Cavalier Quotes

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Cavaliers vs 76ers - Postgame Quotes​

Philadelphia 76ers Head Coach Maurice Cheeks

On defending the screen and roll...
"Well obviously the game came down to defending the screen and roll. I thought early on in the game they were missing some shots, late in the game they got to the middle of our defense once again like in Miami. They got to the middle of our defense for lay-ups or kicking out for shots and as the game unfolded, once again it got to not defending the pick and roll. We have to come up with a way that we're going to defend the pick and roll. Whichever way we're going do it, we have to come up with a way to do it. Larry Hughes and LeBron James obviously were very good but it came down to defending the screen and roll."

On having the personal to play the screen and roll...
"Whatever we have, we have to do it. It's not an option of who you have and who you don't have. You have to guard the screen and roll with who you have. We have to find someone to do it that's available. It's not about someone who's out. Sam (Dalembert) is not there so that's just not an option right now."

"We would have liked to have had 125 points and the Cavaliers have 123, but 120 points is usually good enough to win ball games. Unfortunately for us, it wasn't enough tonight. Chris (Webber) had a couple of foul line shots that he had been making. You can't fault our shots; it's not our offense. I didn't know that I was that good of an offensive coach."

Philadelphia 76ers Forward Chris Webber

On tonight's loss...
"It hurt. It hurt just like opening night hurt, just like last night hurt."

On how he sees the loss...
"It depends on how you are looking at it. If you are looking at moral victories and all you can say with time (we will get these wins). But right now you don't look at it this way. We were in a position where we really could have won."

On the fast pace of the game...
"For me personally, that is how basketball should be played. It's just fun - it is the way it should be played. Unfortunately for us at the end, we didn't get the win, but I love going up and down."

On the team's defense...
"(Our play) offensively had nothing to do with what we did defensively. And like coach said, and I am just quoting him, we can't use our defensive excuse and we have to take it upon ourselves to guard our man."

On LeBron James...
"I've had a chance to play against Jordan, Bird, a lot of guys, and Wade and LeBron are great players, but we have AI. When it comes to one-on-one skills, he is there, if not better. I can't use that as an excuse. I think the thing LeBron does that I love is that his pace is so great and he is a passer. I think that is the good thing about him. But we are all unique in that we have three guys who can create amazing things out there. Just saying because they have this guy or that guy, it doesn't make for an excuse. We have to take it upon ourselves to guard our man."

On Allen Iverson...
"I have a comrade that I can go to war with. He makes me be more myself and I think I make him be more himself. I think what we do is try to be the best that we can be. (It helps me) as far as seeing a couple plays ahead, how they are playing him and how I can play off that and how I can score for me. I don't know that it is so much that he makes me a different player, but he allows me to be me and I know I allow him to be him."

Philadelphia 76ers Guard John Salmons

On how Cleveland was able to win this game...
"They are good one-on-one players and they came find their teammates. They were going to the basket, and when we were clamping down they were hitting shots. It's the same thing that happened yesterday [against Miami]. The pick-and-roll and rebounding - we've got to figure those out."

On how difficult tonight's loss is to stomach...
"Today hurt. We should have won that game. We need to continue to believe in ourselves and not put our heads down. We need to forget what's in the past and just press on forward to what is ahead."

Philadelphia 76ers Forward Kyle Korver

On how tough the last two losses have been...
"They are tough. They are two games we felt we could have gotten. They could have elevated our status and our confidence. They didn't work out. We've got to get back to the drawing board and figure out a way to stop pick-and-rolls. That's what's been killing us the last two games. We're scoring plenty of points, but, defensively, we've got to work on some things."

On playing LeBron James and Dwayne Wade the last two nights...
"We have to get the ball out of their hands faster. Those guys are so talented and they have every single play in the book being run for them the whole game. We have to find a way to trap it better. We have to sharpen up some things. We've got tomorrow to do that, and then get ready for another one."

On how much he appreciates watching their type of talent...
"I'm not really trying to appreciate them. They are great players. I'm sure other teams are saying the same things about Allen or Chris. They are great players - young players who are going to do that for a long time. I am not out there trying to appreciate them. I'm out there trying to stop it."

