Boston Celtics @ Dallas Mavericks Post Game 33 Quotes "Team of Legends"

What the Dallas Mavericks and the Boston Celtics said 
after Game Thirtythree of the Perfect Season.

Quotes

Mavericks

Coach Rick Carlisle

(On the Mavs) "I thought coming off of yesterday the guys were really up for this. Sometimes you can have a letdown when a team’s missing a couple of star players. I thought we did a good job not allowing that to happen and then just playing with consistency from start to finish."

(On the Celtics) "Their team was depleted to a great extent, so that's a mitigating circumstance. I understand that. But the other guys they threw out there were hard-playing guys and they played well. We had to play to win.''

(On Lamar Odom) "I would love for Lamar to be the kind of high-impact player that he is supposedly advertised as being. But the truth is, he has been a consistent player. His stats have been very consistent and based on his per-36 minutes-a-game stats, his last 15 games are right pretty much on par with his career. And so I think we’re really looking for spectacular things from him on a night-in, night-out basis; that’s not who he is. He’s a knowledgeable, a terrific all-around player who’s a great rebounder and a guy that has a special knack for putting the ball on the floor and making plays. One of the curses of our situation for him is that unless we have a guy like Dirk out, he's not going to get the 30- to 35-minute runs where he can just go out there and eventually roll up stats. Every year of his career, he's started out and gotten better as the year has gone along. He's done that here. He's made great progress. I think it's important that everybody understand the situation he's in now is unlike any situation he's been in his entire career. He's not playing all power forward minutes and he's not playing with two 7-footers who are great scorers in the post as he did in LA with Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. He's now splitting minutes between 3 and 4, which affects his rebounding. And his playmaking is of a different nature at the three position. That's been a constant adjustment and he's making it. I think that's where we are."

(On Odom's shooting throwing) "His field-goal percentage is down, but if you go back and look at it the last 15 games since he’s really gotten into shape, my bet would be that it’s significantly higher than that. I’m basing what I’m saying on the last 15 games because, look, his summer was rough, he wasn’t in shape when he got here, all that’s been documented. What I can talk to you about is what I’ve seen and I saw the first 15 games and I’ve seen the last 16 or whatever it’s been, and there’s been marked improvement. But, if we’re looking for a guy that’s going to dazzle on a night-in, night-out basis with gaudy stats and a bunch of fancy stuff, that’s not who he is as a player and that’s not who he’s been as a player."

(On Odom's play) "Do I think he can play better? Yes. Do I think he will? Yes, I do."

(Do we expect too much from Lamar?) "I like high expectations. I think that's what brings out the best in people. We have high expectations for all our guys and set lofty goals. I'm never one to give into lower expectations. And I don't think you guys should, either. If a guy has one bad game, we don't drop-kick him to the curb. He's important to us, as are all of our guys.''

(On Dirk's passing of the Chief, Robert Parish, on the All-Time Scoring List) "For those people that didn’t think he was a top 20 all-time player, I think this is good evidence of that. You can't have that accomplishment without a remarkable level of sustained excellence. The other great thing right now, he continues to do better physically. He's moving every game seemingly better. We've got to keep building on that, too."

(On Kidd passing Michael Jordan on the All-Time Steals List for #2) "Listen, every week we're going to have records broken with the guys we have on this team. It's like a legends team. Jason Kidd's career has been amazing. Think about 18 years, almost two decades, of top-notch excellence."

(On the Dallas Mavericks' Identity) "Our identity this year is that we’re a defensive team. You look at our stats and you look at our record, you look at when we’ve struggled and when we play well. Our defense and rebounding is defining who we are. We have great respect for Boston, so it’s nice to be in that company, but we still have a ways to go."

(On Consistency) "We can't give up 17-0 runs and 12-1 runs, stuff like that. There were too many peaks and valleys in that game on Sunday. That's not the kind of consistency you need to have to be a real contending team. Monday we were much better.''

(On where the Mavs are at) "We're "improving, with a ways to go. Some of it, of course, has to do with our health issues. That's Mother Nature, and we've got to deal with that."

