Larry Brown Quotations

We started playing a little fast. We missed a lot of really good shots and I thought we got a little tight. We forgot time and score.

We started out good. We all talked about respecting them with Allen out. We had a seven-point lead and then we just completely wilted. We had a lot of guys that didn't bring it to tonight and they had a lot of people that brought it.

We've always cooked at the fire department to raise funds. We've probably cooked up a ton of barbecue. We decided let's do it competitively, and here we are,

When I was a college coach, my dream was to play against Coach Smith in the finals of the NCAA. I always felt it would be a win-win, and I could probably say the same thing for (playing against) Pop.

We're going to shut him down a little bit. Hopefully, he'll be back at the beginning of next week and we'll know a little bit more. Hopefully he'll be ready to play. If not we'll worry about that then.

We grew up a lot. I'm proud of the way they played.

We're just young. And I guess this is the process you have to live with.

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.

When I was announced as the Olympic coach, I thought that was the single greatest honor that I could have, ... This tops it all.

When I was a kid, they had six hockey teams, they had eight to 10 basketball teams. The teams played each other once, twice a week. Maybe we should stack (the schedule) a little in terms of conference games.

With this win, in that locker room, they needed something positive.

When he gets into a little better shape and stays out of foul trouble, he'll stay in the game for longer stretches.

There are no auditions anymore. I know what we have.

The only way you can run is if you get stops.

We tried but we just we have some deficiencies that hopefully Jalen will help alleviate. I think he'll take a lot of pressure off the perimeter people and make the big guys bigger.

We really have too many young guys right now. You look at Riley's team, he didn't have to worry about the ninth, 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th guy worrying about playing. He had eight guys that he played. I don't even think he looked at the other seven. If we're going to be good, you've got to get down to a rotation similar to that and develop your young kids the right way.

The reality is, I wish we had an age limit. I get sick to my stomach.

When you're a coach and you see guys trying and you don't get a win, you want badly for something good to happen, ... I sensed after the game they really felt good about it, they were excited about it. That was fun to see.

We had been struggling badly. It's a nice feeling to have. We've been trying and finally got one.

When we started the season, even though we were losing, I thought we were making progress. Now, it seems like we're not making progress. It's hard to put a positive spin on it.

When the (season) is over, we've got two first-round picks, we've got expiring contracts, we've got assets. And we'll figure out, if we've got needs, how to fill them.

Let's see what happens with the MRI and go from there. We're not going to do anything foolish.

Maybe when you play Miami, you need 36 fouls in the middle; I don't know,

Maybe we are giving effort. Maybe we aren't good enough.

Obviously, without Eddy we don't have a post presence. We have to do it on the perimeter a bit. But you know we're trying to get to the rim . . . The whole thing in this league is that when you have a low-post presence, you can create double teams to open up outside shots. If you have a perimeter presence that can penetrate and kick, it's the same situation. It would be nice to have both.

My hope is that we keep trying to get better, ... We have to figure out ways to get better. We've been in every game and we haven't figured out how to win.

Now we're playing for a championship. I look forward and not back, so this has been a pretty special last run.

Never asked anything of my players any different than I'm doing right now. Think about that. So the bottom line is, I want us to rebound, defend, share the ball, play hard. That's all. If you can't do that, if that's not important enough to you, it's not on me. You owe it to your teammates to do that every single night if you care about the right things.

Pop told me he had about four guys almost tripped over cords. We had a couple of guys almost stumble off the platform, and somebody got mad at me because I was in the way of a cable.

Nobody can train you or make you aware what it's going to be like to coach in New York.

One of the refs commented to me how hard they were trying. That's nice to hear. Tony Davis' effort was phenomenal. Leaders do that, and it carries over.

One of the referees even commented to me about how hard they were trying.

I was sorry that the crowd, some of the people booed him, that's never what any coach would like to see happen. I want to coach him and I want to make him better and I don't want him to have to go through what he's gone through. I really was proud of the way he acted.

