[But] for me it might not be improving percentage-wise, from 28 percent to 45 percent or 55 percent. It might just be that I?m able to knock down shots at different times, or maybe making stop at the defensive end. |
[Warriors point guard Derek Fisher noticed it way back in the preseason. It seemed like every time he jabbed his arm out to hand-check an opposing dribbler on the perimeter, he heard a whistle.] More scoring. That's what the league wants, ... Calling those fouls up front leads to more penetration, maybe more free throws. It's one way to get more points on the scoreboard. |
As a veteran player, you hate to be out there in that situation, but tonight was about the other 29 games. |
Ask me after the game. |
Coach Popovich is a very intelligent coach. He must have felt that his team needed to get some emotion while playing the game. |
Everybody just looks at his scoring, but as he's developed into that player he is now, a lot of it is just his presence. That helps our team. It gives us energy and gives us aggressiveness, gives us the ability to do certain things out on the floor. |
For most fans of the league, they'll find it admirable. He didn't go in to start anything. He didn't go in to make any trouble. He went in to make sure his wife was OK. |
For most guys, those are difficult shots. But he has the ability to make those kind of plays. The best you can do is make it difficult for him. |
He's in a position now where he gets to make those plays every night and every time. He's just showing the ability he's always had. He's just doing it on a nightly basis. |
I allowed my teammates to do what they do. The key to our success tonight was balance and the fact that everyone was able to get comfortable on offense. |
I definitely believed that we could get that stop down the stretch. It wasn't that they didn't have enough time to get the shot off, but I felt like we kept fighting and we were going to be able to get that last stop and take it to overtime and pull it out. |
I don't know and I guess I've been around too long to say we deserved it when we didn't win. The team that wins oftentimes deserves to win, so you can't take credit away from them for continuing to make plays down the stretch. I'm very proud of the effort of our basketball team that we put out there tonight. It's frustrating because we've been in this position so many times this season. |
I feel like it's my job to step up my game to whatever level is needed for the team to be successful while guys are out. I don't know if I'm better; just different. |
I think it's that we got a chance to practice a few days, give ourselves a chance to focus on how we want to get our shots and where we want them to come from. I think we're doing a better job of slowing down offensively when we don't have anything initially in transition and calling our sets and getting to the spots we want to get to. At least for the most part we're not forcing Baron or Jason or somebody to make a play against the shot clock every time. |
I think some of it has to be the new [guidelines]. |