Philadelphia 76ers
Brett Brown
On whether he’s ever seen Furkan Korkmaz this confident shooting the ball…
No, I haven’t, but the thing that I see more than what the stat sheets show is the reason that I say that. We all see him bomb away and he makes some emphatic and timely shots, even long balls…I see him becoming a better passer. You know that I am going to say this, but I like the defensive side of things and he’s emerged to be one of our key players on a pretty good team. His confidence is certainly the highest since I have coached him, but I will say it again, driven out of more than just seeing him bomb away and making threes.
On whether there was some vindication from him and the front office to bring him back this season…
I don’t know that vindication is the word, but what I do know is that it is one hell of a story because he was ours and for a time, we weren’t too sure if that was going to continue on. Because he was ours for a period of time, long enough to know that he is a good person with high character, and he loves the game. I think that his time overseas in the summer, playing for the Turkish national team where he was featured a lot, propelled him into coming back and really, putting his hand up quite quickly in preseason for us to pay attention.
On what he saw from Glenn Robinson III in his first game…
He’s got a bounce. I don’t even know the duration, but I coached Glenn my second year in Philadelphia for a minute and I coached his dad with [Gregg] Popovich. We had a taste of him, and he was good people and I’ve seen his growth continue, making shots, guarding other teams’ best players. To see him come in here and score and play and have a feel of the slash – I’m excited to see him in the program and we know that he’s good people.
On Ben Simmons getting to the line more now than usual…
As we hunt the timeframe where he shoots shots, perimeter shots, in this void, for him to go to the line 10 times, it is a statement more than it is a statistic to me. It’s one of aggression, one of downhill attacking and offensive rebounding. It’s all of those things that equal free throws. It’s big. When you add up the numbers from Joel [Embiid] and Ben, it’s 24. That’s impressive just from the 24 attempts. It’s always helpful for our team, as we hunt buckets, if Ben can find some cheap ones at the line.
Joel Embiid
On making key shots tonight and in other games as of late…
That’s what I’ve got to do. Like I keep saying every single night, sometimes you make them, sometimes you miss them. Can’t get too high or too low. Just got to keep improving and getting better.
On posting and playing on the outside…
Still figuring it out. Still adjusting. Tonight, we called a lot of plays for me to be down there, so we made it happen and I just have to take my time and do what I do best.
On his putting his finger over his mouth and talking to himself after shooting a three…
Just talking to myself. I have not been playing up to my standards. Even tonight, I didn’t shoot the ball well and I didn’t play well. Just mad at myself, just frustrated. I’ve just got to keep getting better every single day.
Furkan Korkmaz
On the team’s last two games…
I will say as a team we did a really good job the last two games. I think we played for each other, we passed the ball, we moved the ball well and also played good defense. We had some ups and downs, but I think as a team we play good basketball… my confidence comes from my teammates and coaching staff.
On his growing confidence…
This year I’m feeling more confidence on the court and with every game; doesn’t matter if it’s a good shot or bad shot, I’m just ready and focused to make shots … it’s about trying to help the team on the court. Every time I’m trying to put the team first and me second, but I’m glad the last couple of weeks I’m really helping my team and teammates to get the W.
On Mike Scott and how he helped him score…
Everyone was trying to set screens and get me open … Mike [Scott] was super funny today. Whatever play we run, he would come and set the screen for me. Whatever play he was just coming for me and would say “go up, go up, get your shots up.” This is really good, getting that confidence from your teammates … it’s really special.
Glenn Robinson III
On how it feels to be on a team with such big expectations for the postseason after coming from the Warriors…
Even though we weren’t winning, the Warriors, they always have a championship mentality that we bring in every day, so I don’t feel too far off of that piece. I’m just glad to be here and help this team win. I know that that’s important, that’s my job in coming here. With this being year six, to me, I have a lot of experience now. I feel like I can help this team go to the top.
