Bob Hill Game Quotations

Our guys wanted to win the game because of the butt kicking we took in Houston. It wasn't a 'get back.' Neither team is going to the playoffs. It's just two teams playing hard but not playing for anything.

Our coach was concerned that the interest level was dying down. We had about four or five loyal guys, but you can't play a game with four or five guys.

Our big guys couldn't handle Kaman and Brand. I thought we fought and got ourselves back in position to win the game. But we let them back in the game when we could have put them away. Not for the game, but for the spread at halftime.

I think we would have won the game if we'd just had one of them. I was proud of our effort. I was proud of the execution, which was so much better. We moved the ball. We only had 12 turnovers. We had 22 assists. ... . There were some good things in the second half. They were just too big for us.

That was the difference in the game. We just kept fouling. They shot 39 free throws in our building. That had absolutely nothing to do with the officiating. That was us. That clearly where the game was won right there.

Under the circumstances with so many guys out we did a terrific job of keeping ourselves in the game with a chance to win.

We got back in it again late and actually had a chance to get it. I think, if anything, the game shows how much we miss Luke, especially the way we're playing now. He's just playing great and we really miss him.

That's the kind of game that All-Stars need to play like All-Stars and guys playing for contracts need to play like they want to get paid. That's how we played. I thought our effort was outstanding the whole time.

Today was the clearly the best game we've played, including Chicago. There were a lot of good things today. In spite of losing the game, I have to feel good about the progress that we've made in a short amount of time.

There is a lot to be hopeful for and the focus is here. I wanted to keep the team focused on improvement and that was my goal when I took the job. I think it got to a point where I felt good every night about our chances to win. And that's what you want, to go into each game with a legitimate chance to win.

We went into the game with the idea that Ray would try to push him to a certain part of the floor and there would be help there. I thought Ray did a good job of pushing him there and then our big guys were ready to at least make him take a jump shot.

We went to the bench from that point on, and it was just like pulling teeth. We got out-hustled, I thought. They beat us to loose balls. They had to win the game to stay in the playoff race, and they did what they had to do. So you have to give them credit.

I'm comfortable with Earl in the game (in the fourth quarter) because he's playing so good. If Luke was playing that good, he'd be in the game. Earl was in the game in the bitter end, but Luke was in there in crunch time also.

The biggest challenge tonight was to embrace the pace of the game and they did it again. I thought that's one of the few times in my career that any of my teams have been able to take Utah out of their offense and make them search for shots.

Everybody said he would be the guy to bring up. When he was at Iowa State, I thought that guy was going to be a terrific NBA player. He had good size, and he kind of had an NBA game when he was in college.

I have to say that it was our fourth game in five nights. We had seven players available and Ray Allen was playing sick.

I personally think we should have won this game. This is not a game you could just excuse. We've got to go back and take a hard look at this.

It's amazing what a little chemistry will do for you. This group likes one another. They deserve a game like this after everything they've been through.