Flip Saunders Played Quotations

To our credit, we calmed down and just played basketball. The thing is, especially on the road, you put yourself in a position to win games. We don't beat ourselves.

We've talked about Chauncey and how it would be a travesty if he's not an All-Star. It's the same way with Parker. He's really played at that level the last couple of years, and I can't see any way he doesn't make that All-Star team this year.

What I'd like to do is get him the ball more in low-block situations and not as many things in pick-and-pop situations. He played well with Carlos, but he'll play well with anybody, how he plays.

One of the reasons I played him a lot, I thought it was better for him to be occupied than to sit and think. And considering his circumstances, not sleeping much last night after hearing about it, he played pretty good.

I don't always judge things by wins and losses. I just go by how you play and the opportunities to win. We played 51 games, and out of those 51 we had nine losses and probably only three of those games where we basically didn't have opportunities to win in the fourth quarter.

He should be OK, but we felt he'll take enough hits on Thursday. He could have played if we needed him.

This was a good overall game for us. We did what we said we were looking to do with these last few games. We were sharp, we played a lot of people and were able to keep the starters' minutes down.

This was a game I wish I could have been in the stands, just sitting there watching. This was a great basketball game between two teams who played hard and with a lot of emotion. It was a very entertaining game.

Kind of how we've been for 37 games. Different guys lead us over different parts of the game, play unselfish. Thirty assists, eight turnovers, that's kind of where we've been when we win games. I think how we played tonight against New York is pretty much how this team has played through the first half of this season.

I talked to the guys at halftime and basically said that we were not as competitive. I thought that the second half they played exceptionally well. In these type of games, it takes a lot of time to get used to playing with guys. Every guy did something in a very positive way.

I thought we were not as mentally alert. We played somewhat out of character, but as bad as we played we still had a chance with a minute to go. We didn't capitalize on our opportunities down the stretch. You play 82 games, and you don't like to say you didn't have it, but we didn't have it tonight.

I was concerned because everywhere you walked the past three days, that's all people talked about. They didn't even know we played Friday night. I think most of the people were talking about Sunday -- except the TVs. They were talking about Miami and the Lakers.

I was concerned because at shoot-around this morning I heard a couple of guys mention some stuff about Miami. I was concerned we might overlook Atlanta. But we came out and played like a well-oiled machine in the first half.

I thought we played really well for stretches and periods, both defensively, offensively. I thought we got up 18-20, we lost a little bit of our concentration.

I thought we played maybe 10 to 13 minutes of championship basketball tonight. We didn't play how we're supposed to play, even down the stretch. We won the game, but there were definitely some learning experiences.

I thought we might have played 10 to 13 minutes of championship basketball tonight. We won the game, but there are things we need to work on.

I thought we had terrible energy, terrible passion in the first half. Just seemed very much disinterested. Then we picked things up, played with more energy, got the lead.

I thought the first unit played well in both of their stints. They basically took control in the third quarter.

I thought that McDyess and Evans played extremely well. (McDyess) has been extremely effective. I said in the beginning of the year, we have six starters -- and I consider him one of the starters. He's playing like that right now.

I thought our full-court trap changed the tempo of the game out of free throw situations. And I thought we played some zone the first half that helped us a little bit. I think both teams tried some things to see what worked and to use down the road.

I think what's happened is (starters) minutes have gone down in the last few games because of the play of (Antonio) McDyess, the play of Mo (Evans), the play of (Carlos) Delfino, the play of (Carlos) Arroyo. Those guys have played well, and if a team plays well, you keep them on the floor.

Our main guys played really well in the third quarter. Then we gave our young guys some fourth quarter experience against a team trying to get a win after losing 10 straight. It would have been better if they would have got the win but overall they did some good things and got some good experience in a close game.

That was Detroit basketball. The more we played against them, the more we understood their sets and we were able to contest their shots. If we play lock-down defense like we did tonight, we can play with these guys.

I would like to say we did something good, but we didn't. We had something to do with that, but it had more to do with how the Nuggets played. They played at an extremely high level.

We were mentally a step slow. We had some defensive breakdowns, we played out of character. But as bad as we played, we still had a chance to win the game with a minute to go.

We played like a well-oiled machine. And I think there's a sense that if it comes down to it, you can turn it back on.

