Flip Saunders Guys Quotations

We wanted to try to start establishing our bench more, so basically we're playing three guys and giving those guys a little bit more minutes.

Mo (Evans) gave us a boost at both ends tonight. Guys have confidence in him. The guys on the bench want to play more, but they have to do what he did. He came with the right frame of mind.

My take is that these guys need challenges. Sometimes maybe they can get a little bored out there. But when they're locked in, it's like a curtain goes up and you can see it in their faces. They go from fifth gear into a sixth gear.

I would have liked to have seen the guys get off to a better start early, with their main group.

Fortunately for me I've had some older guys where we do the same thing. We did that for two years with Ervin Johnson. He didn't play the first 45 games but he started in the last 25 and started in the playoffs. Sam Mitchell was the same way. You have to understand the guys that have a lot of wear on their tires and know how much tread you have left. You want to try to utilize it in a very productive manner.

He made some shots early. Maybe got carried away a little bit in the second half. You can see that he's getting into better shape. He's lively. And he's one of those guys when he's guarding somebody, they don't want him on them.

He seems to be pretty effective and I think that he's a guy that has a chance to be an impact player in this league. He's still pretty young, learning things. But he plays with a lot of aggressiveness, which is something I love, guys who are aggressive as far as defensively. And he can make plays not only for himself but for other people.

He's been like that the last few games. I like when he's a bit more aggressive. A part of it is he tries to conserve energy when he thinks he has to and gets other guys going.

He's playing pretty good. He's been playing with the main guys and I think he's a lot stronger and obviously, playing on his national team (Serbia-Montenegro) this summer, he's in great condition.

He's playing great right now. I said one of the reasons they're playing so well right now is because of the play of Johnson and the play of (Danny) Granger. Those two guys have stepped up and they're playing at an extremely high level.

He's playing and getting in shape and he makes a difference in games. Guys on opposing teams typically don't want Lindsey to guard them.

Kind of how we've been for 37 games. Different guys lead us over different parts of the game, play unselfish. Thirty assists, eight turnovers, that's kind of where we've been when we win games. I think how we played tonight against New York is pretty much how this team has played through the first half of this season.

I talked to the guys at halftime and basically said that we were not as competitive. I thought that the second half they played exceptionally well. In these type of games, it takes a lot of time to get used to playing with guys. Every guy did something in a very positive way.

I think I recall that we lost our last couple games in the exhibition season, and we got off to a pretty good start with the regular season. These guys have been there. They know that this is when it all begins.

It didn't matter if (Bryant) had 50, 40, 20, 10 ? the idea was for us to win. The idea was not to try to expose our defense where all the sudden, you have other guys that have career games.

Last night's game was a big game just because it put us up (9 1/2 games) with 15 to go. Now we're in a situation where we want to try and extend our bench a little bit, get those guys more minutes, and get our guys where we can stay competitive and fresh.

I was concerned because at shoot-around this morning I heard a couple of guys mention some stuff about Miami. I was concerned we might overlook Atlanta. But we came out and played like a well-oiled machine in the first half.

I thought that (since) these guys play together, they can get some organization. We went through some stuff with Paul, and he seemed to pick things up and play pretty well with those guys and gave us another dimension.

I think what's happened is (starters) minutes have gone down in the last few games because of the play of (Antonio) McDyess, the play of Mo (Evans), the play of (Carlos) Delfino, the play of (Carlos) Arroyo. Those guys have played well, and if a team plays well, you keep them on the floor.

I think what it does do is let players who, in the past, have been on the IRE all year, those guys will probably have chances of being activated more. You can use more of your depth, and it keeps guys hungry.

I think what happens is that experience takes hold as the series progresses, that's usually what happens. Whether there are adjustments to be made or how you react after a win or a loss. Sometimes, those young guys don't know any better, when they haven't had experience.

I was worried coming into this game because I heard at shoot-around some guys mention Miami. I was concerned that they'd overlook Atlanta.

I think there has been so much, too much, made of the bench, how they are developing and such. People don't realize that just because our guys don't play in a game, that doesn't mean they're sitting around for two hours in practice. I've got confidence in all those guys, they all bring something to the table.

Our guys have to be stimulated mentally. I've always said this team gets bored at times. When you're forced to react, forced to move, you don't really have a chance to maybe think about getting bored. You just go out and your instincts take over.

Palacio, Williams and Ostertag all hurt us in overtime. Those aren't the guys you'd expect it from.

Our starters broke a sweat and didn't get too stale or hurt and I was happy to see the young guys play. It was good to see those guys in that type of situation.

