Maurice Cheeks Defensive Quotations

I talked to him about it before the game. He had about 11 charges during camp and he had three today. The fact is, he played an offensive game, he plays a defensive game, he does a lot of things to impress you.

I think we're getting a little better on the defensive end. If we're going to make some hay, we're going to have to do it on defense.

We wanted to let them know that's where we're going to win games, is on the defensive end. I think that's where you go. You don't try and put too much on them, but they know the drills that they're doing on the floor is the way we're going to play.

We've gotten a little bit better on the defensive end. Tonight wasn't one of our best defensive efforts, but if we're going to making a move, we'll have to do it on the defensive end.

Everything we did tonight was energized by Allen not being there. We knew we had to raise our game on the offensive and the defensive end.

Deng Gai did a great job, clogging up the middle, being a defensive stopper, and blocking shots when we needed.

This game was a quality game for us because Memphis is a quality team. The other night I challenged our team on the defensive end and our defense was great tonight.

There were several plays where we had lapses on the defensive end that allowed them to cut the lead and then eventually win the game.

Certainly you have to make adjustments on the offensive end. When you have a player like that in the fourth quarter, you have a tendency to look for him and realize he has that ability to take over a game. On the defensive end, he creates some turnovers for us and easy baskets. And we haven't gotten as many with him out of the lineup.