Rick Carlisle Guy Quotations

We tried some. Johnson is a guy that was doing a good job of staying out of harm's way when it came to that (sixth) foul. We did a couple of things, but if you go too much out of what's working to try to get a sixth foul, you can disrupt your own team. That's something you don't want to do.

When I walked in at 5:30 p.m. and heard Jermaine was out, I wasn't sure what we were going to do or the best way to go. I just had a hunch Harrison was a guy we needed to get involved.

We're going up against a guy who's playing a superhuman brand of basketball. He's looked invincible.

Right now, he's a guy who's going to have to step to the forefront. It'll be an opportunity for him, and we're counting on him to come through for us.

I have been voting for this guy as an all-star for three years. I am no closet fan. I am an out-there fan. I love the way he plays, and he is a guy you really fear.

He hurt it at the end when he got that put-back, so we'll hold our breath and keep our fingers crossed that he'll be OK (on Thursday) and the next day. He's going to be sore, we know that, but if anybody will play hurt, he's certainly a guy who's done it time after time.

He's a guy that our players look up to because he's been on a championship team. He has some credibility because of that.

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.

Harrison felt bad about the suspension. I thought he atoned himself in a very strong way with his play at both ends of the court. That's what you want to see, a guy respond to adversity when things aren't going well all the time.

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 see a guy that's working his butt off to get his rhythm back and get his recognition, and he's done a lot of great things. We knew this wasn't going to be an overnight process.

I thought he played well in the Houston game and he did some good things in the New York game. He's going to be an important guy for us with Freddie out.

Michael Redd was a guy we talked a lot of about before the game. (Jackson) did a good job at the start and our whole team reacted to him.

We hoped he was going to be open and have a pocket of space to get an open shot or drive the ball. Bosh did a great job of switching out defensively. I have to take the blame for that. That was a bad call putting a guy in a position that ended up not being a good position.

We always knew he was a good all-around player. From afar, we always felt he would be a better individual defender than what he was given credit for just from watching him play against our team. He's a guy that always had pretty good rebounding numbers for a (small forward).

Anthony Johnson is a guy you can count on. There are guys on your roster you know are going to be ready to play and take care of themselves and be professional, knowledgeable, they like the game. He is one of those guys who fits that description.

Anthony Johnson is a guy you can count on.

(It) just didn't seem like we were really right all night. I don't really have an answer for that. That guy that got us was Arenas. Unfortunately, we couldn't get him under control. We got the lead back, but couldn't sustain it. We had our chances down the stretch.

It'll be one of the questions when you look back in history. How good could this guy have been? I'm not sure that there was any limit to his potential. It was just not to be.

I've got confidence in young players who work hard. I'm more impressed with the fact he started slowly and came back and played well. You always want to see how a young guy comes back from an adverse situation.

That move gives them more scoring off the bench. Gordon is a guy that proved last year he's instant offense. They have Chandler also coming off the bench, giving them size and mobility and energy there.

His abilities as a player are breathtaking. He's brought his game up to another level since he's come to New Jersey. I know Jason Kidd has had a lot to do with that. This isn't any news flash. This guy is a great player, he's been a great player and now he's a great playoff player.

He's experienced and has played him a lot. He's done well with him in the past and he's the best guy that we have. We're fortunate that he's feeling better for a game that we're playing against the biggest, strongest guy in the game.

He's a guy who can score, yet I don't see him referred to a lot as a big scorer. He's a winner. And he's done it in a lot of different situations.

He's a guy who can score the ball, yet I don't see him referred to a lot as a big scorer. He's a winner. And he's done it in a lot of different situations.

He's an important guy on the floor and an important guy in the locker room, too. He's one of our leaders on this team. It's great having him back.

A.J. is playing with great awareness and great savvy. He looks like a guy that understands the pulse of the team he's running. The majority of the game, he's making our calls and directing us into things. He's a guy that really knows this team, as well as any player that I've had the opportunity to work with as a coach.

A.J. is playing with great awareness and great savvy. He just looks like a guy who understands the pulse of the team he runs. He knows his team as well as any player I've had an opportunity to coach.

The guy's at the top of his game. It's a rare opportunity to see a guy perform at this level.