Rajon Rondo Quotations

If we were going to going to lose, it was going to be all on me. Luckily, it went in.

He was crowding me. I think that's the wrong way to play me. Not to be cocky.

He went and got the cleats, but coach Smith said we had to go. I don't know if I could have covered him, but he would have had to cover me, too. But he was pretty cool. We kept joking a lot.

He was the motor to their offense. I had to stop him. My offense was not going very good. In order to stay on the court, I had to lock down their best player.

He gave me his best wishes, and we both agreed that it's the best thing for me to do.

He said I brought it over. I'd been doing it the whole game.

Patrick played great. That was a big key.

Patrick, he threw a chair. He got really red. We were all really excited.

Patrick got really red. We were all excited.

I was trying to get up and pressure the ball, but the picks were very effective. It was very frustrating. It's a play that we run a lot, but they executed it very well.

That's the type of style I like to play. I think that's not a smart thing for a team to do, to press us. I feel like I can beat anyone off the dribble.

That's what got me a starting role last year. Whoever's got the hot hand for Florida, I guess that's who I'll be checking.

I was really happy for him. I just kept feeding him the ball.

We've got Tennessee at home; it's a big game and we know they beat Florida, so we've got to come ready to play.

We've got so many talented guys. As long as someone's stepping up, we don't need a (consistent threat), but in the long run, we'll need someone consistent.

We know nothing is guaranteed, so we've got to go to the SEC Tournament and put on a good show.

We know nothing is guaranteed, so we've got to go the SEC Tournament and put on a good show.

We've played against each other in high school, so we've been big rivals. I believe he's one of the best shooters in the country.

We've got two road wins, that's big for us to get our confidence back. We're ready to go now.

Those rebounds were crucial. We've got four guys in there and they've got two, and we can't get the ball. It's heartbreaking.

We just want to keep taking care of business. We can't worry about what our record was. We just have to keep playing hard.

Everybody gets down on Patrick's defense. He showed it tonight. It was all determination and desire.

Everybody expressed themselves. Everybody just didn't really hold anything back last night, just talked. We were more encouraging, we were kind of negative because we were losing and we needed to straighten up, and we did.

(Tennessee) played up on me and my big men kept setting screens and getting me open.

Coach Smith has given me tough love, which I believe has made me a stronger ballplayer and a better person.

Coach told us before the game that he was going to be a different person. He told us he was going back to his old way of coaching.

Bad. We're not communicating on defense. In the film against Indiana, they shot the ball well. But that was partly our fault too because we didn't get a lot of contests on their shots and we didn't keep it out of the post.

That was a big key. We broke their pressure with patience. They didn't make us play up-tempo like they wanted.

That's what we don't have right now. I think a lot of guys are down right now, but we've got to stay positive. It's a long season.

That should help us. We've played against it.

They were just happy for me to make a free throw.

They're a great team, and we gave it everything we've got. Nobody regrets the way we played. We fought all the way until the end.

A big key to the game was handling their pressure, especially because we weren't shooting the ball well. We were able to break their press with patience and we didn't get into the up-tempo game that they wanted. We pushed the ball, but only when we wanted to.

Talking to the doctor helped us a lot. We got a lot of stuff off our chests. A lot of guys were holding things inside, and we were all frustrated. We cleared a lot of things up.

It was a completely different style of play. I had to speed up and be more vocal to keep up with the other players.

I want the ball in my hands at the end of the game. I want to make something happen.

I love it. I think it's a mistake for teams to press us.

I knew it was going in. It didn't feel like it was going to rattle out, hit the backboard or anything.

I knew I wasn't (starting). I'm not upset. The players out there deserved to start.

I knew I wanted to take the last shot. I never doubted that it would go in. When I started to penetrate, there were nine seconds left, so I knew I had to make a decision quickly. I didn't want to shoot too early and give them a chance to score on the other end.

I like it a lot. I plan on taking a lot of shots in that spot.

I kind of (get up a little bit more for Louisville). Just because I'm from there. I know a lot of those guys.

I really like moving without the ball. I think it helps me spread my defenders and move them across the court.

He stepped up. Our other guys were in foul trouble a little bit.

I don't really look at it as too much of a big deal. I'm just glad we got the win. Any way you can get it.

I didn't score a lot, but I found another way to help us win. There will be times like this when teams stop my offense. When that happens, I just have to do something else. I'm just glad we won. I'm not mad or anything that I didn't score more. I'm just glad we won.

He played great; that's the way you want to go out. He went out swinging, gave it everything he got.

I always get up for every game, but this game is especially big. It's a do-or-die thing. This could be (decide) whoever wins the regular-season championship.

They got a lot of easy baskets and rebounds. That is what killed us.

We're looking forward to the tournament. We still believe that if we play with effort, we can beat anyone. We just can't have those 2-3-minute lapses.

It’s kind of like, I would say, maybe college recruiting. I’m pretty sure a lot more goes into it in the NBA. A lot more money is spent. I’ve heard stories, guys getting called right at midnight. It’s something that I haven’t experienced. I may want to go through it. I haven’t thought about it at all.

I always try to push myself, even more now because evidently I'm not doing something right. I'm trying to do the little things that count in practice to try and get my job back.

We have to be mentally prepared for every team we play. If we play a team who has a big name on their chests, then we are going to come out ready. But if we play a team who doesn't have a big name or a star player, we have a hard time coming out ready.

I haven't even been thinking about it really. I'm just going to talk to coach. We will have a team meeting when we go back and (I'm) just (going to) focus on school.

I don't know, you go through what you go through. You handle adversity, and I think it made me hungrier.

Every team doesn't fit every person's style of play.

Every player, every coach doesn't always see eye to eye.

The fans treated me with a lot of respect, and I played as hard as possible every night. I wanted to win. I'm going to always be a competitor.

Always people have counted me out since I got in the league. It never made me any difference. I kept myself around positive people, got a great support system and just kept at it.

I could play through anything. But just thinking about I have kids, longevity, I probably would have made more of a conscious effort not to hit the floor, but at the end of the day in the playoffs, you can't play that way. You just have to play and give it your all.

As I grew up, I played in sandals. I played in flip-flops all the time back in the day. That's why I didn't really care about spraining my ankles. When I first started in the NBA, I loved low-cuts. I can play (in them), because I used to grow up playing in flip-flops all the time.

I feel like nobody can stop me off the dribble. At crunch time, we're looking for somebody to score and I definitely want to be the guy who has the ball in his hands.

We just played unselfishly. At times this year, we've played selfish, but today we passed the ball. ... We were just very supportive of each other.

I just try to keep rebounding the ball as much as I can. I just go out there and do what needs to be done and don't worry about my stats.

Can't pick and choose when you're gonna be a leader. If you're gonna be it - gotta do it every day.

When you lose, nobody likes it and you start turning on each other.

Everything happens for a reason; I'm a big believer in that.

I never doubted myself. It just didn't work.

Coach showed he believed in me. So I had to believe in myself.

I'm a competitor. I never doubt myself.

I was always about the team, regardless of our relationship wasn't working out or didn't work out.

I'm a point guard, so I want to see everybody else score and be happy. I don't necessarily need to score at all. I could be happy with zero points as long as it was a team game and everybody contributed.

Whatever my team needs - that's what I do.

I will never play for the Miami Heat.

They talked about teamwork. That's all it is. It's about team effort. No particular player trying to outshine each other. Playing unselfishly and believe. Good things will come.

I haven't played defense in a couple years.