HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS “It was tough to lose that one. I thought we played a really good game, especially offensively. It was really the first game that our offense really got on track. That was good to see against a good defensive team. But the reality is, the second half, we didn’t do what we needed to do defensively and we had too many turnovers. We had 13 turnovers in the second half and still scored 60 and lost the second half. The effort was great and that’s why it’s disappointing to lose a game when we had a really good effort.” What’s your initial reaction to the news that Collins will be out for an extended period? “We’ll have to make do with the guys that we have. I’m disappointed for Zach. It’s tough for a young player to have to have surgery and miss a significant part of the season. It’s in his best interest. As far as us, that’s why you have a team and we’ll figure it out as we go along.” Did you like what you got from Hezonja and Labissiere? “I was pleased with everybody. I thought Mario did a nice job guarding Simmons. He got off to a good start offensively. I thought Skal and Anthony Tolliver did a nice job of tag teaming at five. So yeah, like I said, it was a great effort.” What are your thoughts on the defense on the Korkmaz three pointer at the end? “Dame got hit by a screen and he hit a good shot. I thought Dame recovered and challenged it well, but he made a good shot.”
RODNEY HOOD Describe injury: “It was knee to knee. I saw the replay, he kind of stuck his knee out a little bit. It’s just, I couldn’t put no pressure on it so I had to come out.” How are you feeling? “Knee is swollen right now but I think it’ll be alright, I don’t think anything structurally wrong, just swollen right now. So hopefully some treatment and I’ll be back next game.” Strategy playing with limited big men tonight was working for most of the night? “Yeah, offensively, I think this was one of our better games – just pushing the pace, finding shooters, moving the ball. We turned it over a little bit but for the most part, we played well. Defensively it was just tough not having bigs down there, they really got into the paint and did what they really wanted to do. It was tough for us but we put up a fight. Obviously, we wish we would have came out with a win. We played well enough to win but we’ll learn from this one and keep moving forward.” How do you manage the injuries you have, now with Collins out? “It’s always tough when you’re missing, especially key guys, a guy that anchors your defense and is a good player offensively. As long as it’s five guys out there, you’ve got to fight and that’s what we’re going to continue to do. We’re good enough to win games, it’s just going to be tough but we’ve got to adjust mentally and I think we’ll be fine.”
DAMIAN LILLARD What was the toughest part about the loss? “The fact that we played so well. We played such a great game and they just chipped away and got back into it. We let one slip. I think the way we lost sucks. Any time somebody hits a last second shot, put you up against the clock, it’s a bad feeling especially knowing you had such a huge lead and played such a great game.” What does it say about your confidence in Simons to go to him for the last three? “I think that’s the kind of trust and confidence that we’ve got to develop from top to bottom with everybody regardless of situation, what kind of game I might be having or he might be having. We’ve got to be able to lean on each other whether it’s the first quarter or the fourth. Me and Ant worked out a lot together this summer. I’ve got a lot of faith in him, I believe in him. He shot the ball well tonight. He was wide open and it was a higher quality shot than I probably would have got forcing it to the rim. He rose up and knocked it down. I thought that was executed as good as it possibly could have been and it just came down to one play which it shouldn’t have and they made a big shot.” How difficult was it to see Hood go down especially how he was playing? “It’s tough because like I said, he was playing such a great game. He was really rolling and you could tell he was moving around well and feeling good and already being shorthanded – all of our bigs are pretty much hurt – seeing another one of our starters go down is the last thing we wanted to see right now. The next guy came in – Baze came in and we were still in position to win the game, we just came up short.”
