Chris Duhon Quotations

When we were up 2-0, we were pretty excited. We thought we just had to win two games. Those two games never came. You kind of lose focus when you're up 2-0.

We won't be able to win that way. Our defense needs to step up. We made a lot of mental mistakes. We leave shooters open when we're not supposed to. We don't help when we're supposed to. There are a lot of areas that we need to tighten up.

There are times when we tighten up and put the weight of the world on our shoulders. We don't make smart plays or understand the game situation. It's just the little things that didn't happen last year.

Scott mentioned something to me about it. It's a valid point. There are times when the coaches kind of seem like they're always on the players and players just stop responding just because they feel as if they can do nothing right. It kind of messes with your head a bit. So when you hear it from the guys -- that our agenda is to win and we're trying to help each other and be there for each other -- it relaxes you a little bit.

Night in and night out, you don't know which Chicago Bulls team is going to show up. The horrible team, the mediocre team or the team that's good. We have like three different faces.

I don't know, we'll just have to wait and see. Obviously, it would be a help, it would give us another big body. But we're just not doing the little things right now. That's why we're losing games. So who's to say that bringing AD back is going to change all that.

But they were there, ... Every time I drove they were there, waiting for me.

If only we had an answer. Trust me, we don't know.

For us to be .500 and not playing defense the way we need to play, mediocre is the right word. We should not accept being .500 right now. We expect more of ourselves and we should have a better record than we have.

For whatever reason, a lot of guys are tentative when it comes to talking out on the court and helping one another. For us to be the defensive team that we need to be, and we're capable of becoming, it all starts with communication. That's our main thing. When we're out there, we need to constantly be talking to one another.

We take pride by being called upon. When we get our number called, we have to go out there and perform and help out the starters.

He just has a killer instinct. No matter who's guarding him and whatever team he's playing, he's going out there to prove to the world that he's the best player.

This was a game that earlier in the season we probably would not have won. We have really started to mature as a team and we're starting to win games like this.

I think it's going to get better. Not going through the grinding of the game is definitely going to help it get better. We feel like we're on the right track.

I think you'll see a different Miami team. They will definitely come out and play harder than they did tonight.

I think early on, we thought everything would come easy for us.

Our formula for success is our defense. When they're shooting plus-50 percent each game, that limits our chances to win.

Some of your toughest games come in the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight. Usually, this is where we feel national championships are won.

It felt good to make some big plays for my team down the stretch. Whatever it takes for this team to win is what I'm going to do.

That was probably my first legitimate tough stretch. I always found a way to bounce back.

That's the story all year. We start to tighten up. It's frustrating because we had such high expectations, and we're not getting it done.

We were able to execute on the offensive end. We know this team is going to (have to) overcome a lot of adversity throughout the year, and we showed that tonight.

We played hard and our defense stepped up. They only shot about 32 percent (23-of-71) from the field, but they made the shots down the stretch.

We just didn't knock them down. This is a game we were in control of pretty much the entire time, and we just didn't finish it off. It's kind of been the story all year long.

We had open looks. We've got to make our open shots and make our free throws. Somehow, we found a way to let it slip away.

We got together as a group -- just a little airing out -- and let everybody say what they had to say. So everybody had a night to think about it. You kind of have these things with the coaches at times, and sometimes players can hold back and not say what they really want to say. But once you're amongst the guys, you can get everything out.

When you see that, especially with a veteran team like that, definitely it was good for us.

When you're on an eight-game losing streak and can get one, you feel really good about yourself. Now we just to maintain the effort that we had tonight and do it for a long period of time.

We pretty much have the same guys back, doing the same things.

We understand that we can't be happy with one or two wins. I think that was one of our problems last year.

We're trying to give as much money and food and clothes as we can to just help people get back on their feet.

This tragic event has destroyed the homes and lives of many people - people I know, ... Many towns are experiencing this devastation and have yet to determine what, if any, buildings will be saved. We have to do something to help ease this burden.

This tragic event has destroyed the homes and lives of many people -- people I know. Many towns are experiencing this devastation and have yet to determine what, if any, buildings will be saved. We have to do something to help ease this burden.

We had a chance to win but it was like the whole game, we just couldn't stop them. Our offense wasn't the problem tonight. It was our defense. It's hard to explain when every game is so important, especially with a team we're trying to chase. Not to have that sense of urgency like it's a playoff game, is really a shame.

We watched a lot of film, just trying to get answers and trying to figure out what causes us to play that way. We were definitely embarrassed by a mediocre team. We don't want to be a team that's great one night and terrible the next night. We have to do whatever it takes to be a consistent team.

Everywhere you went was home there, ... It was a real close-knit area. Everybody treated you with a lot of respect. If anything happened, there were a bunch of moms to take care of you.