I wouldn't imagine that Marbury and Francis would be comfortable not playing a lot of minutes. We're also finding out if they can play together and so far, I don't see any reason why they can't.

I wish this would get over. It's really about the players and us getting better.

If the sheriff feels that it is appropriate then the city and county certainly would support going up there and finding something that may be more equitable.

I got the flu and some people thought it was worse than that, so Lisa was being cautious and told me to stay away, Isiah told me to stay away, and when she gave me permission to come back I came back.

If they play like this, we'll give ourselves a chance to win some games. I think that's all anybody in New York's asking, that's all Isiah wants and that's all I want. Just try to have some pride in the way we play.

I have chest pains after every bad game. Nothing has changed. I feel bad when we lose and this has been a year when we've lost a lot so it's not something that's fun. But Lisa just thought I need to get checked before I got on the plane (Wednesday night).

I didn't look at it as a bad thing. I put him back in the game (with 18 seconds left) to have him guard. I don't mind that; I envy that.

I don't get caught up with wins and losses. I get caught up with guys trying to do the right thing, respecting their teammates, and playing with effort. It's disappointing to lose and not be rewarded for that as a team. But from my perspective it's a big step forward.

I don't enjoy this feeling. I feel for those guys in the dressing room. We have to figure out a way to get one.

I'd like to put Stu Jackson and David Stern and some of those guys in that same situation and see how they would have reacted. He helped get things under control.

I didn't curse him. I hadn't talked to him the whole game. Obviously he thought I went over the line and that's his prerogative. Those things happen. It's the first game I got kicked out.

I die every game that any of our fans has to watch or (Dolan) has to watch. Hey, everywhere I've been, every place I've ever coached, I always felt we were getting better. I've never been in a situation where I didn't know in my heart we weren't getting better. And I'm not giving up here.

I don't know where I got the term, but I always tell the guys, we always write on the board, 'play hard, play together, play smart, have fun and try to guard,'

I don't know when I will be back. Hopefully it'll be sooner than later, but I honestly don't know.

I don't know what people can do yet in a lot of cases. What I'm trying to get across to everybody is, this is what we value as a group, and this is how we can win games. We're trying to see who's on the same page.

Basketball started for me in this city and I want to be here when it's finally time for me to stop, ... I'm not here to retire. I'm here to help build something that will be around for a long time.

I'm amazed at the restraint (Davis) had. I'd like to put Stu Jackson or (NBA commissioner) David Stern in that situation and see how they'd react. He'd have been in a lot more trouble if he went home that night and hadn't done anything.

I looked out there and it looked like a lot of guys just didn't care. That's tough, but you gotta keep finding the people that do (care) and hope you have enough of them.

I looked out on the court, we had our summer team out there to beat a pretty good team. You know we are playing a playoff team and competing, and it was really fun to watch.

I look out there and I see guys just running up and down the court.

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 look out there and Channing was battling like crazy with 14 rebounds. His effort was great. You hope kids benefit in situations like that.

I have always had a pretty good feel for him.

I have a new appreciation for him because I'm with him longer now. Watching him play and grow as a player and a person so that makes me feel good ... just hearing my friends call me that watching him play how much they think he's improved and he's trying to do what we want.

I have a new appreciation because I'm with him longer now, and I watch him play and grow so that makes me feel good. I can see his game, from my perspective getting better. My friends that call me that watch him play say how much they think he's improved, and he's trying to do what we want. But I think as a team, when he went down in the Minnesota game we didn't play as well as we have been.

If I saw him go up there, if I'd have known what was happening, I probably would have went up there with him.

I did it with Rip ( Richard Hamilton ), Eric Snow . How many times do you get to see your team? And he's so current. He played with all those guys.

From my perspective, it's a big step forward.

(Frye) was up against a great, great player today and didn't back up once.

I don't think you can focus on the record. It's a marathon.

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.

