Mike Fratello Quotes (37 Quotes)

We're in a fight for position right now. You get rewarded for winning. We can still get home-court advantage with a better record than the third place team (Denver).

I thought it might have been a violation. But I'm not an official.

That's what you're supposed to do, win games. I'm very proud of this team. They wanted 30 wins at home and they got it. Not many teams can say they had 30 wins on their home court this season.

Chucky did a good job tonight because he had no turnovers in the 37 minutes he played. That is a great job for the amount of times he put the ball on the floor. As he continues to get more comfortable in our offense, we'll work more on his defense.

I thought it was a little of both. It was us taking shots that weren't the best shots. We didn't pass the ball and cut hard and space the floor.

We are a different team when we make shots.

The guys were tuned in. We knew we had to be ready for them from the beginning. ... These guys don't forget. They realize New York came out and played us hard the last time.

We just had a continuation of defensive breakdowns. We had nine assists in the game, and that's not good. They really dominated the series.

I was happy with the way we kept our concentration.

I thought New Jersey was very good. They were very good in the first half, and we began giving effort in the third quarter. They did everything well. On offense they executed. On offense we had a tough time getting good looks at the basket, and making shots. They were very well prepared, and they came out and played very well.

That's who Bobby is. That's his style of play. He's a high-energy guy. He can be instant offense. He can cause havoc on the defensive end. ... It's like a personality trait. Everybody doesn't have that. But he does.

We've been in a stretch where we would have one good quarter and then one bad quarter. Except for one stretch where Minnesota cut the lead in the fourth, I thought we did a much better job tonight than we've been doing lately.

They're a deep team, a very talented team. It's nice to have that kind of personnel.

We don't have the rich tradition that some other teams have.

You understand if you don't win, the season is over. It's as cold and as blunt as that.

We didn't guard him (Davis), we just fouled him is what we did. We put him on the line 20 times.

We focused on keeping Parker away from the rim, but we couldn't stop his dribble penetration. He did the same stuff, and he was very good.

I think he has enough of his players in the NBA to spread the word that he knows what basketball is about. He's smart enough to surround himself with people who have international experience, experience in the NBA. He will leave nothing unturned, believe me.

We'd still like to maintain the opportunity to create a position that's advantageous.

It would be good for us to try and keep playing good basketball and see if it is possible for us to start out a playoff series at home. That would be very significant.

We had open shots and we didn't make the shots that we made in the first half. They got in transition and we had some turnovers.

We just didn't rebound the ball for the whole series, but that's not even fair to say because we were terrible all year. It is what it is. We just don't rebound. Up against that team, the size they have and the way they go after the ball, the truth comes out.

It says a lot about the character of the individuals. They never let the different (adversity) affect them to the point where they got splintered off. I'm proud of what they did.

I don't think it's any secret that we're a different team when we make shots. We have to make shots on the perimeter when they load up on Pau down low.

We hung on down the stretch. We were able to make big plays. Eddie got hot in one stretch, and Chucky and Pau made plays that helped us get a much needed win.

I feel badly for our fans, our owner, the people upstairs. Unfortunately, we didn't play our best basketball, and they played great basketball.

The number of fouls by both teams didn't allow the game to have much of a flow. It broke up runs. ... But then our execution got much better. We ran plays better.

Pau deserves credit for making the shot at the end but the team also deserves credit. When we were nine down that's when we had to get some stops and work our way back in. That was just a great win.

We thought it was the best thing for us to do. Let them have the opportunity to get back home, straighten out their personal lives if there is anything that has to be done and get them away from the heavy concentration on basketball so they can come back with a clean slate.

I'm proud of the way our guys hung in there. All that really matters is the final score. All the games against the Spurs have been close. I think we have lost by one, two, and three points. The point is they swept us.

I pay attention everyday and try to see where we are. But my approach is that you go out and try to do your job everyday. You're supposed to win games. Anything less than that would be not what I expect of a professional in the NBA. You go out and try to win and where you end up is where you end up. You just have to go from there.

Chicago played an outstanding game. They were sharp and beat us in every aspect. Maybe last night's win got them back on a roll. They shot the ball incredibly well, they beat us in every facet - off the dribble, defensively and shooting. It was just a struggle for us the entire night.

We've got guys that will (get rest) based on how much their injuries affect them. The older the player the more beneficial rest can be. Or, it can depend on how many minutes the player's logged.

We have a lot of respect for this team. We knew it was going to be a war. They play hard and unselfish. They make it tough for you. ... We got stops when we needed to and we became aggressive, taking the ball to the basket.

Hopefully, he can come back and give us some excellent minutes.

It's only an advantage for us if we win. Last time I checked, they won their last game, didn't they

We do a rating system and the guy at the top of the list is Dirk. When you put all of the categories together and do the pluses and the minuses, and add and subtract and divide it by minutes played he comes out with a very high number against us. ... People that have hurt you, you try to take out of what they've done well.