Flip Saunders League Quotations

Players in that league are trying to get here. So a guy that is up here and goes down, they want a chance to see how hungry he really is.

I think people will understand that when we go in together, they will understand what it really is all about. A few years ago ... there were rule changes that were made to make the game aesthetically better and to make the game more team oriented, not as individually oriented. I think the reward that the coaches gave our players kind of signified a little bit maybe that's the way our league is going.

I think it means something because in this league confidence means so much. You never want a player to have so much confidence that he feels he can take over a game at any time. The positive thing about this is that he's not going to think he can walk out on the floor and score 17 straight against us.

I would hope there would be at least three, maybe more. As coaches, we talk about team play, how important it is. This is an opportunity from a league standpoint to show to people - whether it's college kids or high school kids or AAU kids - how important team play really is. It's a very rare opportunity you'd have as a league to maybe put five guys from one team in.

We have a team that plays on the edge. You have to have that. All the great teams in this league have been like that.

Every team has a chance to win, whether you are playing Detroit, Miami, New Jersey or whoever. There are no bargains in this thing where somebody is just going to walk through the first round. That's just how this league operates.

Things might shake out a little more in the next few days. Teams might have been hanging on to people to see if they could make a trade. Now they might let them go. You see a lot of guys go on waivers after the trade deadline. I'd say by Tuesday you'll know more about around the league from a roster standpoint.

We've been known in the league that we played the best zone defense, when I was in Minnesota, ... In one day, I can tell you that we're going to be a much better zone defensive team than we were in Minnesota.

When you get 30 assists, it shows you are playing team basketball, ... This league is about finding where the mismatches are and exploit the weaknesses.

What the league is trying to do is understand that there are a lot of people, young kids, who look at us like we're going to the office.

I have only been here three months, and I took offense to it. I just don't think that's right ... especially in our league right now. Commissioner David Stern has made a statement that he wants this league to be classy and to clean things up. To do something like that was uncalled for.

Everyone can get better. You can always get better rebounding-wise. The toughest thing in our league is, with the way the rules have changed from last year, where you have to contain people out on the perimeter, and you can't touch people. That's always something that's very difficult.

I looked back at that. What always seems to happen is, the guys will play well, and they'll have one stinker game that week. They'll have one game where Chauncey might have 11 points, six assists. Or Ben might get nine rebounds instead of 18. Rip might have 13 points instead of 23. And in this league so much, it goes down to statistics.