280 Quotes by Maurice Cheeks

Anything can happen in this league. You have to give yourself a chance.

I don't see there is a problem with Allen integrating a No. 2 guy. Chris is a star within his own self. He can pass, shoot, rebound. He loves to pass. When you have a guy like that, he's going to make Allen's life easier on the court.

I thought our defense stayed pat the whole game, ... Kobe's a great player, but some nights the ball doesn't go in the basket. He just had an off night.

I am not going to get upset over Johnny taking shots. I did say the next time he has that opportunity to drive the basketball. We were in the penalty, so drive the ball, maybe get a foul, or the defense collapses and kick it out.

Anything that happens with the team is a reflection of myself. Any coach puts it on his shoulders when a team comes in and beats your team, regardless of whether you lost by one or 20.

I think after a while, after we start missing the easy shots, I think we start pressing a little bit and trying to make up for the easy shots that we missed and we just continued to miss. At one point I remember looking at the clock when we had 33 points and I don't remember the next time we scored. Then, the same thing happened in the third quarter when we just could not make a shot.

That part of the game is better than the overall game. We'd like our defense to get better for 48 minutes. But I think as the game unfolds and when another team needs a basket, I think our defense gets a little bit better. Certainly if you're going to win games, it has to be better down the stretch.

I think it starts tomorrow. We have to start evaluating and find out where we are and see what it takes to get better.

I don't want to underestimate the win. We needed a win.