Austin Croshere Quotations

We got up by 11; I don't know if we got comfortable or what. We're finding a lot of different ways to lose. We had some turnovers and they are a team that struggles in the half court. If you let them use their athleticism . . . they are pretty good. They did a good job of getting out and running.

We're just not playing very good basketball. It's hard to put a finger on exactly what it is.

We're still in a building/rebuilding stage. We're still trying to find an identity as a team. We've had success in doing that so far, but it's kind of in it's infancy stages. I think we need to do the things we've been doing for a longer period of time before you can really say we've turned a corner and established ourselves without him.

We had chances early, but they hurt us on the offensive boards. They get out on the break and we feed that when we turn the ball over like we did.' It's hard to get anything out of a game like this. We've got a big character game tomorrow in San Antonio.

One game doesn't make up for having lost (seven of the previous eight games). But it shows what we're capable of, and if we do things the right way, things can change in these next five games.

I don't feel like we're right and it's hard to say why. It's frustrating. We need to put together a couple good games to get back on track. We need to figure it out and do it quickly.

I acknowledge it's a possibility if they look to make it a bigger deal. I don't have any control over it. It's a distraction, but you would like for it to be over with as soon possible. It's not that it's in the back of your mind any more today than it was three weeks ago.

I think in some ways it's kind of a relief to have it behind us. It's an opportunity to go forward without any distractions; there's not any 'what ifs,' and I think it's welcomed.

I think it wasn't anywhere near what we're capable of, but I think it's still good enough to win. As long as we can learn on the fly and still win games, that will be great for us in the long run.

I think it's very important to have three strong, strong games. I think we want to do the things we're capable of and put ourselves in a position to win at the end.

I think early on guys were trying to feel each other out trying to move the ball. I don't think we have a selfish team by any means, but we have guys that are confident, that feel like they can take their man at times. I think one of the things we have been preaching early on is that the next man can take his man, too. If there's a better opportunity we have to move the ball.

With the way things have been, we don't want to get too excited. It's fun to be playing basketball now. It wasn't there for a while.

With the talent level we have right now, our margin of error is small. We can't get away with the same things we could have when our talent level was that much higher. We need to execute things better to make up for the talent we don't have.

We never dug down, we never made a stand, we can't just show up.

We got the loose balls in the second half that we didn't get in the first half. Those are the things we have to do. When you have to make up for a guy who scores 19, 20 points, you have to execute better. You have to do the little things.

When you're missing people, your margin of error becomes much smaller. You have to execute things a lot better. We had a lot of turnovers in the first half that really cost us and opened up the game for them.

We definitely had our struggles and I don't think we're denying that. But it wasn't as bad as it was made out to be by the national media.

We didn't play great defense, but we shared the ball a lot. Right now, it's fun to play basketball. It's fun to be out there. It was disappointing to lose the big lead, but it's a win, and that's good enough right now.

We're not playing our best basketball of the year, but we're definitely closer than we were a couple weeks ago.

This team needs to step up and find some leadership and stop doing these things. It's not coaching; it's effort and taking responsibility for what's happening on the court.

You have to give a lot of credit to Fred because of the way he's stepped up into that third scoring option. He's doing it with perimeter driving and slashing and it's really helping Jermaine out when he gets doubled in the post.

When you lose seven out of eight, many people are upset with many things. One game or victory like this doesn't make up for the way we have been playing in the past. This is a step in the right direction.

Even given all of the situations we've been put in, we still should be playing better than we are. I felt the same way last year, so maybe that's just me.

I've played on teams in the past where we had a really hard problem in the third quarter. We would come out and have a big lead at halftime and in the third quarter we would give it right back. I don't think it's a personality-type thing as a team to come out that way. Certainly it's been frustrating to play from a hole.

The thing he did (Monday), the things he did in this game, that rubs off on everybody.

I've been .500 or better my whole career so to do that nine straight years in a row would be important for me. I think, beyond that, it's really just a matter of playoff seeding at this point; do anything to stay out of that eighth position would be the goal.

So much of what we do offensively revolves around Jermaine. Without him, you're holding it together with spit and glue.

Teams that don't have the size or the established type veteran players make up for it with the energy, and those guys play the passing lanes and gamble and go for steals.

Teams key in stopping Jermaine when they come into the game, but things change a lot when he's not in the lineup. It's hard for them to make quick adjustments like that.

That's when we started doing things the right way. And that's when we started playing better as a group.

It's kind of been our problem lately. We continually end up having to play out of a hole.

It's a shame he never really got the opportunity to show people what he can do. We obviously saw glimpses of it in practice and in games. Obviously, the potential for him was unlimited. Any time a career gets cut short you feel sorry for him and that's obviously the case for Jonathan but he's a well-rounded young man who's got a great family and there's no doubt he'll be able to move on with his life.

It wasn't him that gave in, it was his knee that gave out. He never really got a fair chance. I remember him having these problems from day one. It's sad to see anybody's career cut short. He never got a chance to show people on a big stage what he was capable of. It's a very frustrating thing for any athlete.

It's kind of late to say, but make a stand. Everybody is really upset with the way we've been playing, coming off an embarrassing loss in Detroit. Everybody came in with a different attitude tonight.

It's kind of late (in the season) but we need to make a stand. I think everybody is really upset with the way we've been playing. When you've lost eight out of (ten), culminating with the blow-out (Sunday), the best thing to do is get back to basics.

It's hard to really build on this one. We have a big character game tomorrow against San Antonio, another great team, off a loss like this. But it is an opportunity to make up for the mistakes we made tonight, and we have to take advantage of that.

It's nice to have our best player back. We know what he can do when he gets his legs under him.

Anytime you can get up to a big lead like that, that's going to help you. We did the same thing in Seattle a couple of days ago at home and are able to hold on to the lead.

I'm not saying I completely agree with him, but Detroit should be the favorites because they went to the Finals two years in a row and they won a championship. I can't disagree with him on that. I think there's no doubt one of our biggest concerns is playing as a team. We know we have a lot of individual talent. It's a matter of playing as a team. I give him credit for calling it how he sees it.

I really thought we were going to win that game. It was disappointing, but it's a great memory.

The last two games, we're playing better, happier for each other, more assists and less turnovers. It's fun to be out there. It's fun to be on the bench for the first time in a while. I certainly think things are headed in the right direction. But it doesn't take away from the problems we've had. I don't think anybody is pretending the last eight games didn't exist.