Sam Cassell Quotes (25 Quotes)

Vince Carter is such a great player that we need two guys to try to stop him. When we got there to try to stop him, we got there too late and he either made the shot or we fouled him.

Mike expects so much from us, and I think it's the first year that he really has that feeling it's something special. He has the right to feel that way because he's been around for a long, long time, coaching and playing the game. He understands what it's going to take for us to be successful.

From the first day of camp, I said this team could win 50, and we've got a chance to do it. We've had our ups and downs, we've gone through some things with all the injuries, but my guys never give up.

This (loss) really doesn't sting. But it's a learning process for us. We learned that when we allow a team to play harder than us, this can happen. We understand why we lost this ball game. We had so many defensive lapses. We'll regroup, go back to the drawing board, and come back Tuesday with a better effort than we had tonight.

He told me it wasn't so much about the organization and the history here. It was about the direction of the team. This is an up-coming team. He told me I'd have the most satisfying year of my career here.

Lots of guys don't want the ball in the fourth quarter in the last three minutes of the game. I think that is the easiest time of the game to get the ball. So I try and get the ball and do the things I can do.

Elton is our horse. No one will deny that. But we need to get Corey back. We need Z back. We need all of our guys.

That was my first time ever doing that. I've seen it done a lot of times. It did affect me because everything I did, I felt it.

Ah, no. We've played in some really loud gyms before. This is like a wine-and-cheese crowd.

We're glad he got in foul trouble. He's an excellent ballplayer. Just to see him and Elton Brand go at it, trying to figure each other out, that was magnificent.

I think it was our communication on defense. When we do that, we're at our best. When we don't communicate, we get our butts whipped. It's just that simple. In the first half, we weren't communicating properly and they were having their way with us. In the second half, we went to the zone and communicated better, and the result was a 20-point win.

It affects me a little bit because I'm used to having the ball 90 percent of the time on the court, but I can't use that as an excuse at all. I've got to find a way. I'm getting shots that I normally make, but they're not going in. I just can't go 1-for-12 and expect us to be successful.

I just told him, the first day I got here, I'll make his job look easy. The stuff he does, I'll make it come easy to him.

People tend to give me a lot of credit for the turnaround, but Elton Brand is our horse, as he goes, we go. My job is to put us in the right direction, lead us, get us through what we need to do and I think I've been doing that.

I'm just doing what I'm supposed to do. Since I was a rookie I was groomed to make shots down the stretch.

We made a statement. They just played harder in the first half, but we showed that a win at this point takes more than just playing. We got seven consecutive stops and scored five times and I knew we were going to win.

Elton has always played consistently, but now we're winning basketball games and people are finally taking notice.

It'll be something brand new to everybody. It's going to be culture shock. I've talked to everybody, talked to them about what I expect from them and what they're going to get from me.

Everyone is a critic right now everybody is a mastermind of basketball. Flip is a hell of a coach. Flip doesn't shoot the basketball, doesn't get one rebound. I can't abide by that criticism. We believe in Flip he believes in us.

Who would have thought that about us before the season. I'm proud of where we're at. But we need our whole team together. Corey can't do what I can do, I can't do what Corey can do.

It's going to take more than one year. But we've got a heck of a start. No doubt about it, L.A. is a great place, especially when you're winning.

Everyone on this team has to take a look in the mirror and be accountable for what they do. They dictated the whole game - probably 45 minutes. Down the stretch, we made some plays. It's a win in our column, we had lost three in a row. We'll take it.

I was always a Laker fan - Magic Johnson, James Worthy, my main man Norm Nixon. Kobe Bryant's my favorite player. It would be the battle of Hollywood - it would be great for the city.

We can't allow ourselves to get down like that before we start playing basketball.

He's become a player who's not just out there playing, but someone we depend on. We depend on him. He's been stepping up for us.