Steve Rucchin Team Quotations

We feel we have a better team. I've been here awhile and this is the most excited I've been. But we have to focus on making sure that we work hard and keep that going. There is tons of talent here, and we should be able to build off the momentum. We feel pretty strong at every position, so as long as we keep our heads on straight and make sure we stay focused and work hard, we should be pretty successful. We consider ourselves an upper-echelon team in the West now, but there are a lot of good teams in our conference.

No team has an identity yet. The first few weeks will be a feeling-out period.

It's definitely not a case of an over-dominating performance. We were fortunate in the fact that we played a team that was tired.

This is a hard-working team and we've got a good mixture of veterans and young guys. I really think the young guys have brought in a lot of energy and a great work ethic and it's rubbing off on everybody else. Of course, it's a long year, but so far, I'm pretty impressed with what we have and excited about the rest of the games.

It's a hindrance, no question. I feel pretty confident that when I'm out there, I'll be able to be competitive and productive. Even if you don't get the minutes or opportunities that you might be accustomed to, maybe the minutes you can play will be enough to help the team out in any way possible. There's no question I want to play.

It's another game that will test what kind of team we are. We've had a lot of those this year, but this is so close to the playoffs. It's definitely a test of where we are and it could show what we're likely to do or what we aren't depending on what happens in the game.

He's one of the best players in the world. I don't care what team it is in the league, you lose a guy like that it's going to be difficult.