Rick Carlisle Defensive Quotations

We'd get close, then we'd make a bad decision or not be able to finish off a defensive possession with a rebound and things like that. They'd go from up one to five; then we'd have to fight back. It was just an uphill battle all night.

I go back to our turnover situation. If they are down, we are going to rebound the ball better because we're going to get more offensive boards and be able to get back and guard people and get more defensive boards.

He's going to be in the picture, for a lot of reasons. His defensive ability is very important to us. He's a young guy who's experiencing a lot right now and that bodes well for this year and the future.

He wanted to give it a try, and he really gave us some defensive energy to start the third, which was big.

Jack is such an important guy on our team. Our players view him as one of our leaders. You have to have your top players involved and playing at a high level. I thought tonight Jack understood the defensive end was going to be what was going to win the game for us.

I think the guys rallied behind the fact that we lost (O'Neal). It's important for us to understand what can be accomplished collectively when we share the ball and work at the defensive end.

We set a great tone early with a great defensive effort, and that sort of carried the day as far as the game went. Tonight we did a lot of things well and I thought we got better as a team, so that's a good sign.

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.

We just made some terrible errors down the stretch. They got going and then we compounded it with some defensive mistakes. We'll kick ourselves -- again.

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.

During this 15-game period, we had competed hard on a consistent basis. And tonight, we had a let down from that. We just didn't have it. Every time we would make a run, we'd make a defensive mistake and they'd get a three.

They've become a very strong-willed team. Their defensive toughness is in evidence. They're more consistent on defense and in their rebounding. This is an adjustment in their style that they were playing. They were more of a free-flowing team and that has changed.

They didn't do a great job with the coverage, but, hey, the way Tinsley played tonight, he put the defense in a tough situation. That was a huge play because it was so hard for Jermaine to get open looks around the basket. It gave our team some energy at the defensive end.