POSTGAMEQUOTES
Dec. 26, 2011 vs. Oklahoma City
Minnesota 100, Thunder 104
Wolves Forward - Michael Beasley:
"We're disappointed. We had a chance to win that game but we can take a lot of good things from the
game. But that's one of the best things about this league.
On the last play - Did you get fouled?
"If the ref didn't call it ten I probably didn't get fouled. I probably should've just shot the three."
On staying in the game and taking the lead in the Fourth Quarter.
"We definitely felt good about that. Last year that was one of our problems, in the fourth quarter we
would just get blown out of the water, this year - it's only the first game of the year - but we fought and
we gave ourselves a chance to win, it just didn't work out for us tonight."
On Rubio's first game
"He was just playing his game. He looked comfortable out there. He finally got his chance to play in
front of our hometown fans in a real game and we just expect good things out of him."
On the crowd:
"It was great. The fans were great. I didn't see not one empty seat out there. It's always great to get the
hometown fans in the building and get 'em cheerin' for us."
Wolves Forward - Kevin Love:
"It was fun. Obviously we enjoy winning a lot more, but at the same time that's a team (Oklahoma City)
that's a contender and we took them down to the last minute... the best thing is we gave ourselves a
chance and if we play like that the rest of the season and continue to get better we're gonna win a lot of
games."
"A few things could've gone our way that didn't, but a few of those breaks go our way, we win that
basketball game."
Does this loss feel different than some of the close losses you had last season?
"Yeah, still feels different. We gave ourselves a chance and if we continue to do that we're gonna get
over the hump and we're gonna win a lot of basketball games. If we come out and play that way
tomorrow (against Milwaukee) we'll win."
"We're learning to play together, just being out there on the floor we're learning where everybody is
gonna be. So the more time we get on the floor together the better off we're gonna be. We got the first
game and the jitters out of the way. I was rushin' around out there and had a few air balls, and we got
those out of the way in the first game so I'm happy about that."
On Rubio's NBA debut:
"He looked comfortable and we had him in there down the stretch. He made a few great plays, effective
plays, he was running the offense, so we're happy with where he's at and we're gonna come out
tomorrow and expect more great things because he's only going to grow with us."
We have a young group, a cohesive unit, guys that can get up and down and obviously we excited the
crowd, so if we can continue to do that we'll have a good fan base and a large backing and that's what we
play floor."
Wolves guard J.J. Barea
"It was great - a great start for this team. I think this game is going to give us a lot of confidence and if
we play like that every night we're going to give ourselves a great chance to win every night. I think we
were unlucky there in the last couple seconds, but we battled. We battled as a team and we showed the
league what we can do - so we just have to be consistent and bring this same effort every night."
"I'm trying to bring a lot of energy to this team wherever I can. I think I can help a lot. I never talked
that much in a game in my life like I did tonight. I talked a lot from the court and from the bench just
trying to get the guys going. C'mon keep fighting, keep fighting, get pumped, let's go. We can win it. I
did a lot of talking and I think that helped us so I'm gonna keep doing that all year."
"The arena was awesome tonight. It was so much fun to play out there and if we keep playing like that
it's going to be fun."