Robert Thurman Tears up Washington and then Talks About it

The Thurmanator scored a career-high 16 against Washington Thursday.

Robert Thurman is my LLPITWBMMVPBIMMVP (least likely person I thought would be my MVP but is my MVP) from Thursday's 69-66 win over Washington.

Here's his postgame quotes (due to the snowstorm in Seattle, there was no Bay Area media at the game, so basically, I had to kill three people and kidnap a dog to get the audio):


Media: Is this what you expected your role to be without Solomon?

Robert Thurman: After we found out the news about Richard, we knew that somebody had to step up. I would say I got some open looks. They helped on our guards that they know are threats: Jorge, Allen, Justin, guys that can finish around the basket. They threw it down to me and I finished. I think it will lead to more minutes. MONTY: I see you with the press Thurmanator... Thurman finishing: It was good handling by the guards to get me the ball. 

Media: Did you think the coaches would make you prove yourself and then kind of see how it went?

Robert Thurman: Any smart coach would do that. I haven't played that much, I haven't had that many spectacular games, but whenever you leave any division one player open, there going to finish and I guess I proved it to them that they need to get it to me, that's what happened, they left me open. 

Media: What does it mean for you to have this kind of game in a conference game on the road?

Robert Thurman: Its confidence for me. Its confidence more so for my teammates with me. Maybe the next time that they're going to the basket, they'll think 'give the ball to Rob,' instead of 'I need to just throw up a shot,' its there confidence in me, the coaches confidence in me and my own self confidence. 

Media: How much did coach Montgomery tell you your role was going to change after the Solomon news?

Robert Thurman: He told me I needed to step up. We were down a man. He was a starter at the beginning of the year. Any time you're down a man, somebody has got to step up. You can't just fill a void with nothing. He told me I needed to play more and I needed to play better and I needed to make good decisions and that's what I did. 

Media: How tough was it to guard Aziz N'Diaya?

Robert Thurman: He's a really big guy. I would say another thing he's good at doing is pushing without the refs really seeing, so he was able to get some inside position and push some of us out of the way. He's a big body.