George Karl Quotes (248 Quotes)

Foul trouble is part of basketball. We never got a very good rhythm in the second quarter.

We've been putting an all-star team together that has been dysfunctional and troublesome. I think now they've got a program together that I'm happy that the vast majority of players are committed to. I think they'll figure it out.

We definitely had a breakdown on that last play. We had a foul to give and we talked about doing that. Miller and Buckner were kind of hanging out and they lost Harris. Two of our best defenders got picked.

I don't think there's any question (Anthony should be on the team). The thing that Melo has to understand is probably his team concepts. I think everybody has seen his talent, his defense, his trust, developing those things. What we're seeing, and I think most U.S. Olympic people are feeling, is we've got to put a team on the court.

It's what's in your gut. It's sad. It hurts me. It's not something I'd like to do or want to do. But I think it is the right decision.

The pep talk was good. I was fired up. I told them some stories (Karl told the players) how your greatest revenge is your own success and just some stories about everybody is going to be traded. Everybody is going to be fired. That doesn't mean you don't feel juiced and committed to spank the team that let you go.

I thought the energy in the first quarter made us confident enough. The energy of passing the ball and playing together was there the whole night. I thought that was a big part of why we sustained it.

The great thing about the NBA is confidence comes in a one-game winning streak a lot of times. That's what we need a one-game winning streak.

I was a little disturbed if we were playing small why we should give up threes. And their gas tank was probably a little fuller than ours.

The one strength of this team is when it's been down, it fights back, and when its back is against the wall, it plays stronger and more together. It's hard to even evaluate the (past) two games because of the lack of commitment in so many areas of basketball were lacking.

The key was our defensive effort in the third quarter and Melo kind of taking control of the game offensively.

Bob had the courage to make changes in coaches and players. Most personnel people get to be over-analytical, over-studious. Hey, basketball is basketball. He lived on that principal. I don't think Bob had any computers, or studied stats or over-scrutinized.

It was a bad offensive, bad defensive game tonight. LA played a nice basketball game. They had confidence outside, they had confidence inside.

To let Vince Carter flop two calls and get the whistle to end that game, I was disappointed because the effort and energy of (the Nuggets) I thought should have been stood up for. Vince Carter flopped both of them and got the call. There was a rumor out of the league office that we're trying to take flopping out of the game, but I don't think that was orchestrated in those two calls.

I didn't think that we could outscore them. I thought we needed defensive mentality.

I'm tired of excuses. I think it's all about playing with enough heart, intensity and commitment that if we lose, we can be proud of it. I don't think we can be proud of it tonight.

They were the better basketball team and they proved it. It will be fun watching them play in the future and see how they do in the second round.

We played in a pretty intense, consistent rhythm the whole seven games. The energy in the first quarter made us confident enough. (The Hornets) never scared us. They never got mentally into our heads.

Mark's a good personnel person, but I don't remember a vote on that one.

Melo is on a great run right now. Since the All-Star break, he's had a run of about 12-13 games that's he's played great. Sometimes we need him to rebound a little bit better, but he's our guy at the end of the game and he's our horse on offense.

It was one of those loose games where we thought that because our record was good we were going to win the game. In the second half we finally showed some spunk.

There's some disappointment, but you don't dominate a good team.

Our karma is changing. We don't always make the plays, but the ball is bouncing the right way for us.

I'd have to label this a good loss. We had a great defensive effort. Our offense kept slapping us and digging a hole for us. Just too many turnovers and too many mistakes offensively.

It's a bad hand you're dealt when your best player is in foul trouble and you're down 15 and 20 points.

He actually should get paid overtime for his attitude and his approach and his enthusiasm. He's a joy.

I don't know if we're confident right now. But they will be on Thursday. Confidence can change in a practice and a game.

It wakes you up. It slaps you around. There was a period of time when I first found out that you wake thinking of death a lot. It's an uneasy feeling.

They didn't earn the right to be out there on the court. If they want to talk about it, I'll talk about it. If they want to take responsibility and go on, that's fine too.

I definitely think 48 (wins) will get you the division (title). I think 46 to 48 has a 5 050 chance of winning the division.

Play with the right attitude, play together. Forget about individual agendas. Individual agendas are for summer time. It's not for basketball time.

I don't think it's a long time, but it will probably be a game, maybe two or three.

We had two or three months where we had two or three players every day who did not want to be here. I thought we got tired of that. When Ruben and Reggie came in, I think everybody felt the cloud was kind of blown away.

I think we're going to pursue it. But I want to give Charles his opportunity.

I think from a coaching standpoint, this season had a lot of magic to it. There were also a lot of issues.

This is an internal matter that we will deal with in-house.

Kaman to me looked like he was hurt. He didn't seem like he had good bounce to anything.

I'll be down if one of our guys don't make it. But I'm also a believer that the more wins, the more players you deserve.

I think he can emulate some of what Eddie gives us. I have trust in him to the point where I can play him in the end-of-game situations.

We didn't put a number goal on the season. We said we wanted to win the division and we did. We were probably thinking we were going to have more wins, but I just think the perseverance and mental toughness of this team has been good and bad, but it's definitely more good than bad.

My biggest disappointment is, I don't think most of the players on this team have been given respect by the media . . . on what a hell of a year they've had. I have seven or eight guys that I want to go kiss, I want to go hug.

Our big guys were special tonight. Kenyon was special offensively. I thought it was a classy win. Hopefully it will snowball the energy and confidence into a good direction.

He's been very professional. He's a quiet guy anyway but he's been great. He's been a first-class citizen professionally. Yesterday's practice he and Julius (Hodge) were the two best players on the basketball court.

I think we made him miss a lot of shots.

I'm happy. I think it was a positive ruling for us. I think most of us thought he probably was going to be suspended.

That's probably been my No. 1 trait this season I haven't lost my cool. I think I've been more understanding than angry. It might be time to get angry.

I think this series we've spent too much time talking about what we have to do rather than just playing. That's why the last couple of game plans have been simpler. Trying to do little things rather than saturate the brain. I've always felt in the playoffs there is a balance between giving them too much information. We have so much information. We have a 280-page book on the LA Clippers.

He's a young kid who is going to be asked great questions, and he's not always going to have knowledge to answer them. But he wants to be a leader. I really like that.

I took them all the time. I wanted to play.

It was one of those special fourth quarters. Offensively, we rode a horse, and Miller was the horse.