[The speculation] bothers me because I feel we're prepared. It's the players. We have to come out with effort and we have to play hard. We can't put it on the coach. |
[There was a noticeable improvement in Crawford's attitude about coming off the bench, and it showed as he scored 11 key fourth-quarter points.] It's a start, ... Now the pressure's off. We can concentrate on playing and trying to win every game. |
But it was just good to see him back out there. He looked better. |
Coach didn't want to call a timeout so they could set up their defense. Then it was up to me. I knew I was shooting the ball. |
Each loss was frustrating, going through each loss and seeing how far we had dropped. Because we know we're not this bad. It was a rough year for us, and next year will not be like this. |
Everybody is on the same page. |
For whatever reason, I'm really, really focused in the fourth quarter. I know that's winning time. My teammates put me in great positions, and Coach has a lot of confidence in me. |
Games like this can't make the next day come fast enough. |
He brings so much to the table. He is so smart. He makes plays for everybody, including himself. |
He brings so much, and he's not even close to what he's going to be. He's already a really good player, but he's got a chance to be special. |
He never stops teaching, ever. He just gave me some advice, and I'll definitely take it to heart. |
He seemed pretty energetic. He let Herb do the coaching, but he still had a lot of input out there. |
He spent his whole life in Chicago. He's ready to step away from that. We used to come [to Manhattan] in the summer and hang out. He always loved New York. |
He's a calming factor. You do kind of take it for granted. He's so used to doing it. He's had the ball in his hands ever since he was a kid. It's second nature for him. But you do kind of take it for granted being out there because he takes so much pressure off of everybody. But now we all have to step up. |
He's a calming influence for us, a great veteran, a great leader and we're going to miss him. |