Maurice Cheeks Quotations

We're in that phase. It's been 50 games. We should have some consistency by now. But we're not there. We just haven't put it together. That's why we have the record we have.

We started out so poorly. You can't do that against a team like Dallas. We were climbing uphill the whole game.

We're going to spread it around a little bit. We're not going to be a one-man, two-man team.

We knew we were coming in here playing a team that had just beaten us on our own home court. I told our guys that until we are mathematically out of this we need to keep up the effort.

We know how these games are. We've been on the other side. We had games we thought we won, and the other team came back. San Antonio had the game won.

We have to get other guys involved. We're not just trying to win games with Allen and Chris doing all the scoring.

When he got hurt in Memphis he was playing at a high level in the first half. We need him. We need him out there. We need his energy and certainly we need the way he?s capable of putting points on the board.

We want him to get offensive opportunities - no question. I think that he can get more opportunities in running the floor, getting early post up which he did. Tonight was a little unusual where he had more than a number of attempts at dunking the basketball going to the rim so I think that's a little bit unusual.

We have players we haven?t actually seen out on the floor, with the exception of a couple guys playing now, ... But I want to see the players out on the floor. We can always say we want to add this, add that, but to actually see the players out on the floor once they get there, in person so I can see their strengths and weaknesses, I think that?s the best thing to do rather than say, ?Let?s go get this, get that.? Every coach can say that at some point.

We've talked about it before, of when you get beat, not giving up on the things you're trying to do.

No one expected us to win this game. That's the reason you play.

Now, the margin of error is not very high. Mistakes have to be corrected right away. We have to eliminate everything that happened in the first half and start like this is a new season right now. I think we have the ability to do that.

No. Douglas could penetrate, but he couldn't shoot like that.

Right now, I'm as excited as a rookie going to my first camp. This is something I wished for a while ago, and now it's here.

One of the reasons why they were not going to play was that while we were in the playoff race Chris (Webber) and Allen (Iverson) were playing with a few injuries and they tried to continue to play. Then, once we fell out of the playoff race - it got a little tougher. Chris (Webber) had a bad back, Allen (Iverson) was playing with numerous injuries and once we were out of the race - there was no reason for them to play.

If they're not playing tonight, they're probably not playing tomorrow.

I can look at it and say some of the guys have had a lot of experience because of the guys that have been hurt, but I also would like to have the guys that are going to play out on the court,

Certainly, he's not as good as A.I. now, but as time moves on, maybe he will. Who knows that?

Chris is very capable of taking our troops, as all our guys are. Chris is our veteran. He's been around certain situations a while, so he understands about guys getting hurt and how to help other players. (Sunday) night was a perfect example of Chris leading us.

I'm always thinking that something good is going to happen. I think if you go in there thinking, 'Yeah, you're going to get beat by 20,' there's no sense of us going. There's no sense of us getting on the plane and going to Chicago and giving us a chance.

I can't figure it out. I'm just going to help him be the player that he was in Sacramento. I'm going to try my best to do that instead of saying why this didn't happen, that didn't happen. He's a star player for me.

I don't think Allen is coming. He's not playing tomorrow night and we're still waiting to see how he feels for Sunday. It doesn't look good.

I don?t think you try and get him ready for an NBA season. You take it day by day and as that comes along, I think he?ll get a little bit better and a little bit stronger. As he watches and sees other players out on the floor, the things they have to do out on the floor to get themselves ready, I think he?ll be better at it.

Forty points and 10 assists. When he wasn't scoring, he was creating opportunities for other guys. Tonight was a prime example of a team effort. Our intensity was much better from the start.

For three quarters, our defense was very good tonight.

Fortunately for us, he missed the plane yesterday. That's why you don't travel on the day of games.

He had some flu-like symptoms last night. He just came to the game and felt OK to play. It got worse.

He (Howard) is great, young and energetic and always fighting. On that last play where a lot of players just stay put after a shot, he continued to play and ended up getting the big play.

He looked healthy. He moved around in practice, so he's ready to go.

He'll have the ball in his hands. I'm going to figure out what's best for him to play. I think the ball can be distributed and still be in his hands. We'll work out a way to make it work. I'm so looking forward to it.

We've been there, where we've been up 18 or 19 points. We've been there, where we've been up seven or eight points with two minutes to go in the game. So we've been in a lot of situations where we know the game could turn around. We had plays that turned the game around for us.

We're one of those bad teams right now.

