(Assistant coach) Kevin O'Neil came up with the idea of playing some zone. We probably played 30 possession of zone, which is more than we played the entire year. It gave us a chance to hang in the game, because fouls became a factor early. With zone, a little bit of it is pot-luck. You have to hope they miss some shots. |
(It) just didn't seem like we were really right all night. I don't really have an answer for that. That guy that got us was Arenas. Unfortunately, we couldn't get him under control. We got the lead back, but couldn't sustain it. We had our chances down the stretch. |
(O'Neal) felt something pop in his groin and tweaked something in his shoulder on one play, his bad shoulder from last year. |
[But the Pacer's aren't planning on letting the Celtics win this one.] There's no way this team is going to go quietly, ... No way. We've been through too much. |
[In late August, Rick Carlisle was in an Atlanta studio auditioning for TNT by doing a mock game telecast with Kevin Harlan. He'd also been in touch with ESPN, and his transition from head coach to talking head seemed all but certain.] Something was going to be done in the next three or four days, ... But then I got the call from Larry [Bird] saying this situation was going to change. |
A.J. again was terrific. A lot of guys did good things. We need to have five or six guys play at high level to win, whether we are at home or on the road. |
A.J. had a great night. In the second half he did a great job of running the team. His efficiency in shot making and courage to step up in some tough spots put us in a position to win. |
A.J. is playing with great awareness and great savvy. He just looks like a guy who understands the pulse of the team he runs. He knows his team as well as any player I've had an opportunity to coach. |
A.J. is playing with great awareness and great savvy. He looks like a guy that understands the pulse of the team he's running. The majority of the game, he's making our calls and directing us into things. He's a guy that really knows this team, as well as any player that I've had the opportunity to work with as a coach. |
A.J. was real solid. I was worried about his minutes. I tried to give him a couple of breaks. Every time we took him out, we had to get him back in there. It was tough having to play him (40) minutes. It was an absolute necessity for us. |
A.J.'s the starter for now. We'll see how the next couple of weeks unfold. We were in this same situation in January and probably rushed him back too soon. |
About five years ago, the courses we run in the Field Trials were 52 percent timber. The hawks live in trees, and the quail nest on the ground. Since then we've trimmed back about 1,200 acres of trees to get it closer to the ideal course ratio of 25 percent trees/75 percent open ground. |
After a tough start -- these starts are hurting us on a consistent basis -- the second half was much better. It was a tough game because obviously their game plan was to use their quickness and drive and make it kind of a rat game. It was a good game plan. They had us on our heels. |
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. |
Anthony Johnson is a guy you can count on. |