Larry Brown Ball Quotations

We're just not doing it. We're not matching the energy of our opponent. We're doing the same things we've done all year. We turn the ball over too much, don't make simple plays, and don't execute very well.

I look out there and I just think we're running up and down the court. I see guys jumping up in the air and if they don't have something, they try to invent plays. I guess we probably have to walk the ball up the rest of the year and call a play, see if we can keep people from shooting 57% and getting 120 points.

I don't think you guys ever heard me say I wasn't pleased with the way he was playing until the last game. Even with all the other stuff that's going on every other week, I've never said anything except I was pleased with the way he's been playing and way he's trying. The last game, he was not aggressive. He shot the ball seven times. He deferred. I expressed that. That's one game.

He got the ball to people. Look at all the open shots they got.

I thought the first half we really struggled offensively and turned the ball over a lot, but we just managed to hang in defensively and that was critical.

I think we have to figure out ways to stop people first. I always figure if you can guard people you don't have to score as much. I was hopeful we would value the ball a little better. My thing is, who is going to grind it out, defend and have a chance to guard people, and then we'll move on.

I think that's been the case all year. We don't take anything away defensively, we don't get loose balls, we don't get long rebounds. You rarely see us get a steal. And then we turn the ball over so many times without getting a shot and if you have any deficiencies at all on defense, you're getting killed in transition.

I think if you look at the M.O. of this team all year, we have had trouble making stops. We have turned the ball over, we lead the league in turnovers, points of turnovers, and assist-to-turnovers. I keep telling them if you want to play playoff basketball, you've got to take care of the ball and execute. We don't get it and we have to keep working on it.

That's been a big problem all year - we haven't had facilitators, guys that move the ball. We need more guys with experience that understand when a guy is open and who can feed the ball to the post.

We had four straight possessions. We called something and never got into any of them. Never got into any of the plays we were calling. We had crucial turnovers. We had a three-second , a missed dunk, turned the ball over, a charge. We gave them six straight free throws and had three possessions where we didn't get a shot up.

You know, he's got the ball all the time. I ran probably as much stuff for him tonight as I have at any time. It's just one of those nights. Maybe he didn't feel like he had it. But we got three assists and no steals.

We can talk all we want, but if the team is shooting 65% and we're turning the ball over and we get in early foul trouble you can't make it a high-possession game. The second half, we didn't make it a high-possession game. We don't have the interior defense right now if we do get beat. We can't play like them.

We moved the ball great, got a lot of open shots because we gave the ball up. Controlling the tempo on the road is the way we've got to play.

We just want ball players. I don't get caught up in positions. I think Steve is strong enough to guard 2s and quick enough to guard 1s.

We missed some free throws that gave them a little life. We started turning the ball over. They (Indiana) got hot and we didn't have an answer.

We got really aggressive, especially when we went small. We got loose balls, we didn't turn the ball over and we got second shots. We really hurt them on the boards.

Every day, I put him more and more on the ball and try to get him more and more involved. I was teasing him yesterday, saying, 'When you came with me the first time (in Indiana), you wanted to be a point guard. Well, you're probably going to have your wish.

As I told the team, maybe we'll walk the ball up the rest of the year and call a play every time, so the other team can't score 120 points and shoot 57%.

This is a team game. I want guys who play hard, try to defend, share the ball and make their teammates better.

It's a quality win for us on the road. We moved the ball great and got a lot of open shots because we gave the ball up. Controlling the tempo on the road is the way we've got to play ... You look at the stat sheet, and the nicest thing for me is I feel like a lot of people are playing together and trying to make everybody better.

They've (Indiana) been playing great and I know this wasn't one of their better games, but it was a quality win on the road for us. We moved the ball great and got a lot of great looks because of it.

I'm not going to get on the whistles. They shot free throws because they got the ball inside and they were aggressive.

I look around, the young kids can make a mistake, but it's generally with effort and that will go a long way to correcting itself, ... We've got to get all of us doing that, because you're going to make mistakes. Take a bad shot, turn the ball over. It's going to happen, but you can't compound it by not doing your job, and understanding the trust, I always talk about trust, if I don't hustle back I affect my whole team, and I have to believe strongly enough not to ever let that happen.

If you want to run, if your guards can rebound the ball that's one less pass you have to make on the break.

He took the ball anywhere he wanted to. He made every hustle play and he got to the rim. We just didn't do a good job of keeping it in front of us, and his will was much greater than ours.