We've got to work a little harder, do the things that we did last night in terms of working and putting the effort out there and we'll be fine.

Having Allen back rejuvenated us a little bit.

He's kind of an old-school power forward, down on the block, mainly, can step out and shoot the jump shot. He's an aggressive-type player with some ball skills.

He's got to control his ball handling a little bit more in being a complete player. He's not used to running screen and rolls. He's not used to rebounding the ball and pushing the ball up the floor, keeping the ball in his hands. He's not used to it.

He?s gonna fight. That?s what training camp is for, to earn spots.

He's a very versatile player that can play the one, two or three positions. You're trying to put the ball in his hands and allow Allen to come up and make a play.

He's been great for us. Every time we've inserted him in a game, he's been great for us. Sometimes, he wouldn't play for a whole half and then we'd throw him in in the third and fourth quarters. Every time we've played him, he's made major contributions.

He's been a scorer his whole career and that's what we'll need. We'll need a guy like him that can step in and score some baskets right away.

He was our best option in terms of putting the ball in his hands. I thought his defense on Garnett was just excellent.

He was going to play no matter what. If it was broke he was going to play anyway. He'd get it taped up and go out there. It may have been a factor on his foul shots.

He can move and come off screens. He's a different type player because he has the ability to step back from three-point range and make shots and he has the ability to drive to the basket. He's a bigger Allen (Iverson) with his ability to shoot. He shoots deeper than Allen. His ability to get to the basket is in the same form of Allen because he looks to attack, attack, attack.

He catches the ball and releases it so quick. I think that?s what?s so impressive about him. I think if you?re not around Kyle that much, and I?ve been talking defense this whole camp, but any time you see a player with his ability to shoot the ball he?s got to be on the floor.

He is one player that I'm not concerned about (with) his minutes. There was a time when I thought about taking him out of the game, and he started getting in a nice flow.

Kevin is a veteran who has been around for a while. It's no disrespect to John. He's still learning this game. I told him that I don't want him to accept it. I want him to go out and learn from it and work hard.

I wouldn't say I'm worried about it, but that's what training camp is going to lend itself to. It's going to allow me to see where it's going to come from.

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.

It certainly will give us a boost to get ready for the second half. We needed a boost to get us back feeling good about ourselves and playing against a team like San Antonio, the defending champions, gives you a chance to feel good about yourselves.

I thought down the stretch of the game, when we needed those two guys to score the points, that?s what they did. That?s what they have to do. We got to the penalty at a certain point, Allen continued to drive the ball, and Chris had wide open jump shots because of it.

I thought Chicago had more energy, that's for sure.

I thought before we attempted to trade Steven, he had started grasping the way we want him to play. Rebounding, giving us energy, I thought he was doing that.

I thought the second half was the reason why we won the game, because it was just the will that helped us win the game. We were down, we were a step slow in the first half, and I thought our will got us back in the game.

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.

I thought our guys played well. It was a young group. When you throw a young group against a veteran group, you may be able to win a game like that. A veteran group is going to use their brain a little bit, and that's what they did.

I thought our focus the last couple of days was rebounding and defense, and it showed.

I thought our defense stayed pat the whole game, ... Kobe's a great player, but some nights the ball doesn't go in the basket. He just had an off night.

I think after a while, after we start missing the easy shots, I think we start pressing a little bit and trying to make up for the easy shots that we missed and we just continued to miss. At one point I remember looking at the clock when we had 33 points and I don't remember the next time we scored. Then, the same thing happened in the third quarter when we just could not make a shot.

I think it starts tomorrow. We have to start evaluating and find out where we are and see what it takes to get better.

I think the way we were playing with Kevin in the lineup and A.I. in the lineup, I liked the way we were playing. I liked Johnny and Kyle the way they were coming off the bench.

It is a tough way to start the game when you put yourself in a hole against a team like the Mavericks. The pressure bothered us a little.

Kyle?s in better shape than a lot of these guys here and that?s what I pointed out to them. A guy who doesn?t have to be here and is here, and in better shape than some of the other players, is a credit to him. I think some of those guys have to look at him and see a player who?s here who doesn?t have to be here and in the shape that he?s in now.

Kyle put on a show. He catches the ball and releases it so quick. It's really impressive. I've been talking defense all camp but a player of his ability to shoot the ball has to be on the floor.

Kyle got beat a couple times, but he can change the game. He spreads the floor and gives Allen more room to operate. They have to make a decision who's going to beat 'em.

