Dwane Casey Quotes (126 Quotes)

Howard is going to be a great player in this league. Kevin already is a great player. Kevin knows all the tricks of the trade. Dwight will someday be there, but Kevin is still above him.

Kevin has never said, 'I don't like who we have, I don't like you as a coach, I don't want this coach. I've known Kevin for a while. He and I hit it off right from the start. To say there's not going to be bumps in the road - there's always going to be bumps in the road in any relationship. But it's always a matter of respect. Like I told him the first time I met him, if there's one player in this league that I would pay to watch play, it would be him. Because he brings it every night.

You lose that many close games, it will shake your confidence.

I don't think the commissioner had any race intentions whatsoever with the new dress code. I just think he's trying to improve the image.

I'm seeing growth. He's making a case for himself.

Flip deserves it. You give your heart and soul to an organization for 10 years, and you deserve applause and a thank you. No matter how it ended, it was a good ride.

To have it all happen in one year is interesting in my first year as a head coach. But it's nothing I haven't seen before.

We could've benefited from it, but we made a different trade.

I thought we took some quick shots, which allowed them to get easy buckets. It got their confidence going it got their rhythm going. We forced some shots.

Defensively, it's tougher to guard. Jordan could easily average quite a few more points now.

I've explained to him to get in there and push the ball and defend and do what he's supposed to do when he's starting. The key is getting that opportunity, because Marcus is playing so well right now.

He's done a good job of going in there and keeping it together and continuing to train - which is hard to do sometimes. Especially when you have a veteran team like that ... that's used to doing things their way.

Down the stretch we have a foul to give, we should have taken the foul in the corner (on Anthony). But that was not the difference between winning and losing. We had a couple of opportunities at the end of the game and again and at the end of overtime.

Garnett was special (tonight). We opened up the lane for him quite a bit where he had the chance to move from block to block. He took advantage of the fact that we spaced the floor. They were sending a couple of guys at him - one in front, one behind, and one on top of him. They had three guys on him at all times, so we had to get creative with the ball.

I thought Dallas took us to the woodshed, especially in the first half. We didn't come out like we were on a three-game skid.

Earl came in and changed the game. He has the speed and the ability to push the ball after makes and misses. He pressured full court and did all the things that you want your point guard to do.

I'm sure his name will come up. He has great value around the league. But I like him. He was the key to the trade, I think.

I don't think they blew by us once on those mid-pick-and-rolls. The past couple games, they've had a smorgasbord.

We got out playing the way we wanted to play basketball in the first quarter. In the second quarter, we hit a road block. We stopped being aggressive and started settling for jump shots. We only got to the free-throw line nine times. That tells me that we weren't being aggressive.

Our positive was Rashad scoring 18 points but on the other end you have guys driving by you going to the basket. I thought though his offensive attack and feel was good.

It's just being young. He wasn't afraid. He attacked the basket and took the shots. But with freedom comes responsibility and accountability. You have to make those plays. I applaud him for being aggressive, but you've got to make it happen. We just have to keep learning from those experiences.

Right now, Marcus is our point guard. Marko continues to work. I think that competition makes your team better. Right now, Marcus is doing a good job and has done nothing wrong to lose his position.

Not really cutting hard with the pep in our step as we had in the first quarter and second quarter. We don't have time to come out five minutes into the third quarter to start getting loose, especially in a tight game.

I thought our defense was the difference.

We had an opportunity to extend the lead but didn't come up with making the play. We had open shots, guys were wide open but you've got to be able to make those.

I think all those together broke our spirit and our belief in each other.

From a coaching standpoint, I would say I would like to have other players involved. He's a great player, you can't take that away from him. It's entertaining, it's good for the league. Whether it's good for his teammates, I don't know.

I asked him one time why he didn't go to Kentucky. He said it's not a football school.

Everybody's going to make a run and when they did, we didn't collapse. It's not fun losing the lead, but the important thing is that we didn't give in.

We did a good job in the first half, but in the second half I thought we were a little lax. Putting together 48 minutes is our goal from here on out ... that has been the story of our whole year.

I thought that was a turning point in our season, (Wells') shot, that group of close games we had. I think it took a little starch out of us, and we were never able to regain (momentum).

I don't think he alone will let anyone on this team give up.

I thought we had a quality, quality game tonight. Guys played to win down the stretch except execution and closing out games, on both ends of the floor.

It's a tough loss to swallow.

I thought we had a good effort until about a two-minute stretch when Ray (Allen) just went crazy. He hit some tough shots and some tough threes.

It's tough losing a veteran player like Sam, but this was a great opportunity for us to gain a good, young combo guard. Marko is a big guard who can see over the defense, and he can defend both the point guard and shooting guard position. We feel we've really upgraded our defense and our team with the addition of Marko. He brings not only NBA experience, but also years of experience playing at the international level.

He's going to take some time to rehab it and get it well.

You've got to have a mental approach that's got to be as tough as nails because of the way they play here. I thought earlier in the year we had that when we came in here and won. In Minneapolis I didn't think we had that same approach when they brought the game to us.

He's like a locomotive going to the basket. It's almost physically impossible to stop him without fouling him.

I can see a difference in him. In training camp, it was like he was a little lost. Now, he's playing with confidence and like he belongs.

Kevin and Wally are playing at an All-Star level. I hope everyone is taking notice that they are playing solid basketball at both ends of the floor.

I've said this all along I do want to play Marko. And Marko has had two good days of spirited practice. He's got that fight back. He's got that spirit back that I liked. I thought he lost that.

It would be suicide to lose Kevin. That's not even part of my thought process.

It's your goal starting out to make the playoffs. I didn't see not making the playoffs, no, I didn't, not at all. First, I didn't see the trade (with Boston) coming. I didn't see going into the development direction. But again, you've got to be ready for that and flexible for that as an organization being on the same page.

Whoever it is in the papers talking about trading for our guy, it's as close to tampering as you can get. But you can't prove anything. I'm sure New York can't control it just like we can't control what you guys may talk about. It's not good when you talk about trading our star player, the face of our franchise.

I hope he sees that we're giving him an opportunity. He's got a lot of respect within the organization from our coaches. I think he's everything we would need. We have a big point guard in Marko. And we would need a guy like himself and A. C. as far as a pit bull-type mentality defensively, and offensively being able to go where he wants to go with the basketball.

I thought we came out in the first half in a nonchalant way.

We always hold out hope. Mathematically we're still in it. Every time we walk out on the floor, we're playing for something and we're playing for improvement.

You have to take care of the basketball.

I think right now Fred is just trying to decide what he wants to do, whether he wants to coach, be in the front office or play. I think he could do all three. He still can make shots. He's very knowledgeable of the NBA to be in the front office or to be a coach. It's a good dilemma to have.