Our main guys played really well in the third quarter. Then we gave our young guys some fourth quarter experience against a team trying to get a win after losing 10 straight. It would have been better if they would have got the win but overall they did some good things and got some good experience in a close game.

Our main guys didn't have much rust because they've been playing. At least I've been able to keep an eye on them. The one thing you've got to appreciate about Atlanta is they play hard no matter what the score is.

I think he deserves it. He's a guy who's had a great first half of the season. I'm not as concerned with just putting guys in by position; you know, because O'Neal's a big guy, put a big guy in there.

I thought offensively we were very anxious. I told our guys that offensively we wanted to do it too quick. We wanted to win big right away.

That's the only negative ? the guys play so well sometimes it becomes too easy. But it's what I said before ? an obligation of entertaining, knowing that when you go into an arena, for some people that might be the only time they watch you play. As a professional you have an obligation to play at a high level ? it's almost like a rock band going on the road.

I would hope there would be at least three, maybe more. As coaches, we talk about team play, how important it is. This is an opportunity from a league standpoint to show to people - whether it's college kids or high school kids or AAU kids - how important team play really is. It's a very rare opportunity you'd have as a league to maybe put five guys from one team in.

We have to know that they have other guys that are capable. Charlie Bell has played well. T.J. Ford had a pretty good game overall and we've got to continue to find those two. Just do what we normally do. Our philosophy is to contest whatever shot is taken, try to limit three-point shots and rebound the basketball. Those are three things we did.

Were not going to keep Michael at 11 or 14 points. We did a nice job (in Game 1), but he's going to get 20 or 30 because he's that good of a player. What we've got to do is make him earn those and make him be a volume scorer. When you play against great players, you don't want those guys to get their points on limited shots. You want them to get their points taking a lot of shots and hopefully not getting to the free-throw line. That has to be our main focus.

We're not going to chase that record, but if it comes, it comes. Our focus right now is health and staying sharp. We're going to rest some guys and give our bench extended minutes to get them ready for the playoffs.

We were all guards. And it makes it tough to get all those guys a lot of minutes. That's always the toughest thing.

We've been doing a lot of shooting, and I think that's starting to pay off. Guys are starting to understand. Most of the shooting we do are in places where we plan to get shots in our offense, so the more you do that, the more you take those shots, the more comfortable they get, and I think that's what's happened.

We have been playing a lot of games home-road-home-road, so I think we were a little tired tonight. We'll have to give some guys a rest down the stretch.

We said going in the idea was to not get anybody hurt and make sure that the guys we had to play broke a sweat and didn't get too stale and give our young guys an opportunity to play in a heated situation against some top players.

We're trying to accomplish things. Playing a lot of people. Doing some things, playing some full-court pressure, play our bench. But always what happens, when you get in the heat of the battle, competitive juices flow, and our guys got juiced up a bit and really executed defensively and carried over the offensive end.

To this point, we've shot it pretty well. I don't want guys thinking about whether they should shoot it or not. If they do that, they're probably going to miss it anyway.

When we play zone and those guys put their arms out, you don't see anything,

We've played 37 games and different guys lead us over different parts of the game and play unselfish...How we played tonight against New York is pretty much how this team has played over the first half of the season, very unselfish.

The reason in the playoffs that defensive-oriented teams are successful is because the longer you play someone, you become more comfortable with how guys are getting their shots and what they're doing. You have the ability to lock down more from a defensive standpoint.

We try to talk a little bit, keep in touch every now and then, follow each other's career. It's a unique situation. You have two guys who played with each other, went four years together.

We got out of it what we wanted. Our main guys played really well, especially in the third quarter when they turned the heat up. We worked on some of our trap defenses that were really effective. Then we gave our young guys some fourth-quarter experience.

Things might shake out a little more in the next few days. Teams might have been hanging on to people to see if they could make a trade. Now they might let them go. You see a lot of guys go on waivers after the trade deadline. I'd say by Tuesday you'll know more about around the league from a roster standpoint.

The thing I love about these guys is that, when we lose, they have taken it hard and decided to bounce back. This was a great win after a poor performance last night.

Sometimes in these types of situations, you want to get some organization. I thought that the way these guys play together, they can get some organization. We went through some stuff with Paul (Pierce) and he seemed to pick things up and play well off those guys.

Sometimes it's natural to take a step back a bit. It just depends on the flow of the game. But the one thing he does -- and a lot of our other guys do -- when it comes time to clamp down, he has the ability to do that.

