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NBA ALL-STAR WEEKENDFebruary 12, 2010Tyreke EvansBrandon JenningsRussell WestbrookARLINGTON, TEXAS Q. First talk about how you played tonight, you got in the lane a lot but it sounds like the politic of Patrick, knowing Kevin had the record last year -- so talk about your night overall and then talk about the record. RUSSELL WESTBROOK: It was a fun game, unfortunately they came out with the victory but a fine team effort for us but just tried to come out and have some fun. Q. Were you trying to politic to get back in? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: I was at that point, we were down by eight and that's when he took me out of the game. I was trying to get back in to get an opportunity to win the game. Q. What about the record? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: No, somebody was saying -- I didn't refer to it though, but somebody said something about it. Q. Could you just talk about what you thought of Pat Ewing as head coach? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: He's a great coach. He drew up a few plays on the sideline that worked to position and just told us, you know, go out and play hard and just play basketball. Q. So being the kid from the West Coast, how is your game adjusting, are you finally adjusting to the NBA game now that you're a full-fledged veteran? RUSSELL WESTBROOK: Not yet, it's going to take time. I'm going to continue working and getting better and trying to make my teammates better and try to continue to work. Q. Brandon, before the game, you were talking about setting the assist record in this game, and you ended up leading your team in field goal attempts, is that just how the game flowed? BRANDON JENNINGS: Well, yeah, I just felt like that's how the game flowed, like you just said. I was trying to help the team win. Right now, I think it was like nine years before we even got a chance to win this game, so I think everybody came out and contribute, DeJuan Blair, he played a heck of a game, 22 points, 23 rebounds, that's amazing right there. Q. At the beginning of the season, you started off really hot, you looked like a potential All-Star, a lot of comparisons to guys like Allen Iverson, have you hit the proverbial rookie wall, or is it because you have not played this many games? What is the difference between your play early in the season and now? BRANDON JENNINGS: Going through the different defenses. I don't think ever since that 55 points, I don't think I've been able to shoot an open shot since. Right now, we have a chance to make the playoffs. We are a couple games out of the playoff race. I wouldn't say I'm hitting the rookie wall. I would just say I'm playing the different defenses. Right now Andrew Bogut has been playing really well for us, and I think he should be an All-Star. It will be big for us, for the city and for the Milwaukee Bucks to make the playoffs this year. So that's our main goal. Q. Where do you feel like you stand between you and Tyreke with the Rookie of the Year race? BRANDON JENNINGS: He probably has it, and that's fine. He's putting up big numbers for his team and right now I'm just focusing on making the playoffs. And, I mean, you know, I have a chance to lead my team to the playoffs as a rookie point guard and that's something big right there, and also, Derrick Rose did it, too, last year. Q. If you lead your team in the playoffs, will you at least have more consideration? BRANDON JENNINGS: Yeah, I think so, even though we are in the East, it's still the NBA and you still have to go out there can and compete every day. Q. Talk about this crop of the rookie class of point guards, you, just the list, just talking about going up against those guys night after night. BRANDON JENNINGS: You know, it's tough. Our draft class is real, you know, guard-heavy right now, and you know, tonight, you've seen four guards out there playing all together, and was willing to sacrifice for the team and win. That shows a lot out of all of us I think. Q. You made a gesture after the game to share the Most Valuable Player award with DeJuan Blair, what motivated you to do that? TYREKE EVANS: I mean, he set the tone for us. He started getting the rebounds for us before the game started, and he said everybody was going to get all the rebounds and everyone said he was going to that and that's why I wanted to share the trophy with him. Q. You played on the blacktop in the years past with a lot of these guys what was it like to have a game like that? TYREKE EVANS: It was a lot of fun, especially you get a chance, All-Star Weekend to come there and play with these guys after playing them this season, we get a chance to get out there and have fun with each other. It was just a good feeling for me. Q. Were you loose when you go out there? Do you have any goals? What approach did you have? TYREKE EVANS: Just go out there and have fun and just try to excite the crowd. That's what the All-Star Game is for. We did a good job of pushing the ball. It started off with me and Brandon getting easy buckets and DeJuan did a good job on the glass. Q. Did you and Brandon settle anything in terms of the Rookie of the Year race tonight? TYREKE EVANS: I don't know, I mean, Brandon is actually playing pretty good. We just wanted to go out there and get the win, but we talked about, I mean, Rookie of the Year, race between me and him and we just said, we're both playing good, whoever gets it, congratulate each other and we go from there. Q. Can you use this performance in any way to inspire you to finish strong as an individual with the Kings, second half of the season? TYREKE EVANS: Definitely. I mean, we just got on a roll and we are feeling good ourselves. When we get back, we just want to try to get more wins and get better and better; and we're a young team, and once we get that, we learn how to win games, we are going to be a good team. Q. Just talk about what it is for the rookies to finally win this game again. It's been a long time. TYREKE EVANS: That's one of my main goals tonight before the locker room before we came out, just said, let's go have fun. But at the same time, the most important thing is to get the win. The coach, he did a good job of being serious, even though it's the All-Star Game, I mean, he was on us hard. He did a good job of putting the pressure on. Q. Just following up on your regular season, can you talk about what happened with you guys when Kevin Martin came back and you were trying to figure out how to play together? TYREKE EVANS: I mean, when Kevin came back, he was a little rusty, you know, so I was just trying to figure out a way to get him going on offense, I had not already had a chance to play with him like that; that because he was hurt. But when he got back, I was just trying to see where he like the ball and what I can do. We began to play with each other better now and get a better feel for each other. End of FastScripts |
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