Mike Woodson Quotes (57 Quotes)

Until we figure out that we're not going to outscore teams all the time and that we'll have to defend and rebound before we think about scoring, we're going to be a mediocre team. That's something we're going to have to improve on this summer.

He is a great young talent in our league and when you couple him with the young talent we currently have on the roster, I can't wait to see them mesh as a unit.

I just think we're talking about a kid with a different mind-set. We're talking about a guy that wanted to go somewhere and establish himself, to the point where he can make a difference.

It's great for us to come in here and beat a team like this. These last two games we haven't cracked, and hopefully that's a sign of maturity.

Sometimes it's like we are our own worst enemy. We have stretches where we don't shoot. We don't defend. When San Antonio turned up their defense, we needed to turn up ours.

We haven't had many games like that where we weren't in the game. Give them credit, they needed the win and they played like it.

That's terrible. We don't have any problems with our young guys that are out of the ordinary. None of our guys are bad kids and everybody on this team comes to work every day ready to go. . . . Our camp is just fine. As the head coach, I've got everything under control.

He's grown up. Last year we would have cringed when he shot the basketball. Now his shot looks like a shot. He's 100 percent better than he was last year, but he still has a long way to go.

I'm a defensive coach, and we're not playing defensive-minded. You can't give up 118 points and beat anybody.

It's beautiful to watch those two play. They play the right way at both ends of the floor.

I think that title team proved throughout the league that you could win and not just have one or two superstars. That team was lethal because you didn't know where it was coming from, and that's how they are now. You can't key on one guy on that team, especially the starting unit. That's a complete team.

They wanted it a little bit more down the stretch. I thought we kind of took control in the early part of the fourth quarter. And then, at the seven or eight minute mark, we let it get away.

Joe is the description of what they're looking for. When you're putting a team together you're looking for guys who can do a little bit of everything. You want guys that can score, handle the ball, pass, defend and make shots in the open court. Joe can do all of those things.

I thought eventually we would wear him down and make them play small ball with us, and they did. That was to our advantage.

But I need that from all those guys. We need our big guys to do the dirty work, to set screens and chase down loose balls. I need to know that if my big guys are around and a ball hits the glass or the floor that they're going scoop it up.

I feel a little bit better because everything isn't brand new. Last year the coaching staff and the team were all coming in here at basically the same time. This year we've got guys who know what we want and how we like to do things.

I thought our effort was great. We had our chances down the stretch. We just couldn't take advantage and pull this one out.

I think it's fantastic. I have had an opportunity to work with him. He is one of the best in the business. That is the reason why he wins the ballgames.

I thought we had enough guys on the bench to win this game. We just got lackadaisical and the zone caught us. We have to go back to the drawing board and work against the zone.

We just have to figure out how to make plays at the end.

Joe came up big again tonight. You have to tip your cap to him, he made the biggest shot of the night.

This morning at our breakfast meeting we put on the tape and here's Jason running up and down the floor. I told them to shut it off. I didn't want to show the guys that tape. We just had to prepare in other ways.

It says a lot for our ball club that our guys came out and competed until the end. You just gotta move on and continue and play the next one.

Lang has an NBA body. We'll get a good week of practice in next week with just two games and then we can see where he can fit in.

I thought we just defended. You're not going to stop Allen Iverson. Webber had a big game as well. All you can do is try to contain them and hope for the best. I thought we did an adequate job. I thought our defense was solid in the third and fourth (quarter). Once we caught up, it was back and forth.

I thought he had his normal looks. He just didn't make his shots and that happens in this league.

I thought there were a few key plays. We just have so much to overcome.

He's going to be missed for a long, long time. I don't want these guys to forget him. I don't want them to ever stop remembering him and what he was about. I think we all owe that to his legacy.

Their bench was tremendous tonight. They had more energy when they came in. You've got to give them a lot of credit.

I think Joe's worth every bit of being a max player in this league. He's proven that with his play. But just like he was in Phoenix, he's a piece to the puzzle here. Joe Johnson is a big part of that puzzle. He has to be a big focal point.

We haven't had games like this where we're not even in the game. Give Philadelphia credit because they're fighting for something (playoffs). That's where I want to be with this team.

We had some low moments when we got down but we kept fighting and had a chance at the end to win it or at least go into overtime. You just have to forget about it and move on.

There's a standard of behavior in the locker room, on the floor and everywhere else that I think you have to uphold as a good teammate that just isn't there. I'm not going to tolerate it. Not from Salim or anyone else on this team.

But I can't risk making matters worse by wearing him out right now. We'll be as careful as possible while making sure we get him back on track and ready for the season.

They beat us every way you can beat a team. I don't know if that was because of the back to back, but we haven't had a game like this in a long time.

It's ridiculous. Our commitment to defense is awful. We're not even trying to defend.

He's on a nice little roll. You have to pick your times when you double him. ... He's a load. He's a career double-double since he's been in the league. He makes it tough for a lot of teams.

We fought hard. Their zone hurt us early, and we struggled a little bit, but we were still able to maintain and stay within striking distance.

It's ridiculous. Our commitment to try and defend is awful. We are not even trying to defend. We're scoring enough points. You're not going to beat a team giving up 125 points in this league.

Our locker room is very excited. I think any time you play this team (Boston), they're well-coached. They've got a lot of offensive weapons. For us to come in and play a solid game, and finally finish a game, (is satisfying) because we've been playing pretty well as of late.

In the third quarter, everything was smooth. We were moving the basketball. We got good shots and we came out of the quarter up by six. Then in the fourth quarter, we got complacent and wouldn't move the basketball, and that resulted in some key turnovers that they capitalized on. That was the difference in the game.

You would think that when you put something together as a unit and an organization that something like this would never happen,

There's no question every team in the league wants to be like the Pistons. They are playing at an all-time high and they're playing for a purpose. We didn't meet the challenge in the second, third and fourth quarters and that kind of disappointed me. I don't like to coach games like this where we don't give ourselves a chance to win.

We have had a lot of close games that we just didn't make plays down the stretch, but we refused to lose tonight.

You know as well as I do that you can't win consistently in this league without quality play from your centers. So they've got to give us something this year. And we'll have to mix and match a bit, but when your forwards and shooting guards are blocking most of your shots, that should tell you something.

Their bench hurt us in the first half. Their bench outscored our starters. That was a devastating blow.

He hurt it the other day during a pickup game, and we just wanted to run a few tests to make sure everything was fine. We wanted to make sure he was 100 percent before we put him out there in the mix for training camp.

We fought back and exhausted ourselves trying to get back in the game. We've got to figure out how to play back-to-back (games). We've struggled with that all year.

To me, that's it in a nutshell. He doesn't get any calls . When he's driving to the basket, guys have their hands all over him, and there's nothing called. It doesn't make sense.

I think Marvin and Josh Smith are going to make some noise because they can do so many things. If they can get out and run and make some easy buckets they'll be fine. I just have to get them to the point where they can lock down defensively. If we can get five guys locking in and believing in what we're trying to do, we'll be all right defensively.