Tyrone Corbin – Head Coach (7-4 this season)
On the team’s fast start
“We ran the ball. We pushed the ball up the floor. Our defense was great, especially at the beginning of the game. We did exactly what we talked about doing at shootaround. We rebounded and pushed the ball down the floor.”
On Utah’s teamwork
“All the guys are doing a good job. We need everybody to be ready to play. The guys are doing a tremendous job of not complaining about the minutes. They just come and play the minutes that they’re playing, helping each other out. The guys are talking on both ends of the floor. They’re making the extra pass. That’s what’s going to help us win games.”
Paul Millsap – Forward (18 points, 12 rebounds)
On the game overall
“It was an emotional game for everyone, but I’m glad we got the win.”
On the quick start and big leads
“That’s what we know we have to do throughout the season – get off to good starts. We also have to finish games. Our main thing is to play the full 48 minutes and just get wins.”
On playing against his former teammates
“It was strange, it was weird. But it was fun and I’m glad we got the win.”
C.J. Miles – Guard/Forward (17 points, 6 rebounds)
On the pace of his play
“[That’s] exactly how I want to play. Attack more, try to find the seams, get out and run. In transition, it’s easier for me to make my mark because I can get up and down the floor and find the seams.”
On the offensive output of the whole team
“It felt great. Guys making the extra passes and looking for each other. Trusting guys and knowing that the guy is going to make the extra pass for the score. And knowing it’s going to come back to you the other way around if you are in the right position. We get out and we just competed.”
Al Jefferson - Forward (20 points, 4 rebounds)
On the play of him and Paul
“We play well off each other. Paul is more of an inside-outside guy and I am more of an inside guy.“
On the importance of a fast start
“It’s important, we knew they would come out and attack us. They came off a good win last night, but we played good D, got some easy baskets, fast breaks and kind of got them out of it. I think defense started it out.”
Gordon Hayward - Forward (10 points, 3 assists)
On playing against so many former teammates
“It’s always going to be weird when you have people on your team and then they are in a different uniform Guarding them, it wasn’t too weird for me; I mean we guarded each other in practice before. That wasn’t the weird part. It was just seeing the guys you are used to seeing in this locker room, over there.”
On the fast start
“It was huge. We wanted to come out with a lot of energy, really stop them defensively and get them out of what they wanted to do. We ran a lot because we were getting stops and were able to get out and run and get some easy buckets, and when you do that our game starts to get a little easier.”
Notes: The Nets are “Jazz East” having five players who at one point in their careers played for the Utah Jazz (Sundiata Gaines (32 games), Kris Humphries (129 games), Mehmet Okur (474 games), DeShawn Stevenson (222 games) and Deron Williams (439 games) … The last time five players were all on the same court against a former team was 1/25/08, Minnesota vs. Boston (Antione Walker, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes and Al Jefferson) … Deron Williams didn’t score his first points in the game until the 1:59 point of the first quarter and ended up with 16 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds …The Nets were outscored in the paint 26-64 and were outscored on fast break points 19-23 …The Nets trailed the Jazz at
half and are now 1-8 when trailing at halftime.
Avery Johnson – Head Coach (3-10 this season)
On the reasons for the Nets loss
“We got off to a slow start tonight, and we just couldn’t recover. We had a little spurt there in the middle of the second of the quarter but then they closed the first half on us. But again playing against a team that was really energized; they got all of the 50-50 balls tonight. We could not get a loose ball. We did not shoot the three well tonight, and again, 64 points in the paint, I think that more than tells the whole story.”
On the difference in energy level
“They had more energy than us. They had a little bit more pep in their step, their passes were much more crisp than ours. They executed better, their big guys beat us up on the boards and again we didn’t shoot the ball well.”
His thoughts on the play of Deron Williams
“Yeah, he was drained early in the game. Again they were wearing him down, they were hanging all over him, and our shots just didn’t go down. He just missed a few shots. Shots didn’t go down that usually do.”
Mehmet Okur – Center (9 Points, 7 Rebounds)
On if he’s glad this game is over
“Yeah, I mean it could have been a lot more fun if we had a ‘W’ tonight. It was nice to see family, friends and obviously a tough game, tough loss for us and now we have to move on and have to let this one go and focus on the next game.”
On the reception he got from the fans tonight
“It was huge. I really appreciate them to come out and support me and show some love and just make me feel good tonight.”
Deron Williams – Guard (16 Points, 5 Assists)
On first game back on his old stomping grounds
“It wasn’t a very good one for me. It was fun to be back in the building and fun to see all my ex-teammates. And Ty over there. “
On the mixed reactions from crowd
“I pretty much expected some mixed reactions. I got boo’s, I got cheers. I expected it.”
On New Jersey’s energy level
“That one last night took a lot out of us. Just like we didn’t have any legs. They looked like a fresh team. They were beating us to loose balls, getting offensive rebounds. They just looked a lot more energized than we did.”
On Utah’s front court
“It is working good. They have a great group in the front court. Especially those two young guys to back them up. They are dangerous when they are playing like that. It definitely hurt us tonight. We are a little thin at the big man position. They kind of exploited us there. They have a good all around team. Ty is doing a good job of getting those guys to execute the offense. They are playing really solid defensively as well.”
Kris Humphries – Forward (18 Points, 10 Rebounds)
On the game“You gotta give them credit. They’ve got some guys that were still here under the old regime, Sloan and the system and all that and they’re running that and doing a pretty good job with that and their inside play was good tonight as well.”
On if he thought Deron was tired tonight
“I don’t know. He got me the ball where I needed the ball so it’s probably a question for him.”
