Dallas Mavericks @ Philadelphia 76ers Post Game 31 Quotes "Basketball is _____"

What the Dallas Mavericks and the Philadelphia 76ers said 
after Game Thirtyone of the Perfect Season.

Quotes

Mavericks

Coach Carlisle

(On Nowitzki and the Game) "Dirk is a great player, and he is obviously feeling better now. He has put together great games our last six games. At this point, this is not a shock. The key to the game was our defense, and I also thought Dominique Jones filling in tonight for our three absent guards that have been regular guys for us was really important. The story of the game was our defense. We only allowed 24 points in the second half, which is a phenomenal job defensively. They missed some shots, but our guys were into it. Right now, that is our identity as a team. We are a defense-first team."

(On Kidd playing 30 Minutes) "We don't have a definite minutes number, but we're not going to go crazy and overplay him. Other guys are going to have to play."

(Who would that be?) "Dominique Jones filling in did a terrific job, all things considered.''

(On West finger surgery) "The surgery went well and he'll be out a number of weeks. We're not exactly sure how long, but in the meantime we're going to have to scramble a little bit."

Dirk Nowitzki

(On the Mavs) "We kind of take everybody’s best hit and we still play well. And, obviously, we had some personal tragedies in the last couple days, so hopefully we can get some of our guys back."

(On 24 Points in the 2nd half) "I really tried to find my rhythm early and get some baskets and get going, but for some reason that wasn’t happening. I felt like I had some good looks but everything was short. In the second half, I had the same mindset, just had a couple go in. And when a shooter sees a couple go in his confidence shows up."

(On 4 Points at Halftime) "I had a couple jabs and face-ups (in the first half), I had a three that went in and out, so it was a frustrating half. But I knew in the second half I was going to come out and keep firing, especially with Jet out, and I'm glad they went in.''

(On Defense) "I thought, defensively, we have been really solid over this six-game winning streak. I think we’re working. We knew that they were guard-oriented with Jrue Holiday and Lou Williams being their top scorers. So, we really tried to make it hard on them. We tried to keep them out of the paint and scramble from there. I thought we did a good job rebounding and then pushed the ball from there. I think that even last year, that’s when we’re at our best, when we get stops, when we rebound, push the ball and get stuff in transition."

(On Coming back down 15) "We feel like we're never out of it. We showed that last year in the playoffs when we were down 16 with a couple of minutes to go. We feel like when we get stops we can get hot at any time. Nobody panicked."

(Y U NO WORSE ON D?!? U NO HAZ CHANDLER!!!!) "I think our energy on defense has been good. We've got some length in the paint, and we've got some guard length on the perimeter, and guys are working together. If you want to be a good defensive team, you can't do it with one or two guys. You've got to have five guys rotating, scrambling and rebounding."

Jason Kidd

(On Defense) "We tried to make it tough. In this league if you get layups and get points in the paint, it’s going to be tough and then the threes start dropping. So for us we wanted to protect the paint and make them take tough shots."

(On 24-8 in the 3rd) "That third quarter, which has been our worst quarter all season, turned out to be our best quarter at both ends tonight."

(On 9-0 Run in the 4th) "It was 63-63 and we were like, ‘Hey, who’s gonna make a stand?’ Dirk made some great plays down the stretch and everybody kind of touched the ball."

(On the Mavs keeping on Linning) "Everybody talks about our age, but we all feel like basketball is basketball. We might not be conventional in our lineups. But we just go out there, take advantage of our height in some different positions, and then play from there."

Dominique Jones

(On how to win) "If we keep getting the ball to Dirk, it doesn’t matter how bad things are looking. He’s gonna make some things happen."

(On -21 in 21 Minutes) "I think I did some great things out there. Of course there's always things you can do better, different things you wish you can do again. I feel like every game I need to get better and do better, and capitalize on the mistakes that I made before.''

(On going from not playing at all to 52 Minutes in 2 Games) "I think it's a more happy and meaningful preparation because I know that when I'm out there working out I know that certain situations are going to come up. And for me to capitalize on it makes all the difference in the whole game. It's been almost a year, or maybe two years, since I've really played. So to get my feet back and get back my rhythm and playing longer minutes, it's a good opportunity."

(On 12 Points, 0 Ast, 5 To) "I'm going to find different ways to get the ball and do what I need to do to get the ball to other people that I need to get the ball to."

(On taking a Train to New York) "It should be fun. I've always wanted to take a train ride. I was planning on, after this season, taking a train ride somewhere so I can look at the country.''

(On if he's ready for Linsanity) "We're ready for the Knicks."

Shawn Marion

(On 3-13 shooting) "I’m a competitor and I don’t believe in playing [only] one side of the floor. I’ve always been like that my whole career and I pride myself on that. True basketball players are gonna find a way to help their team whether they’re able to score or not."

(On Jones) "The young fellow came out and play good tonight. I think he's starting to get a little feel for a couple of days out on the floor.

(On Jones 5 Turnovers playing 21 Minutes) "I know he got tired. This is the most minutes he's played in a long time, these two games, but we need him.''

