Bernie Bickerstaff Game Quotations

It all boiled to down to decisions. I think at critical junctures we made some pretty good decisions. In our last four games we had deficits and then we took the lead, but we haven't made good decisions when we've had the ball.

He's been terrific for us. As an athlete, he's off the charts. He's up there with anyone in the league. He knew he had to work on his game to get better, and he has.

The last two games, the one in Detroit, late in that game and this game is really the most competitive that we've been with a very, very good basketball team.

You know what he did first tonight was get his teammates involved. I had a conversation with him before the game and I told him I wanted him to play with passion. You have to be who you are.

That is the problem with us. It gets personal with us because we don't get a call and we're up 10 or 15 points, to heck with the call...I really think it's a function of not understanding that it's about the game and not about the individual.

We played about a quarter and a half tonight. But we played the fourth quarter with some fight to get back into it. The shot Brand made late in the game was a big-time shot and he made it at a very critical time in the basketball game.

That was a big defensive breakdown on that last shot. No one helped out when T.J. split the lane. You put yourself in a position to win, but games are won and lost on little plays like that.

Everything in this basketball game was pretty much even, but they shot 33-of-39 (from the line). Everything else was pretty much even. It gets down to the free-throw line and making the free throws. The opportunity was there. That's no indictment on anyone but ourselves for not making free throws. It ends up really being the difference in your basketball game.

The beginning of the third, we didn't get anything done. After six games and two weeks, we didn't have the energy to get the job done.

We want to build a team that has ability to sustain itself, not just an ability to win a few more games right away. We've studied all the expansion teams. We're working under the idea that it's a marathon, not a sprint.

This game is humbling. When you start to levitate, it will bring you back to earth.

What a resilient group. They just reached down, dug it out and overcame a lot of odds. What a great game historically to remember how it was done.