Allen Iverson Quotations | Page 3

We score with the best of them. If we concentrate on defense like we do on offense, then we'll win a lot more ballgames.

To me it's like starting all over, ... If you've watched any of the games I've played at the point guard position, it's honestly hard for other teams to stop it, because I'm putting pressure on guys. We don't always have to come down and rely on getting points off a set offense. We get a chance to run up and down the court and get a lot of easy baskets.

We had a real good meeting before the game in New York and I think it helped us out be-cause it got us focusing on what we need to do as a basketball team. I look at the stats and see that they still shot 50 percent and they almost scored 100 points and that's not something we want to give up. That's something we've got to look at as negative even though we got a win and try to improve on that.

Everything that I do, everything that I say is magnified. I didn't think it was going to get out of hand like this.

Once you get away and come back, you're ready to go. But knowing it's a fresh start, like a new season; we're taking it one game at a time.

As long as you leave everything out on the basketball court, you can go into the locker room and feel good about yourself and that's important..............

The most I got out of it was that guys need to take a challenge to make this team better. He talked about during this bad time that we're going through right now that it was important for everybody to stick together.

You've heard me say it a million times just from me being in here so long. You can have all the talent in the world, but if you don't have any heart, you're going to struggle as a player, and if the team doesn't have the heart, then the team is going to struggle.

All of it is bad. We just struggled so badly offensively. We just couldn't put the ball in the basket. They did a great job with Tracy (McGrady) struggling. Sloppy, we just didn't play well, just didn't take care of the ball.

They're targeting guys who dress like me, guys who dress hip-hop,

They're targeting guys who dress like me -- guys who dress hip-hop. Put a murderer in a suit, and he's still a murderer. It sends a bad message to kids.

Saying something won't mean anything. We're gonna have to do it. I can't tell you anything that's gonna make you feel like we can turn it around. All I can do is believe in that and realize we're still alive. We still have a chance to make it into another season, and that's the most important part of all of it.

Everything isn't starting out well, but you have to look at it like we can turn it around.

Everything we do from here on out has to be a team effort. If five guys play together on both ends of the court, we can make something positive out of this season.

Every time we have an All-Star game, he has a chance to get it. He'll win more, he'll win a lot more awards.

There's no way to explain it. We just got beat up. We're not stop-ping nobody, man. ... And if we can't stop nobody on the defensive end then it's hard to get into any type of running game, easy baskets. Every time they're scoring on us, and we're coming down and playing against a half-court set.

There's only one thing I still haven't done and that's win (the championship). That's the only thing I want now.

We didn't get any stops. We are trying to get better defensively but we got beat by 30 points, so obviously we are not getting better defensively. ... Obviously if you get beat by 30 points then the coach can question your effort.

You might see effort, but you don't see enough to get us wins.

You play 82 games, and it's unheard of that you win every game, but this is one we should have had,

I know we got guys in here who can get it done, because it happens on some nights. But it doesn't happen in others. This has to start with me, because I am our top offensive player. If I can send the message about playing defense, then I'm pretty sure everyone else will follow.

I never seen a rookie get that many calls going to the basket. He kind of reminded myself of me when I was a rookie, just going in there and being able to get calls and all the veterans saying they never seen a rookie get calls like that.

I'm as disappointed as everybody else on my team. We wanted to go into the holidays with a win. We'll have to get this one out of our system and come back to work.

I?m used to us losing a couple of games and everybody pointing a finger at me,

I had my popcorn just like probably everybody else. I was watching, and I was calling people up on the phone to make sure they were watching it. It's like, when you see a game like that, you're so much a fan ...

I just wasn't picked. I'm not bitter. I'm not mad. It just means I'll get to spend more time with my wife and kids over the next three summers. I still hope they bring back the gold. I'm just honored to have played before.

I?m just trying to do a little more talking to the guys and assuring them I?m with them regardless, mistakes or no mistakes. I feel like it?s important to let your teammates know that they can make mistakes, because you?re definitely gonna make them. We feel like we can make mistakes and live with them if they?re aggressive mistakes. I just talk to my squad as much as I can and just try to be there for them because that?s what they do for me.

I'm not pointing fingers at anybody, but as a group we're not playing hard enough to win basketball games. We don't seem hungry. We don't seem like we want to make it to the playoffs.

I hope they were glad I was back and I hope that I did give them some type of confidence. It's important for my confidence for me to feel wanted and be able to go out there and make something happen.

I kind of was frustrated with myself in the sense that I was missing easy shots,

Once they made one breakdown, they left me open, and I got a good look at it.

I want to play. Obviously we didn't get it done the first time I was a part of that team. If God blesses me with another opportunity to try it, it would be an honor. I would have a second shot at fulfilling one of my goals.

It's big for us because we know the other teams are right around us for the playoffs. (But) we are not approaching games like that. We are just trying to win the game. We don't feel like we need to settle for the eighth or seventh seed, we feel like we can get as high as we want to.

They are hungry and they needed to win desperately, so obviously they are going to bring energy and effort.

