Rick Carlisle Quotations

One of the reasons it seemed like a quiet 37 was his shooting percentage. Unfortunately, we couldn't get him under control.

Nine 3s is going to make it hard to beat you. If you go anywhere around making 10 3s, you're looking at a great chance to win.

I would believe the concerns for a loved one in the stands and the fact he just went up to see if everything was OK would be a mitigating circumstance. It would be a scary situation if you had concerns for a wife or child in the stands. I can understand why he went up there.

We had a whole scheme set up to double-team him. He goes out of the game, it certainly changes the complexion of the game for their team.

Obviously we caught a break when he went out because they're not the same team without Vince Carter. Our bench was huge. This was one of those nights when we needed everybody to play well, and they did.

One of the things that's real positive with this group is that we can put five guys on the court and run something and be very comfortable with any of those guys taking the shot,

One of the things we talked about was our need to be more purposeful with our transaction offense. When we take quick, it puts us in a poor position defensively. The guys did a great job of decision-making in transition. Our execution on offense put us in great position to guard and rebound.

No, I don't. I've just got a real strong belief in all of our guys. So, I don't think that way. I don't go around worrying about what might happen.

Richard Jefferson is going to be more involved in Game 2. We know that Jason Kidd is going to be more involved from a scoring standpoint in terms of his aggressiveness. Carter, you can talk about his bad shooting, but he still had 31 points. He missed a lot of point-blank shots he normally makes. They're going to be more balanced in their attack.

Right now, he's a guy who's going to have to step to the forefront. It'll be an opportunity for him, and we're counting on him to come through for us.

I have been voting for this guy as an all-star for three years. I am no closet fan. I am an out-there fan. I love the way he plays, and he is a guy you really fear.

I'd like to keep him in the mid-20s if there's any way possible to do that, because that gives him enough energy to really pursue the ball and finish off plays on the inside. I thought the fact that we had to play him 37 minutes the other night in Houston had an effect on that one play late where he got to the rim, but couldn't quite get it in.

If things look good, there will be a chance he can play. It's the combination of the frequency of the concussions and his symptoms. It's something you can't rush.

I don't know the exact description of it, but it doesn't need surgery and there's a chance if it feels better and feels OK next week, he could play with a protective splint.

If we hadn't won three games, we could be well out of the playoffs. That's not what we want. We want to be in and have a chance to get as high a seed as we can.

Last year, we went through one of the most difficult years that a team could go through in NBA history. Even in the toughest times, I love coming in and trying to figure out ways to win. When you are able to feel that way about what you are doing, it is a great blessing. My experience at Virginia had a lot to do with being able to get where I am now.

We know we are going to have some sluggish stretches here with guys getting back. We're just going to have to fight our way through it.

Most of these new arenas have very good color schemes so you don't have depth perception problems.

Let's just say it's a short-term situation, which potentially makes it a little more than game-to-game possibly.

Harrison felt bad about the suspension. I thought he atoned himself in a very strong way with his play at both ends of the court. That's what you want to see, a guy respond to adversity when things aren't going well all the time.

Kobe Bryant is a great player. Maybe the best player in the league right now. He is that good.

Jack is such an important guy on our team. Our players view him as one of our leaders. You have to have your top players involved and playing at a high level. I thought tonight Jack understood the defensive end was going to be what was going to win the game for us.

Jamaal came in early and went and shot, said he wanted to give it a shot, but after six minutes it was clear he wasn't 100 percent.

Jamaal plays a big part of our success. We're going to have to deal with it. It's tough. We got guys that can step in. We'll re-evaluate where he's at after three games.

He (Jackson) tried, but he was struggling to move out there. When he came out, we just decided he couldn't go anymore.

He just wasn't able to cut on it and move the way he needs to. We are just hopeful that with another day and a half of rest, it'll calm down and he'll be able to play.

He just wasn't able to get enough minutes for us to keep him here. He played well and had a great training camp and was terrific in the locker room. It's just one of those timing-type things.

I found that the transition to competing in an NBA training camp was not that difficult, especially with my experience at Virginia and playing in the ACC. Fortunately, I kind of caught lightning in a bottle that year, had a great training camp and made the team.

I can't remember the last time we had 25 assists. That had a lot to do with it. Everybody hung in and played an important part.

I go back to our turnover situation. If they are down, we are going to rebound the ball better because we're going to get more offensive boards and be able to get back and guard people and get more defensive boards.

I don't think it shows much dignity to make excuses after you get your butts kicked. It was like they're everywhere and our feet were stuck in mud.

Give the guys credit for hanging in there and gutting it out.