Cleveland Cavaliers Head Coach Mike Brown

On tonight's game...
"A good ball game for the fans. They're a good team. They're playing extremely well. We knew it was going to be tough in their (Sixers) building. We knew that they could score. For us it was a character win. I thought our guys just found a way to win the basketball game. They did it on their own as a group. Everybody stepped up at certain times in the game."

On LeBron James...
"A triple-double, I think that says enough. LeBron is amazing and we didn't do anything tricky down the stretch. We put the ball in his hands and he helped win the game for us."

On the high-scoring game...
"That's not the way we want to win all the time. We hope to win by getting stops first because I always know we can score. If teams want to play an up-tempo game I truly believe we can do that. It's going to take some time for us to get to the point where we can do this every game. "

Cleveland Cavaliers Forward LeBron James

On the fourth quarter...
"I just wanted to give us an opportunity to try and win. I started attacking. We started to get defensive stops and we came up with a big win."

On coming from behind to win...
"That's one of our mottos. We kept telling ourselves the whole game to win the ball game. It doesn't matter how many points we were down, we just kept saying win the ballgame, by any mean necessary. Guys hit big shots and we were able to get back in it to eventually take the lead."

On the final minutes in the game...
"I was in attack mode. I had to some way; some how get our team to feel as if we can win this ballgame so they knew it wasn't over. I was able to get myself some good looks along with my teammates. This is one of the biggest wins I have had in my three years here."

Cleveland Cavaliers Guard Larry Hughes

On his defense against Allen Iverson...
"That's why they brought me here...to play and play. I'm a player that doesn't really get tired for the most part. At the end of the game I like to guard a guy who's going to get the looks. I think that's how you get your teammates respect."

On tonight's win...
"It's big because you want to win games early on in the season. We don't feel like we're where we will be in the next couple months, but we're working hard to learn our defensive scheme."

Link

 

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Cavaliers vs Boston Quotes

"It would be ideal to go 41-0 at home," James said. "It sounds unrealistic, but the way we are playing now, it looks like it can happen."

"(James) scores 36 in the flow," Boston coach Doc Rivers said. "If he was selfish, he could have had 50 tonight, but they may have lost if he had done that. They way he understands the game at his age is phenomenal. He should coach."

"They made a run and I thought it was time for me to start attacking," said James.

Boston had 20 turnovers compared to eight for Cleveland. "That was the biggest difference in the game," Pierce said. "There are a couple of hurdles we have to get over and turnovers are one them."

"It's LeBron, it's Larry. It's Larry, it's LeBron," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "Everybody else is just feeding off those guys."

"What do you want me to say?" Pierce said. "He's a strong guy, 6-foot-8, 240-250 pounds and you have to foul him a little harder. Whenever you match up against another All-Star, you just try to one-up each other, I guess. Tonight, he had a great game; he one-upped me."

"It's a great matchup," James said. "We are two of the best small forwards in the league right now and every time I go up against Paul it is a competition."

 

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Cavaliers vs Pacers

"It was hard work out there tonight (against Artest)," said James, who made 6-of-20 shots. "He's a great defender. I tried to use my quickness and get by him, but I missed a lot of shots I usually make. I should have attacked more, but the game was out of reach early because we couldn't make shots."

"Ron is a great defensive player," said Cleveland coach Mike Brown, who spent the previous two seasons as as assistant with the Pacers. "Not just that, he's a great all-around player. He can do a lot of things at both ends. I don't think all of LeBron's offensive problems were because of him, but he had a lot to do with it."

"It was a great team effort tonight," Artest said. "One through 15, we were all ready to play. We have given away three games this year, so effort is really important for us. I'm hungry to win, hungry to guard the tough players. I'm just always hungry."

"They aren't where Mike Brown wants them at yet," O'Neal said. "All in all, he has them playing with a lot of confidence. They'll get there, but they aren't there yet. It's still a work in progress."

 

[ootbttnlagitnbasf]

you've gotta love ron artest and his mystical comments that make no sense.

having 15 players ready to play is not much help in a league where you can only dress twelve. i'm certain that the cav's were just shaking in their boots knowing that the pacers thirteenth, fourteenth and fifteenth roster players were zeroed in on them.

