Terry Stotts Quotations

One of the reasons we got him was because he's always been a very good defender. But he really improved his scoring overseas. He brings a nice balance, and it seems when he is on the court, good things tend to happen.

I wish we could bottle it up. Shooting 60% and shooting like that from threes. Shooting is a lot about confidence and rhythm and not only did our shooters have that but I felt the way we were playing fed into the rhythm and the confidence. Everybody feeds off each other. One shot led to another.

I was really proud of the way we came out both halves. Offensively we were good, but I think what we did at the defensive end contributed to our offense. T.J. did a good job pushing.

I was pleased with the way we played. Seattle's a dangerous team, the way they can put points on the board quickly, because they can create turnovers and their three-point shot is effective. It was good to get it -- we had a couple moments -- but to hang onto a double-digit lead for most of the game, it's good we kept that margin.

Obviously, we had a hard time scoring. We didn't score any points in 10 minutes and you compound that with McGrady getting hot and on a roll . . . that's what Houston wanted to do. They wanted to keep it close in the fourth quarter and have McGrady take over. But offensively it's tough when the ball doesn't go in.

Point guard is the most difficult position to replace. When you lose someone at another position, you can makeshift it a bit. But you need to have ball-handlers out there, especially against a team like Charlotte that wants to pressure you. It's a challenge.

Right now he doesn't need to be an offensive force for us. He made some good plays, was available on penetration. We don't need him to score every time he touches the ball. He's very mature with his approach. That showed.

I'd like to be able to put him off the ball and have him catch the ball with a live dribble. He's so good with pick and rolls, I'd like to get him in different pick and roll situations rather than just coming down and running it. It just adds to our game.

Kobe had a terrific game. We probably did a good job on him, actually -- after the way he started off. He made his foul shots down the stretch, but for 2 1-2 quarters, we did as good a job as you could ask for.

I could see just from how the players were responding just how much it meant to them.

I don't think anyone should confuse when a team plays a very good offensive team like the Kings and they have a first half like they did, it's not because of our lack of fire.

From what I read, I think it's a reasonable dress code.

Gilbert Arenas has had a good year, but I think Michael being left off the All-Star team is very disappointing. He's having the best year of his career. He's leading a team that hasn't been under .500 all year. He's scored in double figures every game. He's improved every part of his game. And I think it's a shame that he's not on the team.

Give Sacramento credit; they're a very good offensive team that passes the ball very well. They can get you in situations that can make you look bad.

I don't think we want to throw him out there 25 minutes. We'll ease him back in there, just from a personal standpoint and a team standpoint.

Basketball-wise, I think everybody realized it made sense for our team,

Having all these guys come together, it's a very deep team. Getting them established and playing together on both ends of the floor is my biggest concern.

When he pushes it like that, the team follows.

He's a great player and he did just what great players do. He was able to keep his confidence in a game where things weren't going his way.

He creates an up-tempo game for us. I think his shooting is probably better than people anticipated.

He was really good. He would make some really big shots, but then they would make a big shot.

He can run, and he has a high basketball IQ, ... You'll see the ball in his hands as a playmaker. He's very competitive, and he wants to win. I liked his demeanor on the court and the way he reacted with his teammates. It's reassuring.

He can run, and he has a high basketball IQ. You'll see the ball in his hands as a playmaker. He's very competitive, and he wants to win. I liked his demeanor on the court and the way he reacted with his teammates. It's reassuring.

I always hesitate to go too far (ahead on the schedule).

There is an adjustment when you take a player, no matter who it is, (and put him back in the lineup). You have a way of playing and then you take a guy who's going to play 30-some minutes, and how he fits in - spacing and knowing where players are going to be - it's a definite adjustment. But they played much better than their record.

He made two good reads. He got it down to Joe. That's where Mike wants to get to. Not only be able to score, but to be able to make players around him better. Those were two big plays.

Joe is still playing limited minutes and he's still in an adjustment period as far as managing the game. And managing if you want to save his (last) 2 or 3 minutes until the end of the game or not.

I think what this trade does is put us, hopefully, in the forefront of being a playoff team. We want to make the transition easy for Andrew.

Joe and Charlie's rehabs are going well, but we haven't even looked at a return date for those two guys. They're both on track and where we want them to be.

Our turnovers led to their transition and we didn't do much to stop them.

I think it's always nice when you can have multiple ball-handlers and multiple passers, because it gives you a little more flexibility,

It didn't look good. It's very disappointing. You try to get everybody healthy. We're trying to build a rhythm and he kind of had a bounce to his step the last couple of games.

