Game Quotes: Cavaliers vs. 76ers - November 21, 2009

(On tonight’s game): “Obviously, Jamario’s length and energy coming off the bench was big for us tonight. When you have a guy like Iguodala, the only thing you can do is try to make him work. Jamario did a nice job in the second half of using his length and making him work and Andy also at times, as he had to switch out on him. Jamario gave us a big lift. That crew of Mo, Gib, Jamario, Andy and Z did a nice job of starting us off at the defensive end of the floor the right way (in the fourth quarter) and then Mo hit some shots.”

(On Mo Williams): “Mo had a big night, not only knocking down shots for us, but leading that group that got us back in the game and took the lead. He also had eight rebounds and five assists with only one turnover in 41 minutes. What he did was a positive and it helped the team win.”

(On the fourth quarter): “We just decided to get back in transition and not only that, our weak side defense and awareness was good. Guys (Philadelphia) weren’t making back cuts and getting layups. We didn’t give up drives and if someone did drive, there was another body there and we were protecting one another on the back side. Everyone was on a string, everyone helped one another and trusted one another. It was great to see.”

(On the bench gaining the lead in the fourth quarter for the second consecutive night): “It’s hard to say it’s the bench because Mo Williams is starting the fourth quarter. Mo definitely holds down the fort until I get back in the game. The bench was great; I think Andy was awesome. Jamario offensively and defensively was great. They took care of business until we got in there and then we finished it off.”

(On regaining their defensive identity): “We can score with some of the best teams but our mark is defensively. When you have guys that want to play defense and buy into the system, it makes it a lot easier on the offensive end.”

(On enjoying throwing alley-oops rather than catching them): “It is pretty good to have high fliers like that. I see the floor from anywhere and to be able to just throw it up by the rim and have two guys that can go and get it is great.”

(On winning three of the four games in the five-night span): “We would rather take four out of four in four of five nights, but we will take it. We didn’t have one of our best games in Washington, but we had bounce back games. It was great to see how we reacted after those games especially in Indiana and then tonight in a back-to- back at home. It was good basketball by us.”

(On the team’s effort tonight): “It gives everyone a lift when everyone is helping and contributing. I think that Jamario Moon came in and gave us a real good spark off of the bench in the fourth quarter, not just in scoring, but I think he rebounded the ball real well and got us going.”

(On the team stepping up in the fourth quarter): “I think that in the fourth quarter we just asserted ourselves defensively and we got after it. I think we have got one of the best closers (LeBron James) in the league. When it’s late in the game, we already know who we are going to go to and we just play off of him.”

(On playing the fourth game in five nights): “You can never really prepare yourself for four games in five nights. No matter how good of shape you are in, you’re still going to feel it on that (fifth) night. It just takes guts to get out there and perform the way we did. The way we started the game, we tried to come out with a lot of energy.”

(On Philadelphia’s fast-paced style of play): “That’s how they play. They are a big time transition team and they try to make plays off of your mistakes. If you miss a shot or if you have a turnover, they try to turn those into points. That’s how they try and stay in games and win games. I think that we started to take care of the ball and we played that motion offense a little better (defensively). We made everything in the half court (offense) tough and in transition we didn’t give them any opportunities.”

(On LeBron losing his headband during the game): “That whole time (he was playing without it) he was looking for it…He was asking everybody to get him his headband. He said that he ‘lost his battery pack for a minute,’ but he still looked good. He still was performing and that just shows what kind of talent we have got with us.”

(On 76ers tonight vs. last night): “I have no problem with our effort tonight. I have no problem with a lot of things that we did tonight. We rose to the challenge in a great environment for them (Cavs), a tough environment for any opponent. I liked the way we executed, I liked the way we talked, it was just a different team than what we saw last night. We just didn’t win the game.”

(On the key for the 76ers tonight): “I saw most importantly the communication. Our guys were talking to each other, they rallied around each other, and you saw a lot of dialogue on the floor, talking and communicating on the floor about defensive rotations. I saw a lot of the play calling that was good and they responded by executing the offense. So, a lot of good things, we just didn’t really step up in the fourth quarter to make shots.”

(On seeing improvement from last night to tonight): “It was very important for me to see that they accepted the challenge and did all the right things, except win the game. We all know it’s a process. Even though this team has had playoff experience, we’ve missed a lot of veteran leadership from last year and it’s a process in the making as far as learning a new system at both ends and learning how to find the leaders within the team. So, all of that is coming together. It’s going to be up and down, it’s not going to happen overnight, but I like the young core of players. I liked how they responded tonight.”

(On Andre Iguodala): “He missed some easy shots. He’s looking for his teammates, he’s looking to push the ball on the break. If he can make it be more efficient, he’s very talented. Sometimes, he relies on his talent to do a little bit too much, in a good way. If he could just take the easy play, I think he’ll be a more efficient player.”

(On the Cavs defense in the fourth quarter): “You always give credit to them. They’re very good defensively. We missed some open shots, and they got into us a little bit more, so credit their defense. They are a good defensive team when they want to be.”

(On LeBron James taking over the game): “No question about it. And, we just hope that we can have a guy or two, emerge in that sort of thing. He’s a very special player. I remember John Chaney (former Temple coach), helping me during a playoff series here when I was with the Wizards and he said, ‘don’t get caught up watching the circus. Watch the other people behind you, who are getting the dunks and layups because you’re watching the circus.’ So, I told our guys, don’t just focus in on LeBron. He’s big, but you can’t give up easy dunks.”

(On the 76ers): “Something that we do sometimes is we kind of play to the level of our competition. We raised our level of play tonight. We had them against the ropes, it was just a matter of our guys couldn’t make shots and they finished the game well.”

(On the fourth quarter): “They did a good job defensively. You have to give them some credit. We just couldn’t knock down some shots. I think we did a good job of attacking after they scored. LeBron has a knack of getting those high-flying dunks and the opposing team kind of shuts down and stares around for a while. But, we did a good job of getting it out and pushing it right back at them.”