Flip Saunders Situation Quotations

Last night's game was a big game just because it put us up (9 1/2 games) with 15 to go. Now we're in a situation where we want to try and extend our bench a little bit, get those guys more minutes, and get our guys where we can stay competitive and fresh.

I think we're in a situation until the end of this week and through the weekend, everybody is just gathering information and really thinking about things. So he really hasn't made a decision one way or another.

Otherwise, I would have put him in. I think we're in a situation -- Dale is a guy we have to get ready, too. It's just kind of how we went.

I was really fortunate in the past five months to wait and evaluate situations. I was going to wait and find the right situation to walk into.

We said going in the idea was to not get anybody hurt and make sure that the guys we had to play broke a sweat and didn't get too stale and give our young guys an opportunity to play in a heated situation against some top players.

They all bring something to the table. Bryan got the players there. Mike put the players in a situation to be successful. Nash implemented the situation to be successful. They all bring something, and that's what team is all about.

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 never seem to be in a situation where as a coach you say, 'Boy, we just don't have it tonight,' ... Their mental approach of 'It's going to be OK,' that's probably the biggest thing, the poise they have.

It's the same thing. Keep sharp, not get anybody hurt, be in a situation to go out and have some success.

It's incentive to get days off (to rest players) and preparation for coaches. Any time you can get into a playoff situation and get a three- or four-day rest, you can get back to your basics with some good practices.

It's incentive to get days off. ... Any time you can get in a playoff situation where you can get a three- or four-day rest, it's almost like a mini-training camp situation, and you can get back to your basics. Get back and have a couple of good practices and really kind of get calmed down from winning a series and get rejuvenated and get back up and get into that crescendo where you're playing extremely well again for the first game.

It'll be a good situation for him to get in and get a feel of things, and hopefully he'll play well and use this as kind of a building block for the next eight games.

It's natural. We're in a very different situation than a lot of teams. A lot of teams, the reason they play their bench is because they don't like their fourth and fifth guys that much. I like my fourth and fifth guys. That's why our bench doesn't get the minutes some of the other benches get. You have a tendency to go to a comfort level.

Anytime you lose someone, a death in the family, it's very, very emotional. We're not in any situation to pressure him one way or the other.

The dog days are always the 10 days prior to All-Star break. That's always a tough time. You see a lot of teams get upset because guys say, 'OK, I've got a week off, I'm going somewhere for All-Star break.' Multiply that on top of our situation of guys wondering, 'Well, am I going to be an All-Star or not?' There's always that anxiety of wondering.