(The difference was) the aggressiveness and energy in the cuts and screens. They had 18 offensive boards, which is another area of aggressiveness. ... It was the all-out aggressive play - cuts to the basket, making screens, and creating contact first. |
(Yao) is a big man and he's a handful for us. We tried three people on him and he is just a handful down here wrestling with him. He has really, really had a stretch of games the last couple of weeks where he has played well and been a force. |
A lot of friends around the league are calling. They want him. |
Always, the back-to-backs are tough. You pick your body up to a level the night before and come back down. Then the travel, getting up and going through the same routine again, it's always been difficult. It's one of those things that's probably more psychological than anything else. |
Anytime you have a playoff team on the ropes and (lose), it's disappointing. We came out in the second half and started settling for jump shots and you can't do that against a team like New Jersey. |
As long as he is playing at that level, he is our starting center. |
As the season goes on, that's going to be the recipe for him, cutting back his practice time. If you're a 10-year veteran, there are not a lot of new things you're going to learn. |
At some time we have to start getting a rhythm together and getting a feel for each other, and we wanted that to be this week. |
Avalanche. Offensively, our execution was bad. That's one problem you have against a team defense like that. They turned up the juice, and we couldn't execute. |
Bracey did a heck of a job down the stretch. He was more comfortable and I think he relaxed. |
Confidence is a funny thing. You shoot great when you have it. I'm sure that's some of it, losing the starting position and then coming back. I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. |
Decision-making down the stretch is so huge. Marcus is going to be a super point guard in this league. You have to take his good with his bad. |
Defensively, it's tougher to guard. Jordan could easily average quite a few more points now. |
Denver played physical and aggressive on the boards. They got a lot of offensive boards and second possessions and Carmelo [Anthony] was very aggressive. They played like a team needs to play that is getting ready for the playoffs. |
Denver played the way you have to play in the playoffs, very physical, very aggressive. |