Mike Dunleavy Quotes (46 Quotes)

He's had a great year. His all-around game has improved. Offensively, he's got the low-post game. He's very explosive off the dribble. He's a good finisher. I think his outside shooting is getting better all the time. . . . He's so young, he'll continue to get better and better each year (in the playoffs) with experience.

We haven't double-teamed as much against a lot of teams. Therefore, what we do is try and keep people in front of us. And if we do a good job of it, the field goal percentage is down.

That hurt us obviously, because at the end of the game he would have been the guy playing the pick-and-roll at the top. He's our best guy at getting over screens and shutting that down.

Cuttino is a great addition to our club. We were looking for a player that would add some key dimensions to our team that we were lacking. His 3-point shooting ability was third best in the league last season. He is a solid defender and excellent all-around player.

I was getting ready to take him out anyway, because we've got to play again tomorrow night. So maybe it was better for him to get his frustrations out that way.

They're a team that could win it all. Obviously they have to be in one of their rolls. As long as they're making their shots and don't hit any real cold spell they're tough - they're a monster.

We didn't really post him up. We just tried to put him in an isolation situation and let him make the play, and I thought he was awesome with it.

It's a hell of a two-game sweep. We got two tremendous defensive efforts from our guys. I could not be more impressed at how our guys responded.

You know he's going to shoot 50 percent and if he catches the ball in deep, he's going to take care of business. Plus, he's a good defender, as well. He plays the total game.

I just looked at playing and winning games for us. We really shouldn't have been paying attention to (the playoff picture) all season long.

Elton Brand is a lock. It would be one of the biggest upsets of all time if he didn't make it.

I thought I could bring something different to the table. Having that firepower off the bench is great. We're starting to get our fire back and getting a little bit of an identity.

The part about playing hard, we've got that down pretty good. We play hard every night. No matter how many we get down, guys are resilient and we bounce back. We missed some opportunities down the stretch, as far as being late with some of our execution, but I was really pleased at the way we played. If we play like this every night, it will be a successful trip.

He's totally fine. We just didn't feel like last night we would take a chance and not have a body if we needed one. I assume he'll be ready for practice tomorrow.

We had the hot hand in (Brand) and we just rode it.

Troy, he was huge tonight. When he hits those shots, we're almost impossible to guard, because he spreads the court out so well.

Our guys played great in overtime along with at the end of regulation to get back into it. We made them miss in overtime and our execution in overtime was tremendous.

You feel bad about the loss, but you can't always come out on top.

He's got ice water in his veins. He comes in and makes plays. We set it up for him and he knocks it down.

I thought our guys came out and gave a good effort defensively tonight. These guys were playing great coming in and to hold them to 36 percent (shooting) is a good thing.

He's got to be able to show that he can counteract his (5-9) size with his speed and quickness, make plays, not turn the ball over and make open shots. And then, defensively, he has to use his speed and quickness to harass guys, make them use the clock, as opposed to getting in a position where the post him up.

I guess I was pretty surprised by it. The league made a decision, I guess, based on the information that we all had, but they didn't see fit to suspend Reggie. Personally, I thought he would be suspended.

It's not even a question. If he's not an All-Star they better line people up for some kind of testing. He's got all of the requirements.

It's our maturity. We know defensively that we're good and that we can make stops.

Yaroslav is a very skilled player and has a great feel for the game. I think having him here to learn our system and work with our coaches on an individual basis will speed up the learning process.

The difference in the game was our careless turnovers that turned into easy points for them. Our turnovers and shot selection weren't very good. I credit their defense.

We started out good. We started out doing what we wanted to do. Then we got soft. Our bench came in and was soft.

They can put points on the board in a hurry, but at times they'll let you back into the game. You've got to execute and get a tempo and we did.

He's got ice water in his veins. He just comes in and makes big plays.

We didn't get rotated to him. We let him get off in the first half three or four shots that he made. Now you let the cat out of the bag and then, even if you're close to him, he has the confidence that he can make shots.

When you come head-to-head with those kind of teams and beat them, then you get the feeling that you can take yourself up a couple of notches on the totem pole. Right now, I think we're a team that can make the playoffs if we stay healthy and continue to play the type of basketball we're playing.

It was a great trip. Obviously, we are a bit disappointed, we would have liked to play Detroit a bit better than what we did. Hopefully we can go home and all start getting healthy and make a stretch run for the playoffs.

I wasn't pleased with the way we started tonight. I don't know if it was a hangover from the road trip, but in the second half, the guys came out and played much harder and did a good job. We had a hot hand with Elton Brand and we just rode it.

Defensively, we really showed up tonight. We did a great job at both ends of the floor. Our offense dictated our defense, and our defense was very solid.

Everybody knows he's playing at an unbelievable level right now. All we can do is be aware of where he is, every time down the court, and try to make his shots as hard as possible. That's not really a big deal for Kobe, but you've got to try.

They're a good team. I don't care what their record is. They're not too far away from being a very good team in the East.

This year, we've been able to sustain it. We've been able to make adjustments, figure it out and understand better than we have in the past.

We went to Elton and he delivered. That is what he has been doing all year long. He can play a number of places on the floor and you saw that tonight.

I was really worried about this game, obviously, playing a team that has not won yet, ... I knew they were going to come out and play hard. They gave a great effort and the longer you let them stay around, hang around, the more confidence builds, the more opportunity they have to win.

If you put someone in position to hit a lucky shot and they're capable of doing it, it happens.

That's what I get for showing our guys a film of how good we were defensively last night (at Houston). We started out good, then we got soft. Our bench came in and was soft. A team that loses eight games in a row is going to come out fighting for their lives. That message was delivered, and we didn't respond.

The important thing is to not let (Anthony) shoot the shots he wants and to have him shoot the ones -we're willing to give up.

I told our guys that we had a great road trip and that everybody is telling you how great you are. The reality is, we have 35 games left and we have to take care of business. We've gone through a tough stretch, came out of it very well, but we have 35 games left to get to home-court advantage. We've got 35 games left to catch Phoenix. There are all kinds of things out there left for us to do. Right now, our goal shouldn't be to make the playoffs. Our goal should be to get home-court advantage.

That would be nice. But I've come to realize that might not happen. I'm just going to be ready. You've got to be ready for the ball, you've got to make cuts, you've got to find other ways to score, put points on the board, make the team better. If I don't get plays called for me, I'll figure something else out.

There were a lot of good parts to this game, but in the third quarter we let them back in it. They are a good team and are fighting for playoff positioning, so we knew it was going to be a tough game.

I think it's a great opportunity for both players. We were looking for another dimension, a guy who could go out and stroke the ball. And this will give us an opportunity to play a different style, or change it up in certain games and match up better against certain teams.