Here is what they said after the Hawks’ 112-87 win over the Bucks Saturday night:
“It was a good response by our guys tonight to come in here with that kind of focus and that kind of effort. It just speaks to the kind of group we’ve been talking about all year. They have character and they are resilient. The ball movement was very good. In the first half, we didn’t take a care of the defensive boards the way we wanted to. We really came out in the third quarter, our activity on the boards and our hands and our activity defensively really fueled a great start to the quarter and we were able to maintain a good lead. It was good for our guys. We got to see a lot of people play. It was a good night for us.”
- Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer opening statement
“I told DeMarre he is not allowed to not play again. To find a way to play tonight, he tested it pretty good, our trainers and strength and conditioning guys went overboard to make sure we made a good decision that he was healthy and ready. Obviously, he played great. He played great on both ends. He gives us a spirit, a defensive identity, and that is when we are at our best.”
- Budenholzer on return of DeMarre Carroll
“That was something we talked about at halftime. We wanted to come out and have a good 24 minutes and have the same mental toughness, the same attention to detail. Tonight we were able to do that. That is something we can reference in the future.”
- Budenholzer on start of third quarter
“Just the way we bounced back. This is a tough league and we didn’t play well last night. Our group didn’t hang their heads. They moved forward. That’s what we talked about. We want to move forward. I think our defense was good and our ball movement was good.”
- Budenholzer on what he was most pleased with
“When we let our defense do the talking, the offense flows easier. Everyone was sharing the ball, playing unselfish and trusting each other.”
-DeMarre Carroll on key to game
“We can’t take it easy on nobody. You saw the Orlando game. We let them come back. We said we were going to go out there and play as hard as we can and get some of these young guys in the game.”
- Carroll on playing against the eight-win Bucks
“Once I’m on the court, I’m on the court. My mind goes into Junkard Dog mode, grinding it out. I have to give my training staff a lot of credit. I got treatment today about three or four times. They really got be better. Credit goes to them.”
- Carroll on returning from hamstring injury
“They look at me. You have certain leaders on the team. I think defensively, I’m a leader. When you have Kyle Korver coming to you and saying ‘We need you. We need you.’ When Paul Millsap is coming to you. Those are two of our top players saying that we need you. It made me feel good. It made me do everything to get on the court. Coach is very conservative. He didn’t want me to do too much. But when your teammates come to you and say that, it means a lot.”
- Carroll on why defense is better with him
“We know what happened last night. Our main focus was to come out and get back to competing. Guys worked pretty hard out there. The defense was good. It’s a good thing about this league. You play the next night and come out and do something like this.”
- Paul Millsap on the win
“I got some quick seals. I got some great passes. I got a few steals and got into transition and ran. A couple little things.”
- Millsap on his success
“I thought we did a good job of bouncing back and responding to a little adversity.”
- Lou Williams on win
“I think playing last night, a little bit extra, just trying to find a rhythm. That helped me more than anything. I to the point where I kind of know when I’m going to have good nights and bad nights. It just depends on how the body feels and the knee reacts. I feel like with my recovery I’m turning a corner. I’m starting to feel a lot healthier day in and day out. I just reached the one-year mark last week. I’m feeling better and better.”
- Williams on his success
“I just feel better. I feel healthy. I’m starting to feel like myself. Right here at the halfway point, I’m really excited about what lies in the future as far as my health goes.”
- Williams on his health
“I thought we played hard. We played really hard and went out to win a basketball game. That was the most important thing. Everyone laid it on the line.”
- Williams on what Hawks did best
“This is totally unacceptable. In the situation that we’re in, my biggest concern is dowe have anything inside that will allow us to go out and compete at a high level. You got to have guys out there that are going to play hard. I saw times where possessions were taken off. I don’t care what the situation is from a win-to-loss standpoint, the guys are being paid to pay hard and we didn’t play hard. When you play against teams that play hard, you’ve got to play hard.”
- Bucks coach Larry Drew on loss