 

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Game Quotes: Cavaliers vs. L.A. Clippers - November 30, 2005​

COACH MIKE BROWN
(Coach’s comments on the game)
“It was an exciting win. I thought our guys stepped up and accepted the challenge. They dug down defensively, and got stops when it mattered late in the game and in overtime. This is a team shooting 48% from the field. They have some talented scorers. Doing what we did in terms of holding them to 40.7% again is exciting to me. That is something we need to set as a goal, not necessarily that percent, but we need to make sure we get stops. Because I truly believe at the other end we are going to figure out a way to score.”
(On the play of Donyell Marshall)
“Donyell’s (Donyell Marshall) two threes were big. Those two threes were big. He hit those two threes, but that was not the only thing that he did. I thought he played solid defensively. I thought he was active. And, he continues to impress me with his rebounding ability.”

(The play of Zydrunas Illgauskas tonight)
“Z (Zydrunas Illgauskas) obviously had a big game. He was instrumental for us in this win. He did a nice job of posting deep and also finishing plays around the basket…(Continued talking about Z later) Like I said before Z posted deep. He got some great looks. On the other end he was big for us in the middle. He tried to contest and change shots.”

(Coach’s comments on the crowd at the game tonight)
“The crowd was great. I thought the crowd gave us the necessary energy to get over the hump. We appreciate the fans here in Cleveland. The fans have been coming to the game. They have been in to it just as much as our players have.”

(Zydrunas Illgauskas’ defensive stop on Elton Brand)
“Elton Brand was scoring a lot on jump shots. I was going to basically live or die with the jump shot. We put Z (Zydrunas Illgauskas) on him and he kept stepping down on the floor. Z did a heck of a job contesting his shot. He (Elton Brand) did take a jump shot. Z did a nice job of moving his feet when he (Elton Brand) put his head down and tried to get to the rim. Z came up big for us on that play. ”

(Status of Drew Gooden and coach’s decision to rest him)
“(Drew Gooden) Gooden has a sore left ankle. He had banged it the last game. I felt that watching him play at the start of the 3rd quarter he was not himself. I saw him limping around a little bit out there. He could not cover. I just did not think his recovery was good. I choose. It was my decision to sit him down. Drew could have gone. He said he was ready to play. It was my decision to sit him. I just did not think he was quite there to guard a guy like Elton Brand, and play at this kind of pace.”

(Winning in November)
“To get 10 wins in any month is fantastic. I will live with that. Again, a lot of it is those guys in the locker using their talent and ability to get the victory.”

LEBRON JAMES
(On getting the win tonight)
“It was real big. We didn’t want to go 0-3 in our last three ballgames then hit the west coast so we did a great job of executing down the stretch at the end of regulation and then we got stops in overtime that won us the game.”

(On Donyell Marshall’s tip-in in regulation)
“Larry shot a three and Donyell was weak-side and he crashed the boards. He got him on the arm but was able to put the ball inside the hoop. He made his free throw and that gave us a good spark to go into overtime.

(On Donyell Marshall’s three-pointers in overtime)
“They were real big. I told him if he ever looked me off in the corner again, I’m not going to pass him the ball again but he made it so it really didn’t matter.”

(On the Clippers)
“They are a good team. They are becoming a great team. Coach Dunleavy has a great system and they have a great group of guys. They are just like us. They are up and coming on the west coast and we are up and coming on the east coast. We are very similar.

(On the keys to overtime)
“We got defensive stops in overtime and that was it. Elton Brand didn’t score in overtime and that was the key.”

(On the next game against Seattle)
“It’s going to be very competitive. I know Seattle wants to get us back for what we did to them here. We have to go in with a mindset to play great. If we get defensive stops and contain Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, I think we can do a great job. If we come back with three wins, two wins, one win; If we know we play hard we’ll be satisfied.”

(On Ilgauskas’ play tonight)
“Z’s an All-Star. He’s going to struggle. I’m going to struggle. The whole team is going to struggle. We don’t worry about that. We know Z comes to play hard every day. Whatever he gives us is fine with us. Z’s an all-star. He does a great job of exploiting a lot of matchups. He was able to get to the free throw line and get some easy buckets and it helped us a lot.”

DONYELL MARSHALL
(What’s bigger the put back at the end of regulation or the two threes in overtime)
“Well obviously the put back to me. That helped send the game to overtime. The three’s, probably since the way I have been shooting lately, the threes probably helped a lot. But I think the put-back was bigger because that helped to send it to overtime.”