Dirk Nowitzki

(On the Game) "I mean, they obviously had some guys out and that’s always dangerous.You always talk about those being the setup kind of games that’s easy to lose, when they’ve got a couple guys out and you don’t approach the game the right way mentally. But we talked about it before the game, especially after coming off a loss, and we definitely took this one the right way."

(On 26 and 16) "Ever since I took that week off, it’s been steady progress of me feeling better and moving better. So, I’ve just got to keep attacking for this team and keep things going in the right direction."

(On #20 All-time Scoring, 1000th Career Block) "It’s nice, obviously, but it doesn’t mean that much to me right now. As I always keep saying, it’s gonna be great when my career is over, looking back at all the stuff that I did. Right now, I feel better and got to keep it going. Ever since I took the week off, I feel better and I've been moving better. I've got to keep attacking."

(On being selected to represent the Dallas Mavericks at the NBA All-Star Game in Orlando) "I think everybody knows if I would have been healthy all year, it would have been a lock. But I wasn’t healthy. If you judge it by first third of the season, whatever they judged it on, I still say there were some guys that deserved it over me, but it is what it is. The coaches showed me a lot of respect."

(Wait, you're not really done?) "I’m just getting warmed up. No, I knew eventually once the swelling in my knee went down and I started feeling better that I can still play on a high level. I was just struggling physically the first month or so with the short camp, but I had confidence that eventually, once my leg strength came back, I can still compete at a high level. I think I’ve still got that in my tank for hopefully the next two years and then we can go from there."

(WTF, CHARLES SAID SO!!! What happend!?!) "Once I got my game back, I can attack off the dribble, post, do all those things, I think there’s not a lot of power forwards in this league who are better than me."

Jason Kidd

(On passing Michael Jordan on the All-Time Steals List) "Mike is everybody’s idol and he played both ends of the court. So, just being able to pass him in something is an honor in itself. When you talk about defense, he played both sides of the ball. So, Stockton and Jordan are the two best at what they do. When you talk about guards, those two are the best all time."

(On how he got all those Steals) "Just at the right place at the right time, understanding guys’ tendencies, watching film early on in my career and just being lucky enough to get in the way of some passes."

(On heading to the NBA All-Star Break soon) "We’ve got one more game against the Lakers, who are playing well. So, we’ve got to end the first half on the right note by getting the win."

Jason Terry

(On the Mavericks Gameplan) "Defensively we had to step up. You knew their key guys would be Ray Allen and Paul Pierce tonight. I think that would have been their only chance for victory tonight."

(On DEFENSE) "It's all about your foundation. When Rick Carlisle became coach he emphasized defense form Day One. He put up the numbers of the past teams that have won championships, and they were all in the top five in the defensive categories. We set that as a goal from Day One and I think we've been able to, for the most part, maintain it.''

Shawn Marion

(On the Mavs) "I think we’re good. We want to go into the break feeling good. For the most part, we’re in a good position."

Brendan Haywood

(On Dirk reportedly being done, according to multiple sources) "It’s hard to be great in June and then in December, your career is over. In June, you’re the greatest player on the planet! In December, your career is over! That’s laughable."

Dominique Jones

(On 7-5-4 in 25 Minutes) "My job is to be ready, but it's not as easy as it sounds to do it. When you know you're going to play, you have a different focus when you're looking at film."

Lamar Odom

(On bouncing back after the N.Y Loss on Sunday) "We have a mature team, a team that knows how to get it done."

(How can you improve your putrid shooting percentages?) "Make shots. Just keep taking them. Can’t make them if you don’t take them. We’re winning ballgames in the meantime, so I just keep at it, try to add to the chemistry of the team, add to the depth."

(We played half the Reg. Season already. Y U NO FIT IN?) "Even though I didn't start the last couple years, I've always finished games. So it's a little different. But I have to get used to it. This is what it is.''

(You think you'll play better in the 2nd part of the Season?) "Individually, of course. We're winning ballgames in the meantime. I'll just keep at it, try to the add to the chemistry, add to our depth. We got a chance to win the championship, a chance to be a championship contender. As a team, that's where you want to be.''

Brandan Wright

(On Lobs) "It's tough because playing against athletes, they can do things that sometimes you don't see on film. When I get in, the first thing the defenders do is start calling out lobs. Being a good athlete doesn't hurt at all.''

