Pacers Vs. Wizards Quotes: On Bad Spacing And A Botched Final Play

WASHINGTON -- Here are your postgame quotes following the Washington Wizards' 85-83 loss to the Indiana Pacers last night. Take this for what you will, but I was struck by how morbid the post-game scene was. All the guys clearly knew they let one get away. Save for the season-opening loss to the New Jersey Nets, I don't think I've seen a quieter locker room this year.

Anyway, the quotes:

RANDY WITTMAN

On what changed offensively: "Sometimes, when you score easily, which we kind of did in the first quarter, you think it's going to be that way the whole night. I think we got away, from an execution standpoint, from working to get open to create the next action. We were starting our offense all the way out at half court three or four times in the last five minutes of the game. That's just from taking shortcuts, them denying us."

On the final play: "There were many options. I'm going to have to look at it at the end to see exactly what transpired, but John [Wall] held on to it. I thought Nene set a good flare screen -- I think it was for [Jordan Crawford] -- but [John] just held onto it a second too late."

JOHN WALL

On the final play: "We were supposed to set a screen for me and I was supposed to find Jordan on that flare screen, but I didn't see him open for a split second. I think he was open, [but] I didn't see it. So I tried to create something, but the spacing was off."

On what happened offensively: "In the first half, we had good spacing and we got any shot we wanted. Second half, we always, for some reason, get stagnant. Everybody wants to come to the ball, and we don't move. It turns into taking bad shots with the shot clock running down. That's not the type of team we have to be."

On what caused that: "It's nothing to do with trust at all. It's just about spacing. We know we trust each other, based on how we moved the ball in the first half. For some reason, in the third quarter, we always find a reason to get away from that."

NENE

On the game in general: "This one left a sour taste in our mouths, but it's all part of the process. True learning, this kind of loss [makes] a mark. When you look at the mark, you're going to learn. This is how you learn."

On Roy Hibbert: "He's a great player. He's effective in the low post. It was three seconds a lot, but if they don't call it, I can't do nothing. I just try to put my hands up right there, but he made the shots."

KEVIN SERAPHIN

On what changed in the game: "We don't know how to play the same way when we're up 20. When we were up 20, we stopped playing. They came back and the game got closer again. We just have to learn, because we're young, but we have to execute all the time."

On Roy Hibbert: "If you let him get close to the basket, he don't need to put the ball on the floor. He can just shoot hook shots. So he kills us like that. We don't keep him enough out of the paint."

TREVOR BOOKER

On Seraphin's claim that they play badly with a lead: "They fought harder than us in the second half. I don't think it has anything to do with us not being comfortable with a 20-point lead."

On the final play: "I thought we executed pretty good. We were supposed to get the shot for Mason coming off my screen. I couldn't tell if he was open or not, but then I went and set a screen for someone else. Not sure if they were open either."

On his injured foot (more here): "I'm not sure what the diagnosis is, but it feels like I'm running with a nail in my foot. It's been going on for two months now, but it's just getting worse."