For us, we have to remember what they did to us last time. They came out and just railroaded us with shot-making and dribble penetration. You name it. We're going to have to dig our heels in defensively.

I believe the 3-point shot is going to be a part of our attack, ... We like to get 3s off penetration and inside-out action when we can.

I believe (the new rule is) a luxury rather than have guys making up injuries. If you have a team with a lot of depth, there are certain situations where it's an advantage. Right now we don't have that.

He (Redd) was phenomenal with his shot making, especially in the third and the fourth (quarters). Then all of them were hitting threes after a while. The third quarter did us in.

He's a great young player. He can almost do anything on the court. I can't tell you how impressed I am at how he's played.

He's a guy that our players look up to because he's been on a championship team. He has some credibility because of that.

We have to avoid becoming stagnant. We knew at some point Orlando would hit a stretch where they hit shots. We also knew that when that happened we had to keep the ball moving on offense and not slow it down and get into isolation plays. That bogged us down in recent games. I thought we did a good job of staying away from that.

We have to be honest; we're not a very good basketball team right now. We have to address things that need to be addressed.

He wanted to give it a try, and he really gave us some defensive energy to start the third, which was big.

He wants to play. It's a significant situation. It's day to day, but it's one of those things that's tough to gauge. We're hoping he feels good enough for Game 6, but we don't know. We'll have to see.

He was one of my favorite players to work with because of how hard he played and the things he does on the court.

He did some good things. We have to keep working him on both ends of the floor with what we do.

He tried it, but he was struggling to move out there. We'll hope he feels better Saturday (at Milwaukee).

He desperately wanted to play. This is what you play your career for. I know it really hurt him to sit out the other night.

He has an affinity for the 'everyman' type of player, ... He's been here the last two summers working out with summer league players. It's something he has a liking for.

He has an affinity for the 'everyman' type of player. He's been here the last two summers working out with summer league players. It's something he has a liking for.

He has an NBA skill and that's that he can post up and score. He can also shoot from midrange and I think he'll be able to stretch it maybe to the NBA 3-point line down the line.

He hurt it at the end when he got that put-back, so we'll hold our breath and keep our fingers crossed that he'll be OK (on Thursday) and the next day. He's going to be sore, we know that, but if anybody will play hurt, he's certainly a guy who's done it time after time.

He hurt us the last two games and we did a lot of different things on him defensively. Johnson played great.

He is doing better, but it's not the right time to push it.

If it's a problem, it's a problem I look forward to having.

He had us on our heels a lot of the night.

He's had this problem in his elbow for over a month and it's not healing. We're going to hold him out for a while until he's really right. It will be at least a week, with a possibility that it could be significantly longer. We're not going to go on like this, having him in and out of the lineup, thinking he's going to be able to play then not being able to go. It's too tough on everybody.

He's here to play, he's here to win, ... His moods are much more affected by winning and losing than anything else. I love having guys like that.

He's definitely a more featured player. It gets tougher now because everybody knows how important he is as our No. 1 scorer. We have to work harder to get him better shots and he's going to have to work harder to create opportunities for himself, too, because teams are keying on him.

He's doing a little better the last couple of days. My sense is that he'll play.

He's at the point now where rookies are still rookies, but they have a veteran sort of confidence about them, and he should. The other thing he has learned this year is that when he plays well, it's going to be tougher to keep playing well because teams are going to keep getting ready for you.

He's a legit point guard with size, he's an excellent defender, and he still hasn't entered his prime, ... The other thing we like about Chauncey is that he really wants to be here. He chose us over 12 to 14 other teams. That means a lot.

He's done a lot of good things, considering the amount of time he's been out. But also, you can tell there's an adjustment period here. This is going to take some time to get to full strength.

He's been a major key in this series.

He's fit in well. He's a proven NBA player who's played at a high level for many years.

He's getting over his jitters. It's tough. We're asking him to learn two positions. Danny has a tendency at times to be in a hurry.

He's going to be in the picture, for a lot of reasons. His defensive ability is very important to us. He's a young guy who's experiencing a lot right now and that bodes well for this year and the future.

He made a couple of great plays at the end. Great players are going to make great plays. In the grand scheme of the game, the third quarter was our undoing.

He'll be re-evaluated next Monday. If things look good, there will be a chance he can play (Feb. 15 against Milwaukee). It's the combination of the frequency of the concussions and his symptoms. It's something you can't rush.

He'll gradually get back to where he needs to be as long as he doesn't get major doses of minutes. It would be great to have more practice time, but he's been in this situation before and he's familiar with it.

He may have moved his schedule up because of what happened in Memphis last night. We knew he was getting closer and closer. I thought it could be this week some time.

