(McLeod) knows how to compete. He may miss a decision or might miss a shot, but he's always going to compete. He's not going to drop his head and say, 'Can't be done.' I've never seen him do that. |
(Miami) is a smart team, they execute. We haven't learned to do that in an offense. We can't do it one-on-one. |
(Palacio is) a veteran player, he's been around the league and he's seen some things. He's a very knowledgeable guy. Those things help you understand what's going on in the game. |
[And the schedule still includes the scenarios Sloan believes are most important: A couple of back-to-backs, so players get used to playing and traveling on the same day, and a stretch of three games in four days.] Let them experience a day off in there, and see if they can keep themselves ready, ... It's important to see if any of them try to take the third game off. |
[Williams only had two assists but played markedly better after an eight-minute, three-foul stint against Steve Nash on Monday.] I thought he had better be motivated to play, because he didn't play very well the other night, ... I thought he came right back at it. [He] came out tonight and stayed aggressive. |
After we got beat by 30 points over there I didn't know what we would do tonight. I thought our guys came out strong, they ran hard and went to the basket a little harder than they did the other night. |
All I'm asking for from these guys is for them to compete hard ... If you like the game enough, this is what you want. |
And, ... it's a lot easier to get guys to put on a jacket than play good defense for 48 minutes. I mean, have you ever seen Ostertag try to move his feet in the post? You've got to be kidding me. Just put on the stupid coat. |
Andre made the big block. He looked like he was going to foul the guy but he kept stretching out his arms. He blocked the shot and came away with the ball. |
Andrei makes a huge, huge difference when he's out there, but we can't rely on him to take care of all of our mistakes. I thought our other people did a good job. |
Andrei played awfully well. He's been dedicated to doing things: helping and encouraging his teammates. |
Andrei was sensational. He probably played the best basketball game that he's played in a long time. He had the basketball in his hands and did some nice things when he had it. |
Andrei was terrific for us tonight. He had his hands full with a couple smaller players, but he came through with seven blocked shots and made plays when we needed him to. |
Andrei was terrific in helping our people (defensively). He had seven blocked shots which was really life saving coming down the stretch because their momentum picked up there at the end. |
Andrei was terrific in helping our people. His seven blocked shots were lifesaving coming down the stretch. Their momentum picked up there at the end and we looked a little tired, but he kept us out of trouble. |