Same thing. We don't want to get anybody hurt. Just let guys get a sweat and give some of our young players an opportunity.

So what happens is, it eats up some of those minutes and the other guys have to play a bit more.

The way this team is built, our bench guys are meant to play together in clusters with our main group. When you put all five guys on the floor, they're not as effective as when three of those guys play with a couple of starters.

They tried to beat us off the dribble as much as they can, which they did. We closed things down in the stretch. We had some guys who made some big plays.

They made plays. We didn't. As I told our guys, I haven't thought over the last week that we've been very sharp. We've let teams hang around. Guys are tired or whatever, but we're not playing with that zip, with that sense of urgency.

They had guys who looked like they were the Bud Light Daredevils going off the trampoline. One time it looked like a volleyball (match) where one guy fakes it and the next guy goes up and spikes it. They were all over the rim.

They're kind of like my family, with Debbie and the kids being here (in Minnesota). I was talking to Ben Wallace and I was telling him, 'You guys are what I have.

They're not afraid to let one of the guys be the go-to guy down the stretch. They will defer to somebody.

As well as he's playing, all five guys have to be locked into him. Nobody's going to take him one-on-one and prevent him from getting wherever he wants. He's too quick and too good. All five guys have to be in a position to help.

It's a credit to the way these guys came into camp and came in focused. They've made some big plays. I thought we could get off to a good start but you can't expect to go 20-3.

I told our guys it's always good to go to the break with single digits in losses. That's always a good sign.

I told the guys after the game, they never cease to amaze me. Halftime I told them I thought we didn't have our heads in the game. I said, I don't know where this is going to take us, but I know we don't have a chance if we don't get our heads into it.

It's going to be a good challenge for us to play against them. I think our guys are all of the opinion, no matter what anyone says, when people play against us, they want to show that they're better than us or can beat us.

That's a decision that every day as a team they have to make. Fortunately for us, those two guys are pretty good decision makers, and depending on what they give us, is what we'll usually take.

Everyone has their own reasons why they do things. All I know is this is my team right now, and the guys have bought into what we're trying to do. The playoffs are what drive everybody in this league, and we're looking forward to what's going to happen.

The biggest thing is he turned down some threes tonight and took a couple of dribble penetrations. It helped out some of the other guys to make some plays.

It was a good learning experience for those young guys to play a team that was basically in a must-win situation.

They came out and were very aggressive. As I told the guys before the game, in an emotional game like this, they're going to play extremely well and play aggressive. You have to match their intensity and make shots. The two things you need to do to start the game, we didn't do.

It's natural. We're in a very different situation than a lot of teams. A lot of teams, the reason they play their bench is because they don't like their fourth and fifth guys that much. I like my fourth and fifth guys. That's why our bench doesn't get the minutes some of the other benches get. You have a tendency to go to a comfort level.

I noticed the same thing you noticed. I told him and I have told all of our players -- nothing is given. You earn your minutes. You earn what you get. What we're going to do is put guys on the floor that are going to compete on a daily basis.

I looked back at that. What always seems to happen is, the guys will play well, and they'll have one stinker game that week. They'll have one game where Chauncey might have 11 points, six assists. Or Ben might get nine rebounds instead of 18. Rip might have 13 points instead of 23. And in this league so much, it goes down to statistics.

I haven't thought over the last week we've been very sharp. We've let teams hang around. That's why I've said, whether guys are tired or whatever, we're not playing with the zip and the sense of urgency.

I have to thank Charles (Barkley) for giving a great halftime talk when he said the game was over. I thought we were playing too perfect, but in the second half we played exceptionally well. When our four guys (four All-Stars from Detroit) were in we started to run some plays, and I think that helped us.

Hopefully we'll play these guys again. But we both have a lot of work to do before that.

Chauncey looked a lot livelier. A lot of guys looked a lot more livelier tonight.

If he does, we're going to play zone. And we'll see if those guys can shoot from 23 feet. (Johnson) might do it, but we have a few things up our sleeve.

These guys have been there. They know that this is when it all begins.

The dog days are always the 10 days prior to All-Star break. That's always a tough time. You see a lot of teams get upset because guys say, 'OK, I've got a week off, I'm going somewhere for All-Star break.' Multiply that on top of our situation of guys wondering, 'Well, am I going to be an All-Star or not?' There's always that anxiety of wondering.

You want to try to win every game you step out, but I think it would be nice to try to accomplish something like that at home. It's one of these situations, when we go in, all 12 guys got to play well because all 12 guys are going to have opportunities.