Rashard Lewis Quotes (57 Quotes)

I don't think people understand the impact when people want to be here and we can all move forward together. I think it's been a tough season for everybody, but we made some changes, got some guys out of here who wanted to leave and now everybody is on the same page.

Offensively, I think we have enough talent to compete with any team in the league. But we have to step up our game defensively and stop teams. We haven't been getting stops when we need them in the fourth quarters. And that's why teams have been coming back on us. But I still think this team is capable of doing something special.

Usually guys are counting the days down or planning out their vacation. With this team, if feels like we have 20 or 30 games left. We are playing like we are playing for something and that's the sign of a good basketball team. We're strictly business and the chemistry is coming along. It seems like we're headed in the right direction.

I don't think any of us wants the season to end right now. Where am I going on vacation I had no idea. I haven't even thought of that. I think we enjoy being together, and that's the difference between then and now.

To be successful, you've got to have a guy like Chris, not only to win more games, but to get to the next level.

How many shots did he get tonight 25 (actually 26) and I got 13. I think he's in a little bit of a different situation than I am. He is playing with the ball in his hands at all times. Look at the shot percentage, that speaks for itself.

A lot could change tomorrow. We'll just have to wait and see.

I would love to finish my career in Houston, to be back in front of the hometown fans and in front of my family. You never know what can happen. I'm happy in Seattle right now. But at the same time, there's no place like home.

This is a very big win. Even though it's at the end of the season and we are on the outside looking in, we are still playing together and it shows you there is no quit in this team. I think we are building good chemistry heading toward next season.

I think it's going to let us know where we stand, these back-to-back games.

Right now, we are not playing well. It is not looking too bright for us. When you know you are not going to make the playoffs, why play your main guys and get somebody injured when you can start focusing on next season

Pretty much from the beginning of the season until now, guys were unhappy. They wanted to get traded, they didn't want to be in this situation and they wanted to be out of here. I thought it was more of a domino effect for the whole team that's why we're having the type of season we're having.

That's where things started wrong. Guys came in here worried about themselves instead of the team. And it never got better. Guys were worried about playing time because of their contract situation and never got into the team concept. You could see it in guys' faces.

I honestly thought about it (not playing) last night and all day today, but I didn't want to leave my team hanging like that. I just wanted to give some kind of effort, to let them know I'm still with them.

The first team to start playing defense was going to win the ball game. I thought both teams did a bad job of playing defense. We had to start making some stops.

Everybody can play defense. We're just not defending right now. We need to communicate on defense, help each other.

They're built to win a championship. That's probably the best starting five in the league, and Alonzo Mourning is your backup center You can't make very many mistakes against a team like that.

I talked to (Poston) today and he said to just wait and see what happens.

We did well in not hanging our heads and kept fighting.

He got hot and when his shots start to fall, he's not going to miss many.

It's very frustrating after tonight's loss because it seemed like we gave this game away,

Somebody's got to help. Slap somebody in the head, something. Man, if we can't get any stops, we can't win the game.

Yeah, we knew we'd go a little longer than we did in the first game, but I don't think anybody thought we'd go that much. I played 32 minutes, which is a little long for a preseason game, but we had to.

I feel like with the team we have now, we can play with anybody in the NBA. It's too bad we couldn't have done this earlier. We don't have guys worried about minutes and complaining about playing time.

It's little things that we're just not doing right. We're getting better in practice. We're in better shape, that's for sure. But in these games, all the progress we're making, it's not showing up.

We talked about how they embarrassed up in their house. We didn't want them to get back on the winning track here. We expected them to play well. We wanted to match their intensity.

We didn't have our legs. It should have been 4-1. I thought we gave the game away against Orlando last night, but Washington is a good team.

We got to get that hunger back. Last year is over with. It's a whole new ballgame. Nobody is going to feel sorry for us. We're not labeled as that sorry team anymore. We might be now, but we were a good team last year and we weren't when we started this year.

It feels good because we're getting the confidence that we can win close games.

You've just got to give him some time. Sometimes when you get injured you lose a lot of rhythm. You're not in as good of shape as you would be at the start of the season.

I'm not going to say this is getting old because we've still got a lot of games to play. If you start giving up, then it's going to be a long season and we're going to continue to get our (butts) kicked.

I don't think we necessarily have to get rid of the whole team. Right now it's about pride. Are you going to give up or continue to play basketball and not let teams disrespect us You have to be a man and stand up and that's what it's all about stand up and play hard because we're NBA players.

I feel like I don't want to be a body out there, being used to help the guys practice. At the end of the day, politics plays a lot into it and if you look at the guys on the roster, some of those guys have got big contracts with shoe deals, commercials and everything. I feel like I've been an underground player my whole career and that would be a factor when it comes down to cutting people.

The type of contract I'm looking for - I feel like this is my last really big deal - I don't know if they'll be willing to pay that.

We're all playing harder as a team. You can feel the intensity. Even in practice, we're going a lot harder and doing a lot more running. You can feel it the next morning when you're stiff and have a hard time getting out of bed.

It'll be different for people watching the game and for us a little bit. After Monday's game everything will go back to normal.

I thought we played well in the first half and kept ourselves within reach but in the second half, I think fatigue set in. We didn't get in until 2-230 in the morning. Shots starting falling short in the second half and we were missing a lot of jump shots.

The new guys haven't been with us long, but they're a part of the team just like everybody else. They don't know some of our history or anything like that, but maybe that's a good thing.

When you see one of your teammates go out like that, especially an All-Star player, we are behind him all the way. When he was ejected, I knew I would have to be a lot more aggressive. I was going to have to give myself shots and get my teammates open shots. I knew I was going to have to score a lot.

Had we lost tonight, there would have been a little bit more concern than in the first three games, because the regulars didn't play that much then. Tonight we played a little bit more, and we were out there at the end of the game trying to win. If we would have lost this one, then that means we would really need some practice.

It was a little stiff, but it started to loosen up as the game went on. It just didn't feel right (not to play). I didn't want anybody to think I was giving up on my team, the fact that we were losing a lot of games.

He just respects the game of basketball.

I like the style. There is a lot of movement and it is set for not just one guy, but for a lot of combinations. It is designed for lay-ups and easy baskets. He (Hill) had a lot of rotation tonight to make sure everyone was fresh and was playing hard. He changed a lot of plays and the line-ups. We're still learning, but I'm looking forward to it.

It's an honor to get the invitation, but I don't want to go through a training camp and get cut. I think that would really hurt my feelings.

Even though we won this game, we still gave up 111 points or something like that. We've still got to work on the defensive end of the floor. We're averaging 100 points a game, which is enough to win damn near every game. Defense is the problem.

It makes you think that we're starting to develop instead of reaching the main goal and that's to win the division and make the playoffs. But at the same time, that's all we got is young players. They've got to learn, and they've got to learn quickly.

We showed some fight, but it wasn't enough. We need that from the start and not just wait until the end.

I thought about it afterwards and I don't know if it was a good idea to save it, because I was on their side of the court. I could have thrown it right to one of their guys and they could have got a basket. Fortunately, we came up with the ball, so it was a great play.

Sometimes I think about what it would be like if I played college ball. This time of year is special for basketball. All I think about is close games, buzzer-beaters and games that you remember.

I've been putting pressure on myself by just taking the long jump shots instead of getting to the basket. It's always good when (Hill) pulls you aside and talks to you. There's nothing negative. He's telling me what I can do to help my game and he's right. He told me he's going to work with me this summer and make me a better player.