Hornets Head Coach Byron Scott
on the third quarter: “We’re just weren’t making shots tonight, for whatever reason, especially in the third quarter. I thought we did a pretty good job defensively, but 14 points in the third quarter is just not going to get it done against the Spurs. We’ve just got to take it one possession at a time, that’s all we can do right now. We’ve got to take every possession like it’s our last on both ends of the floor. But I agree, I don’t think we came out with that sense of urgency in the third quarter. We have no choice, now.”
On the season: “I told the guys that I am very proud of the way they played all season long and the way they competed tonight. Obviously we did not have our best stuff and you have to give the Spurs a lot of credit for that. But, again, I am very proud of this organization. “
“I told the team that I am very proud of them and it is an honor to be here. I also told the them the one thing I want them to remember when they start working out is to remember how they feel right now, because you have to go through some things before you can really understand how good it is going to feel once you get to the next level. With all the success we have had this season a lot of people didn’t expect us to be where we are. I told the guys you just don’t go from not making the playoffs to winning the Championship; it just doesn’t work that way. I think we have developed something here special, obviously we need to add some pieces to the puzzle, but we are headed in the right direction and I like the direction we are in.”
“This game is going to help us. Chicago went through it with Detroit, Detroit went through it with Boston, you just have to go through this. We are going to have some scar tissue to learn from. It is a process and it is good to be in a locker room with so many guys who care about this game.”
Hornets guard Chris Paul
“We are not satisfied; D West said we will be back here next year in the same situation and our group.”
On rebounding: “They were pretty active all night and we had opportunities, they outscrapped us a couple of times.”
On the Pargo shot to tie the game: “It definitely looked good and I got that rebound and pushed it up the court and saw JP running up ahead of me, I was like If I has 10 more chances I would do it again. If it is not for JP we don’t have a chance to tie the ball game. He came in the fourth quarter and changed the whole look of the game. Ai would give it to him every time.”
On ending their playoff run: “After the game coach called it growing pains, and great teams have to go through things like this. The make up of our team is special, we play for each other and that is why we are in the situation we are in.”
On the fan support: “You have to give your hat off to the City of New Orleans, they made this season unbelievable for us. I am not even worried about it that we will be back here next year.”
Hornets forward David West
On the loss as consolation: “I don’t look at it like that, we knew what we needed to do to get here and we need to improve on that.”
On his back: “You don’t use excuses, they just outplayed us.”
Monday, May 19, 2008
Hornets Game 7 postgame NOTES
TONIGHT’S KEY RUN: The Spurs went on a 15-6 run during the third quarter to take a 71-54 advantage with 27.9 seconds left in the third, their largest of the game…the spurt covered nearly the last four minutes of the third period, as Mike Finley had five points during the run.
QUICK HITS
· With the win tonight, the Spurs will advance to the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers…the series will begin with Game 1 at the STAPLES Center on Wednesday, May 21, at 8:00 p.m. CST.
· The Spurs came back to win the series with the Hornets after trailing 2-0 in the series…it is the first time in Spurs franchise history that a team has come back from a 2-0 deficit…the Spurs became just the 14th team out of 213 squads to come back and win after trailing 2-0 in a best-of-seven series.
· A crowd of 18,235 fans attended tonight’s game, the seventh-straight sellout in the playoffs for the Hornets…dating back to the regular season, it was the 13th-straight sellout for the Hornets.
· The loss snapped a nine-game playoff win streak dating back to the 2004 post-season…the Hornets won 18 of their last 20 games at the New Orleans Arena.
· Chris Paul finished the game with 18 points and 14 assists, his eighth double-double of the 2008 post-season…Paul also had five steals and eight rebounds in the game.
· Tyson Chandler registered his fifth post-season double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds…Chandler finished 6-of-8 from the floor.
· David West scored a team-high 20 points in the game and also had nine rebounds against the Spurs.
· Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 26 points, including 10-of-11 shooting from the FT line…he also had five rebounds and five assists in 42 minutes.
· Tim Duncan registered a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds, while Tony Parker added 17 points and five assists for the Spurs.
· The Spurs out-rebounded the Hornets, 51-22 in the game, while grabbing 13 offensive rebounds…the Hornets grabbed 11 offensive boards in the game, scoring 15 second-chance points, compared to just six second-chance points for San Antonio.
· In the 11 match-ups between the Hornets and Spurs this season, including regular and post-season games, the team that has won the battle of the board has come out on top…the Spurs have won six of the 11 games between the two teams.
