Rick Adelman Team Quotations

We were a team without a personality. With Ron, we have one.

We're a different team than we were before. There's no reason we can't go out and compete in this series.

I don't care if we're playing home or not. We just ran into a better team. Their starting five has played together for a while. They executed very well, and they shot it very well. We looked like a team that is inexperienced playing together.

I don't want to be down 3-0 to the world champions. That would make it tough. It's definitely a game we have to win. ... They're the best road team in the league. When you're playing a team like this in the playoffs, they're not going to be intimidated by our crowd, but our crowd can certainly get us going.

I don't think it matters. Of those 16 wins, this team hasn't been involved in 15 of them. It's only been one.

He had a bad situation when he was in Sacramento. He didn't have a very good team. Since he's been here, he's had his team playing well. They play together and they play hard. He knows what he's doing.

We talked at halftime that this was a dangerous team if you let them get back in it in the third quarter, and that's exactly what we did. We just couldn't stop them in the second half. They shot over 70 percent. You're not going to win very many games giving that up.

I think it's been a very good trade for us in that we needed a change in our season. What was happening wasn't working. Getting Ron more than halfway through the year, it's given us an energy level. That's been the biggest thing this team needed.

Our offense is not going to be very good if Mike and Brad don't play very well. When that happens with the team we have (at the moment), it's hard.

Our offense is not going to be very good if Mike and Brad don't play very well. Francisco had numbers, but our starters, I don't know if anybody had a decent game. ... We needed everybody to play well and play at a high level, and they didn't do it. When that happens with the team we have today, it's hard.

We played at a frantic pace instead of the way we wanted to play. We quick-shot it, we turned it over -- we just fueled whatever they were trying to do. We have to be a smarter team than that.

We really moved the ball well tonight. We still didn't shoot as well as we can. We had a lot of assists, but they're a hard team to guard. You know they were going to make a run; they always do here.

We played solid all the way through. We beat the best team in the West at their place. If we keep playing at this level, we are going to put ourselves in great position for the playoffs.

When you look at the team since we made the trade, we were in games, but we just couldn't get over the hump. The team's really getting accustomed to what we've got to do to win. We think we can beat anybody at this point. ... There's expectations for us now, and that's a good thing. When there's no expectations, it's no fun. It's drudgery.

We finished the season strong. We had three days off before the playoffs, so we had an extra day. It wasn't fatigue tonight, it was the Spurs. It is going to be a battle. I think that we are a better team than we played today.

At the start of the third quarter we came out and they closed it right away. We didn't move it (the ball), especially in the third quarter. It was one pass, one dribble, one shot. That's what will happen when you play a team like that.

There was frustration out there and we haven't had a lot of that this year. We took ourselves out of the game. We have to play better as a team. The five guys on the floor have to play better as a team and trust each other and we're not doing that right now.

They're a team that will get you lulled into their pace. We were fortunate we kept the lead and we made some shots (late). We could have made it a lot easier and that's what we have to do.

It's not going to be the same team we saw in there last time. Other than Detroit, they were the most consistent team in the league this year on a game-by-game basis. That's how they got to where they are.

He's very willing to do that. He gives us something we really haven't had: A guy that can put it on the floor and break people down. I think we should give it some time and see how this team grows together.

He's made a huge impact defensively. He takes on the better players, makes them work. He's a great team defender. He gave us new energy.