Kobe makes shots like that. We kept saying they were incredible shots and they were incredible shots for most people, but with Kobe I don't think they were incredible because he does things like that on an every-day basis.

Larry is a defensive-minded coach. With the players he has, he'll try to get them to do what he wants. If they don't, he'll find a way to get the players he likes to play in his system.

Our turnovers obviously were a big factor in losing the game. We had 14 turnovers at halftime, but our offense went astray.

Pierce thrives in those situations. He looks forward to his team being down so he can take the big shots and make the big shots.

Players have a lot of knowledge. It would be silly of me to say if they suggest something that I wouldn't look at it.

Paul Pierce thrives in those situations. He looks forward to his team being down, coming down and taking big shots.

Our offense is fine. Our defense is where's it's at. You have to put guys out there and show them how to play defense. We have to keep trying.

Our defense wasn't as good as it has been, but he was making some incredible shots. He kept them in the game.

Steven has taken advantage of the opportunity, and that's what this game is about.

Someone as respected as Coach K can lead them,

Somehow we've got to turn it. We've got to turn it immediately for us to get back in this thing. We're still there, but we've got to turn it immediately. We've got to turn attitudes and turn to believe in yourself as well as your team. We've got to turn it around and make guys understand the importance of it, number one, the urgency of it, number two, and leave it out on the floor.

Nah, it wasn't that bad, ... Twenty-seven percent, c'mon. When Kyle misses a foul shot, I knew we were in trouble.

I was very impressed with Johnny Salmons, his ability to get to the basket, to penetrate, make baskets and find people.

I was hoping it went double or triple overtime.

I think he's been better than I anticipated,

I thought he was more aggressive than normal, for whatever reason.

I thought Kevin played well. I think he had our offense going a little bit, but on the flip side I think sometimes you want to bring Kyle in to stretch the defense and give Allen Iverson and Chris (Webber) a little more room to operate.

We need one. We're entitled to one, I think. We've been going down to the wire a lot of games. Sometimes it feels good for the players and myself to play a game where you don't have to worry about somebody getting an offensive rebound or making a last-second shot to win a basketball game. For us, we needed that.

We needed guys to make plays down the stretch. We needed guys to pass the ball. (Webber) is our veteran leader, and that's why I was so reluctant to take him out in the second half.

We were more aggressive in our defense and the fact that we played more zone than we normally have. We were active in our zone, we were talking in our zone and we played a little more full-court defense.

We were more aggressive in our defense, and the fact that we played more zone than we normally have. We were active in our zone, we were talking in our zone and we played a little more full-court defense. ... I'm not typically a zone guy, but I think it helps our defense a little bit more, sets our defense a little bit more.

Yesterday was a great practice with guys who came back like Johnny (Salmons) who was very good yesterday, and Kyle (Korver) and Andre (Iguodala). They uplifted the practice with the guys who are here trying to make a team. Everybody played pretty well. It was a great practice yesterday,

We have some guys trying to make the team, anyway, so it gives them other opportunities I'm sure they're looking forward to.

We had a lot of guys step up when (Iverson) went out. This was not a game of stats. This was about our guys going out there and just trying to play. Everyone had a part in winning this game.

We had a lot of guys step up when A.I. went down. It was about trying to play and perform.

We had a lot of disappointment in the season. We thought we'd be a little better, but you just have to sit back and see it what it is and see how we get better at it. When things go wrong, there's a reason why they go wrong and you look and see and try to figure out what the reasons were and you work on them.

We had to will this one. We had to go get it. That's exactly what we did. The second half was what won us this game. We were a step slow in the first half and our will got us back into this game.

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.

We've got some young players that played well last year and I want to see if they've improved this year,

We have too many breakdowns. I think that we have to go back to the one, two, three of defense rotations, and getting guys in different positions. The only way that you can win games if you are relying on your offense night in and night out, is you have to outscore teams. We're not going to outscore teams, so our defense has to go back to the fundamentals of teaching positions.

We're working. Everything we do is not going to be perfect. We just have to keep fighting.

We can't have games like San Antonio and Chicago anymore. That's not going to cut it. We have to be on the floor competing night in and night out.

We needed this one badly. We knew coming in here we were just playing a team that beat us on our home court.

We didn't drive the ball like we did in the first half. We shot all jump shots and that allowed them back in the game and eventually win the game because we didn't continue doing the things we were doing.

When you see Kyle shooting the ball the way he's capable of shooting the ball, and giving Andre more offensive opportunities, and even Sam, I think we're a more dangerous team that way.