Rick Carlisle Games Quotations

We're in a tough deal and we've got to fight our way out of a tough situation. We're celebrating tonight, but we've got to play Detroit in two days. That's not going to be much fun either, but it's an opportunity and you've got to feel that these games are opportunities.

We're in a situation now where we're starting to get a little healthier and that's light at the end of the tunnel. The group that we have is really making a great effort to do what they can to help us win. Right now, win or lose, I know our fans know what's really important to them and that's the energy level and the unselfishness on the court. We had that for the last six or seven games and that's something we have to build on.

We're going to have to win a lot of games, starting with getting our first win, and that's really the only thing that concerns me right now.

We're finding out more about this group every game. We have a lot of guys that can contribute, but I have to evaluate it based on performance, the rotation, all those things. These (past) three games will be important to look at.

He hurt us the last two games and we did a lot of different things on him defensively. Johnson played great.

Jermaine is a top player in this league. He missed a lot of games (this season) and it's taken him a while to get his conditioning and his rhythm back. Fortunately for us, he's hitting his stride at a good time.

We now have to prove we can put two great games together. Orlando has proven over the second half of the season that it's one of the better teams in the league.

We've had great execution in the last two games; we won one and lost another. These types of one-possession games come in waves. The way our team is set up, we have players that can make plays.

We have an 11-game season to make a push to make the playoffs. There's nothing guaranteed. We'll find out what we're made of during this stretch. The frequency of games is still there. We're a little banged up, but we have to find a way. I have a lot of confidence in our group.

Those games were a long time ago. I don't think there's anything there we can hang our hats on. We've got to really work to get healthy and work to tighten up our game.

We'd like to get out and run and do some good things on offense. But if you can't get the stops, it's going to be hard to do that. We're going to have to be better at both ends, but after the last couple of games on the defensive end, that is going to have to become more of a priority for us.

We didn't have one of our better games as a team. Too many turnovers and too many points off turnovers. We've got a long way to go, a lot of work to do. We've got some time, fortunately.

With 18 games left, I think everybody is getting into a playoff mode here. Let's face it, from five on down to eight, there's going to be two or three games separating (the teams). So each win is really vital.

With 15 games left, we have to get to the group we feel can make a run.

When you have opportunities to close out games you have to take advantage of them. We had a couple. We got hurt at the free throw line. We got hurt on second-chance opportunities.

At the start of the game he struggled. Of all the games that he's played in it was the worst start to a game that he's had. He got three quick fouls.

These next six games he has to get himself conditioned back to the NBA game. I thought he played well. There's daily improvement in his physical redevelopment.

These next six games he has to get himself conditioned back to the NBA game, ... I thought he played well. There's daily improvement in his physical redevelopment.

After games, emotions sometimes take over a little bit. The bottom line is we have six games to make this right. We'll find out if we deserve it or not.

As a staff we have to keep coaching hard and keep getting these guys prepared to play. The games keep coming. That's just the way it is in this league. We're going to fight our way out of this as a group collectively: players, coaches and everybody. Losing streaks are no fun.

You take away the first 20 games of their season and they have a very respectable record and they've beaten a lot of good teams. We struggle against them and we have to find a way to turn that around.

This is going to be a process for him. I would think it's going to be 20 to 30 games before he really starts to feel comfortable after being off for that long.

It's not an ideal situation, but Danny has started a lot of games (17) for us this year. We've been down that road.

It's clear off the last few games that he's a difference maker for us. I'm not going to look to play three guys just to play three guys. I'm going to look to try to have a rotation where guys can be comfortable. But you have to be accountable and play your minutes hard. Otherwise there are good players behind you; that's the fact. Our point position hasn't been this strong in a long time. It's good news for us.

It was one of those games we needed everybody to play well and they did.

It was a disappointing performance, I'll leave it at that. ... We've got two games now where we've had disappointing stretches. We have to do better than that to keep any legitimate playoffs hopes alive.

The last couple games we've gotten things back on track a little bit and we've got to keep going in that vein. We still are not in (the playoffs). We have a long way to go. We're going to have to win our way in because everybody else we're fighting against has got favorable schedules and are playing well.

The last six games, we've done a lot of things very well. We've done certain things better than we were doing them before.

He's not able to both practice and play games so we've held him out of everything. We have to be careful with him and have him ready to play in each game. We're thin on (big men) right now.

How we play against Chicago will go a long way in showing what kind of character we have as a team. We've had two games now where we've had disappointing stretches. We're going to have be better than that to keep legitimate playoff hopes alive because we're in a tough stretch right now.

The emotionally charged and highly competitive nature of our games is one of the things that makes it compelling to our fans. The fine line you walk as a player or coach is that you have to channel those emotions in a way that's not harmful to your team or the game. That's the situation we're dealing with. My sense was it was getting better year to year.

The guys got together and decided to make a stand. If we hadn't won three straight games, we could easily be out of the playoff picture.