Ray Allen Guys Quotations

He's a guy that's going to rattle some cages. Whether guys like it or not, that's what they are going to have to deal with. This is not a country club.

I think that is ridiculous. Sometimes, getting on the plane, with the distances we fly, you need to be comfortable. I think there is a way to be classy and dress up. I think the dress code should strictly (enforce) what guys wear on the bench when they are not playing. That is when guys are most visible. But when we are on the plane, that is when we are most leisurely. I don't think that should matter. Wearing a sweat suit with a team logo on it? What sense does that make?

I think the team showed a lot of resilience. Even throughout, when the trades were taking place, we had guys in the game that wanted to be out there and played. I think we proved to ourselves we are a good team.

We're learning some things about ourselves being steady down the stretch. You know me, I try to just take one game at a time, but I can see progress. Guys are in better shape. We practice harder and things are coming together.

Whose team is this? It's everybody's team. The guys that make this team are the guys that work. I might have a bigger responsibility, but in that responsibility it's my job to serve as much as I'm needed.

You guys make way more out of it than it necessarily is. I believe he has had a retort to (the March 26 incident). But I won't have a conversation with him about that. It just wasn't there tonight. When you compete, you don't try to force something.

When you lose it's easier to just divide. Having something to say after every game so far when you lose, I have a sense guys don't want to hear what I have to say. Something needs to be said because a team is still a team. It's easy to sit and be a team when you're winning. Character is being built in these situations and we've got to come together.

At the end of the day, what brought me back here was my players, the guys I've played with. That meant more to me than anything.

They still have some strings on you. You can't get hurt. Some guys have gotten hurt before they signed the big contract. I'm out here making sure, very gingerly, that I don't get hurt.

At certain times, the whole 'Let's play hard and leave it all on the floor' conversation is corny. I hate saying it, but I have to because that's what we do in sports. That's how we exist. That's how we motivate each other to be better every night. If you don't believe in the team system, that's the look guys gave me a lot of times. 'This is corny. I'm not going to be part of it. This is just me.' And that attitude isn't going to help any team.

It's just dirty basketball. It's plain, outright, dirty basketball. I don't mind the competition, someone going at me on both ends of the floor ... but when guys start throwing elbows and kick you when you're down, that's dirty basketball and I don't respect guys like that.

I played with a lot of young players that don't care and think they have the answers. Just knowing that he wanted to be helped, it was easy. Now, hopefully he'll repay the favor to young guys coming into the league.

I don't mind a guy going at me at both ends of the floor, I can respect that. But when guys start throwing elbows and when they kick you when you're down, that's dirty basketball and I don't respect guys like that.

The guys that we have right now have to go. We can't look behind us at what has happened. It is five on five, and we have to go with whoever we put out there.

The guys that we have potentially may or may not be here next year. Organizationally, if our chances are slim to make the playoffs, we have to focus on who is going to be here in the future. It seems like a logical move. Our young guys have been playing well. It does get frustrating when you feel like you have to play for next season.