Ray Allen Team Quotations

I would give it to Nash. No question about it. I don't think anybody in the NBA is playing the way he's playing and his team is doing what they're doing. Take him off the roster and they would not be where they are.

I think the team showed a lot of resilience. Even throughout, when the trades were taking place, we had guys in the game that wanted to be out there and played. I think we proved to ourselves we are a good team.

I think that is ridiculous. Sometimes, getting on the plane, with the distances we fly, you need to be comfortable. I think there is a way to be classy and dress up. I think the dress code should strictly (enforce) what guys wear on the bench when they are not playing. That is when guys are most visible. But when we are on the plane, that is when we are most leisurely. I don't think that should matter. Wearing a sweat suit with a team logo on it? What sense does that make?

I thought we didn't create rhythm offensively. And we played really tough defense on the strong side all night long, but you can't beat this team playing that way. Just playing strong defense on that side.

We know we are a better team than what we have displayed over the last week, ... Every night is an opportunity to prove that, and tonight we got on the same page a little bit more than we have.

Whose team is this? It's everybody's team. The guys that make this team are the guys that work. I might have a bigger responsibility, but in that responsibility it's my job to serve as much as I'm needed.

When you lose it's easier to just divide. Having something to say after every game so far when you lose, I have a sense guys don't want to hear what I have to say. Something needs to be said because a team is still a team. It's easy to sit and be a team when you're winning. Character is being built in these situations and we've got to come together.

Sometimes it's like I have to remind myself that that really happened. We were a good team ... Not a long time ago, but last year. It's funny how things change so fast.

At certain times, the whole 'Let's play hard and leave it all on the floor' conversation is corny. I hate saying it, but I have to because that's what we do in sports. That's how we exist. That's how we motivate each other to be better every night. If you don't believe in the team system, that's the look guys gave me a lot of times. 'This is corny. I'm not going to be part of it. This is just me.' And that attitude isn't going to help any team.

It's no fun to think about individual success when as a team you don't make the playoffs. I don't really take pride in what I did because the team didn't do well.

The Hornets were out-hustling us to every ball. I wont say that we were slow; we were just getting beat on each possession. The team that comes out and plays hard every night is the team that is going to win regardless of what their records are.

I've argued this with a lot of people in my life. When people say God blessed me with a beautiful jump shot, it really pisses me off. I tell those people, 'Don't undermine the work I've put in every day.' Not some days. Every day. Ask anyone who has been on a team with me who shoots the most. Go back to Seattle and Milwaukee and ask them. The answer is me -- not because it's a competition, but because that's how I prepare.

Most teams have one All-Star, whether that guy made it this year or earlier in his career, and some teams have two All-Stars. What theyre showing is that a group of five guys that play together and play hard will always beat a team with two All-Stars and three average players.

My nature is to keep things inside. In time, I'll be comfortable stepping up when I think the team could use my input.

I look at how we got beat and I thought the hustle points and the energy points were all gauged through offensive rebounds. I thought in the second half they got so many second-chance opportunities they could really run. It just seemed like they were going up our guys' backs. When you don't get any offensive rebounds and they start going the other team's way, it's almost like a snowball effect.

Right now, we're not a team. I think we're genuinely happy for each other when we're out there on the court. We've got to find new and different ways to support each other on the floor. The comfort zone that we've been in, we've got to change it a little bit. Everybody has onus on this team. It's easy for someone to say, 'I play only 10 minutes a game, so they're not talking about me.' But that 10 minutes is just as important.

What brought me back here was my players, ... I know who Rashard (Lewis) is. I know who Nick (Collison) and Luke are, and I don't know what those other guys (on other teams) bring to the table. This is where I've made home and I didn't want anything different and I didn't need anything different.