Rick Carlisle Team Quotations

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

We have a lot of confidence in all of our guys. If you have good players you need to use them, because not every team has this kind of depth. If guys play well they stay in the game. It gives us a chance to keep our starters fresh. It was a real key.

We're not a very good basketball team right now. This was very disappointing.

We're not a very good basketball team right now. This was very disappointing. We couldn't hit a bull in the butt with a bass fiddle. The ball not going in in the third was key.

We have to hope Pollard is feeling better and we're going to have to depend on guys like David (Harrison) and Austin and Jeff (Foster) to pull through and we're going to have to find scoring as a team. Every team goes through their fair share of problems. We're just going to have to play through this.

We fought back after a horrendous first half where we really didn't play with much passion and we really showed signs of being a selfish team. That can't be what our team has to be about. We talked about some things at halftime and our guys really came out and fought and earned one of the toughest wins we've gotten all year long.

Michael Redd was a guy we talked a lot of about before the game. (Jackson) did a good job at the start and our whole team reacted to him.

We've gotten to the point where we understand that we're a veteran team that has to play to our strengths. We have to be efficient and have a certain toughness about us. We've shown a lot of those qualities over the last week.

We've had great execution in the last two games; we won one and lost another. These types of one-possession games come in waves. The way our team is set up, we have players that can make plays.

We did it for three quarters, but down the stretch, we just didn't. We didn't step up like a good team should.

We're excited to move up in the standings by winning. I wish I could say we are playing really good basketball, but we obviously have struggled. It's been a tough road. We've got some things to do to look more like a team that can really compete at a high level in the playoffs.

Every team goes through their fair share of problems. We're just going to have to play through this.

Things weren't looking great after the first quarter. But our guys hung in there and got two sub-20-point quarters, and that's tough against a team like Sacramento.

You can't do that and beat a good team like that.

The second and third quarters hurt us defensively. We struggled and had some stretches where we couldn't stop them. Detroit is a team that is going to do a good job in the last play type of situations, but I'm more in tune to what happened in the second and third quarters than on the last play.

They showed in the first quarter what type of team they can be, especially at the offensive end. That was a demolition.

They've become a very strong-willed team. Their defensive toughness is in evidence. They're more consistent on defense and in their rebounding. This is an adjustment in their style that they were playing. They were more of a free-flowing team and that has changed.

Team unity goes a long way toward success in this league. San Antonio and Detroit, those teams have been the most together, along with being very good. That's got to be a big part of our goal.

There's a feeling that our players are misinterpreted and a little misunderstood because of various factors. Dress would be one of them. As a league, we know we have good people. We have great guys on our team. . . . I feel like what our team did last year (after the brawl) is a much better indicator of the character and quality of people in our league than anything else people might want to surmise in terms of perception.

The biggest thing is efficiency, because if you have a lot of turnovers on the road, the opponent is going to convert a lot of them. Jersey is a great conversion team off turnovers.

Danny had a great night. We're a different team when he plays the way he did tonight. We need him to continue to play at that level.

It's critical, let's face it. We're in a must-win situation almost every night. We have to win games. I just thought the guys came together as a team and did some really great things. It's important to be a playoff team. We've got a string of years we need to keep going.

They are not the same team without Vince Carter.

This is a very important time for us if we're going to be a team that makes the playoffs. We can't afford to show up and not play a great game for 48 minutes.

It was a big bounce back game for our team. I thought Jermaine set the tone for our team early in the game. The way it unfolded, it appeared he had a pretty good sense on how to establish himself.

Anthony Johnson played a terrific game. He's playing with great aggressiveness and savvy and understanding the pulse of the team he is running.

The emotionally charged and highly competitive nature of our games is one of the things that makes it compelling to our fans. The fine line you walk as a player or coach is that you have to channel those emotions in a way that's not harmful to your team or the game. That's the situation we're dealing with. My sense was it was getting better year to year.

The first half was disappointing again and we have to solve that. This is a very important time for us if we're going to be a team that makes the playoffs.

A.J. is playing with great awareness and great savvy. He just looks like a guy who understands the pulse of the team he runs. He knows his team as well as any player I've had an opportunity to coach.

A.J. is playing with great awareness and great savvy. He looks like a guy that understands the pulse of the team he's running. The majority of the game, he's making our calls and directing us into things. He's a guy that really knows this team, as well as any player that I've had the opportunity to work with as a coach.

It's the worst thing you can say about your team that you got outworked, ... They outworked us and they rubbed our faces in it, and they should have.

It's the worst thing you can say about your team that you got outworked. They outworked us and they rubbed our faces in it, and they should have.

They didn't do a great job with the coverage, but, hey, the way Tinsley played tonight, he put the defense in a tough situation. That was a huge play because it was so hard for Jermaine to get open looks around the basket. It gave our team some energy at the defensive end.

They are a tough team to play at any time. But from a schedule standpoint, our fourth (game) in five nights, it's really tough. That on top of the fact that we shot poorly in the first half, and we're without some key guys made it tougher.

They are a well-balanced team that has become very efficient at both ends of the floor. I think (coach Maurice) Cheeks has done a great job of figuring out a lineup. A lot of it is going to come back to Iverson and Webber because they are two great players. Iverson, in the last two weeks, he's been playing by his standards at a higher level.

We missed shots and didn't do a good job defensively. When you let the other team shoot 75 percent in the first quarter, you're going to dig a hole. We have to do better in all areas.

We hurt ourselves with a lot of little mistakes along the way, which put us in a bind. We've got to solve that. Otherwise we're always going to be a team teetering.

It's a deceptive final score. It was obviously a very difficult game. It's not easy against a team like Golden State because they are so explosive.

They're a good team that's going to do a good job in those situations. We probably could have executed better.