Maurice Cheeks People Quotations

People talk about him shooting the ball a lot, but it's not a selfish thing. If we get down, he takes a lot on himself to go and win the game. I've seen his maturation in the way he tries to will his teammates to win.

Once he gets a consistent jump shot, he can be a much more effective player, ... I think people discredit his toughness. He has to keep working on his jump shot.

It's unfortunate that we have to rely on other teams to try and give us some help. But stranger things have happened in the NBA where people get a chance to get in.

We had some good players, we had some good guys on the team, but some things kept happening time after time and that's all people talked about, ... The things that they did, the dysfunctional things that happened, a lot of that became a part of the Portland Trail Blazers, and that was unfortunate.

We want to funnel the ball to him on defense. And you know what? He's a much better offensive player than people give him credit for. We're going to give him a chance to show it.

Shavlik is a little bit stronger than people think. He can rebound the ball in traffic. Offensively, he can put the ball down on the floor. Once he gets a 15- or 16-foot jump shot, I think he can be an effective player. I think people discredit his toughness. I think as he plays a little bit more, the toughness will come out, the ball skills will come out. Right now, he?s got to work on that jump shot.

The way they play, most people say you can't win that way, but that's how they play and they have one of the smartest point guards (Nash) in the league. They play aggressive, offensive basketball.