Dallas Mavericks @ Minnesota Timberwolves PostgameQuotes #27 "Fan Appreciation Night" sponsored by nobody

What the Dallas Mavericks and the Minnesota Timberwolves said 
after Game Twentyseven of the Perfect Season.

Quotes

Mavericks

Coach Rick Carlisle

(On his All-Star) "Dirk played great at both ends and he gave us a presence around the basket with his length. He was getting the ball in the basket and he just continues to get better."

(On Kidd) "It’s great to have Kidd back and this is an important win for us.I don't know what the plus-minus is, but he had to be about a plus 15 or 18. [Actually plus 23]''

(On Kidd's impact on the Mavs) "He's a big part of our heart and soul. When we're without him, we can win some games but we're not the same team."

(On jumping out on the Wolves early) "Good starts are important in this league, ’cause the more you can play from in front it always helps, but they never guarantee anything. So, we knew they were gonna make runs."

(On the 4th) "When they cut it to three we put Kidd back in the game and we got it back up to 13 or 14. He came right in the game and immediately hit a three and he got us going."

Dirk Nowitzki

(On his Game) "It started early. I had some good looks at the 3's. They had some matchup problems with Vince Carter, and that's all we were running at the beginning, posting Vince on Luke Ridnour. Then they went to zone pretty good and I had some good looks and was able to knock a few 3's in and then just kind of go from there. Usually when you make the first couple of shots your confidence goes up and I just kept shooting all night. I had a couple of heat checks that I probably shouldn’t have shot and missed three free throws that were brutal. Other than that, I was in a groove and the guys were finding me."

(On Love) "He's been fun to watch. He's an animal on the glass. We all know that. He's tough to play."

(On Terry lobbying for the 3Point Contest at the NBA All-Star Game) "He might want to make some shots first, especially on the road."

(On Love in the 3Point Contest) "He should be in it. He's shooting 40, 45 percent or something crazy. Every time we play them, he's been money.''

(On Kidd's return) "He was throwing the ball all over the gym a little bit. I think he was tired. But it’s good to see him back,the leadership he brings, his defense and his basketball IQ is probably the highest I’ve ever played with."

(On Kidd, Dirk and Terry in the 4th Quarter) "That's usually our closing unit when Kidd has the ball in his hands and Jet and myself are running around and shooting the ball, and Kidd gets us the ball in the right position. He's our leader and he directs the ball so well out there and it's been fun to play off him.''

(On being at the NBA ALL STAR GAME in ORLANDO, FL) "I was a little surprised that I made the All-Star team. But I think we all know if I would have been healthy all season I think I would have been a lock. I had some injury problems and I wasn't playing my best, but I guess it's good for me to know that the coaches still respect me and respect what I bring to the game, even though I wasn't 100 percent. They respect what I did last summer, so I'm thankful for the coaches."

(On the upcoming Games) "We’ve got a lot of good teams coming up, a lot of big games starting with another one tomorrow at home against a very good Portland team.

(On Injuries in the shortened season) "Especially in this half of the season, I think unfortunately injuries are going to be a big part.. You see a lot of guys drop down like flies all around the league and I think we've been a little lucky so far, actually. We haven't had any major bad injuries, so hopefully we can get the troops together and have a good run here until the All-Star break.''

Jason Kidd

(On his health) "I felt good. Maybe my wind isn't as strong right now, but basically I feel good. We'll see how it feels in the morning. I'll go in and do what I normally do -- treatment and stuff -- and hopefully I'll be ready to go.''

(On the calf) "The calf is great, there's nothing wrong with the calf. Everything is good, just my wind. I've just got to get my wind back.'

(On returning in the 4th) "Well, I didn’t have to think about it because I was on the (exercise) bike and we had scheduled that my minutes would be no more than 25. I got going in the fourth quarter with my bike ride to St. Paul and someone came over and said, ‘Coach wants you.’ So, I had to cut that bike ride short. I came in and JET found me for a three, so it was just whatever I could do to help my team."

(On 8 Turnovers for him) "It was ‘give-away-a-ball night’ for the fans. "It was ‘Fan Appreciation Night.’ It was a combination of a lot of stuff, teammates haven’t seen me nor have I seen them. It will take a game and we got that out the way."

Jason Terry

(On Kidd) "Jason Kidd was back to rare form. He makes the game so much easier for everybody and that's why we love playing with him.''

(On the 3 Point Competition) "Hopefully, I'll make the 3-point contest. If they give my spot to Kevin Love, I'm going to boycott. There's my campaign.''

(On All-Star Aldridge next) "He's a player that works extremely hard. It's about time he got his due. He's been carrying that franchise -- he and Brandon Roy -- for the last four years. He earned it and he totally deserved it."

Delonte West

(On Dirk) "His presence opens so much up for everyone else. That's called an All-Star presence, to me. It's not always about the numbers."

