Maurice Cheeks Ball Quotations

He was our best option in terms of putting the ball in his hands. I thought his defense on Garnett was just excellent.

He catches the ball and releases it so quick. I think that?s what?s so impressive about him. I think if you?re not around Kyle that much, and I?ve been talking defense this whole camp, but any time you see a player with his ability to shoot the ball he?s got to be on the floor.

He's got to control his ball handling a little bit more in being a complete player. He's not used to running screen and rolls. He's not used to rebounding the ball and pushing the ball up the floor, keeping the ball in his hands. He's not used to it.

He's kind of an old-school power forward, down on the block, mainly, can step out and shoot the jump shot. He's an aggressive-type player with some ball skills.

He's a very versatile player that can play the one, two or three positions. You're trying to put the ball in his hands and allow Allen to come up and make a play.

He'll have the ball in his hands. I'm going to figure out what's best for him to play. I think the ball can be distributed and still be in his hands. We'll work out a way to make it work. I'm so looking forward to it.

Kyle put on a show. He catches the ball and releases it so quick. It's really impressive. I've been talking defense all camp but a player of his ability to shoot the ball has to be on the floor.

I thought our defense stayed pat the whole game, ... Kobe's a great player, but some nights the ball doesn't go in the basket. He just had an off night.

We didn't drive the ball like we did in the first half. We shot all jump shots and that allowed them back in the game and eventually win the game because we didn't continue doing the things we were doing.

When you see Kyle shooting the ball the way he's capable of shooting the ball, and giving Andre more offensive opportunities, and even Sam, I think we're a more dangerous team that way.

That one hurts. It hurts because we fought our game. We were fighting up hill all game and we finally get it and we are up one, ball out on the side and we gave up a lay-up. I don't mind getting beat, shooting a jump shot, but we gave up a lay-up.

That?s what we tried to do its drive the ball and get into the penalty and that?s what we did.

People talk about him shooting the ball a lot, but it's not a selfish thing. If we get down, he takes a lot on himself to go and win the game. I've seen his maturation in the way he tries to will his teammates to win.

They shot almost 59 percent. We always talk about giving up jump shots and that's really what they beat us at; a jump shot game. That's their game, pushing the ball up the floor, taking advantage of mismatches, and doing the things they do.

I know who he is now. He's a lot better than I thought he'd be. He can pass the ball a little bit, he can rebound, he has a nice little jump shot. He's been a pleasant surprise. You see a big guy walk in the training room, you hope he's on your team.

I'm not opposed to ever having three or four guys scoring the ball for us.

Shavlik is a little bit stronger than people think. He can rebound the ball in traffic. Offensively, he can put the ball down on the floor. Once he gets a 15- or 16-foot jump shot, I think he can be an effective player. I think people discredit his toughness. I think as he plays a little bit more, the toughness will come out, the ball skills will come out. Right now, he?s got to work on that jump shot.

Their execution down the stretch was the key. They advanced the ball quicker up the court than what we're normally used to.

Chris and Allen didn't have great offensive games, but they were passing the ball. I thought the way we defended and rebounded the ball was big for us. I thought one of the keys for us was that we got some easy baskets.

I don't think I had any doubt about them playing together. The reason you put the ball in their hands is because they make plays.

It was high energy. He hadn't touched a ball for a week, so it took him a minute to get his rhythm. Once he did, we kind of took off. Then, he was doing the things he always does.

The second half they just lured us to sleep and made open shots. Once we turned the ball over, they were into the break, somebody gets a wide-open three, and somebody gets one to the basket. It was like they teased us a little bit and then they go up 16 or 17 points.

Not everyone can be a hitter, or shooter, or part of an offense every night. There are some guys that have to be different things at different times and sometimes Andre is that guy. Certainly, we'd like to put the ball in his hands a little more.

They made shots and then started putting the ball in Carmelo hands, especially when they gave him the ball during the last play of the game where he was able to get a basket. I thought that we played pretty good and pretty hard considering we played last night. Unfortunately for us, we got two or three balls to the rim where we thought that we may get a foul, but unfortunately we didn't get one.

They knew we played an overtime game last night. They came out pushing the ball and running the floor to keep us on our heels. That game was embarrassing for me and it was embarrassing for the players. It was an embarrassing loss.

We want to funnel the ball to him on defense,

We want to funnel the ball to him on defense. And you know what? He's a much better offensive player than people give him credit for. We're going to give him a chance to show it.

We tried to put the ball in Chris' hands a lot more, especially down the stretch.