On how it feels playing a game with a new team…
I feel like the league is very much “the next play.” And this team, I’ve been watching them for a while, and obviously being with Brett before in the past, I kind of have a feel for it. The important thing is to be able to space and to be able to cut with Ben and Embiid out there. Those are two guys that do draw a lot of attention and just being able to feed off of that energy and off of their All-Star ability.
On similarities between now and his time at the 76ers before…
The players definitely got better. But, it’s always weird. Like I said, a new day at a job, that first step, it’s always different, but I felt the energy in the building. It’s great to be back; a lot of fans, a lot of everyone coming to me with open arms and I’m glad that I’m back here in Philly. I really feel like I could help this team and I’m just glad to be wanted. I think that’s the main thing as a player, coming to different situations, whether it’s a trade or getting picked up in free agency. Being wanted is a great feeling. For Brett to FaceTime me almost immediately after finding out the news, I think that that says a lot about his character, my character and what they want here.
Alec Burks
On his first impressions of the 76ers…
From afar, it starts with the two superstars, Ben and the big man that was next to me [Joel Embiid]. They control the game. They’ve got a lot of great role players that I didn’t know and now I know a little bit about from them playing and being around them for a couple of hours. We’ll see how this plays out for the rest of the season.
On his initial reaction to trade news…
My initial reaction was that the 76ers were a great team out of the East and they had two players I get to play with, the superstars I get to play with.
Chicago Bulls
Jim Boylen
On the overall game tonight…
We were down 15 early. We battled, we won the second, we won the third. Came out at halftime, played really good basketball. It’s a four-point game at the end, Embiid makes a 28-footer, it’s probably the shot we want them to take and he makes it, so you’ve got to give him credit for that. I thought we played hard, I thought we played together, I thought we got a lot from a lot of guys and I really liked their spirit and their togetherness. I thought it was great.
On the 76ers’ fourth quarter…
I thought they made a few more shots. I thought they got the ball to Embiid deep. We weren’t going to double them. I thought our gameplan was solid and made them play the two-point game. It was 83-83 to start the fourth, we were right there, so they’ve got a good basketball team.
On Zach LaVine playing through injury…
I thought it was great. I thought it said a lot to his maturity and his development. I met him at the bus this morning at 9:30, he went over and shot. He was the only guy that went over and shot. And he got himself ready to play, he got himself loosened up. And I thought he played great. I’m proud of him. His habits are really good.
Zach LaVine
On losing the lead in the fourth...
They pulled away…it was a big play when we were down by four and Embiid hit that three, that was big…I had a couple of bonehead turnovers trying to make plays, but we fought with them and that’s all you can ask for, for us to make it a game down the stretch. We were still battling.
On getting ready for the three-point contest…
Obviously, I’d want to be in the game on Sunday, but I’m taking it as it is. I know who I am, I know who I am on the court, and I’m not going to let that affect it; I’m still going out there and playing my butt off.
On playing through injury…
I train for this, my body’s okay, and I feel like I’m the type of dude that can deal with it. I’m a competitor and I’m going to go out there and compete with my team. I don’t care if it’s one versus 100, I’m going to go out there swinging…we encourage each other. That’s why I wanted to play through this injury, just to let them know I’m not going to just go out there and not help.
Luke Kornet
On what he saw before the fourth quarter run by the 76ers…
We were able to keep them—not turn the ball over to them to keep them from transition or scoring on second chances, stuff like that. They were able to put together some runs, but we were able to actually work pretty well against their defense and we were making shots, for the most part, throughout the night. I feel like it was a very consistent flow and as long as you can do that and keep those two other things [transition and second-chance scoring] from happening too much, you give yourself a chance. In the end, they were able to do that and that’s really it.
On getting a rhythm back after his injury and surgery…
I definitely feel – my body feels so much better moving and stuff like that. I still think there’s progress to be made on that and there are higher levels that I need to get to, but it has been a long road. It’s moving in the right direction and I’m far from where I was then.