Rick Carlisle Quotes (286 Quotes)

He was one of my favorite players to work with because of how hard he played and the things he does on the court.

A.J. was real solid. I was worried about his minutes. I tried to give him a couple of breaks. Every time we took him out, we had to get him back in there. It was tough having to play him (40) minutes. It was an absolute necessity for us.

We had some time but they smothered us. We'll look back and kick ourselves about what could have been, but you've got to give Atlanta credit. They fight hard, they play well, they earned the victories against us.

We'll see. I have a couple of days to make a decision if we need to do anything with the lineup. We'll go the way we think is best.

It was a big bounce back game for our team. I thought Jermaine set the tone for our team early in the game. The way it unfolded, it appeared he had a pretty good sense on how to establish himself.

We have no one to blame but ourselves. You play a lousy third quarter and give up a bunch of turnovers, you're going to tempt fate with that kind of play over a 12-minute period.

We're in a must-win situation every night. We have to win games. It's important to be a playoff team. We have a string of years and we want to keep that going.

The thing that drew us to him is . . . he has the ability to enhance the abilities of the players around him. His teams have a way of jelling.

It was one of those games we needed everybody to play well and they did.

We've got the same group that played well the other night. We are not going to make excuses.

(Assistant coach) Kevin O'Neil came up with the idea of playing some zone. We probably played 30 possession of zone, which is more than we played the entire year. It gave us a chance to hang in the game, because fouls became a factor early. With zone, a little bit of it is pot-luck. You have to hope they miss some shots.

They're both probably going to be playing multiple positions, so that can also make it tricky. But I expect both of them to be into the action pretty quickly.

We are in a precarious position right now. Nothing is a lock. To make the playoffs, we will have to have more of a sense of urgency at both ends. Tonight's game was a setback.

The biggest thing is efficiency, because if you have a lot of turnovers on the road, the opponent is going to convert a lot of them. Jersey is a great conversion team off turnovers.

There's no doubt right now that (Jackson) is our main guy. He's going to make some things happen for us. He's going to get some good looks at the basket.

We watched tape of them and we talked about their quickness and ability to get in the passing lanes. Until you get out there it's hard to fathom how effective they are. They are a pesky team and they're going to be one of those teams that will always be hard to play.

It got hairy at the end, but it's going to be hairy at times. You've just got to be able to find a way to win. The importance of it is being able to stop the run.

The group that was out there was going good. I didn't want to disrupt that momentum at that point. You're getting into a high frequency of games. If you find a group that's clicking, you have to stick with them.

We probably played 30 possessions of zone, which is more than we played all year. It gave us a chance to hang in the game because fouls were becoming a factor early. With zone, a little bit of it is luck and you have to hope they miss some shots. We were fortunate that they did with a lot of those possessions.

We're talking about it, we're trying to deal with it. I think we'll get there. It's just important for any player in this league not to let his competitive juices distort clear thinking and have something happen that affects the team.

We played hard for the most part, but that has to be a constant. We gave ourselves a chance and had mistakes down the stretch in execution that cost us.

It's the biggest challenge we have, and frankly everyone involved in bird dogs and quail hunting have.

He's a great young player. He can almost do anything on the court. I can't tell you how impressed I am at how he's played.

I know it's hurting him. A lot of guys wouldn't play through this. He hasn't missed a game because of his hand. There's been times where it's swollen up like a balloon. You have to give him a lot of credit for wanting to help the team.

We'd like to get out and run and do some good things on offense. But if you can't get the stops, it's going to be hard to do that. We're going to have to be better at both ends, but after the last couple of games on the defensive end, that is going to have to become more of a priority for us.

He had a clean bill of health when the trade was made and all his past situations were checked out. The one thing he had trouble with was his back, but he hasn't missed any practice time, and that's a totally isolated, different situation.

We know that right now from a personnel standpoint we're not at our best, but there's a lot you can make up for with a strong collective effort and a strong belief in one other.

As long as he plays with this kind of energy and force, he'll get minutes and make things happen.

Yao has been playing great for a long stretch. I thought our guys battled him and did a good job in a lot of areas, but we could have done better as a team. You give up 38, that's a lot.

Detroit is very motivated for a lot of reasons. They're fighting for the best record in the league. They dropped a game to us, which will make them more motivated to win. We have to play our game and play it well.

They're a good team that's going to do a good job in those situations. We probably could have executed better.

I'm pleased for our team. I thought we showed some real toughness and some real character. Our tough-mindedness has waned lately. That's something that if we're going to be a playoff team, it can't happen.

Jermaine is a top player in this league and we all know he's missed a lot of games. Fortunately he's hitting his stride at a good time. We need him to continue to play at that kind of level for us to have success in the series.

It's a very good sign. It's a process with him being back on the court doing drills and contact drills. At some point, we're hoping he can be cleared.

I've got confidence in young players who work hard. I'm more impressed with the fact he started slowly and came back and played well. You always want to see how a young guy comes back from an adverse situation.

It looked like he labored a bit. I think it's a tough situation to not be in for a while and now be in the middle of a hotly-contested playoff series.

Lineup changes are always a possibility in the playoffs, but it doesn't matter if we keep turning the ball over and getting into foul trouble.

It comes down to what's best for him and the team. It's best for both to try to get as healthy as possible. I know it's frustrating for him that he can't play the way he normally plays, because he's being held back (by the injured ankle).

I'd like to keep him in the mid-20s if there's any way possible to do that, because that gives him enough energy to really pursue the ball and finish off plays on the inside. I thought the fact that we had to play him 37 minutes the other night in Houston had an effect on that one play late where he got to the rim, but couldn't quite get it in.

He's getting the job done it's as simple as that. My hat's off to him. He's been in and out of the lineup. He keeps showing up every day and coming to work like a pro. He's kept himself ready for this opportunity and he's obviously taking advantage of it.

For us, we have to remember what they did to us last time. They came out and just railroaded us with shot-making and dribble penetration. You name it. We're going to have to dig our heels in defensively.

We've had great execution in the last two games we won one and lost another. These types of one-possession games come in waves. The way our team is set up, we have players that can make plays.

He's getting over his jitters. It's tough. We're asking him to learn two positions. Danny has a tendency at times to be in a hurry.

We now have to prove we can put two great games together. Orlando has proven over the second half of the season that it's one of the better teams in the league.

A.J. had a great night. In the second half he did a great job of running the team. His efficiency in shot making and courage to step up in some tough spots put us in a position to win.

Give the guys credit for hanging in there and gutting it out.

We hoped he was going to be open and have a pocket of space to get an open shot or drive the ball. Bosh did a great job of switching out defensively. I have to take the blame for that. That was a bad call putting a guy in a position that ended up not being a good position.

He just wasn't able to get enough minutes for us to keep him here. He played well and had a great training camp and was terrific in the locker room. It's just one of those timing-type things.

These next six games he has to get himself conditioned back to the NBA game. I thought he played well. There's daily improvement in his physical redevelopment.

Early, you could tell he was getting his feet under him. As the game went on, you could see the things he has the ability to do offensively and defensively. He's going to be a very good defensive player.