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Monday, October 5, 2015
Final Score (OT): POR 105, SAC 109
HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS
“I thought there were a lot of positives from tonight’s game. Obviously, you always want to win
games but I thought we took a lot of positives away. I liked our defense, particularly in the first
half. We did a lot of good things offensively. We moved the ball really well and created
opportunities. I thought the first half, it was good basketball. We got off to a little slow start
in the second half, but I thought everybody got in the game, they competed and for
the most part, played the right way. Unfortunately, Belinelli and Collison got it going. They’ve
done that before. In the fourth quarter, they scored 27 of 29 points, so hats off to Collison and
Belinelli, they played terrific.”
On rotation and decision to not go back to starters late:
“I said before the game that I thought I was going to keep everybody at about 24 minutes and it’s a
long month. Even at that, Meyers twisted his ankle a little bit and Noah twisted his ankle a little
bit, so there really wasn’t a need to do that. I thought it was a good evening for the guys who
played. There wasn’t really a need for those guys to go back in.”
What did you like about what Harkless gave you?
A little bit of everything. I thought he shot the ball with confidence, he ran the court, he
defended well. I was glad to get him on the block a couple times offensively. On the heels of last
night’s fan fest, I thought this was a nice bounce back for everybody.”
On Vonleh:
“Noah played really well. He had a couple easy ones inside that I think if they’d gone, we may have
been able to pull out a win, but he has a knack around the basket and he finds the ball. I think it
was an adjustment for him and all the young guys just being out there, but I wasn’t displeased with
anybody per se. I thought it was a good effort. But
Noah was getting offensive rebounds obviously, to get 11 rebounds and 9 offensively was pretty
impressive. What he’s been doing in October, he’s doing what he needs to do. He’s a conscientious
worker and he’s attentive and just trying to learn.”
DAMIAN LILLARD
How did it feel playing with new teammates?
“It felt great. I was really excited about the way we came out defensively. Usually, it’s different
in practice with the intensity that we practice with, the small things that we can do in practice,
it usually changes when you put it out
there in front of the crowd and in real game mode. But we came out and did what we’ve been doing in
camp – we
were active, we were deflecting passes, we played faster, we played together, we competed hard and
I think that’s why at one point we got up by 20. We played really well together. A lot of stuff
that we could get better at, a lot of things that we could look at film and improve on. There’s a
lot of things that we should be proud of too.”
MEYERS LEONARD
On shooting the ball:
“I thought I did already. Again, like I touched on last night, it’s more about the process than it
is the outcome of the shot. For me, especially now, I’m taking some more difficult shots probably
and be on teams’ scouting reports more and probably try to run me off the three, so I need to
become more comfortable shooting a little quicker and understanding that they’re going to be flying
at me. But I thought I did okay.
On defending Cousins:
“I would consider him the hardest player to guard on the block, but I thought we did okay.”
“We built a big lead there in the first half, had the ball moving and we were making shots. It felt
like it was flowing, but then throughout parts of the game, it got a little stagnant, probably some
bad shots or shots that we had to take that weren’t necessarily in the flow of the offense due to
lack of chemistry maybe, but that will come. I thought our effort was good. Obviously, we would
have liked to have come out with a win, but as far as our first organized game
against a different opponent, I thought we did alright.”
Final Score (OT): POR 105, SAC 109
HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS
“I thought there were a lot of positives from tonight’s game. Obviously, you always want to win
games but I thought we took a lot of positives away. I liked our defense, particularly in the first
half. We did a lot of good things offensively. We moved the ball really well and created
opportunities. I thought the first half, it was good basketball. We got off to a little slow start
in the second half, but I thought everybody got in the game, they competed and for
the most part, played the right way. Unfortunately, Belinelli and Collison got it going. They’ve
done that before. In the fourth quarter, they scored 27 of 29 points, so hats off to Collison and
Belinelli, they played terrific.”
On rotation and decision to not go back to starters late:
“I said before the game that I thought I was going to keep everybody at about 24 minutes and it’s a
long month. Even at that, Meyers twisted his ankle a little bit and Noah twisted his ankle a little
bit, so there really wasn’t a need to do that. I thought it was a good evening for the guys who
played. There wasn’t really a need for those guys to go back in.”
What did you like about what Harkless gave you?
A little bit of everything. I thought he shot the ball with confidence, he ran the court, he
defended well. I was glad to get him on the block a couple times offensively. On the heels of last
night’s fan fest, I thought this was a nice bounce back for everybody.”
On Vonleh:
“Noah played really well. He had a couple easy ones inside that I think if they’d gone, we may have
been able to pull out a win, but he has a knack around the basket and he finds the ball. I think it
was an adjustment for him and all the young guys just being out there, but I wasn’t displeased with
anybody per se. I thought it was a good effort. But
Noah was getting offensive rebounds obviously, to get 11 rebounds and 9 offensively was pretty
impressive. What he’s been doing in October, he’s doing what he needs to do. He’s a conscientious
worker and he’s attentive and just trying to learn.”
DAMIAN LILLARD
How did it feel playing with new teammates?
“It felt great. I was really excited about the way we came out defensively. Usually, it’s different
in practice with the intensity that we practice with, the small things that we can do in practice,
it usually changes when you put it out
there in front of the crowd and in real game mode. But we came out and did what we’ve been doing in
camp – we
were active, we were deflecting passes, we played faster, we played together, we competed hard and
I think that’s why at one point we got up by 20. We played really well together. A lot of stuff
that we could get better at, a lot of things that we could look at film and improve on. There’s a
lot of things that we should be proud of too.”
MEYERS LEONARD
On shooting the ball:
“I thought I did already. Again, like I touched on last night, it’s more about the process than it
is the outcome of the shot. For me, especially now, I’m taking some more difficult shots probably
and be on teams’ scouting reports more and probably try to run me off the three, so I need to
become more comfortable shooting a little quicker and understanding that they’re going to be flying
at me. But I thought I did okay.
On defending Cousins:
“I would consider him the hardest player to guard on the block, but I thought we did okay.”
“We built a big lead there in the first half, had the ball moving and we were making shots. It felt
like it was flowing, but then throughout parts of the game, it got a little stagnant, probably some
bad shots or shots that we had to take that weren’t necessarily in the flow of the offense due to
lack of chemistry maybe, but that will come. I thought our effort was good. Obviously, we would
have liked to have come out with a win, but as far as our first organized game
against a different opponent, I thought we did alright.”
