What they said after the Hawks’ 107-104 win over the Clippers Tuesday night:
Mike Budenholzer
Opening statement: "I think the defensive activity that we have been talking about all year, (in) the second half, the third quarter and then the fourth quarter it got better. Couple mistakes late, fouling shooter, but overall the defense in the second half was very good. Different guys coming off the bench, Elton Brand and Thabo Sefolosha's defense really had a big impact on the game. Just the poise of our group. Went through a rough stretch there, half way through the second quarter through halfway through the third quarter. We were able to right ourselves and find a way to win a tough game against a really good ball club. There are some positives to take from it and we'll learn from some of our mistakes."
On transition defense problems in first half: "That was something we talked about at halftime. Fourteen to zero at halftime (in fastbreak points) and they finished with 14 points. That is where our defense always has to start, with our transition defense. Sometimes it's just simple things and sometimes it just effort. Transition is something that is really difficult but our group did a much better job in the second half."
On contributors to recent good play: "We need to get a lot better defensively but in these last few weeks we have shown improvement on the defensive end of the court. It's probably the thing we point to the most. I think the fact that we have different guys step up each night and make big plays and make big plays throughout the game. Our bench has been good the last couple of weeks. We've got much, much work to be done. We've got a long ways to go."
On five wins against five quality opponents: "We've got much, much work to do. We are typical coaches. We want to get better. We are going to stay on them. We are going to keep pushing them. I think it's good to play some of these teams. Their talent is obvious and they test you in a lot of ways. We just need to keep focus on getting better each day. That is really all we think about."
On DeMarre Carroll: "He obviously shot it really well. When he is making shots and you have Kyle (Korver) on the other wing that they've got to keep track of. DeMarre gets the layups, the backdoors. He can really have a big impact. His offensive game has continued to evolve and improve. Defensively, everybody sees that he fills us with an energy and a competitive spirit. Now we are able to come off the bench with some similar things. That has really helped us."
On return of Jeff Teague: "It was good to have Jeff back. It's one of the things we have referenced. The group has played well. Each night they've found a way to stick together and work through difficult times. Jeff was out for three games and Dennis (Schroder) and Shelvin (Mack) did a great job. I thought Jeff was good considering he was out for seven or eight days."
Kyle Korver
On five-game stretch: "We had a nice little run where we won a bunch of games in a row and everyone said let's see who they are when they start playing some tougher teams. We've had a tough stretch here. I think we've played well. We've won some games on the road and obviously tonight was a big win here. But the season is really early and we still have a lot to get better at. We've shown when we are on our game we can be really good. But it doesn't take a lot to get us off. We have to be focused and we have to play with energy and pace. We just keep on trying to get better but, with that being said, we feel good about our team."
DeMarre Carroll
On winning despite going 5:35 without scoring: "It's good. Defense, man. Defense wins championships. Offense wins you a couple of games. I strongly believe that. We are a great defensive team. We have agile bigs and our wings are phenomenal on the ball. It's just a matter of putting a game plan together, working and helping each other out."
Paul Millsap
On five-game stretch: "We are confident. We beat some good teams. I'm not going to sit here and say those wins didn't mean anything. They mean something. It's very valuable in our growth. We've got to feel real confident and real proud of ourselves for these accomplishments."
On fruits of playing second season in system: "The chemistry is definitely there. It has been a work in progress. We feel like we are not completely where we want to be but it's darn good. We are in a good place right now. We can either stay there or continue to get better."
Al Horford
On current play: "It's fun. We won tonight but I can tell you five things that I did wrong out there. I'm very happy that we won because if not I would have felt awful. It's a work in progress. That's what it's all about. We are winning and we are still not peaking."
On getting better mentality combined with winning five tough games: "The thing is, you can't say 'We've got it figured out.' Realistically, there are things we can do to get better. But I have to give my teammates credit. Five wins against five of these kind of opponents. If you would have told us before we started against these five opponents I would have been 'I don't know. It's going to test us where we are as a team.' This is big for us."
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