We have to know that they have other guys that are capable. Charlie Bell has played well. T.J. Ford had a pretty good game overall and we've got to continue to find those two. Just do what we normally do. Our philosophy is to contest whatever shot is taken, try to limit three-point shots and rebound the basketball. Those are three things we did.

We played 82 games that we considered playoff basketball. That's the way we're going to play. We're going to defend, we're going to move the ball offensively, and that's why I told our guys.

When I watch film, they played zone, ... They just didn't call it zone.

We've played 37 games and different guys lead us over different parts of the game and play unselfish...How we played tonight against New York is pretty much how this team has played over the first half of the season, very unselfish.

We've been known in the league that we played the best zone defense, when I was in Minnesota, ... In one day, I can tell you that we're going to be a much better zone defensive team than we were in Minnesota.

You have to understand, we've played 82 games to get here; 82 games of playoff-type basketball. People talk about the pressure of being the hunted. Well, we've been the hunted since we were 8-0. It's been like our opponents' Super Bowl every time they play us. I think the regular season prepared us for what's at hand.

We had terrible energy and terrible passion in the first half. We just seemed very much disinterested, and then we really picked it up and played with more energy.

We try to talk a little bit, keep in touch every now and then, follow each other's career. It's a unique situation. You have two guys who played with each other, went four years together.

We got out of it what we wanted. Our main guys played really well, especially in the third quarter when they turned the heat up. We worked on some of our trap defenses that were really effective. Then we gave our young guys some fourth-quarter experience.

Ben played 56 minutes last night (in Memphis), and he played 41 tonight. Yet, he was able to do what he did. When we needed to lock down in the final two minutes, he pretty much did it.

Ben was phenomenal. People talk about Bruce Bowen and others as the best defender. Bruce is a great individual defender. Ben is a great individual defender. But Ben Wallace might be one of the best that's played the game as a team defender.

Ben was great. The energy he played with for 56 minutes was unreal.

The starters have always been a fan vote and Vince has probably gotten more votes for the last seven years almost than anybody that's played the game. He had a lot of votes this year.

Right now, they're not as predictable. With Jermaine a lot, they came down, they threw it in the post, they played off him a lot. Here, they go to different people, they have a lot more ball movement, player movement. It's an offense geared toward everybody. I think Rick (Carlisle) has done a really good job with that group since they made that move.

You're in a situation where the other team doesn't have anything to lose. Their backs are against the wall, and they're going to come out and play with a great amount of energy. They're going to play with confidence from the way they've played their last couple games. You know going in about that situation, so you know you have to go in and have a superior performance. You can't just come out and have an average performance.

They pounded us on the glass. Give them credit. They made shots and played with more energy. We were a little bit tired.

The biggest thing that I was impressed with was the last three or four minutes, our defense was (good). It we played like that for 48 (minutes), we'd make things a lot easier for ourselves.

It's always tough to play on the road and I thought Seattle played really, really well. This is always a tough place to play. We were able to get ourselves back in the game in the first half but we just could not shake them.

They controlled the tempo. We played out of character.

They were aggressive and we played out of character on defense. They're 18-0 run really dictated the game.

Not only because of the votes but with how he's played. Right now, he's been the best power forward in the East with how he's played through the first 40 games. Look at what our record is and how he's played, and I guess you'd have to give me a reason why he shouldn't.

Any time you are a competitor and you're not winning, you get frustrated. The great ones all do and he's going to be one of the greatest that ever played this game.

(The Lakers) were extremely aggressive. We got pounded on the glass and they took things to the basket. We played out of character defensively. We were switching and getting little (guys) matched on big (guys) and we took the easy way out by settling for jump shots.

I have to thank Charles (Barkley) for giving a great halftime talk when he said the game was over. I thought we were playing too perfect, but in the second half we played exceptionally well. When our four guys (four All-Stars from Detroit) were in we started to run some plays, and I think that helped us.

This is a guy who played a role for 82 games. His role isn't going to change that much, especially when you are talking about a guy who's been hurt for the last five days. I don't think anyone should expect him to come in and be a superman.

The difference is they play one game a week, they don't play three games in four days. We're kind of in a different situation. And part of it was how sharp we've been. We've been extremely sharp the last few weeks. That's how they played (Sunday) night together as a group.

You've got a team that had three days off playing against a team that played four games in five days, in four different cities, and a back-to-back situation. They played with a great amount of energy and they carried that energy to a win.