We came out in the second half and competed. To get down 18 and still have a three to tie the game, I'm proud of the way the team came back and fought. But the first half was a big disappointment.

Yeah, that's about how I saw it. Them and San Antonio are probably the two most physical teams in the league, yet both of them go to the foul line more than anyone else.

You kind of get in a rhythm of playing. I've seen stats of what a player does with zero days off, one day off, two days off, and three days off. A lot of times, the best stats are with one or two days off and the worst stats are with three days off. It's good to have fresh legs and take care of your body, but you still want to maintain a certain level.

That's what Houston wanted to do - keep it close, get to the fourth quarter and have McGrady take over. Offensively, it's tough when the ball doesn't go in.

We got the lead in the fourth quarter, but our quick shots got them back in the game. If we would have had the patience to move the ball a little bit more, we probably could have extended the lead.

We need March to be a good month for us. Between home games and everything else, we need March to be a good month. We were one game under .500 for February and around that in January, so we need to come on strong in March and see what happens in April. But this is the time that we should be able to separate a little bit.

We got off to a good start, but we were digging out of a hole the entire second quarter, third quarter, fourth quarter. We've got to keep playing through it.

We need everybody. We can't rely on Michael to always have 25, 30 points, and we've done that all year. It can't come from one guy, it has to be contributions from everybody.

We need everybody. We can't rely on Michael to always have 25 or 30 points. Whether it's Bobby or Mo or T.J. (Ford), or we get Toni back, or our big guys inside, it can't come from one guy.

Michael played a terrific game. It was entertaining, but I'm not taking much consolation in that.

Well it was a bad combination going 3-of-17 with eight turnovers. We were probably lucky to have eight points. I give Memphis a little bit of credit, they are a good defensive team. That probably had something to do with it, but I thought we played a little too much off the dribble. Certainly we missed some shots that we could've had.

We held them off and made shots. We did a lot of good things.

When you're not shooting the ball well, you have to defend a little harder and we just couldn't quite get there.

We didn't do a good job, obviously, of guarding Carter down the stretch. He got to the rim two times. It was too easy.

We're coming back to the Bradley Center, and the Bradley Center has been a great building in the playoffs. They call it home-court advantage for a reason so we've got to go home and take advantage of it.

With a four-point lead, we didn't do a good enough job of stopping Carter down the stretch. You want to make him shoot as far out as possible and keep him away from the basket. He got a lot of calls going to the basket.

When Dirk has his jump shot, he's going to be a tough cover. They put him in a lot of different situations, and he takes advantage.

When we didn't turn the ball over, we got some good opportunities. Michael's approach was terrific. He got in little more of a rhythm and made some timely shots.

We felt if we won this game, there was good chance we'd have the tie-breaker at the end of the season. That was definitely on our minds.

During a game, having players wear a sport coat is reasonable,

Washington has won a lot of games with Arenas at the end. For T.J. to get that steal was just a huge play.

Everybody knew that our division was going to be tough.

I've been impressed by how hard he's worked,

They are a good defensive team. That probably had something to do with it. But we played a little too much off the dribble. Certainly, we missed some shots that we could have had. The eight turnovers really puts you behind the 8-ball.

The good thing about tights is, it makes even 48-year-old legs look better. But I would say of the five of us, I don't think any of them were anything to write home about.

Beating Dallas, as good a team as they are, is nice,

The starting lineup has been solid. Some nights they get off to good starts, some nights they don't. If you do make a change in the starting lineup, it kind of singles out a guy. I think we're close to having a lot more wins than we have and I don't think changing the starting lineup does anything.

And we were a dominant team in the league.

It was a performance that we needed. Defensively, that was one of our better games. Our defense contributed to our offense and a lot of times it's the other way around. You like to have a game like that this time of the year.

Toni threw a great pass and that's what we wanted to get. Andrew obviously made a great catch and shot. That's what we were looking to get.

Two areas that were our biggest concerns going into the series were the free throw line and turnovers. This is the first game of the series where the turnover differential was substantial.

Two games in a row (against Washington). At their place the first time we played them, T.J. made a big defensive play - he got an offensive foul. He made the steal this time.

We wanted to take advantage of both those guys inside, they finished around the basket. They did a nice job of fighting when they were open.

Both teams wanted to get the fifth seed. They may have had a little more in the tank but I was proud of the way our team competed. We were down and to come back in the fourth quarter we just couldn't keep them off the free-throw line. Washington played well and deserved to win.

