It was the most stressful game I've ever been part of. |
It was two heavyweights. The game was there for us, but they took it. Give them credit. |
It's definitely a mind-set. From Day 1 when you stepped on campus, you knew what you were preparing for. Lute is training you to be a professional, not only in the sports world but life in general. He always taught us to be responsible for our actions. |
It's something that we faced all year long with the injury bug, so we're prepared. We go out there with what we have. They are going to have to beat our best. |
It's two heavyweights every time we step on the court. Give them a lot of credit, they came out and did what they had to do. |
Late in the first half, the fans got into it. We got a couple of steals. We got a basket. Dirk hit some shots. We started feeding off of the energy of the crowd. That's what we needed tonight. |
Look at New Orleans. They're in the race. It's going to be a fight to the end. But right now, it's too early to look at the standings and [say] we're here or we're there. |
Marquis is part of that second unit that comes in with energy and makes things happen. If he got enough minutes, he's definitely the type of player who could give you those kind of [triple-double] numbers. |
Me making the short pass, the bounce pass, throwing it up high – just finding out where he likes the ball. That's what camp is about. It cuts down on turnovers once the season starts and builds his confidence. |
Mentally, we are a very tough team right now. We don't let injuries or anything set us back. I credit (coach Avery Johnson ) for that, keeping us strong mentally. We're always prepared. |
Next time, I won't give him a two-second head start. |
No excuse. (Cleveland) had a lot more energy than we did in the second half. I thought we were in it for a stretch and I still thought we had a chance in the fourth. We just didn't get enough stops. They seemed to take the momentum and put us away. |
Our game plan was to win the points in the paint and we did that. Utah's a good team. They're physical, they're aggressive, but we stood our ground tonight. |
Our mindset was just one game at a time. We've got to get better as a team. We didn't look at it as a trip. Just one game at a time. They were all winnable games. |
People live up here because they love the outdoor world they want to turn a plain old backyard into a living space. |