Rick Carlisle Time Quotations

Three days ago it looked like it might be a possibility. He is doing better. It's just not the right time to push it. Also, if we would have did it, he would have been playing a game without almost any practice time leading up to it, which would have been hard. It makes it tough because he does a good job on (Shaquille O'Neal).

I don't know; it's not really a conversation until it's a reality. We'll see. A lot can happen between now and when (Tinsley) comes back. It's a situation that we'll resolve when it comes time to resolve it.

It's been like this the last two or three times he's come back. It's been hard to get what you call real practice time because of the frequency of games.

We have to still deal with his elbow problem, then he's got to be in condition to play. I don't know what the exact timetable is going to be, but it will be beyond this week.

He is doing better, but it's not the right time to push it.

He hurt it at the end when he got that put-back, so we'll hold our breath and keep our fingers crossed that he'll be OK (on Thursday) and the next day. He's going to be sore, we know that, but if anybody will play hurt, he's certainly a guy who's done it time after time.

It's something I talked to A.J. about. At some point it was probably going to be time to make that switch. A.J. has been great about communicating back with me about it. Jermaine and Tinsley need to be together in the starting lineup on both ends of the floor.

We're trying to hang in. We probably could have done a lot more things over the course of 48 minutes to put ourselves in a stronger position, but we didn't. We don't have much time to hang our heads about this. We've got another one tomorrow.

During this 15-game period, we had competed hard on a consistent basis. And tonight, we had a let down from that. We just didn't have it. Every time we would make a run, we'd make a defensive mistake and they'd get a three.

For the last 10 days, we've spent a lot of time on fundamentals, individual work, screening and footwork. We know that doing the little things at a high level is going to be key for us winning some games.

We hung in and were able to get stops when we had to. It's really tough because Iverson is a nightmare out there. The combination of timely stops and the ability to get the ball in the basket when we had to made a difference for us.

The situation with his hip is very positive, ... He has a lingering Achilles (tendon) problem from last year. He has been taking treatment on it the last couple of months. I think his timetable to play at 100 percent is going to be a little further down the line.

This is a very important time for us if we're going to be a team that makes the playoffs. We can't afford to show up and not play a great game for 48 minutes.

The first half was disappointing again and we have to solve that. This is a very important time for us if we're going to be a team that makes the playoffs.

He's done a lot of good things, considering the amount of time he's been out. But also, you can tell there's an adjustment period here. This is going to take some time to get to full strength.

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.

It does affect us not having Jermaine O'Neal for sure, but if you don't have him, you have to find a way to win without him. Right now, that has got to mean playing at full capacity all the time and playing with some real efficiency.

Those things work their way out. One thing about getting another quality player is you're going to have to earn your time on the court.

We fought back after a horrendous first half where we really didn't play with much passion and we really showed signs of being a selfish team. That can't be what our team has to be about. We talked about some things at halftime and our guys really came out and fought and earned one of the toughest wins we've gotten all year long.

It's essential that we have some time to get him re-integrated into our team. There's going to be an adjustment here because we've been running a lot more, we've been doing a lot more movement stuff. We're going to have to continue with that but at times the ball is going to have to go through him inside.

I can't remember the last time we had 25 assists. That had a lot to do with it. Everybody hung in and played an important part.

They got into the paint time and time again in the third quarter, and that was the story of how the game went. . . . You give up 29 points in the third and that tells you the momentum of the game, because we had put ourselves in a strong position before that.

Anytime you can acquire a player with his abilities as a shooter and a scorer - and we happen to think he's a better defender than people give him credit for - we certainly need what he can bring us, especially with Jermaine out now.

Any time you're without your best player, it's going to present a challenge. There's no doubt Jermaine is our most important player, but collectively we're going to have to find a way to win games.

Anytime you're on a losing streak you want to get out of it. As we found out last year, they're no fun. They never are. You have to fight your way out of it as a team. I thought the guys really did that by playing together.