(On injuries hampering his career so far) "It's a good thing I came out when I was young. I'm only 24 and I feel like I have at least 10 years left in my career. As long as I can stay healthy, I think I'll continue to get better.''

Boston Celtics

Coach Doc Rivers

(On the strategy he employed during tonight's game) "Tonight if we could’ve stolen the game it would have been great. Playing five guards on the floor, we just tried to mess the game up. That was our intention going in, and we actually did, but we just couldn’t make shots.That wasn’t surprising."

(On Injuries) "We've got to get our guys back. I'm scared to talk to the medical staff because they don't give me good news. We've got to hold the fort until we get bodies back."

Paul Pierce

(On 73 Points) "It’s real tough when you’re put in those situations, but we have a lot of pride, we have to continue to go out there and compete and show improvement. If I was on the other team, I’d [double team] too, especially when you don’t have guys like Kevin and Rondo out there and Brandon Bass. We just have to figure out ways to get other guys involved. Other guys gotta be ready to step up. It's just been bad luck lately."

Ray Allen

(On slumping) "I’ve been in these types of situations before and this is a time for all of us to circle the wagons and come together and figure out what we can do to be better. It’s not about pointing fingers, it’s about learning how we can be better as a unit. I thought we gave great effort, but we were just shorthanded.’’

Vids

Milestone Block

Steal of the Night

Game Recap

Postgame

Dirk Courtside | Dirk, Kidd, Terry Locker

Links

MMB | Bowecap Business o' Caretakers

Speaking of the Celtics big men, the Mavericks smelled blood in the water tonight. Not one Boston big has really any offensive capabilities right now aside from a Jermaine O'Neal short jumper. The Mavericks knew this and absolutely blitzed any Celtic ball handler with a hard trap. It didn't always force a turnover or a bad shot, but a majority of the time it led to a pass to a bad shot or turnover. Boston had to scramble a lot on offense and take some ill-advised shots, mainly because Dallas didn't respect the roll man at all on the pick and roll. Thus, Boston shoots 39.2 percent and the Mavericks mount another head on the wall of their league-leading field-goal percentage defense.

Celticblog Undermanned, Underwhelmed

No Rajon Rondo, no Kevin Garnett, no Brandon Bass, no chance. Lose Jermaine O'Neal, lose Chris Wilcox, lose your lunch. It would have taken an inspired effort to have had a chance to win this game tonight and this team has been short on inspiration lately. The result was ugly.

Celtics Hub Fait Accompli (lolwut?)

This is how unbalanced it was: Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo and Brandon Bass didn’t dress and Chris Wilcox (groin) and Jermaine O’Neal (wrist) both exited during the game. At times, poor Avery Bradley (a spirited 6-11, 12 points) was left contesting Dirk Nowitzki, who put up a 26-16 without much effort at all.

So, nothing new tonight. This team still needs a makeover that may or may not be possible but tonight doesn’t lend weight to that argument. Any team missing that many core guys is going to struggle to pull off a SEGABABA win on the road against a team like Dallas.

2MG's Difference

Dallas was able to create separation in each of the first three quarters, but the opening frame was actually plagued by some universally sloppy basketball. It takes a special prescription to get otherwise successful NBA players to airball shots within five feet of the rim, but this game managed to find whatever perfectly miserable concoction was necessary to bring about that result. Luckily things cleared up a bit for both sides as the game went on; even the Celtics’ later struggles came in a less embarrassing variety.

Hoopdata Boxscore

Dirk Nowitzki had a Defensive Rebound Rating of 50.9, meaning when he was on the floor, he grabbed every second one. Kevin Love didn't have that high of a Rating the entire Season, Dwight Howard only once.

Stats

FT-Watch

Brendan bricked one of two from the line. So far he is sporting a brickrate of 55%. Celebration for our third best Center, Beaches! [nsfw]

On the other Hand, the Guy who believes himself to be the best Player in the NBA, missed two.

Rest

Outrebounded? Nope, 52-44 = WIN

36 FG, 26 Assists, 9 Steals, 6 Blocks, 8 Turnovers for the Mavs. Solid View.

Bonus

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