Exclusive Utah at Portland, 1/13/2016 - Quote Book

HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS

“I was really pleased with our defense tonight. I thought we played four quarters of pretty good defense. I’d have to go back over all the games, but I think it was one of our better games as far as being aggressive. We forced 11 turnovers in the first half and we don’t necessarily force a lot of turnovers, so that was encouraging. I thought it spoke to our aggressiveness and getting into guys. Especially shaking off a struggling offense in the first half – most of the first half we were under 40 percent, shooting in the 30’s, a slow start shooting the ball – anyway, it was a good win that we needed and it was a good one to send off on the road.”



Did you consider going back to Lillard in fourth quarter:

“Oh yeah, I mean depending on what the score was. It never got close enough for me to really consider. His normal shift would have been with 6 or 7 minutes left in the game, and there was still a manageable number, but certainly I was going to give him a short leash out there.”



On 10 blocks and contesting shots:

‘You know, I’d like to get more consistent with that but I thought all our bigs – Meyers, Mason, Ed, and Noah – were all active in the paint. To that point, I thought our perimeter guys did a nice job with their tendencies and forcing them to their weak hand which I think put them in a little bit more vulnerable position.”



On Aminu:

“I thought his defense was terrific on Hayward, particularly the first quarter. They both played the whole first quarter and I thought he really took the challenge and did a good job both in the first and third quarter.”

 

DAMIAN LILLARD

On responding in third quarter after tough first half:

“We didn’t play very well offensively but we came out and guarded very physical. We made it tough on them, we made it uncomfortable for them, so we was able to still be up in the game even though we didn’t shoot the ball well because of how we defended. It always comes back so in the second half we started to shoot the ball better then at the start – so did they but we were able to get it in check and lock it back up.”


On asserting yourself in third quarters lately:

“I think it pretty simple. At the start of the game, people are locked in on the scouting report. They want to come in and stop you and they’re really focused and they’ve got a lot of energy. Then as the game goes on, everybody wears down physically and mentally. At the start of that third, the focus isn’t as much there as it is at the start of the game and neither is the energy so those are the times where I’ve tried to pick my spots and try to get aggressive.”

 

GERALD HENDERSON

“We played a really good defensive game – the last two games really. We need to play like that more often.”


On team going into second half of the season:

“I know our workload won’t change. We have a good group of guys who come in every day, are attentive, and put in work and come in with great attitudes. I hope that we can be more consistent on both ends of the floor. If we can tackle that, it’ll look for us going forward.”



On defense tonight:

“It was great. We played defense both halves and no matter how our offense went at different times, our defense was there consistently, so that’s a good sign.”



On finding rhythm offensively:

“Yeah, I hit a few shots there in the first half and I was on the end of a few good passes from my teammates and just knocked the shots down.”

 

HEAD COACH QUIN SNYDER

On the game:

“I thought that regardless of how sharp we were or not in the first half that we guarded pretty good and we were focused. We came out in the third quarter and just made a lot of mistakes, especially with (Damian) Lillard, he’s sitting on it. It’s like a pitcher that throws a high fastball and he knocks it out that happened a few times. We don’t have a lot of punch sometimes offensively right now.”


On their lack of rebounding at times:

“It’s unfortunate, it happened against the Lakers too but we were able to overcome it. It was a big part of the game plan and I think our guys knew it, on a couple times during free throws which shouldn’t happen and we know it’s something that Portland does a very good job of. They’re fourth or fifth in the league I think in that category but we weren’t good enough for sure and it puts even more stress on you on the defensive end if you don’t rebound the ball.”



On Trey Lyles:

“Well I think that he’s making the right plays. In front of our bench in the second half he passed up a shot and drove the ball, we call it a go and catch where he’s making a read before he gets the ball. That’s really what he’s able to do, he’s a smart player who has a feel for the game and obviously he physically talented and that combination can make him really effective. I thought maybe my favorite play of the game with him was when (Noah) Vonleh tried to back him down in the post and he held his ground. He looked stronger to me defensively on the ground and that going to be one of the bigger things for him when rebounding.”

 

TREY LYLES


On getting playing time because of injured teammates:

“We hate seeing guys go down so somebody had to step up so I jumped into the role. It was an opportunity for me to become a better player and I took advantage of it.”


On his 3 point ability tonight:

“It’s something that I work on every day after practice. It’s something coach wants me to do.”



On bouncing back from this game:

“It’s 82 games and we got a lot left so we just got to forget about this one, go out tomorrow and execute.”


On playing the Kings tomorrow:

“They got us the first time but we’re going to go out there with a different attitude and a different game plan and hopefully we’ll be able to get them back.”

 

RUDY GOBERT

On how he works on improving getting to the rim:

“I obviously am just trying to get used to the speed of the game again, but just try to be strong and take my time and move to the rim.”