I don't think you guys ever heard me say I wasn't pleased with the way he's playing until the last game. I've never, ever said anything except I was pleased with the way he's playing, the way he's trying, and I thought he has been making great progress ... We've played twenty-some games. I don't expect this to happen overnight.

I don't tune them out at all. I hear it all. I'm embarrassed. I know how much they love basketball and love this team and want us to do well. And when we play poorly, I hear it, and it kills me because I'm responsible.

If it gets to a point where it's going where we can't win a game, well, I think the young kids are going to have to play more because, obviously, we're going to try to build something here and that's probably the direction we need to go. But we talk every day, and I don't think there are any differences in opinion in what we should do.

If it was a big thing for him, I'm sure he would address that.

If something happens and it improves our team, it happens. If something doesn't happen you've got to keep coaching and hope you coach them better.

He's great. He made shots. He's phenomenal. We tried to run with him and gave up 71 points.

He's your leader, he's arguably your best player. We got a young team. They look up to somebody like him. If he doesn't show positive vibes it's not going to help them. He always tells me, 'No coach, I'm involved, I'm not getting down.' I said, 'Sometimes you have to show them that.' Again, that's not his nature, but it would be helpful.

He has a hard time looking at me sometimes because of how he might be perceived by certain people, but he listens to everything I say.

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

He doesn't know any plays. Not that we ran any the first half.

He does an amazing job. Even if you dunk on him he tries to get back and block the next one.

He looks so much better physically. A lot of people forget that when he was thinner, he had a lot of skills.

This wasn't one of their better games but it's a quality win for us on the road.

This wasn't (Auburn Hills). What happened that night started because of a fight on the court. This was nothing like that. Once (Davis) got up there, he didn't do anything.

We talked and he wasn't getting enough work here. He told me we're playing a lot of games, we've been traveling. He told me he could work out twice a day, and he's done it before and he really felt confident that this would help him.

We're playing under control better. We're not just running up and down the court. I feel good about everybody's contribution.

We're playing under control a little bit better and not just running up and down the court. When you've got guys like Jalen and Steve who will make the extra pass, it just seems to open it up for everybody. I feel good about everybody's contribution.

We've got to take care of the basketball and take good shots. They just don't get it.

We've got to realize that you play differently in the playoffs. You've got to control tempo. It's imperative that you take care of the ball. You've got to play harder than you thought about playing at any time of the year, even though you hope that's a given.

To come back from 25, you gotta be perfect. Unfortunately, we didn't get it done, but it was fun watching them compete.

He reminds me so much of Isiah (Thomas).

He's a Chicago kid. That team had a great future. I don't know if it's ever easy being traded. My hope is that this is a good situation for him.

He's a good basketball player. He's going to help our young guys just with his presence.

He's a great official. It's great for the game. He still looks young and he gets up and down the court as well as anybody. The NBA needs guys like him.

He's a little concerned about his mother-in-law. Hopefully, he'll be back in the next day or so.

He's always been someone everybody mentions as a special player.

He's just trying to find himself, ... We've got to find out ways to help him. I've got to do a better job.

He's gotten better each game. Of all the games that he's played this year, this is by far the best.

He's got such a good work ethic. We'll have to see what the future brings for Brian. I assume he's going to follow in (his father's) footsteps.

We made some hustle plays that got us back. We played hard. The effort was there, and that was big.

He was phenomenal. I told him he got us back in the game.

He was phenomenal. I kept (Curry) in with four fouls and we made a little run and then boom, he's out of the game. No blocks, six fouls, three turnovers, no assists, two-for-seven from the field and his man played with unbelievable energy.

He was giving an opinion, maybe saying Isiah and Larry have different opinions. I don't know if that's derogatory. I'm telling you that we're on the same page. We're trying to win and we're trying to figure this out. He didn't tell me it was going to be easy when I got the job. And I'm finding that out.

He was great. We tried to run with him and we gave up 71 (first-half) points.

He was really missed last year in Detroit.

He's playing on one leg, and he was phenomenal. I looked a few times, and Ben was behind him, and you couldn't see him.