Game Quotes: Cavaliers at Hawks - May 11, 2009

“Tonight we were fortunate to win. You have to giver the Hawks credit, we knew coming in that they were banged up during the playoffs. I felt our team was good enough to take advantage of those injuries.”

“Tonight, again, we ought to feel good about this win, because we got it in an ugly manner. I’m sure Atlanta probably feels like they didn’t play their best. I know offensively we didn’t play our best. But the way we defended tonight allowed us to make some mistakes. Our defense allowed us to turn the ball over 18 times and to shoot 53% from the free throw line. Those are not impressive numbers by no means, but in the playoffs, especially on the road, you have to have an anchor and a foundation. Our guys have that, and they believe in it. Even when they have breakdown, they recover from it. They have the will to want to get it done on that end of the floor. We had a lot of good performances from guys. Delonte West has tough covers every time he steps on the floor. He was extremely good for us tonight.”

"It's always good that you can have games like this to help you along throughout the playoffs."

(On another layoff):
"The one thing about our team, we're very disciplined. We have a veteran ballclub, and we're going to take advantage of the rest time we have, because we can use it. It doesn't matter if you play four games, or five, six or seven. It's wear and tear in the postseason. So we're going to take advantage of it, and we're looking forward to our next challenge."

(On his leadership tonight):
"I can't share exactly what i was saying, because kids may be watching. I was just trying to have our guys step forward. Teams are going to make runs. It happens. Not for one second did I lose focus on what's at hand, or anybody on our team. There were a couple times when it looked like we came unraveled. So I was just making sure guys know that, it doesn't matter what's going on, we can still win this ballgame."

(On his confidence in his teammates):
"I have trust in every last one of those guys. From number one, all the way down to the 14th guy."

“I don’t think we shot free throws too good tonight. We definitely can do a better job at that. You have to give the Hawks credit tonight for making it tough on us. They came out with a lot of pride. They just didn’t give in. They came out and they were ready to play.”

“We’re glad to finish this series off. Now it’s time to go get our rest and get ready for the next series. We have some bumps and bruises to heal from in this series. Coach (Brown) did a good job getting us prepared for every game.”

“Delonte had a big game tonight. The dunk he had tonight was over a whole bunch of people, and I thought it was amazing. We came out a little bit flat, and the Hawks had a nice run early. I sense that we needed a little bit of energy, and that’s what bench guys are supposed to do; to give your team a lot of energy. That’s one of the key factors that got us though this game tonight.”

“I would love to have Mike Bibby back. He’s been a big part of what we’ve done this season. Without Mike, we don’t make the playoffs last season. We don’t win 47 games, and sew up the fourth spot and host first round at Philips Arena without Mike.”

“I thought our bench came in…I thought Flip was really good off the bench for us. But we just didn’t have enough to pull it off tonight.”

“When we lost to Boston last year in seven, it was a tough way to go out. But we lost to the world champions. In doing that, that taught this team how to prepare for this upcoming season. All the naysayers had us not even making the playoffs. But we win 47 games, and wrap up one of the top four spots in the East and host first round at home. It’s been a long road to get to this point. But like I told those guys in the locker room, I don’t want them hanging their heads. This was a positive year for this Atlanta Hawks basketball team.”

“I love the guys. I love the coaching staff. I love the city…so we’ll see what happens.”

(Defensively): “I think we did pretty good. It was a low-scoring game, so defense was good on both sides. But they knocked down shots at the end of the game when they needed it.”

“If I did anything more than I did tonight, I think we would have had a good chance to win the game.”

“No one expected us to win 47 games, and we did it. Nobody expected us to get past the first round, and we did it. We fought hard against a real tough team. Sure, we could have played better in this series. But we have to move on.”

“I thought, all in all, we had a pretty good season.”

“The effort was definitely there tonight, but they got a lot of loose balls, a lot of hustle plays they beat us to.”

“If I know my guys, I think this will leave a sour taste in our mouths all summer. We just have to keep working to get better over the summer, and come back next year with vengeance.”

(On Mike Bibby returning next season):
“It’s very important. We’ve had nothing but success since he’s joined us. Two playoff appearances, last year taking Boston to seven games, this year getting to the second round. So we’re still improving each year. I look forward to having him back, and us doing even bigger and better things next year.”