HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS “Well it was a terrific basketball game. I was really pleased with how we defended for three and a half quarters. We never really could gain any traction offensively. They’re a good defensive team. But we kept competing. On a night where we struggled to score, we were still in position to win the game and you take that. There are going to be nights where you can’t score but the fact that we kept battling defensively and rebounding and making plays, certainly something to build on.” On Chicago’s defense: “Well you have to give them credit, obviously they’re a very good defensive team. You have to give them credit. I thought we had some looks, good looks late in the fourth quarter that could have turned the tide a little bit, but you’ve got to give them credit for their defense. After a slow start, I liked the way that we started competing a little bit more on offense and understood how hard we had to play offensively to get those looks.” On Plumlee’s performance and showing more of his game: “I think he’s continuing to get better. He’s feeling more comfortable with our offense and what we’re trying to do. As I’ve said, he’s not just a versatile big man, he’s a versatile player. He can do a lot of different things. That’s part of the growth for him this year is to expand his game and he’s going to continue to do that.” On Chicago’s defending of Lillard: “Well, as I said, they’re a very good defensive team. They protect the paint. I liked the way Damian competed, for a guy who didn’t shoot the ball well, he was two assists away from a triple double. He’s going to get a lot of attention every night. That’s part of the deal. You just have to keep battling. He was aggressive going to the basket and I think you see the free throws, he’s trying to find other ways – rebounding, assists, getting to the free throw line. On different nights it’s going to be different things.” On playing Plumlee and Davis together: “Probably their energy more than anything else, and defensively against Gibson and Noah and later Gibson and Gasol. Kind of going back to the Clipper game, I thought it was a matchup that was suited for them. Defensively, I think they really worked well off of each other. On a night were on offense we struggled and getting stops was going to be important, hopefully we get out and play in transition a little bit.” DAMIAN LILLARD How much of the shooting struggles do you put on their defense? “They’re a good defensive team. I thought I got a lot of good looks at the rim. The shots just didn’t go in. I was more disappointed with that free throw. It kind of just went halfway down the basket and came out. We played a really good defensive game, but we just didn’t shoot the ball really well.” Did you feel a reluctance by some guys to shoot? “I don’t know, they’re a good defensive team and they close out hard on the perimeter. I think guys felt like because they were closing out hard, they might be able to rip and get by them so a few times, we passed up on open shots on the perimeter because of that. We have to give credit to what they did for making us do it.” On being a leader and taking big shots in the fourth quarter even while struggling with shot: “I mean, like I said, I felt good stepping into each one of them and they just didn’t fall. I’m willing to be that guy that makes them and I’m willing to be that guy that doesn’t make them and tonight they didn’t fall. We still gave ourselves a chance. We defended really well, but the shots just didn’t fall.” How frustrating is it to miss shots like that: “If anything, we should be frustrated because we competed really hard, we gave ourselves a chance. Usually it’s like we needed one more stop or we would have had this game, but tonight it was like we needed one or two more field goals or maybe a free throw, and we win this game. I think we should also be excited with the way we defended tonight, the way we competed and gave ourselves a chance to win the game. We’ve got to keep that mindset and keep that type of focus and do it every game. The shots will fall some nights. If we can put that defensive effort with execution offensively, we’ll be good.”
HEAD COACH FRED HOIBERG On how Derrick Rose looked in his first game back to action: “I thought it was good. We tried to get him a little rest when we could, he spent a lot of energy out there. He did a terrific job defensively… Damian Lillard is one of the toughest guards in this league and you have to stay attached to him at all times, so I thought Derrick had great awareness on that end of the floor and I thought he made some big plays for us on the offensive end as well.” On the way his team’s defense played while the offense was stalling: “We got stops when we needed them the most, and that’s what you have to do when your offense isn’t clicking. We missed some good ones and when that ball got on the side of the floor it didn’t get side to side nearly enough, so again, got to keep working getting better down the stretch.” On how Nikola Mirotic played tonight: “The last couple nights he’s played with a lot of confidence, it started at Golden State, he got good numbers that game and got us off to a really good start tonight with the way he shot the ball. Plus it opens up, when he’s out there there’s a lot of space for our guards to operate.” On Joakim Noah knocking down a jumper: “Yeah, it was great. His teammates were pumping him up to shoot that, he puts a lot of time and effort into his game and I thought he and Taj (Gibson) were terrific out there for us, especially in that first half. Those guys were playing off of each other, both got a couple of post touches and scored it in there. Pau (Gasol) obviously hit a huge shot for us down the stretch… I was really pleased with how all four of our bigs played.” DERRICK ROSE On how he felt playing tonight: “I felt alright. There were some plays where I didn’t have any lift on my shot when driving the ball but that will come with the more I play and the stronger I get.” On guarding Damian Lillard: “Anybody I play against I try to just give them a tough time. Let them know that it’s going to be a long night and try to contest all of their shots. He’s a great, great player so its hard guarding shooters like him.” On winning the game tonight in comparison to the last time he played in Portland: “I’m just happy I got off the court. I think I played an alright game and we won the game so that’s the only thing that matters. As far as a team I felt like when we go up 10, we went up 10 but there’s sometimes when we go up a certain amount of points we have to learn how to close teams out. It’s the beginning of the year, we’re still trying to figure out the plan to that but it’s going to take us a little bit more time.” On falling back into his rhythm: “I was close tonight but I haven’t been able to move around like that, like the physicality of the game is different than practice. I was able to move around a little bit in practice but hitting bodies and guarding strain and rolls, like 50 strain and rolls is kind of tough but it all comes with just playing again. I hope I get a lot of games under me so I can get my legs under me a little bit more and I’m keeping up with treatment on my ankle.” PAU GASOL On the game: “We got stops, we knocked down our free throws and that was important, and we got defensive rebounds which is a key factor to the game.” On what happened in the 4th quarter to let the Blazers get back into the game: “A couple of transition defenses where we didn’t get back the way we should have. We gave up a three and then they got a layup and a duck from (Mason) Plumlee as well. Just things that shouldn’t happen but do and you try to make up for them.”
