basketball. We match up pretty well with some of these teams, but the most important thing for us is to get on a roll and get back to the things we were doing before we hit that road trip. We need to execute offensively and defensively and make it tough on other teams. If we get on a little run before the Playoffs it would definitely boost our confidence. It doesn't matter if we start at home or away.

Mavericks Guard Steve Nash

On his career high in assists:

I don't think I found people who were more open, I just think there were more possessions in this game. When you play in a game where you have over 100 points at the end of the third quarter and you play 40 minutes, you are going to have some assists.

Kings Head Coach Rick Adelman

On if he has any optimism coming off losing two games in two days:

The last quarter and a half. I don’t know if it was that we got embarrassed or mad, but we started playing. We haven’t seen that. We didn’t play with emotion and we didn’t play with good intelligence. We are still a team that has won 52 games and we have to find out how we did that. It hasn’t just gone away, but the last quarter and a half we got our attitude and that is what you have to have is an attitude. You also have to play with intelligence. We made some awful mistakes that should have never happened in our transition defense and in our rotations. We were just running around and not thinking about what they should be doing. We have two days to get back to where we were.

On if Chris Webber’s second half performance is getting close to what is expected from him:

That’s what we are hoping to get to. However Chris progresses, we have to have the other people being where they were as well. It’s a whole team thing. I would to have Bobby Jackson and Brad Miller back right now, that would certainly help as far as our rotation and what we can do. I think it is the way we are playing. The last quarter and change, we played with more of a purpose and played with intensity. It’s not going to be given to us. We have to go from here. That’s what I am going to try and build upon.

Kings Forward Chris Webber

On if he thought tonight was a step backward for Sacramento:

Actually, I think tonight was a step forward. What I talked to the team is that it is not about winning, ultimately that is what you want to do, but it is about the way in which you lose too. Tonight we can walk out of here with our heads up. It’s the NBA, you are not going to win every game. The fight that we brought to that we didn’t give up; that’s all you can ask for. You don’t know if you are going to make shots, and you don’t know if you are going to get stops, but if you put the effort out there, then what can you be ashamed of. Tonight I think we put the effort out there.

On how he is feeling after playing back-to-back games:

There are good days and bad days, so we will see in the morning. I bumped knees there at the end. So we will see how it comes in the morning with the knee and the hand. This is what I live for is to be a part of that, to be a part of the team whether we win or lose. Mentally I feel good and I think I am headed in the right direction. I am getting more comfortable on the floor and not second-guessing on attacking the basket and looking for people. For me, it is a process, and I just hope it keeps continuing to get better.

[ddh33]

I really liked what Nash said. I still want this team to give effort on the defensive end, but they aren't a defensive juggernaut. Instead, bring out the pressure offense! Make them stop us. I think it's important for this team to embrace what they are and play to those strengths...maybe they finally are.

After all, I remember looking at this team on paper and thinking that it was a walking matchup nightmare. Then, for some reason the team tried to play like the other teams. Instead of making opponents match up with us, we spent all of our efforts matching up with them. Anyone remember that game that Jamison was supposed to start, but Nellie started Fortson instead because of a last second change? I can't remember exactly who it was, but it struck me as a big pat of the problem then, and that problem haunted this team since.

This "small ball" that is getting all the media attention is nothing more than Nellie trying to go back to his old style. Make the opponent play by your rules - not the other way around.

[Stressboy]

I watched his comments and it was not so much what he said, but how he said it. There was definately some of the f'em attitude in his remarks and he is usually just playing the media game. I felt he ment it.

[mary]

I agree Stressboy, Nash had a total attitude in that interview last night. It was great. When the reporter "informed" Nash that they would have to play defense to win a championship, it looked like Nash wanted say "F' you and the rest of you media a-holes, we're just going play ball." I distinctly got the impression that Nash was fed up with the constant questions about their lack of defense.

Later during the post game show, Barkley actually said he liked what Steve had to say. I was completely shocked that Barkley would say anything remotely positive about the Mavs.

[Simon2]

This is exactly why the Mavs are called the Mavericks. They are Mavericks to the conventional way of thinking. Its getting closer to the playoffs and the attitude is now beginning to show.

[Chiwas]

3. Nash misses NVE

I don't. I liked a lot Daniels last night and I think that this small ball is way better than last season's cause Daniels let Nash play and produce while NVE often didn't let Nash nor Finley play their normal game. Besides, this small ball is taller and more athletic.

Edit: One more thing. Probably NVE scored more than Daniels -or Howard- but I prefer a little less scoring but a lot more defense, and NVE didn't defend at all.