Larry Brown Trying Quotations

My hope is that we keep trying to get better, ... We have to figure out ways to get better. We've been in every game and we haven't figured out how to win.

Obviously, without Eddy we don't have a post presence. We have to do it on the perimeter a bit. But you know we're trying to get to the rim . . . The whole thing in this league is that when you have a low-post presence, you can create double teams to open up outside shots. If you have a perimeter presence that can penetrate and kick, it's the same situation. It would be nice to have both.

I don't get caught up with wins and losses. I get caught up with guys trying to do the right thing, respecting their teammates, and playing with effort. It's disappointing to lose and not be rewarded for that as a team. But from my perspective it's a big step forward.

We had been struggling badly. It's a nice feeling to have. We've been trying and finally got one.

When you're a coach and you see guys trying and you don't get a win, you want badly for something good to happen, ... I sensed after the game they really felt good about it, they were excited about it. That was fun to see.

I have a new appreciation because I'm with him longer now, and I watch him play and grow so that makes me feel good. I can see his game, from my perspective getting better. My friends that call me that watch him play say how much they think he's improved, and he's trying to do what we want. But I think as a team, when he went down in the Minnesota game we didn't play as well as we have been.

I have a new appreciation for him because I'm with him longer now. Watching him play and grow as a player and a person so that makes me feel good ... just hearing my friends call me that watching him play how much they think he's improved and he's trying to do what we want.

I don't know what people can do yet in a lot of cases. What I'm trying to get across to everybody is, this is what we value as a group, and this is how we can win games. We're trying to see who's on the same page.

He was giving an opinion, maybe saying Isiah and Larry have different opinions. I don't know if that's derogatory. I'm telling you that we're on the same page. We're trying to win and we're trying to figure this out. He didn't tell me it was going to be easy when I got the job. And I'm finding that out.

He's just trying to find himself, ... We've got to find out ways to help him. I've got to do a better job.

Maybe some of Jamal's decisions were a little misguided, but I know he's trying to win the game so I'm OK with that.

I'm still trying to find out who can play.

I was just trying to point out to him, you get a standing ovation and pump your chest and Allen's got 25,000 points and he acted like (it was) no big deal.

I won't play the rookies all the time, but they earned it. It's going to take some time. We're trying to figure out who can play and who can help us.

I thought early on they were both tight. I think right now they're trying too hard to please me. I told them to take quality shots, as many as they can get, and by doing that you'll help everybody.

We got to be ready to play our first game, ... We've lost three times. Again, I'm trying to tell them we had chances to win all three. So don't feel like you're not capable of winning games. And try to understand what we need to do better.

When you're losing game after game after game it's tough. It's hard to keep them up. It's hard to get guys to keep competing. It's really tough on the young kids. But you can't stop coaching and trying to get better. You hope you have something positive to talk about.

Yeah, if he'll buy into what we're trying to do, which I don't think is very difficult, and I don't think it impacts him in a negative way at all. I think it will help him.

Every game matters. At the end of the year, this is what they do: They put the wins and losses up. Obviously, we're not going to make the playoffs, but I think the important thing is you get better. Hopefully, that's what we're trying to do.

The way I look at it, maybe some of them can't do what I ask. I don't want to look at them and say they're not trying. Maybe they just can't and that's what we're trying to find out.

During the game I tried to run a few things for him and he said he couldn't. He was trying to get other people involved, so I just told him to be aggressive and act like you're trying to score. He was struggling, but he came through under the circumstances.

They've been all right. It's been hard to figure out who has to have the ball. It's certainly got to be more difficult for Steve because he hasn't been here, doesn't know a lot of the things that we're trying to do.

After that conversation everything was very positive. I thought he really bought into what we were trying to do. It was not a great experience for me, the fact that we lost, but it was a great experience to see his growth.

I never expected this. But again, I don't get caught up in records. It's disappointing, obviously, that we've only won 19 games and we're not in the race for the playoffs, but the only thing you can keep doing is trying to get better, keep coaching and hope that people understand.

I'm trying to figure out who can play and who can help us, ... We've all got to do that. It's got to be infectious for everybody.

I hadn't had too many guys that didn't realize you're trying to help them and make them better. You want to be fair. I've never seen a happy team losing. If you're happy and enjoying it you should be doing something else.

I loved the effort. We shared the ball, and it was more fun to watch with them trying like they did. We played hard, and we played unselfishly. I thought we were ready.

I've had confidence we were going to be better, but I didn't know who to play. I think you get sensitive trying to find out who's going to get minutes each night and you stop coaching. A lot of guys have contributed and are playing at a high level.

It's tough, absolutely. We just have to learn from it and just keep trying to get better.

He's trying so hard to please me, instead of just playing,

You can't fault the effort. Guys are trying to win the game. But when you make mistakes during the guts of the game and you don't have time to overcome them, it magnifies the mistakes. We just had a horrendous fourth quarter and they had a great fourth quarter.

It's a quality win for us on the road. We moved the ball great and got a lot of open shots because we gave the ball up. Controlling the tempo on the road is the way we've got to play ... You look at the stat sheet, and the nicest thing for me is I feel like a lot of people are playing together and trying to make everybody better.

Everyone is playing together and trying to make other guys better. Jalen (Rose) and Steve (Francis) were making the extra pass, which opened the court for everyone.

They made plays. We didn't make plays. That's been our MO I can't fault the effort. Guys are trying to win. We just had a horrendous fourth quarter and they had a great fourth quarter.

It matters a lot. We got 18 games left and I didn't see any (selfishness) and I saw guys trying to win, trying to share the ball. I saw them playing hard and that's all we can do from now on. We got to find out who in that locker room is committed to doing that every night. That's the thing that's so important.

I don't look at it like I'm on them, I'm trying to teach them, ... When they do something right I try to tell them they do something right. When they do something wrong you try to coach them. This is the way I was taught and the way we've always done it.

I don't look at it that way. I don't think any of them are guys trying to make a hard foul or a dirty foul. They're trying to set a screen. The issue is, when a guy comes up behind you, you can't see, so you can't change direction, and you're going to probably take a blow.

He sometimes goes overboard trying to do what I want him to do.

I don't want to get into that. I just know how much Mr. (James) Dolan cares for him and how loyal he is. Hopefully this thing will play itself out. I'm confident that he's been truthful and things will work out. Again, we're on a six-game losing streak and I know he cares about that a lot. That's what we're trying to focus on.