· The Hornets outscored the Spurs, 13-2, in fastbreak points.
· Robert Horry played in his ninth Game 7 appearance in tonight’s game, ranking him second in NBA playoff history…Bill Russell holds the record for Game 7’s played with 10.
QUICK HITS
· With the win tonight, the Spurs will advance to the Western Conference Finals against the Los Angeles Lakers…the series will begin with Game 1 at the STAPLES Center on Wednesday, May 21, at 8:00 p.m. CST.
· The Spurs came back to win the series with the Hornets after trailing 2-0 in the series…it is the first time in Spurs franchise history that a team has come back from a 2-0 deficit…the Spurs became just the 14th team out of 213 squads to come back and win after trailing 2-0 in a best-of-seven series.
· A crowd of 18,235 fans attended tonight’s game, the seventh-straight sellout in the playoffs for the Hornets…dating back to the regular season, it was the 13th-straight sellout for the Hornets.
· The loss snapped a nine-game playoff win streak dating back to the 2004 post-season…the Hornets won 18 of their last 20 games at the New Orleans Arena.
· Chris Paul finished the game with 18 points and 14 assists, his eighth double-double of the 2008 post-season…Paul also had five steals and eight rebounds in the game.
· Tyson Chandler registered his fifth post-season double-double with 13 points and 15 rebounds…Chandler finished 6-of-8 from the floor.
· David West scored a team-high 20 points in the game and also had nine rebounds against the Spurs.
· Manu Ginobili led the Spurs with 26 points, including 10-of-11 shooting from the FT line…he also had five rebounds and five assists in 42 minutes.
· Tim Duncan registered a double-double with 16 points and 14 rebounds, while Tony Parker added 17 points and five assists for the Spurs.
· The Spurs out-rebounded the Hornets, 51-22 in the game, while grabbing 13 offensive rebounds…the Hornets grabbed 11 offensive boards in the game, scoring 15 second-chance points, compared to just six second-chance points for San Antonio.
· In the 11 match-ups between the Hornets and Spurs this season, including regular and post-season games, the team that has won the battle of the board has come out on top…the Spurs have won six of the 11 games between the two teams.
· The Hornets outscored the Spurs, 13-2, in fastbreak points.
· Robert Horry played in his ninth Game 7 appearance in tonight’s game, ranking him second in NBA playoff history…Bill Russell holds the record for Game 7’s played with 10.
Spurs Game 7 postgame QUOTES
Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich
Opening statement: “I’m sure glad that’s over. The Hornets are an unbelievably tough team in every way in that one could imagine, and they had a great year. The ownership and management, Byron and his staff were great, obviously. The players were great; they really came together, and had a fantastic year. I don’t think there’s any doubt their time will come. We feel thrilled to be able to get out of here with a victory. They were really something else, and we were very fortunate.”
On what it took for his team to pull off the first road victory of the series by either team: “I think for us it was defense. We really concentrated on the fact that it might help fuel our offense. We wanted to try to keep them off balance, so we changed defenses more tonight than we did in any other game, and maybe it helped us a bit.”
On the importance of free throw shooting, defense and rebounding: “Well, I think both teams had little spurts there. They had one at the end, where they got about six shots, and finally (Jannero) Pargo knocked it down. For us, rebounding had to be important. And it has been throughout the whole series. But, what we did today was much better (defense) in the third quarter, we made a couple shots – we actually scored 20 points, which is a miracle for us in the third quarter of this series. We held them down. Free-throw shooting goes without saying. If we would have had a poor night, it would have been a whole different story. But, Timmy (Duncan) knocked his down, and obviously Manu did, and Tony did a good job, so that certainly helps.”
On the importance of the Spurs answering Hornets runs with bigger runs: “An NBA game is a game of runs in larger degree. There are times that teams make shots and when teams miss shots, but those are the types of things you play through. There is nobody else in the gym – no fans, no officials – nobody more important than your teammates. You’ve got to pump each other up and play through those tough times, and I thought we did that pretty well tonight. They made a couple of great runs.”
Spurs guard Manu Ginobili
On the team’s mentality: “It was not any different from any other game. Game 6, we had the same responsibility. It just happened that I made a lot of shots in the first half. Then in the second (half), I didn’t play as well, but we stayed solid and we kept them to 82 points and that’s great for us. It was great teamwork.”
