(On their play):
"Our guys were really competing tonight. With all our guys that are banged up and out of the lineup, I thought this was one of the best games we've played and being competitive. It's something we can build on. At the end of the game, Rose took over. I was very pleased with how hard we played but still disappointed. As good as it sounds it's still means nothing when you lose the game."
(On the young guys' play):
"Manny and Christian are young guys still learning. They're doing some really good things when they're out there. You saw how competitive Christian is tonight. It's good to see him playing aggressive at both ends. We've talked about not letting guys get to the rim and it was good to see him make some good, hard clean fouls. I'm proud of how our young guys played."
(On their defensive effort tonight):
"I just thought that tonight we played like we knew we had a chance to win. We started playing defense and got a confidence that we could win. Unfortunately, down the stretch we didn't take good percentage shots. Most importantly tonight, defense was the key to our winning. I thought we did a good job on Rose except those last four minutes or so."
(On the young guys' play):
"Our young guys are playing aggressive ball for us. We just have to find a way not to have minutes like we did starting in the first half. Those stretches are what kill us. We need a consistent 48 minute effort. I'm seeing the young guys learn and they're listening to the things that we tell them. However, it takes game experience for them to truly understand. The biggest thing they need to learn is to be consistent. We just seem to go well for a stretch and then forget what it was that got us going. We've got a tough couple of games coming up that we have to win. I believe that we can."
BULLS HEAD COACH TOM THIBODEAU
(On the 4th Quarter offense):
"We were struggling to score. It was a low energy game. We were searching and rebounding poorly. I thought in the first half we got a big lead and relaxed. We did the same thing in the second half. We got a big lead and let up. They keep playing. Those guys are good. Jamison is terrific. Hickson played extremely well. He crushed us on the boards. He could have set a rebounding record today."
(On Cleveland struggling and Bulls playing to their level):
"Every team is good. The challenge for us is to be a 48 minute team. We have to learn to play tough with the lead. We did not do that. You usually do get what you deserve in this league."
(On his technical foul):
"They gave me no explanation. They said Luol locked arms on a double foul. I don't if that's my first technical this year."
(Derrick was not looking to shoot as much this game):
"That was not by design. We cannot pick and choose when we are going to go. We have to be ready by the start of the game. Everybody has to be aggressive. We have to establish who we are going to be. The initial part of our defense was good and our rebounding was poor."
(On Carlos coming back):
"Some good, some bad. Mostly what I expected. He had a week off without doing anything. He still had 20 and 10. He had 1 practice. He will get better and better."
(On Kyle Korver's progress):
"Even when people said he was struggling with his shot, he was not really struggling. We studied his shots and they were good shots that rimmed in and out. The thing about him is he helps us with spacing. People do not leave him so the floor is open. You can get the ball into the post and Derrick can get dribble penetration. It helps you pick and roll game. I also thought CJ gave us some good energy. In the 4th quarter we were searching trying to find some energy."
CARLOS BOOZER
(On the game):
"I was a little rusty. I didn't have the lift I wanted to have. I couldn't rebound the way I wanted to. I pushed thru it, though. I look forward to the next game. They played us tough. We got up by a few points but they came right back in the game. 'Twan (Jamison) got really hot from the 3 point line in the 3rd quarter. Hickson had a monster rebound game. We made the right plays at the end of the game to win the game. We shouldn't have been in a dogfight to win the game like that. We're not proud of that. We have to clean some stuff up, continue to get healthy, and look forward to the next one. Hickson might have had 10 or 12 offensive rebounds by himself. He came into the game with great energy. He got a lot of rebounds and got them a chance to get back in the game. We did a good enough job to win, but we know we can play a lot better."
(On his ankle):
"It's more of a soreness than a sharp pain. I can deal with it. I didn't have the explosion I wanted to have on a few rebounds. It will get better as we continued to rehab it."
(On the game):
"We were ready to play. I thought we came out ready. I thought we had great attention to detail, focus, we had opportunities to close the door on that team. But we didn't. It's something we need to work on, to be a 48 minute team. We can't be a team that plays 3 quarters. We need to be a team that plays the entire game the right way."