Tonight, we really showed what we're capable of. It shows that we haven't given our full effort all year. Some games we bring it and some we don't. Sustaining that effort is big for this team. Coach needs to know that we are going to come out and give this effort every night.

This was a big test for us. Everyone thinks you're going to win, and you can easily get caught up into that and play a loose game. It was important for us to come out focused.

We've been successful because he sees three or four people every time he penetrates. So, every time he penetrates, it's going to take a team effort to control him and keep him off the foul line.

We just played our game. We knew the importance of this and we felt that they had all the pressure. We knew that we could come out, be relaxed and play our game.

We wanted it in Ben's (Gordon) hands. We went to our go to play. They played it well. We got a good shot and that's all you can ask for.

Every game is important for us. We have a big one tomorrow (against Boston) and we have the opportunity to play Philadelphia twice and gain two games on them. They're all big from here. We've got to treat each game as if its a playoff game.

There's some nervousness because not everybody is accounted for, ... We haven't been able to get in touch with everyone. The phone lines are busy, so it's hard to make contact. The only way to do it is through (telephone) text messages, really. We can only hope and pray that everybody is all right.

I've talked to a lot of people down there who said the area is real bad. It's going to take a while for people to get back on their feet. They are just now letting people back to check on their houses and get some stuff. But right now, it's not livable.

It would be an honor, not only for me but also for the organization and a lot of people.

Our defense has been suffocating to where we've been making them make extra passes. We've been rotating and putting them in situations where they're uncomfortable. I guess the frustration is starting to get to them a little bit.

People don't have to donate money, ... Money would be fine, but it also could be food or clothes or anything else that would help the people there. We just want to get the word out and do as much as we can.

Compared to this, things like my new contract don't mean that much, ... There are bodies floating in the water. A lot of houses have been destroyed. When all of this is over in another week or so and people are allowed to go back home, what will they go back to? It's a tough situation to handle.

Coach was the male influence in my life when I grew up, ... He taught me a lot about basketball and about life. That was the type of guy he was.

That team my sophomore year, we thought we were too good. Last year, we didn't think we were good enough. This team knows it's good, but it's not overconfident.

This is a playoff game for us, probably one of the most important games of the year.

This is about the six, seventh, eighth time this has happened. We do the dumbest things that keep us from winning. It's been the same story all year. I think we prepare harder than any team in the NBA. We go over the same things over and over, and we still make the same mistakes.

They're supposed to win at home. We were just trying to steal one here. Our heads are still up high. We're still very positive.

A lot of these guys have been in these type of situations before. We understand that we're not playing to our capabilities right now. We just have to all come out, loosen up, have fun and go out there and compete every night.

There were a lot of crazy things happening. A lot of wacky plays. Thank God we were able to come out with a win.

It's a tough job, but over the last two years I've learned how to do it. It's fun.

It's a playoff game for us. It's probably one of the most important games of the year for us. If we can't find a way to muster it up, then we have to question our competitive spirits.

It's tough to go on a long road trip and have a winning record. So if we can get these two under our belt and have some momentum, I think we'll be fine.

It's going to be harder than it was last year. We were able to sneak up on people last year, with our past record and our slow start. People were surprised with how we were able to play. I think this year, I think we have the respect from everybody in the league that we're going to be a team that plays hard every night. So, we're going to have to play harder.

It's going really well. We're just trying to raise as much as possible.

It's hard to explain, every game is important especially with a team we're trying to chase. For us not to have that sense of urgency like it's a playoff game it's a shame. We should've been focused and executed the game plan and just gave an all-out effort, which we didn't.

It's tough when our defense is struggling, and we're also not making shots like that.

Everyone is expecting us to lose. It just relaxes us and gives us an opportunity to go and play our game.

It's definitely a good start to beat a team in our division that plays well at home.

It's been frustrating. We've lost so many close games we should have won, games that we had control of and let slip away. So we have 14 games to kind of redeem ourselves and get into the playoffs.

It's better, but it's still not at the point where it would make sense to try and play.

It's very unfortunate what has happened there, ... It's up to me and others to help those people get back on their feet until the situation gets better.

Their other guys are really hurting us right now. Our defense is not really where it needs to be. We have to tidy things up.

I'm not thinking anything, I'm just concentrating on the shot. I had plenty of time to see the rim when I was going there. I didn't want him to discourage my shot in any way. If he's going to make a play, he's going to have to make a spectacular play. So I just focused on the shot and let it go.

In the first half, we had seven or eight shots go in and out.

He's shooting like 70 percent every time we come here and hitting big shots.

I don't think that's exactly what he was talking about. I just felt it was a cheap shot. He just bulldozed right over me, and I just reacted.

He can basically freelance and we can play off of him because he makes great decisions.