On controlling Chris Paul: “The last two games, we did a very good job on him. We’ve got to give Tony (Parker) and Bruce (Bowen) a lot of credit. They did an unbelievable job. He is a heck of a player. He is very smart and good finishing at the paint. It was a tough job and they did unbelievable work the last two games.”
On if he is comfortable remaining in the starting lineup against the Lakers: “I’m just comfortable winning. Whatever helps to win a game, I’m happy with it. If I have to go back to the bench against L.A., I’ll take it anyway. As long as we keep winning, I’m fine.”
Spurs guard Tony Parker
On the bench play: “The bench played great. Definitely helped us create energy on the boards and played great defense.”
Spurs forward Robert Horry
On experience: “You know that’s the thing with people always talking about us being old. They say you’re old because you don’t dunk anymore and you don’t slash as fast as you used to . . . but our game plan is usually pretty good.”
Opening statement: “I’m sure glad that’s over. The Hornets are an unbelievably tough team in every way in that one could imagine, and they had a great year. The ownership and management, Byron and his staff were great, obviously. The players were great; they really came together, and had a fantastic year. I don’t think there’s any doubt their time will come. We feel thrilled to be able to get out of here with a victory. They were really something else, and we were very fortunate.”
On what it took for his team to pull off the first road victory of the series by either team: “I think for us it was defense. We really concentrated on the fact that it might help fuel our offense. We wanted to try to keep them off balance, so we changed defenses more tonight than we did in any other game, and maybe it helped us a bit.”
On the importance of free throw shooting, defense and rebounding: “Well, I think both teams had little spurts there. They had one at the end, where they got about six shots, and finally (Jannero) Pargo knocked it down. For us, rebounding had to be important. And it has been throughout the whole series. But, what we did today was much better (defense) in the third quarter, we made a couple shots – we actually scored 20 points, which is a miracle for us in the third quarter of this series. We held them down. Free-throw shooting goes without saying. If we would have had a poor night, it would have been a whole different story. But, Timmy (Duncan) knocked his down, and obviously Manu did, and Tony did a good job, so that certainly helps.”
On the importance of the Spurs answering Hornets runs with bigger runs: “An NBA game is a game of runs in larger degree. There are times that teams make shots and when teams miss shots, but those are the types of things you play through. There is nobody else in the gym – no fans, no officials – nobody more important than your teammates. You’ve got to pump each other up and play through those tough times, and I thought we did that pretty well tonight. They made a couple of great runs.”
Spurs guard Manu Ginobili
On the team’s mentality: “It was not any different from any other game. Game 6, we had the same responsibility. It just happened that I made a lot of shots in the first half. Then in the second (half), I didn’t play as well, but we stayed solid and we kept them to 82 points and that’s great for us. It was great teamwork.”
On controlling Chris Paul: “The last two games, we did a very good job on him. We’ve got to give Tony (Parker) and Bruce (Bowen) a lot of credit. They did an unbelievable job. He is a heck of a player. He is very smart and good finishing at the paint. It was a tough job and they did unbelievable work the last two games.”
On if he is comfortable remaining in the starting lineup against the Lakers: “I’m just comfortable winning. Whatever helps to win a game, I’m happy with it. If I have to go back to the bench against L.A., I’ll take it anyway. As long as we keep winning, I’m fine.”
Spurs guard Tony Parker
On the bench play: “The bench played great. Definitely helped us create energy on the boards and played great defense.”
Spurs forward Robert Horry
On experience: “You know that’s the thing with people always talking about us being old. They say you’re old because you don’t dunk anymore and you don’t slash as fast as you used to . . . but our game plan is usually pretty good.”
Spurs win Game 7, 91-82
The series is over. A road team finally broke through. Unfortunately for the Hornets, that means 2007-08 has ended. Check the Big Easy Buzz blog later for more postgame analysis.
:32.5 fourth: SA 89-80
It's going to take a miracle now. The Hornets missed a couple shots and the Spurs are hitting their free throws. It was hard to imagine New Orleans losing at home after how it's played in recent weeks, but the defending champs have shown why they're so feared tonight.
:50.1 fourth: SA 85-80
Tony Parker just nailed a momentous jumper, putting the Spurs up five. Jannero has been incredible in this quarter, but he had a chance to tie from the left corner with an open three and missed.
2:59 fourth: SA 81-77
The Hornets are oh so close now, after a huge individual eruption by Pargo, who has 13 points in this quarter. However, Tony Parker was fouled on a mid-range jumper and will be shooting two free throws after this timeout. Tyson was called for the foul, he appeared to hit Parker across the arm.
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