Mosley credits bench energy, Black's second-half surge, and Bane's clutch scoring for the thrilling victory, emphasizing the team's fight and lessons learned.
On the fourth-quarter offense and what turned the game around:
"It started in the second half of that third quarter. I got to give credit to our bench for coming in and playing the right way, defending, changing the energy of the game. Noah came in, gave us great minutes. Koga came in, gave great minutes. Taius did a good job getting guys involved. Our bench did a great job weathering the storm and getting the energy from our guys on the floor and getting this crowd involved because we definitely needed that tonight."
On Anthony Black’s huge second-half impact:
"Anthony played so many minutes I just consider him a starter at that moment. He was great in that second half. He decided to turn it up — attacking the basket, getting stops, leading out on the break, stepping into his shot with confidence. All those are little pieces we’ve continued to ask him to do. It wasn’t a pretty win, but it is a win and we got to learn from it because we can’t flip it on and off. We’ve got to stay consistent in what we’re doing and how we’re playing."
On Desmond Bane’s 37-point night and his growing role:
"He’s a winner. He’s going to find a way to win no matter what. I’m talking to him in some of the huddles — ‘Hey, you okay?’ — he’s ready to go. He’s going to find a way to help this team win games. That’s who he is, that’s who he’s always been. He’s been a leader, a vocal leader. His toughness, his ability to make plays down the stretch — that’s who we’ve asked him to be and that’s who he is."
On what’s helped Bane find his current rhythm:
"He’s just finding different ways. Sometimes he’s off ball. The way teams are playing him — top-locking him, not letting him come off clean pin-downs and pick-and-rolls, some teams have blitzed him — he’s just trying to make the right play and get early easy baskets in order to find a cleaner rhythm."
On Noah’s contribution off the bench and staying ready:
"It says so much about him that he continues to work every single day, stoic face, and just continues to do what he’s supposed to do. It says a lot about the coaches who continue to work with him to prepare him for when he is called upon. He was great tonight. He and Goa did an unbelievable job on that back end."
On the team’s activity and forcing turnovers:
"We had to turn them over in order to get some more possessions because we didn’t particularly shoot the ball well. Us being able to turn them over to get out and get some easy baskets was necessary. That’s the great part about this game — we found a way to win, but we are darn for sure going to learn from this game in the win."
On attacking the paint and the emphasis on getting downhill:
"It’s part of our process — get downhill, get to the free-throw line, attack the basket, finish at the rim. Knowing at one point they don’t have shot-blocking, our ability to play to our strength. How can we get downhill? How can we attack the basket? That’s one of our process pieces."
On three straight games with 60+ points in the paint:
"Just our ability to get downhill. We’ve done a great job of that — getting to the free-throw line, attacking the basket relentlessly. Where we have to continue to get better is when we get down there and there is a crowd, can we find the spray-outs for feet-set threes. Putting pressure on the rim is going to be one of our staples."
On handling Chicago’s fast pace and finding the right tempo late:
"It took three quarters for us to do it. Our guys recognized how they were playing and went back to we have to get stops to be able to get out and run. We don’t want to run back and forth for the sake of running — we want purposeful running. Is it creating advantages? Are we getting the stops and converting on the other end? A team like Chicago that Billy’s done an unbelievable job getting to play fast and keep the pressure on you — trying not to get caught in that game is very important."