Exclusive GAME# 28: BLAZERS @ MAGIC - DECEMBER 15, 2017 - Quote Book

[SlyPokerDog]

Postgame Quotes

Orlando Magic vs. Portland Trail Blazers

December 15, 2017


Orlando Magic Head Coach Frank Vogel:

Did you feel your offense was out of rhythm tonight?

“I felt that a lot at points during the season, I didn’t feel rhythm was a problem for us tonight. I thought we had a lot of good possessions and really played the right way and didn’t get a lot of payoff, a lot of situations we didn’t finish well at the rim. I don’t think the rhythm of the offense was the problem.”


Do you feel like if you would’ve gotten one of those shots to go down when it was close you could’ve had this one?

“Absolutely, you know you need everything that late but you need it early. You know we had some droughts early in the game that put us behind by 10 or 12 or whatever it was and 17 and then you’re fighting uphill. Then you need the fourth quarter to be almost perfect, but listen I was really proud of our guys fight and their heart and energy that they played with. I think they responded to a spirited couple of days with the film session and practice that we had yesterday and you know we played a much stronger basketball game than we did against the Clippers, against a full strength team. And you know we lost Aaron midway through and look, like I said we’re banged up and guys are just fighting and playing with heart.”


Is there any thought to playing some of the two-way players?

“We’re considering it and you know, but I think the other guys gotta get the first crack and ultimately if you’re looking to just try to put guys out there to give you the best chance to win, it’s the guys that we played. But we do consider that, you know they’re here for a reason, not just to sit at the end of the bench and those guys are options.


Talk about D.J. off the bench tonight:

“Yeah, we’re just encouraging him to be aggressive in the catch-and-shoot game and you know we need his shooting out there. You know he’s one of the few guys on the perimeter that’s known for 3-point shooting and so we need him to be aggressive in that regard and he was and he knocked down a lot of shots and didn’t finish very well at the basket but our whole team didn’t. But you know he’s one of the guys that was out there fighting and playing with a lot of heart, a lot of energy and a lot of care and you know we just fell short.”


What did you see from Mario tonight and do you think he could help you out at the four?

“Yeah, he can help us at both positions. The three and four is very similar in our system, so there’s not a big difference there. And he was okay tonight, you know he wasn’t terrible, he wasn’t great and you know but he plays hard and that’s all you can ask is go out there and compete and do your best and down the stretch I just felt like we had better energy with the other guys.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Nikola Vucevic


On the Magic’s overall performance…

“We had kind of a period when we got down bad, we didn’t compete like we should’ve; not compete, but we didn’t execute like we should’ve on both ends of the floor. We were taking quick shots offensively like on the fast break. It’s hard after [taking] bad shots on defense. It’s hard for the defense to come back and get set. I felt like that was the issue for us at one point and then we tried to pick it up and come back. It’s hard because they had the lead. They’re a good team. They know how to handle a lead and finish it off. They have good players like (Damian) Lillard and (CJ) McCollum handling the ball at the end.”


On the Magic playing short-handed…

“It is what it is. We still have good players in this locker room. We still go out there, do your best, and try to win. You can’t feel sorry for yourself at any point. Injuries are a part of this game and a part of what we do. Sometimes you’re going to have guys down and sometimes the other team is going to have guys down. It is what it is. You go out there and compete. You can’t use that as an excuse.”


On having the responsibility to carry the scoring load…

“In a way, yeah. I’m just still trying to make the right play but definitely being a little bit more aggressive. I’m trying to carry the team at that end when I can, especially if I get going or if I feel that I have mismatch or something; I try to do that. Tonight I feel like I got it going. At times, in the post, I was able to catch it deeper and just finish, especially because we were struggling to get stuff going so I was trying to create something for us.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Jonathon Simmons


On what the difference was tonight between both teams…

“I don’t know. I don’t know what the difference was tonight. We just need to focus a little bit better as a whole group and just play a little harder.”


On what the Magic need to do while playing short-handed…

“Just playing more together and just paying more attention to detail of the opponents.”