On the team’s fast start
“We ran the ball. We pushed the ball up the floor. Our defense was great, especially at the beginning of the game. We did exactly what we talked about doing at shootaround. We rebounded and pushed the ball down the floor.”
On Utah’s teamwork
“All the guys are doing a good job. We need everybody to be ready to play. The guys are doing a tremendous job of not complaining about the minutes. They just come and play the minutes that they’re playing, helping each other out. The guys are talking on both ends of the floor. They’re making the extra pass. That’s what’s going to help us win games.”
Paul Millsap – Forward (18 points, 12 rebounds)
On the game overall
“It was an emotional game for everyone, but I’m glad we got the win.”
On the quick start and big leads
“That’s what we know we have to do throughout the season – get off to good starts. We also have to finish games. Our main thing is to play the full 48 minutes and just get wins.”
On playing against his former teammates
“It was strange, it was weird. But it was fun and I’m glad we got the win.”
C.J. Miles – Guard/Forward (17 points, 6 rebounds)
On the pace of his play
“[That’s] exactly how I want to play. Attack more, try to find the seams, get out and run. In transition, it’s easier for me to make my mark because I can get up and down the floor and find the seams.”
On the offensive output of the whole team
“It felt great. Guys making the extra passes and looking for each other. Trusting guys and knowing that the guy is going to make the extra pass for the score. And knowing it’s going to come back to you the other way around if you are in the right position. We get out and we just competed.”
Al Jefferson - Forward (20 points, 4 rebounds)
On the play of him and Paul
“We play well off each other. Paul is more of an inside-outside guy and I am more of an inside guy.“
On the importance of a fast start
“It’s important, we knew they would come out and attack us. They came off a good win last night, but we played good D, got some easy baskets, fast breaks and kind of got them out of it. I think defense started it out.”
Gordon Hayward - Forward (10 points, 3 assists)
On playing against so many former teammates
“It’s always going to be weird when you have people on your team and then they are in a different uniform Guarding them, it wasn’t too weird for me; I mean we guarded each other in practice before. That wasn’t the weird part. It was just seeing the guys you are used to seeing in this locker room, over there.”
On the fast start
“It was huge. We wanted to come out with a lot of energy, really stop them defensively and get them out of what they wanted to do. We ran a lot because we were getting stops and were able to get out and run and get some easy buckets, and when you do that our game starts to get a little easier.”
Notes: The Nets are “Jazz East” having five players who at one point in their careers played for the Utah Jazz (Sundiata Gaines (32 games), Kris Humphries (129 games), Mehmet Okur (474 games), DeShawn Stevenson (222 games) and Deron Williams (439 games) … The last time five players were all on the same court against a former team was 1/25/08, Minnesota vs. Boston (Antione Walker, Gerald Green, Sebastian Telfair, Ryan Gomes and Al Jefferson) … Deron Williams didn’t score his first points in the game until the 1:59 point of the first quarter and ended up with 16 points, 5 assists and 3 rebounds …The Nets were outscored in the paint 26-64 and were outscored on fast break points 19-23 …The Nets trailed the Jazz at
half and are now 1-8 when trailing at halftime.
Avery Johnson – Head Coach (3-10 this season)
On the reasons for the Nets loss
“We got off to a slow start tonight, and we just couldn’t recover. We had a little spurt there in the middle of the second of the quarter but then they closed the first half on us. But again playing against a team that was really energized; they got all of the 50-50 balls tonight. We could not get a loose ball. We did not shoot the three well tonight, and again, 64 points in the paint, I think that more than tells the whole story.”
On the difference in energy level
“They had more energy than us. They had a little bit more pep in their step, their passes were much more crisp than ours. They executed better, their big guys beat us up on the boards and again we didn’t shoot the ball well.”
His thoughts on the play of Deron Williams
“Yeah, he was drained early in the game. Again they were wearing him down, they were hanging all over him, and our shots just didn’t go down. He just missed a few shots. Shots didn’t go down that usually do.”
Mehmet Okur – Center (9 Points, 7 Rebounds)
On if he’s glad this game is over
“Yeah, I mean it could have been a lot more fun if we had a ‘W’ tonight. It was nice to see family, friends and obviously a tough game, tough loss for us and now we have to move on and have to let this one go and focus on the next game.”
On the reception he got from the fans tonight
“It was huge. I really appreciate them to come out and support me and show some love and just make me feel good tonight.”
Deron Williams – Guard (16 Points, 5 Assists)
On first game back on his old stomping grounds
“It wasn’t a very good one for me. It was fun to be back in the building and fun to see all my ex-teammates. And Ty over there. “
On the mixed reactions from crowd
“I pretty much expected some mixed reactions. I got boo’s, I got cheers. I expected it.”
On New Jersey’s energy level
“That one last night took a lot out of us. Just like we didn’t have any legs. They looked like a fresh team. They were beating us to loose balls, getting offensive rebounds. They just looked a lot more energized than we did.”
On Utah’s front court
“It is working good. They have a great group in the front court. Especially those two young guys to back them up. They are dangerous when they are playing like that. It definitely hurt us tonight. We are a little thin at the big man position. They kind of exploited us there. They have a good all around team. Ty is doing a good job of getting those guys to execute the offense. They are playing really solid defensively as well.”
Kris Humphries – Forward (18 Points, 10 Rebounds)
On the game“You gotta give them credit. They’ve got some guys that were still here under the old regime, Sloan and the system and all that and they’re running that and doing a pretty good job with that and their inside play was good tonight as well.”
On if he thought Deron was tired tonight
“I don’t know. He got me the ball where I needed the ball so it’s probably a question for him.”
