Eddie Jordan Team Quotations

If we continue to play like that, we are going to be a pretty good team to finish the season.

Mike Miller caught fire and they just executed well at the end of the game. You have to know where he is on the floor, and he was drawing a lot of attention. He was a difference-maker tonight and did a great job as far as carrying his team and making some big shots.

I believe the idea of Michael starting his own team is being discussed and I can see him doing it.

How will he react? Will he be focused to lead this team the right way to as many victories as we can get? Will he sulk for three weeks? My belief is that he'll be a focused assassin -- a focused basketball player to get the job done and lead this team to a good playoff position.

We have to be balanced, ... We have to execute on offense but, at the same time, we have to play better defense. We have to remember who we are. I'm going to go with my strength. If I think that we're a pressure team that's going to create turnovers like we did last year, that's what we'll do. If I think we have the personnel to be a little more physical, to be a little more half-court oriented and not press as much, that's what we'll do. A lot of it is about personnel.

He wants to win - that is his No. 1 priority. He is a leader for this team in a different way. He is not loud, verbal or demonstrative, but he leads by gutting it out and fighting for rebounds. He can score from the outside, in the paint and on runners. He has emerged as a major leader for us during this stretch of games.

We lost to a very good team, a very well-coached team, and a team that has a lot of dangerous pieces. We did the best we could, but we got a little disorganized and distracted on the offensive end. For the most part we really defended well.

Larry is having an exceptional year and this is a difficult loss for our team. We certainly feel for Larry, who has played a big part in our team's success. We have confidence in our team to overcome a setback like this.

I tell you what, Toronto's got a scrappy, young team, ... They kicked our butts on the boards early in the game and they just keep coming at you. The young guys really give them a spark and I didn't think Graham was going to miss at first and then they just started hurting us on the boards. It's a good scrappy team and we were lucky to get out of it with the win.

I thought to win on the road is a big deal in the NBA, the season opener, almost a brand new team for us, ... We're trying to learn how to play with each other. We're a very deep team, a very veteran team and I'm just trying to find the right combinations out there with guys who are playing well, so it is a terrific win. They had a chance to tie it with three shots at the end and the basketball gods were with us.

We have a new team and we're trying to develop some chemistry, ... It's hard to come by right now. Gilbert's been out for a while. We need our top end guys to play together to get some rhythm. That hasn't happened yet.

We have a veteran team and they all know when the bright lights come on, ... I've seen growth throughout the preseason. I see us talking more on defense, communicating a little better. We'll be ready to go.

We played a very good team. They are a team we would like to model ourselves after. ... They beat Detroit twice, and that was no fluke.

We played a very good team tonight. They were at .500 and they're very competitive so our guys played well. We have to play smarter at times, but for the most part we defended very well and we shared the basketball.

That was certainly playoff basketball by the Cavaliers. It wasn't playoff basketball by the Wizards. My team (is) not playing the way they were supposed to play. That hurt us. It's a problem we have to correct. Our team didn't have the body language. We didn't have unselfish play. We were undisciplined. We lost our focus.

We're not going out there playing a 50-win Seattle team of last year.

We're not going out there playing a 50-win Seattle team of last year. We're not going out there to play a Sacramento team that's won 92 percent of its games at home. It's a little bit of a different flavor out there.

We knew it wasn't going to be easy. They are a very competitive team and always have been. I think it took Miami a 16-0 run in the second half to win the game last night. They are so depleted with injuries and my heart goes out to Bernie.

We have to find ways to limit his touches. Can we deny him more times, more possessions? When we do double, can we get out of the double team and get out to the shooters?

What hurt me most was my team not playing the way we are supposed to play. They did. We didn't.

Even though we were up 20 at halftime, we knew the Bulls would make a run at us. That is the type of team they are. They are a disciplined, well-coached team. Our game plan was to get up in the wings and stay with the dribble penetration, and we did a good job with that.

We didn't play as hard as they did. They made shots. They played harder, longer. They're just a better team than we are.

Thank goodness we had one game under our belt with everybody, ... Sometimes that kind of thing can happen in training camp and you never get everyone healthy. It's something that happens to pretty much every team in the league. The teams that stay healthy are able to have success.

No, we?re not going to do anything flagrant. As long as it?s not flagrant. We?re not the toughest team in the NBA. We?re not very physical, but tonight we brought it out. We?re not going to flagrantly foul anybody on purpose. It?s just going to be good sportsmanship, hard fouls.

As long as it's not flagrant. We're not the toughest team in the NBA, but tonight we brought it out.

There's no sympathy in this league ... not for a team that came in here limping a little bit. They have taken their lumps on the road the last three games now, and it's a been a tough stretch for them.

It's a more experienced team that knows what to expect, ... Everybody was on time. There were no incidents at camp. Everyone competed at the highest level. That's all you can ask for. When you compete at a high level, you see some growth as far as coming together.

It's early. They've been on an East Coast trip. I don't want to measure our team as far as predicting how good we are or will be.

They're just a hard team for us to defend right now and beat. They're better than us right now.