(On Kidd) ""It's a good time right now to talk about a legend in his own rights who can still do it. He's a great leader on the floor. I think it's good to get him back these few games before the All-Star break so he can kind of get his flow back. He's one of the best to ever do it. Period. P-U-R-O-D. Period. "

Lamar Odom

(On Love) "He's a little unconventional, as far as how he gets things done. Kevin is a good basketball player and he always has been. You see that just from his outlet passing. The name of the game is not shoot threes or rebound or dunk or high fly. The name of the game is basketball and my man is a good basketball player. I'm glad to see him shine like the way he is."

(On who he reminds him of) "It's so hard to compare. He's got a couple of players in him: A little bit of Bird, a little bit of Rodman. He's a mixture of a couple players."

Timberwolves

Coach Rick Adelman

(Why so sloppy?) "I have no idea. I wish I did know. We worked hard defensively, we got the ball back and we just threw it away like there's no value in the ball. That's how we were at the start of the year, and to me, it comes back to concentration. This game is not easy. It takes work. We were so casual tonight. I just don’t understand it."

(On 28 Turnovers) "You can turn the ball over making a play, but we turned it over just so casual. We get the ball and you just flip it. The ball's precious. We preach to them all the time that we want to defend better and then when we finally did make stops, we just handed it back."

(On the 3rd Quarter) "Our effort was better in the third and we made some plays, but that’s not good enough. You can’t do it for 4-5 minutes. We’ve got to do it for 48 minutes."

Kevin Love

(On Dirk Nowitzki, 33 Points, Allstar) "That’s the Dirk I know. That is definitely vintage Dirk. I’ve been watching for however many years he’s been playing now. He’s a Hall of Fame player and when he decides he wants it, more often than not he’s going to have success. He's an All-Star, even though he says he's not. He showed tonight, he has been showing in the past week, too, why he deserves to be there."

(On poor Execution for the Wolves) "Just being a youthful team, we're going to have lapses like that and unfortunately it was against a team that we beat a couple of times and felt we could have won."

Ricky Rubio

(On why he had so few assists, only 8) "That's not that many?"

JJ 'NBA Star' Barea

(On the Ring) "I'm happy to get the ring and have it in hand now. I wore it a couple of times when I wasn't playing, and then just put it away."

(On what his teammates said about the Ring) "They love it. It's amazing. That's something that's so hard to get, and I got one so it's pretty awesome."

Luke Ridnour

(On the Wolves) "We just have to, like coach said, get back to focusing and get back to taking care of the ball. The little things we’ve done all year that gave us a chance to compete for a playoff spot. We just have to get back to that and play basketball."

Nikola Pekovic

(On the Loss) "Tonight was just one of those nights. Tomorrow’s a new day. Of course we won’t forget this. We just need to keep ourselves more focused to do this, to not lose so many balls."

Vids

Game Recap

Postgame

Dirk

Adelman

Links

MMB | Tobocap DEFEATIT

[...] there was a big, big difference between this game and the last two, which is that whatever is ailing Dirk Nowitzki is gone. He came out looking for his three-pointer, which I’ve never seen him do, and hit everything else besides. Only an uncharacteristic night at the free-throw line and going cold when the game was out of reach kept him from scoring 40 points on roughly 20 shots. Try that, Kobe.

The Wolves had no answer.

CanisHoopus No recap (yet) | Notes on the Night

They fumbled it.

9. The officials were Wes Johnson awful. Somehow Pek puts up 14 shots, all at the rim, and he never gets fouled? Haywood should have fouled out of the game in the first half.

10. I know the box score doesn't reflect it, but it felt like Dirk and Jet couldn't miss. Every time the Wolves made a run, one of those two would put a stop to it with a wide open jumper.

AwolfamongWolves Recap

Pay attention, Timberwolves; this is exactly what you want to be.

The Dallas Mavericks put the Wolves through a basketball clinic Friday night and showed the young Pups exactly where they need to end up as a team. Dallas isn’t a perfect team by any means and they certainly didn’t play a perfect basketball game. However, they did respond to moments in a basketball game the exact way you’d love to see the Wolves respond, night in and night out.

2MG's Difference

Brendan Haywood is still an effective player and defender, but it’s become increasingly clear that he is Rick Carlisle’s third option at center in late-game situations. That make sense for a variety of reasons, unconventional though it may be to see a starter off the floor in crunch time, or to see a center rotation of three players all getting roughly equivalent minutes.

Hoopdata Boxscore

Dirk from long2: 3 of 6, Rest of the Mavs 4-14. Rubio 1-1, Rest of the Wolves 3-15.

Stats

FT-Watch

Brendan bricked zero of nil from the line. So far he is staying at a brickrate of 50%. Celebration for our third best Center, Beaches! [nsfw]

On the other Hand, Dirk missed 3 of 10. Mayans?

Rest

Outrebounded? Badly, 38-47 Normally, that's a Loss. Thanks, 28 TWolvesTO's, though.

39 FG, 25 Assists, 16 Steals, 8 Blocks for the Mavs.Throw in 3 Charges drawn, too.

Bonus

Disclaimer: If you couldn't tell by now, all italic sentences are made up thoughts, not actual quotes. Also, postits.