On the team finding a spark towards the end of the game…

“We can’t wait until the fourth quarter to start. They already controlled the game and the buckets were wide as ever. We have to play 48 minutes.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Portland Trail Blazers Head Coach Terry Stotts:


“I thought it was a really solid win for us. We did a lot of good things throughout the game. Obviously, the stretch in the fourth quarter where Orlando made a comeback was a little unsettling. The turnovers, we had a lot of poor offensive possessions, but other than that it was a really good win.”


On defense:

“It’s been good. It’s been good all season. We’ve had some areas, certain games where it hasn’t been. The second half of Miami was very good and tonight it was pretty solid throughout.”


On Al-Farouq Aminu:

“It’s his versatility defensively. He’s a really good defender at multiple positions and when he’s shooting the way he’s shooting, it really spaces the court. And I think teams are starting to respect that a little bit which opens things up for the other guys.”


On whether this is his (Aminu) best offensive display thus far:

“I don’t know. I mean this is his third year. So, certainly it’s probably the best stretch of shooting.”


On what he said to his guys after the Magic’s run in the fourth quarter:

“I just didn’t think we had good offensive possessions. You give them a little bit of credit defensively obviously, but we were turning the ball over. I thought all night our offense was pretty solid. We were making passes, making good reads and we just had a stretch where we weren’t doing that and it gave Orlando opportunities to go the other way. So, just making better decisions.”


On the team putting a complete game together:

“Well, I mean complete is… I don’t know if anybody plays… This was as complete a game. There was a bad four-minute stretch, but I thought this was a pretty complete game. Obviously, there was a rough patch, but I was happy with the way we competed throughout the night.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

JUSUF NURKIC: (On whether he feels rusty) “I was in a lot of pain in the first quarter, so the first couple of minutes was like tough. I didn’t move. To be out there was a great feeling through the emotion and getting a touch for the game.”


(on how long he expects to be on a minutes restriction) “Probably for the first couple of games. Coach will decide what the time is going to be and I am fine with that. I need to be smarter with the minutes restriction because I didn’t play for a couple days and basically I didn’t practice with the team. It was good just to be out there.”


(on shooting production from Al-Farouq Aminu) “Man, if he can keep it then we definitely trust him. He needs to take those shots. If he makes it there is no way they can stop the 4 or 5 of us on the court. Me getting back healthy, Dame is going to do his thing. CJ is going to knock down shots so if he can keep it, the space is going to be amazing especially for me.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

DAMIAN LILLARD: “It was a game of runs and we built up a lead. They hit a few shots. Shots stopped going for us. They just got really aggressive. Down the stretch the more aggressive team is going to get the benefit of the doubt. The shot could have gone in for us and they probably could have taken the life out of us but it didn’t. They made a few shots and they made a run for it. That is usually what the home team does and that is what competitors do and it is our job to hold you down, make free throws, take care of the ball.”


“Winning on another team’s floor is hard enough as it is regardless of record, regardless of what people think of that team. It is hard to get a win and we understand that so coming off of losing 5 straight games and having to go earn one in Miami, we had no problem earning another one here so big win.”


(on Aminu hitting threes) “It is huge. It makes us a completely different team on the offensive end when we are making that throwback pass and he is hitting that shot, and then having Nurk divinig down the middle, it gives us a lot of options. It gives us great balance and a lot of problems for the other team.”


“Teams know that I am going to try to get downhill. They know I will shoot coming off from three. They know I will shoot the mid-range jumper. They know I will shoot the floater. They know I’ll get all the way to the basket so I am constantly trying to manipulate them to react in a certain way so I can make those plays. For starters I have to be aggressive and I think in that third quarter I was able to get into the lane a little bit and hit a few jumpers. Even in the first half before I was scoring, I was getting to those spots and they were showing me the respect of sucking in and I could hit Farouq on the weak side. The big was up high and I could hit Nurk diving so it is all about manipulating the defense because they know what I can do on offense.”