Both team wanted to get the fifth seed. I told the team we're disappointed now and we should be disappointed. But we can't dwell on this and let the disappointment of this loss carry over into the playoffs.

Our defense got us over the hump. It was one of those games. Boston did a nice job defensively and both teams struggled to score. We stayed with our defense and fought through.

There's no limitations at all. I know there's a lot of concern and interest, but from our perspective, he's 100 percent been cleared. He's ready to go and he's quick as ever.

I've always had a tremendous amount of respect and admiration for the way Toni plays the game. In addition to his solid, veteran presence on the floor, Toni's knowledge and experience will be an invaluable asset to the younger players on our roster.

I'm very pleased with their attention to aggression on defense,

I like the way our team came out in the second half with a little sense of urgency and got back into the game quickly. He (Redd) kind of struggled with some of his shots in the first half. He's a good scorer and a good shooter. He had the confidence to keep going.

I like the way we responded after last night's loss; it was pretty demoralizing. To come back with the energy that that we had tonight was good to see.

I like the way we started the game. But the tone was set for the game in the second quarter when we had all the turnovers. It's good to get a win and you certainly don't want to belittle a win on the road.

I like setting records, not just season highs. It's good to be a part of it. The other ones were good, but to only have two turnovers in a game says a lot about our passing abilities. It says a lot about our sharing the ball and making good decisions.

I'm proud of our streak of keeping teams under 94. Really everyone on the floor contributed defensively.

Everybody seems to want to take away from accomplishments. The fact all five teams made it is a testament to each of those teams. Cleveland and us weren't in the playoffs last year, and the fact we jumped into the playoffs shows you even more about the division.

It's unusual. It doesn't happen very often that I can remember. Our bench has been very good and very productive and we count on them. It was a little bit of an anomaly, but it was part of the game tonight.

It's up to us. You want to be in position to control your own destiny. You can't ask for anything more than that.

I want to be aggressive and keep playing. It seemed like we were getting tentative . . . We have to understand the urgency of the little things in the last 3 or 4 minutes of the game.

It's certainly a different feel, and I think it does keep your legs warm. Joe wears it because he had a sleeve on his one knee and just wanted to have the same feel for both legs. I think it's a personal (preference). I can see why guys would want to wear them.

It seemed like when they wanted to turn up their defensive pressure they did.

It seemed like when they wanted to turn up their defensive pressure, they did. They challenged a lot of our shots, but during that stretch on the offensive end, we had three or four opportunities that didn't go, and they ran the other way with it. The lead went from four to 12 pretty quickly.

They did a terrific job on both ends of the court and on the boards.

They complement each other well. I think it's a benefit to Mo and to T.J. that they're there for each other and they're able to play with each other.

I really liked the way we competed in the second half.

I really liked the way we competed in the second half. With Michael and Mo out, I was really proud of the way our team competed.

But I did think that Michael was being held and grabbed a lot. I'm just stating what I saw.

Charlie did a terrific job of guarding Carmelo. He took charge in the first half and when you throw his offensive line on top of that, he was terrific.

Charlie's rebound put-back was big. And to have eight assists with only one turnover was good. And Charlie has been good defensively all year.

He surprised me, getting to the rim as well as he did. The way he got to the rim when he wanted to and then his mid-range game was as good as ever. I can't say that he's at the level that he was before all the injuries, but he hurt us.

I don't know if I expected 30. But Mo played tonight the way he's been playing all year. He picked his spots. He scored 30 points on 17 shots and was pretty efficient.

They made him a priority. He's one of the main reasons why we've played them well throughout the year, and they obviously made Mike a priority. They didn't give him any looks, any good looks. We have to do a better job of getting him open. He has to find people when they do bottle him up. He has to find people and not necessarily play into the teeth of their defense.

They went to him four or five times in a row, and when he makes that jump shot, it opens up everything else for them. He was effective and they took advantage.

It's hard, as much as Rip was holding and grabbing.

It was a competitive scrimmage. We still have a long way to go, but it's reassuring that the work we did this week is showing up a little bit.

In addition to his solid, veteran presence on the floor, Toni's knowledge and experience will be an invaluable asset to the younger players on our roster.

As good as we were in Seattle over that five-year period, and that five-year period was as good a five-year period as there had been in the history of the league, I don't know if we had a 14-game winning streak.

The Clippers came out and showed why they have the kind of record they do.

Andrew and Jamaal did a fantastic job of rebounding the ball.