I guess it's just having time to play with each other and learning each other, just finding out how he wants to play and vice versa. He told me coming into the season that he wasn't doing his job if I didn't average four or five more points than I had been, and he was right because I am. ... We work together. We find out what plays we want to run. When we call plays for him, he tells me things he can do to get me an easy basket. And when a play is called for me, I let him know, if they take certain things away from me, what I can get for him. So it's just having some chemistry, being together and having a coach that understands that both of us need the ball and understands how both of us want to play.

I know I am healthy enough to go out there and not hurt my teammates.

I just continue to play the way that made me successful in this league. Once I stop being aggressive on the basketball court, I'll be hurting my team more than helping them.

I honestly thought as long as I got there before the ball went up, everything would be cool. I've been doing it that way my whole career and it never was a problem, even when coach (Larry) Brown was here.

I just got more aggressive. I didn't have the ball in my hands that much in the first half because I was playing the 2-guard. When they took John out of the game in the second half, I handled the ball more and I was able to make things happen for myself and my teammates.

But when you want to come to work, it makes things that much better. Mentally, when you're at work, it doesn't feel like work. When you take the fun part away from basketball, that's a problem.

Chris and myself, some nights we're going to struggle and we're not going to be able to get it done. We need other guys to step up. When you get 31 from a guy off the bench, you're supposed to win that game.

Honestly, we know that we're fighting for a playoff position. I just don't want to settle for the eighth spot. If we play these games out and win most of them, we can get up to the seventh, or maybe even the sixth spot.

He took advantage of his opportunities. He just got himself involved. He played a great game.

I promise you it's not that. If I can play the way I played the last two games from some controversy, I will hope there's controversy going on all of the time.

I don't really care if I play well or play bad, it's frustrating to lose the game. It doesn't do any good if we play well and lose basketball games. You still got a loss. It's like you didn't even go out there and do anything.

It was a fun game to watch. Everybody just came together. Chris just did a great job of putting everybody on his back.

It was great. It felt like we turned that corner. We had leads going into the fourth quarter and we weren't able to sustain them.

They want us to get down. I'm going to get down.

It was a great feeling, man. My first time being here, people embracing me the way they were. It's something I'm going to cherish ... It kind of made me more nervous, just wanting to give them a good show.

It was a great feeling (to sit out) because I didn't feel good at all, ... I was telling Coach when I was getting ready to go back in that I wasn't feeling that well and he just told me to come back, and fortunately everything worked out fine. I just didn't feel good. I was dizzy out there the whole game. Once I stopped playing at halftime and came back in, I just never felt right. I think I'm coming down with something.

Anybody who is a competitor knows this is what you want, this is what it's all about. As a competitor, this is the kind of situation you live for.

The first appearance is always going to be the most memorable. This one is special because I'm 30 years old and you hear all the negative things about your game declining and at this point you should be breaking down. I still go out and play hard every night and give it my all. I guess the fans recognize that because they put me in the All-Star game.

These guys don't have all the physical ability but they are able to win basketball games because they play the right way.

These guys don't play it at a level like a Vince Carter or Tracy McGrady or myself,

It probably was a fall and it swelled up on me. I kept playing on it. ... My doctors just said rest it as much as possible.

It's not like defenses are out there just giving guys 50 and 60 points. You have to look at what's going on this season and realize there are just as many great players playing today as there ever has been in this game.

It's an honor. It's tough enough just to make an All-Star team, but when you're able to be a starter, it just says a lot about being pretty much one of the faces of the NBA because the fans pick you.

It's an honor you know to be able to accomplish something like that knowing what he meant to this franchise and to the league. It's a great accomplishment, but without my guys, there's no way to get that accomplished.

It's all mostly effort when it comes to this game. Maybe some of the younger guys don't have that sense of urgency we obviously need to win basketball games. I think as far as talent we have enough to get over the hump.

It's sore, but that's what I expected. I knew that once I missed the road trip that I was going to try to go the first game back. We had a couple of days off and I had a chance to practice once, so I'll be ready to go tomorrow.

That's something we expect from Dre every night, ... We know he has the ability to shut people down.

That is just something that I don't deal with. You may not think about it as much, but it is something that you must think about because if guys have families here and maybe have to get up and just leave. It would be tough, so it's something to think about. It is part of the business and you just have to deal with it as a professional.

You can't just put it on one thing. We have been doing a lot of things well. We are playing well together, we are defending, we are doing a lot of positive things out there.

You don't want somebody shooting that had been making a lot of shots.

They do a lot of cutting, back screens and stuff like that. We weren't ready to handle the back screens and all the cuts. ... They are a well-coached team, and it shows.

They played better offensively and we did a bad job guarding, ... We had a chance to put them away but we have been going through this the last couple of games, having leads and giving them up.

They knock Shaq about his free throws. I'm the one that needs to be getting knocked.

They are similar, absolutely. We have leads and we give a lead up. It's been happening like this, the same way.

