Here is what they said after the Hawks’ 100-91 victory over the Pelicans Friday night:
Mike Budenholzer
Opening statement: "Just happy with the defensive effort. In the first half it gave us some separation, put us in a position where we could play the second half with a lead. I think the third quarter, we basically, maintained. In the fourth quarter, sometimes it's hard with the other team putting its head down and driving to the basket. They made some shots but we were able to execute, score, find a way to get a good win against a good team. Our bigs, it's very challenging to guard their bigs, all three of them. Different skills, different things they can do. I thought the defensive effort of our bigs was really good and hopefully we can build on that moving forward."
On first-half defensive effort: "I think it was a lot of things. The focus coming out, the activities and like I just mentioned our bigs took on the challenge of what was given to them tonight. I think the guards, their activity away from the ball, showing a crowd and shifts and all of those things, put us in a good position and we were able to get some rebounds. I thought our weak-side activity was good across and helping each other and able to get going in the other direction."
On holding Anthony Davis to 14 points: "They do a lot of things for him. You have to be aware and ready every possession, there is a chance they are going to do something to get him free. Again, it was Paul, Pero, Al, Mike, they all did a good job."
On quick third-quarter timeout: "I don't think our focus was where it needed to be coming out of the half, on both ends. I don't think we executed offensively and defensively they scored on two straight possessions. We know how important it is coming out of halftime. They are a very good third-quarter team. They've had a lot of very good third quarters early in the season. We just needed to get our focus back."
Al Horford
On first-half defensive effort: "Our energy. Honestly, it was a very good defensive effort the entire game. I know in the fourth it kind of got away but I felt like we did a good job."
On game plan against Davis: "We just did a great job taking on the challenge. Honestly, it was just our defensive concepts. Our guards were really active. The bigs, any of us who were on him, made it tough for him to catch the ball, to attack, to make him finish over us. It was a good team effort. I was very happy with the way we rebounded after the Toronto game."
On whether there is a consistency problem: "Yes, that's fair to say. Hopefully we can learn from this. We have to tomorrow. We have a quick turnaround. So we can go out and build on it tomorrow."
Kyle Korver
On key to first-half defensive effort: "Our thought our energy was great. They've got a couple of bigs that are difficult to guard and we gave them a lot of energy. We didn't just stick with them. We stuck with our team defense principles. Guys were still rotating and scrambling and getting the rebounds. Then, they also missed some shots, which always helps. It was just good, until the fourth quarter when we gave up 40, it was a good defensive game for us."
On third-quarter timeout: "We talked about coming out in the first five minutes being really important and we came out and … had three horrible possessions in a row. It was the right thing to do. He called timeout and put it on us to figure out if we were going to play the second half or not. Guys responded well."
On whether there is a consistency problem: "Toronto, they shot the lights out. They are a good shooting team. They are leading the Eastern Conference for a reason. They are playing really well so give them credit but it is frustrating that you don't play at the level you want to play every night but there are 82 games in a season. It's not going to be there every night but the defense is the one thing you want to be consistent with because it is about attention to detail, effort and energy. Yeah, it's a little frustrating but we are glad tonight was better."
DeMarre Carroll
On key to first-half defensive effort: "That was the main thing that coach stressed before we took the court was our defense. I think when we play defense like that our offense is going to take care of itself. We just have to during the game focus on our defense."
On game plan against Pelicans big men: "We did a great job of everybody keying in on Davis and making them beat us with other guys. We know he is the head of that team. They can't move without the head. We tried to key in but you have to give credit to Al and Paul, especially Paul he guarded him most of the night. That was his assignment. Like I told him, you see what I go through every night."
Jeff Teague
On key to first-half defensive effort: "We just made them feel us. Paul was playing very physical, very hard. Al was coming over contesting a lot of shots. That is something coach has been on us about. Those guys came to play."
On stopping Davis: "They play through him. If you can make it tough on him it puts a little more pressure on everybody else because he is such a great player. Paul made it tough on him tonight."
On his recent play individually: "Just playing basketball."
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