Dwane Casey Good Quotations

We needed a game like this in the worst way. It was good because it gave our starters a chance to play and not have to scratch to be in the game. It was good medicine for us.

Right now, Marcus is our point guard. Marko continues to work. I think that competition makes your team better. Right now, Marcus is doing a good job and has done nothing wrong to lose his position.

From a coaching standpoint, I would say I would like to have other players involved. He's a great player, you can't take that away from him. It's entertaining, it's good for the league. Whether it's good for his teammates, I don't know.

We've got to try everything to get better and in a groove. I've seen flashes of real good basketball from Mark Blount. I think getting him in the starting lineup will give him a little bit more ownership, a little bit more opportunity to score early in the game.

He's doing a very good job of playing under control. He's got his passion back.

He's done a good job of going in there and keeping it together and continuing to train - which is hard to do sometimes. Especially when you have a veteran team like that . . . that's used to doing things their way.

I thought we had a good effort until about a two-minute stretch when Ray (Allen) just went crazy. He hit some tough shots and some tough threes.

Marko had 40-something games to get it done, and we were below .500. I feel very good that I gave Marko more than a fair chance with the starting position.

I think right now Fred is just trying to decide what he wants to do, whether he wants to coach, be in the front office or play. I think he could do all three. He still can make shots. He's very knowledgeable of the NBA to be in the front office or to be a coach. It's a good dilemma to have.

Whoever it is in the papers talking about trading for our guy, it's as close to tampering as you can get. But you can't prove anything. I'm sure New York can't control it just like we can't control what you guys may talk about. It's not good when you talk about trading our star player, the face of our franchise.

We got good looks last night, so it wasn't the fact we weren't getting shots. I think we're better prepared (after Thursday's practice) for the rhythm shots now than we were yesterday.

We didn't do a good job of matching up in transition. They were playing a small lineup. We didn't recognize quickly enough, because they were coming down and not looking to run a play but looking for the three-point line. If you're not ready to get back in transition, it's going to be a long night.

We did a good job in the first half, but in the second half I thought we were a little lax. Putting together 48 minutes is our goal from here on out ... that has been the story of our whole year.

Flip deserves it. You give your heart and soul to an organization for 10 years, and you deserve applause and a thank you. No matter how it ended, it was a good ride.

I've said this all along; I do want to play Marko. And Marko has had two good days of spirited practice. He's got that fight back. He's got that spirit back that I liked. I thought he lost that.

Rashad did a very good job for us, running the break, shooting the three, spotting up. I've said this for a couple weeks - he's really improving.

Decision-making down the stretch is so huge. Marcus is going to be a super point guard in this league. You have to take his good with his bad.