(On Defense) "We're all out there communicating with each other. I think that the more we're helping each other and the more we're communicating and making it hard for the other team, the better we are, and it shows. When you have everybody just feeding off each other and helping each other to make them better, it makes us all look better.''

(On if he is ready for Linsanity on Sunday) "For who? His name is Lin. It's Jeremy Lin, right?''

Philly 76ers

Coach Doug Collins

(On the Game) "It was a tale of two halves, to say the least. The first half we were active, in the open court, moving the ball, then the second half we started missing shots and I really thought we got discouraged. We got in the halfcourt and we couldn't create anything. That's a very good defensive team. I thought we missed a lot of shots that we normally make. We could never get anything offensively generated. Even with that said, I told our guys at the end of the quarter, ‘With a 24-8 quarter, it was a two-point game.’ We just never could get anything generated offensively in the second half."

(On Holiday's struggles) "Gotta keep fighting, man. It's a tough business. Tough business,"

(On 24 Points in the 2nd Half) "One thing I’ve always said is I don’t care if you miss shots, shots are going to come and go. If you look defensively, we held them under 39 percent shooting. We held them under 36 percent from the three-point line. We turned them over 16 times and got 18 points. I just said, ‘You can’t let your shooting discourage you.’ But it’s easier said than done. When you miss shots, you can just see it take the life out of you."

Andre Iguodala

(On the 2nd half) "We didn’t make shots. We had some decent looks, but the ball didn’t go in. We kind of get tense."

(On why) "We started thinking too much instead of just letting it be fluid. You forget the mechanics of just catching and shooting. We had a look on our faces of concern and we have to do a better job of getting out of those funks like that. It kind of lingered with us and it’s a learning experience."

Thaddeus Young

(On defending Dirk) "You just try to contain him. Their offense is designed to get him the ball. Even if you push him out to the three-point line they’re still going to throw him the ball and let him do his thing. He didn’t just catch the ball on the block, he caught it at the three-point line and backed you down and if you stopped him, he’d spin and take a shot. I think I did a pretty good job on him before fouling out."

(On the Mavs Defense) "They forced us to take a lot of jump shots and not use our strengths. They got off and started making big shots, especially Dirk."

(On Sixers Offense woes 2nd half) "We stop attacking the basket. If we keep attacking the basket like we've been doing in the past I think we'll stop these droughts. But I think that we've been sitting back and taking a few more jump shots than going to the basket. We've just got to go out there and continue to do the things that got us the lead in the first place."

Vids

Game Recap

Postgame

Kidd

Mavs Lockerroom | NBA.com Philly Postgame

Links

MMB | Rottcap Holdoff

The half ended with Dallas down 51-37. The second half… well… let’s see. First Shawn Marion missed a fast-break dunk. Then he missed an open layup. Then I curled up in the fetal position and cried. But while I was rocking back and forth in agony, something magical happened. Dirk started taking… and making… shots. The Mavs closed out the lead on Dirk’s shoulders and made it a game again.

Liberty Ballers Recap (With an interjection from our Side)

On a night when the jumpers weren't falling, the Sixers had great opportunities to take the ball to the basket as the Mavericks don't posses a true defensive threat in the middle now that Tyson Chandler is in New York....

"Why did we lose to them?? They don't have Tyson Chandler as a defensive anchor anymore!!!"

- f**king every opposing team’s blog

(Really lazy writing, imo.)

by mike_o on Feb 18, 2012 12:19 AM CST

....Did this thought cross the team or coach's mind? It sure didn't look like it. Possession after possession the Sixers settled for jumpshots, many ill-advised and early in the shot clock; the same offensive mentality that quickly took them out of the Heat game two weeks ago. The shooting was so terrible that Holiday and Andre Iguodala combined to hit zero shots on ten attempts while perennial "4th-quarter closer" Lou connected on just two of his ten shots.

Philadunkia almost Rapid Reactions

Dirk’d again: Dirk makes a living killing the Sixers. In the previous two seasons when Dirk made his way down to the WFC he had a couple game winning shots to beat the Sixers, on this night Dirk single-handedly took over the game in the second half scoring 24 of his game high 28 points to give the Mavs the victory. He’s a special player.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko2ikZMn9XY

2MG's Difference

....

Hoopdata Boxscore

Dirk Nowitzki shot 6-15 from 16 feet out. The Rest of the Mavs combined for 3-18.

Stats

FT-Watch

Brendan bricked nussing from the line. He's so smooth, they can't even foul him anymore. So far he is sporting a rocking brickrate of 54%. Celebration for our third best Center, Beaches! [nsfw]

On the other Hand, Dirk got to the line 6 times.

Rest

Outrebounded? Nope, 51-48. And you the Mavs rarely lose those.

31 FG, 20 Assists, 5 Steals, 4 Blocks, 15 Turnovers for the Mavs. They have yet to record less than 20 Ast during their current Winstreak.

Bonus

Proof that tanning works:

PHILADELPHIA, PA - FEBRUARY 17: Dirk Nowitzki #41 and Brian Cardinal #34 of the Dallas Mavericks celebrate a play against the Philadelphia 76ers on February 17, 2012 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2012 NBAE (Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE via Getty Images)

Malus

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