Quote Board: The Dallas Mavericks speak after the loss to the Orlando Magic

The Dallas Mavericks fell to the Orlando Magic on Friday night, 110-105. It was their lone preseason home game, which is disappointing, but there were a lot of positive elements to take away from the contest. Here’s what the team had to say after the loss.

Jason Kidd

(On what he liked out of the first units he saw…)

“We talked before the game, making the pass, sharing the ball, I think that group did that at a very high level and defensively. Again, the carryover from practice or training camp and last year, that group is understanding of what we are asking them to do. I thought they did it at a high level there in that first half, well first quarter really, and once we got the lead we kind of shut our engines down. So we have to get better and understand that that’s going to happen during the season and we have to learn from that.”

(On Luka Dončić being pepped as the preseason MVP…)

“Oh he’s the MVP tonight, he looked great. You know, being able to go the full quarter there in the first, being able to control the game, he can get to the basket, he can shoot the 3. I thought he did great on both ends of the floor.”

(On Christian Wood getting integrated after these two preseason games…)

“It looks like he has been here for a while. He can score the ball and he has given us something we haven’t had when you look at Maxi [Kleber] being able to shoot the 3 now we can see him post up and play at a post with him. Defensively, he’s learning the system and I think he is doing a great job just in the short time that he’s been here. He can score the ball, but then on the other side, he’s talking and trying to get used to the defensive schemes that we have taught guys before him and he’s catching on. He’s going to be fine, but he does give us something besides Luka in the post. We can go to him and post too.”

Christian Wood

(On his play the first two preseason games…)

“I mean, the first game I think I struggled to find my rhythm early on, but the guards got me looks, Coach Kidd ran a few plays for me in the post. The second game, I mean, Luka Dončić. He’s easy to play with, I had a couple easy slips to the rim because of the way they play him. So it’s not like really you gotta get hit on the screens, kinda slip out, and the two (guard) is going to come out for a two-on-one and he’s going to find you every time.

(On his role coming off the bench…)

“I’m just embracing it. I could pout about it, I could do a whole bunch of different things and pout, and do all the extra stuff, but I’m just here to try to win games, and that’s what I care about the most. So I’m just coming into the game and playing 110%.”\

Frank Ntilikina

(On running the offense…)

“It was good. Of course I started, led the way, the right way, and I just got back into the game, the second, third unit, went into the second half and played hard. I know we always can do a better job. The focus was doing a better job taking care of the ball — we did better than the previous game, but we can still do better, keep working and move forward.”

(On the play of Luka Dončić…)

“That’s him, Luka. He was quite comfortable, confident, getting himself shots, getting his teammates shots. He does what he does every day. He’s really talented and our leader. Today, he looked great, and I know he’s going to work to be the best he can be all season.”

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