Flip Saunders Gets Quotations

One, you've got to be lucky. Freak injuries are the things that usually put you down sometimes. I don't know how Mo is, but I know KG is a guy who really took care of his body. During the season, he gets massages every day. He's done a lot of work with his body. He knows that's his tool, that's his profession. And he doesn't do anything that's going to harm his body, and I'm sure Mo Pete has to be the same way.

He's gotten really aggressive and he's making big shots. Watching them play a lot, he gets a lot of shots in the last five seconds of games. He will put pressure on your defense because he can shoot the three, but he's also improved his game getting to the basket.

He's been like that the last few games. I like when he's a bit more aggressive. A part of it is he tries to conserve energy when he thinks he has to and gets other guys going.

Our guys have to be stimulated mentally. I've always said this team gets bored at times. When you're forced to react, forced to move, you don't really have a chance to maybe think about getting bored. You just go out and your instincts take over.

I think if a guy gets in the game and he's productive, then he's going to get more minutes. That's what it's about. And it's that fine line: Do you become productive when you get minutes, or do you get minutes and then become productive? That's always the fine line between players and coaches.

When Ben struggles, sometimes that motivates him at the defensive end. He gets the attitude that if I'm not going to score, then you aren't going to score.

When you get in these games, it's very interesting. The games start out being very fun and everything else and then all of a sudden, it gets very serious and very competitive.

The thing you have to watch out for is if you sit a guy, and his leg gets weaker. We're not going to put him in a position where he's going to hurt his ankle more. People out there, they don't know how bad the ankle is. It's way too easy for everyone to say, ?Just sit him and not have him play.' But players work 82 games to get into a rhythm, to play well in the playoffs.

In the past, you had a guy who got nicked up, you had to make a decision. You put him on the IRE and he sat out days and games, or a coach said, 'Well, we're going to sit him out, but we're not going to replace him.' Right now, you have the luxury of, if a guy gets the flu, you can sit him out that night and if he's better the next night, you can let him play.