HEAD COACH BRETT BROWN On how they came back from behind… “There’s a series of things that happened. We tried to isolate Tobias (Harris), we drove it, and then Ben (Simmons) made the free throws. Ben stepping up and making two free throws was huge, and then they come back and they sort of isolate Damian, and a lot of times you have that “anybody but” rule. If you’re going to lose, you can lose but you don’t want to just watch KD (Kevin Durant) walk down a game or Damian Lilliard walk down a game so we tried to get the ball out of his hands. They did a great job of finding the corner. Three plays later and Furkan (Korkmaz) hits the shot. He’s one of two or three options, and Ben made the correct decision. Just a tremendous road win. This is a difficult place to win under any circumstances and to come back from 21 points down in the second half is a real tribute to our guys.” On what this game says about the team… “It’s an emerging resilience. It is a growing disposition where they believe that if they defend that they have a chance. Although the final score is way too much in the fourth period, a few things happened. We started getting very aggressive with pick and role defensive and we didn’t turn the ball over in the second half, so if you can end up with 14 shots more than they did then you got a chance.” On the decisions to close out the game… “James’ (Ennis III) defense was excellent, we decided to go with Furkan (Korkmaz) in that moment for offensive reasons and good for him, right? I thought Raul (Neto) came in and was exceptional, really helped change the game during a very tiny window, and he should be recognized for that.” On being plus 44 points going into the game… “It is a large number, and when you look at who’s available for them and who’s available for us, it doesn’t take much creative thinking of what you should probably try to do.” On Furkan Korkmaz’s contribution to the team… “Having defended him and having him defend us during the Celtics and Sixers rivalry days, I get it. To look out and see him in a Philadelphia uniform, I always have a quiet smile because I have such a respect for him as a person and certainly as a player, born out of the pain that he put on us over my days coaching against him.”
BEN SIMMONS On what was going through his mind at the end I just have to make free throws. Growing up I’ve always had pressure in terms of being on the floor, I’ve always had my name called so it’s not new to me. I love that feeling, I love being able to step into the light and know that I have to make shots and make plays. It’s just one of those things where I have to make it to win the game. I think tonight, the guys really stepped up, we fought hard and everyone did their job. On Korkmaz’ last shot I trust everybody on the floor, I know what players are going to be open. As soon as I saw Furkan open, I think he was shocked he was open, but I trusted Furkan to make that shot. He’s one of my teammates and he works hard every day, he’s a great competitor and great player. I trust all my teammates to make shots when it comes down to it, I’m not surprised, I’m just happy that he had the opportunity. On coming back from down 21 That second group, Raul (Neto) and James (Ennis III), were making huge plays. Everyone made plays coming in, and it just shows how deep we are as a team. I think everyone played a role tonight, and if it wasn’t for guys in that second team that came in, if it wasn’t for rebounds, if it wasn’t for a certain set of plays, we wouldn’t have had a chance. Everybody played a huge part. On Raul Neto’s play I think he had two steals, he hit a quick layup, he put it up there for Kyle (O’Quinn) to put back, he just made plays, and that’s what a team is about. It’s not about individual talent, it’s about guys making plays. On Al Horford We might not be the most glamorous team, but we play hard together. We play defense hard; we try to make the best plays; the right plays every time. We play together, we’re a good team so far, and I think we are only getting better.
Furkan Korkmaz Your teammates reaction after, it’s almost like they can feel what you’ve been going through and what has accumulated there, what does that mean to you? “I know that everybody likes me, they support me every time and it doesn’t matter if it’s good or bad. Everybody has some ups and downs but at the end of the day I know everybody likes me here, I know everybody likes the organization. This has give me the confidence to go on the floor and to show myself so I appeared in one of the most important moments of a lifetime and that was a huge comeback win. When that play was drawn up, were you the first option? “We were working on that in practice, end of game coach just called me “Hey Furk, you’re going in” I know that if I was open, if I am able to take the shot that was my mentality that it was going in. I knew that (Al) Horford was going to set a good pick which got me open and that’s what happened, he set a really good pick and I was wide open so I just let it fly.” After (Anfernee) Simons three pointer, the announcer announced that the Blazers won, did you hear it? Did you think you lost? Yeah (I heard it), this is basketball, until the game is over you never know what is going to happen, so today we showed that this is basketball.
