Rick Carlisle Situation Quotations

We're in a situation now where we're starting to get a little healthier and that's light at the end of the tunnel. The group that we have is really making a great effort to do what they can to help us win. Right now, win or lose, I know our fans know what's really important to them and that's the energy level and the unselfishness on the court. We had that for the last six or seven games and that's something we have to build on.

We're in a must-win situation every night. We have to win games. It's important to be a playoff team. We have a string of years and we want to keep that going.

I would believe the concerns for a loved one in the stands and the fact he just went up to see if everything was OK would be a mitigating circumstance. It would be a scary situation if you had concerns for a wife or child in the stands. I can understand why he went up there.

He'll gradually get back to where he needs to be as long as he doesn't get major doses of minutes. It would be great to have more practice time, but he's been in this situation before and he's familiar with it.

It certainly was a very important game. Let's face it, it was critical. We're in a must-win situation every night.

It is great to be in a situation in which you have great players. You find out pretty early in this business that without good players you will not be a good coach. I have been fortunate to be in a very good situation. My job as a coach is to make sure that we progress every year and we can be a championship contender.

Part of the problem was that Jermaine was sick (Monday) and he was really exhausted in the first half. I know his physical situation contributed to some of his struggles. We just didn't have the luxury of sitting him much tonight.

I won't know what our health situation is going to be until probably Sunday. We have a couple of days to try to get guys healthier.

We're down players, which hurts us, but also we're in a situation where we've got zero margin for error. We're going to have to make shots. We just could never get anything going offensively.

We're down a lot of players and it looks like we may be down another. We're in a situation where we have zero margin for error.

Every win is important. Playoff position is at stake and we just had a string of road losses that were tough on us so getting on track was important, and we're starting to get a little confidence in our overall situation as well.

The situation with his hip is very positive, ... He has a lingering Achilles (tendon) problem from last year. He has been taking treatment on it the last couple of months. I think his timetable to play at 100 percent is going to be a little further down the line.

A.J.'s the starter for now. We'll see how the next couple of weeks unfold. We were in this same situation in January and probably rushed him back too soon.

You can't look at their record. They've been a problem for us the last two years. We did some good things to put us in a strong situation and made some mistakes.

The best situation will be for him to completely heal. I don't know what the prognosis or possibility is for that. It's certainly going to be awhile before he plays, because it's hurting too much for him to play effectively.

It looked like he labored a bit. I think it's a tough situation to not be in for a while and now be in the middle of a hotly-contested playoff series.

It's critical, let's face it. We're in a must-win situation almost every night. We have to win games. I just thought the guys came together as a team and did some really great things. It's important to be a playoff team. We've got a string of years we need to keep going.

I'm sad for him, for his family. A situation like this couldn't happen to a more undeserving person. Jonathan really is a great kid. He wanted to play basketball in the worst way and he wanted to help this franchise in the worst way.

I don't know; it's not really a conversation until it's a reality. We'll see. A lot can happen between now and when (Tinsley) comes back. It's a situation that we'll resolve when it comes time to resolve it.

He said he couldn't play. We weren't approaching it like he would play (against Orlando) and not play (against Miami). It's a situation we're aware of. He's worked himself back to the point where he can play. We'll just play it by ear.

The emotionally charged and highly competitive nature of our games is one of the things that makes it compelling to our fans. The fine line you walk as a player or coach is that you have to channel those emotions in a way that's not harmful to your team or the game. That's the situation we're dealing with. My sense was it was getting better year to year.