(In the) third quarter they hit their first six or seven shots. From there, you could see their confidence rose. |
(The players) didn't like last night. It was embarrassing. But that's what you deal with. Once you understand what happened, you've got to get on with making those improvements. |
(Wade) was real efficient against Portland. He was 13-for-19 tonight, 11 assists. When they load up on (Heat center Shaquille O'Neal ), it makes the defense guard him or not guard him. He's such a great pick-and-roll player. |
(Walsh) is not going to become a little whip in this thing. He held out and got fair value. |
[Riley said he hopes to sign Shaquille O'Neal for up to five years.] From my experience with big men, we did not start the dynasty in Los Angeles until Kareem [ Abdul-Jabbar ] was 32 years old, ... From the time Kareem was 32 to the time he was 42, the team won five championships. |
[They] have done things a certain way ... and had other players who were effort players. So what we need now is for people to change, a little bit, in their approach to the game. |
A champion needs a motivation above and beyond winning. |
A game that could have been very, very ugly for us turned out to be a win, and that's all that counts. |
A lot of them wanted 15. But they said, versus 15 or 12, they'll take 13. We finally voted to take 13 because we felt we might get 12. |
A particular shot or way of moving the ball can be a player's personal signature, but efficiency of performance is what wins the game for the team. |
A rivalry will develop if the thing goes on long enough. It's only been one year now. |
About a week ago, I was really concerned about it. They cut it to two. I thought they were going to run the string. It's good to get this. But it doesn't mean much unless you use it. |
After a real slow start, we played very well offensively. When your best player goes 4-for-14 and you still win, then you've got to feel good about it. |
All year long we do 15 players, and they should do 15 in the playoffs. I don't understand the thinking at all behind it. We're the ones that have sort of dedicated ourselves in investing the money in three extra players and having them there, and we should be rewarded for that. |
Alonzo had a huge impact on the game defensively, rejecting eight and he probably changed seven or eight others. |