He made a point tonight. He was a key part of the game.

He got cracked pretty hard the other night in the Chicago game.

He had a clean bill of health when the trade was made and all his past situations were checked out. The one thing he had trouble with was his back, but he hasn't missed any practice time, and that's a totally isolated, different situation.

Lineup changes are always a possibility in the playoffs, but it doesn't matter if we keep turning the ball over and getting into foul trouble.

That certainly was an important game for us, for a lot of reasons. We were sloppy at times offensively. The effort was really there and it was great to see. We've got some cobwebs to get out.

That certainly was an important game for us. We were sloppy at times offensively. The key for us was our disposition defensively. It was there today.

Our point guard position was really tremendous, especially in the second half. That's the kind of production we need at all our positions. Let's face it, we're the kind of team right now where we're playing eight guys (Friday). We need six out of eight (players) playing at a high level to beat a team like Sacramento.

Part of the problem was that Jermaine was sick (Monday) and he was really exhausted in the first half. I know his physical situation contributed to some of his struggles. We just didn't have the luxury of sitting him much tonight.

I see a guy that's working his butt off to get his rhythm back and get his recognition, and he's done a lot of great things. We knew this wasn't going to be an overnight process.

Jermaine adds a different type of post-up dimension. Getting Jermaine back, we're going to be playing quite differently than we are now because of those dynamics. It's a challenge. We still have a lot of stuff to get in. It's going to take every bit of concentration that we have as a team.

Jermaine is a top player in this league and we all know he's missed a lot of games. Fortunately he's hitting his stride at a good time. We need him to continue to play at that kind of level for us to have success in the series.

Jermaine is a top player in this league. He missed a lot of games (this season) and it's taken him a while to get his conditioning and his rhythm back. Fortunately for us, he's hitting his stride at a good time.

Jermaine is drawing so much attention now, he's going to have a great impact on what happens offensively. Not only when he's scoring, but when he's passing out of double teams. Seven assists and no turnovers is proof of that.

Just didn't seem like we were really right, all night. I don't have a reason why that is. We never got anything sustained.

Johnson played great. We did a lot of different things on him defensively, but he was able to get shots or get teammates shots.

It does affect us not having Jermaine O'Neal for sure, but if you don't have him, you have to find a way to win without him. Right now, that has got to mean playing at full capacity all the time and playing with some real efficiency.

It couldn't have been closer. A couple of breaks went our way at the end, like the offensive rebound, and he (Johnson) made a huge play. We know we got lucky today because we know Vince Carter is not going to have another 1-for-8 three-point game or 12-of-33 game because he's a great player.

I thought in the second half, we did a good job of sticking with what we had to do to give ourselves a chance. Our undoing is not playing 48 minutes at that level.

I thought he played well in the Houston game and he did some good things in the New York game. He's going to be an important guy for us with Freddie out.

It is great to be in a situation in which you have great players. You find out pretty early in this business that without good players you will not be a good coach. I have been fortunate to be in a very good situation. My job as a coach is to make sure that we progress every year and we can be a championship contender.

Our undoing tonight was the second quarter. In the playoffs you've got to play a full 48 minutes. We're still working on it. We've got a ways to go.

Our undoing was in the first half. I thought we played really well, really hard and really together. It's hard to dig yourself out of that big of a hole. We have to learn something from the last two games. We got fortunate in Chicago because we were able to pull it out when we played a poor first half. But we weren't able to get over the hump (Monday).

Our undoing was the fact we're not playing 48 minutes at home at a high level. That's got to change.

Our start to the game was OK. But the second quarter, they had 32 (points) and we couldn't keep them under 30 after that. They played great offensively. During this 15-game period, we've competed hard on a consistent basis and tonight we had a letdown from that.

Our foul trouble made it tough. (Bryant) gets you into foul trouble, and double-teams get other people open shots. We mixed a lot of different things and some were effective. Other times, you just have to hope he misses.

I won't know what our health situation is going to be until probably Sunday. We have a couple of days to try to get guys healthier.

It doesn't need surgery and there's a chance if it feels better and feels OK next week, he could play with a protective splint.

I think the guys rallied behind the fact that we lost (O'Neal). It's important for us to understand what can be accomplished collectively when we share the ball and work at the defensive end.

It happened awhile ago in a game at Detroit. He jammed it a little bit, but nothing serious, just a little swelling in it.

It got hairy at the end, but it's going to be hairy at times. You've just got to be able to find a way to win. The importance of it is being able to stop the run.

I thought Ronnie struggled. At times he went away from what we were doing as a team and that disappointed me.