(About his confidence shooting)
“I think me shooting period has the confidence. I do not think I backed down from any shots. I still took the shot. That is what I am going to do. That is the only way I am going to get out of this slump. I still did not shoot particularly well, but I hit the shots when I needed to hit them. That is what counts. I still have the confidence to make those hits. Take them and make them. I am going to continue to have confidence. That is what I was brought here for. That is what I made my living off of, and I am going to continue to do that.”

HEAD COACH MIKE DUNLEAVY
(On the game)
“That was a helluva battle. We had a last possession to try to win it. We missed it, then our depth kind of hurt us with foul trouble in the overtime.”

(On Donyell Marshall’s 3-point play with 45 seconds left in regulation)
“That definitely hurt us for sure. They took us off from where we had an odd number (lead) where it was to our advantage to now it was a tied game. We were in a zone (defense) and we missed a box out coming from the corner. We didn’t get to it. For the most part, we did a pretty good job on the boards. Going the other way, Elton (Brand) was having a great game and we put the ball in his hands and told him to either create a shot for somebody or get one for himself. He had a good chance at it, a shot he can make, and it just didn’t go in for us.”

(On miscommunication on defense)
“We did have one big one where we were in man and Corey (Maggette) thought we were in zone. Sam (Cassell) called it out, and it was a loud crowd, and you’ve got to make sure when you’re coming back that everybody knows it. Any mistake in an overtime is costly, so that hurt us.”

SAM CASSELL
(On Donyell Marshall’s 3-point play late in regulation)
“I’m so frustrated with myself. The big play of the game was Donyell Marshall’s three-point play on the tipin. That was my assignment. I went to box him out and I didn’t get there in time and (LeBron) James tried to climb my back. Anybody who had a job to do and it’s his fault, I just missed my damn assignment tonight.”

ELTON BRAND
(On his potential game-winning basket at end of regulation)
“We had a shot to win it and I could have had us out of here. It felt good, but I missed it. I definitely got the look and the play that we wanted. You replay it and you think I could have done this, I could have done that, but it was a good look and that’s one of my moves I could make (shots).”

(On Marshall’s three-point baskets in OT)
“One time, there was a lack of communication, a guy thought we were in a man (defense) and we were in a zone. Donyell Marshall got open and hit two big threes on us. was tough to lose him, but we still have to find a way. That’s no excuse. We’ve got to find a way to fight back and compete, which I don’t think we did.”

COREY MAGGETTE
(On the game)
“We were in a good situation and we had a chance to win it. ‘E’ (Elton Brand) had a good look, he just missed it. That’s part of the game. In overtime, out play was terrible. We just didn’t do the right things.”

 

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[c]Cavaliers vs Kings Game Quotes[/c]

"He's become one of those great players," Sacramento center Brad Miller said. "That's what you do if you are a great player, you step up your game in the second half."

"We just played well today," James said. "We were able to get stops in the first half and knock down some key shots in the second. ... We had lost four of our last five games, so we wanted to come in here and get a win."

"He is amazing," Cavaliers coach Mike Brown said. "He is a guy who has carried us through a lot of these basketball games. He has teammates around him that help on both ends of the court, but the guy scores 30 points tonight and six boards and assists, getting that type of production from your star is great."

"He is an unbelievable player," Stojakovic said. "He is carrying the Cavaliers."

"It was a tough loss," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "They just couldn't get any stops in the fourth quarter. ... We couldn't keep James, we couldn't keep Hughes in front of us. We played hard, we just couldn't get the stops when we needed."

"Any time you can win, I'm happy to get a win on the road - in anyone's building," Brown said. "That is what we need to do. We have to become a better road team in order to become a better team in this league. For us to come in here and get a win against a good Sacramento team ... was a big win for us."

"Our expectations are so much higher than we are (playing) right now," Abdur-Rahim said. "This is tough, because when you look at our locker room, we do have talent."

"I've said it every time - it's always something different," Adelman said. "Tonight it was Peja not making shots and Mike not making shots."

"It's tough, we played with a bit more energy than the last game but it's the same results," said Miller, who had 12 points and 10 rebounds. "I guess we just move on."