Mike Montgomery Quotations

We're just making fundamental errors we shouldn't be making. Failing to block off on a free throw, given up a second shot ... we're just shooting ourselves in the foot.

McGrady just goes bang, bang, bang and hits those shots. (But) the odds, I guess, have to come back to you at some point.

No. You're going to recruit the best player you possibly can. You can't predict what's going to happen with an NBA situation. Guys are going to take their chances.

I don't know enough about the whole thing to know what playing would do. It's important for them to be with us. I think we need to teach them as much as we can, learn from the older players how to be a pro.

He has only two years in college and he doesn't have any experience. So right now, he's just kind of in limbo.

He's been up and down like most young players, like everybody we have. He's made some nice corner jumpers for us ... He's driving the ball better lately. We're just trying to figure out what everybody can do and put them in the best position we can.

He's fundamentally sound. He's a hard worker, not backing off at all. He runs the team. I think he's been a surprise, just his poise coming into camp.

Keith is a guy that I'm relying on more, having been with Keith for a year, to be the guy that's my sounding board during a game-type situation. Keith knows our personnel and John's just working his way in. I'll probably end up relying more on Keith.

I think you have to modify or put your offense in a position, again, to make your players comfortable. But you look at all these teams, they do everything. It's just that ... if they don't have Brad Miller passing the ball at the high post, they're not nearly as good...

I think there's probably a middle ground of expectations. We're going to hear a lot of playoff (talk) -- and that's a good thing. I would think we'd be competitive in every game we play. We have the thought we're good enough to beat anybody on a given night. Maybe that's a starting point. Let's talk about winning more (games) than losing.

Ironic, isn't it?. But that's what happens at the end. Fundamentals, fundamental. You can't get breakdowns at the end. ...That was a ball we just had to rebound.

I thought it was important for us to get a split, just so the kids get some confidence in themselves, in what we're doing. The effort was there, now we get some results.

We've looked surprisingly good, ... With only four starters back, we're basically a young team.

Typically, the aggressor gets the call, and I think that's what happened. We were a little disappointed in the foul shots. But like I said, the aggressor typically gets the calls, and we were not the aggressor.

We just got to do it with this group. Find out what our strengths are.

We got stagnant with the ball. We got stuck in bad situations. They knew our tendencies and what we were going to do.

We scored nine points. We just started shooting threes. We got stagnant and the ball wasn't going down and we didn't guard Ray Allen and it was just a stretch where it was worse than that.

It was a strong comeback, but we just ran out of gas. The problem is we trailed early and we were coming back. One thing is, our guys didn't quit. We just couldn't make the big plays while Indiana made the big shots down the stretch.

That's probably the best he's played just in terms of getting to the boards, being active, finishing shots. And I thought our guards did a good job of getting the ball to him.

The better he gets at his low post game, the way more valuable he has. If Troy can get where he can finish at the box and be a real good post player that can command a double team... now we're talking.

It wasn't a matter of us not being able to score, it was a matter of us being able to defend. You give a guy 45 and a guy 34, you're not going to be in great shape. You've got to defend.

I'm not going to designate a No. 1. Here's what we have to do. Here's our job. Let's all pitch in.

If Josh consistently shoots the ball well, he'll be very, very hard to guard because that opens up his drives.

In retrospect, the one thing Derek can't do is prevent Kobe from shooting over the top.

It has to help the guys' confidence to know that we can do this. It doesn't count any more if you look at the overall record.

I don't know how much more I can ask for from our guys. We battled tough. Kobe just keeps coming at you. We just need to finish it out.

I challenged them a little bit at halftime to get more aggressive, which is what they did, ... When we get aggressive, good things happen. What you saw in the second half is how we need to play.

He's got a lot of kid in him, ... He's fun to be around.