It's a big disappointment. They just jumped on us. Once we started to get into any type of groove offensively or defensively, it was too late.

It sends a bad message to kids. If you don't have a suit when you go to school, is the teacher going to think you're a bad kid?

It's just learning the game more. Just trying to approach it in a John Stockton-type of way, to where you don't play so much with your physical ability all the time. You have to think the game out a lot more. That's where I'm a lot better. I know the game a lot more. I see things before they happen a lot.

I told him before the play that if both men went to me, to go to the basket and get a good shot. Things didn't go the way we wanted tonight.

It's a big win for us...just because we've been struggling to win a game after a game. You feel good about not giving up one after we win one.

It was important. We know they were a team that's been struggling all year and we just wanted to get this win tonight. Being that we got the one on their home court, we figured they were gonna try to come in and win one on ours and we did a good job of being focused and playing the game and finishing it out.

It was a team effort. We did everything that we needed for the win. You can't put it on one thing. We've been doing a lot of things well. We're playing well together. We're defending. We're doing a lot of positive things out there. We're putting ourselves in a (position) to win. We're giving ourselves a chance every night, just playing well defensively. We feel like every night we can score 100 points, but we've got to stop people.

We've got a guy on the team who was 8 years old when I first got into the league.

We weren't ready to handle the back screens and all the cuts. They execute their plays to the fullest and get the best shot possible.

We just got whipped from the beginning of the game to the end. They did everything right and we did nothing right.

We just got whipped from the beginning of the game to the end. They were making shots, they executed well both offensively and defensively. They just played real well tonight.

We just needed it, period. Just for our sake, not as far as what everyone else is talking about. Just as competitors we just needed a game. We're struggling so badly right now. Then to lose this one would have been really bad, because we played really well defensively.

We just needed win - period. We're just struggling so badly right now. Then to lose this would have been bad because we played really well defensively.

We just need everyone to contribute. We feel like this is a whole new season for us.

Its easy to say that because we have been winning. Obviously we have been playing good enough defense to win basketball games, but we still need to get better.

It's frustrating, because we wanted to go to the holiday with a win and unfortunately we couldn't do that. We have to get it out of our system, enjoy the holiday, and come back to work.

It makes it that much easier for me, especially when he gets that attention on the post and people double him, and I get the entry pass. I get people running out at me, I can drive to the basket or hit that shot. And running the pick-and-roll, when guys try to take the ball out of my hands, all I do is make that one little pass at the free throw line. And when (Webber) is knocking it down, it?s tough for a team to stop us.

It makes it that much more important. I don't think it will have us play any harder because if you're not playing hard at this point with these games right here, then you're not gonna play hard anyway.

It's going to be hard. But I think that when we are in tough environments, it helps us focus more and it helps us concentrate. We're looking forward to it. We are playing with a lot of confidence right now and we believe in each other more than ever.

It?s going to be a tough week because it?s going to be a playoff atmosphere. It?s important for us to try to win one game at a time and just concentrate on that. Whatever opponent we have to play, just worry about those guys. And then worry about whatever happens after that.

There's a lot of things we're doing wrong, or we wouldn't be under .500. They're a well-coached team and it showed. They execute their plays, get the best shot possible down the court.

There may be one million people who love me, there may be 10 million people who hate me. What do I do? I go to battle for those 1 million people.

This is what you want. You want the big contract, and you want the people to show how much they want you. That's what Billy did today with those guys. He accepted them. It's important, because have some chemistry with each other. Sam and Kyle, they're starters on the team. I like the look of our team, and I like the direction we're heading. I'm just looking forward to trying to win a championship with them.

They're a good team, but it means more because we won the game. It didn't really matter what team came in here tonight, (we) just had to win the game. We had to get off the (streak). Regardless of who it was, we just had to win the basketball game.

Come the fourth quarter, we buckled down and got the stop and made some good plays offensively. Earl, I don't want to call him a backup point guard because he's just as good as many guards in this league.

I could have played 48 minutes. I have never had problems with my conditioning before. For a coach to say that he thinks my conditioning isn't there, that was something new for me. Because nobody never told me that, nobody questioned my conditioning or injuries or anything like that.

I definitely wasn't trying to disrespect Mo in any way, or the fans, as everybody is talking about. I've been here for 10 years, and to deliberately try to disrespect the fans, I would never try to do that in any way. I'm upset it came across that way.

I feel like everybody knows what is at stake. Everybody knows the importance of every game. We had a good meeting before the game in New York and I think it helped us out because it got us focusing on what we need to do as a basketball team.

If I start thinking about who's on the opposing team and I've got to play well against that team, then the next night when we play against guys without the big names, then you don't play so well. So you try and keep a consistent approach.

If I leave Philadelphia, it's not because I want to leave. I'm still in love with the place. I want to be here.

If I had an explanation, I'd give it. We just got whipped from beginning to end. They did everything right, and we couldn't do anything right.

If I had an explanation, I would give it. We just got whipped from beginning to end tonight. During the season, you will have games like this.