"We've been counting on Jason to put up the big numbers and he can't do that every night. We've got to have other people playing and doing things as well."

"I think we were desperate. That's the way we've got to play every night. We don't have much margin for error."

"I think in the proper context, they'll be fine. It would be unusual that the five guys that aren't starting are as good as the five guys that are starting. But I think each of the guys in their own right has things they do for you."

"We got real 3-point happy when they went to the zone. We should have had the presence of mind to drive the ball."

"In his mind, I don't think he feels like he's emerged at all. He probably just feels like he needed an opportunity."

"He's been well coached having Roy Williams and Bill Self. They put him in position where he understands how to do things. But again, coming in here with some pretty good players and being able to hold his own like he has, it's pretty impressive. He's not backed off. He's been tough. He's shown leadership."

"At practice yesterday we could barely get 94 feet we were so tired. We just couldn't run and it carried over to today. The break really took its tool on us and Jason (Richardson) is a little under the weather. Troy is coming back from about 2 1/2 weeks of not being able to do anything."

"We had real problems in the paint."

"Ike was going to have to work his way into the rotation with the guys we've got back. Any rookie needs experience. It's not something you step in and dominate. The best place for that would have been exhibitions, but that's not available to us, so we have to go to Plan B."activ

"He's been good and it helps to have another guy. Mike has come to life the past two games. He's been really good. All of a sudden, it makes a whole lot of difference when you have a second guy that can put the numbers up. He's hit some timely baskets without a doubt."

"I think our players deserved that win. We've been through so many games where at the end we haven't made a play and now Jason steps up and hits a huge shot."

"It's a cumulative thing. The last how many games, how many was there a shot to win at the end? And we didn't get any of them. I think these kids deserve a win. It's discouraging and doesn't feel very good. These guys deserve a win."

"It's a tough deal. Mike got hurt early, and J.R. was not with us."

"Kobe really hurt us. He did a great job on (Richardson),"

"He's a steadying influence, ... He just keeps the ball in his hands and guys know that he'll be able to get them the ball."

"Jason Richardson's given it everything he has. He has showed tremendous heart. But it's a team and it's a team game. We can't do it with any one guy. We've got to get a first and a second and even a third guy. You need to get guys playing well and playing with confidence."

"Everybody on our team sure liked Matt. He works hard and he makes open shots and it seems to me like he's playing with more confidence."

"It's hard. The teams we are playing are all vying for playoff spots. They all have incentives."

"We get back ahead get control of the game but we can't sustain it. Yao is a problem for us and no matter what we did we were in trouble."

"A lot of defense is just want, just wanting to do it. It's hard work. You get tired, you've got to be able to defend and that's what we're working on. But they're working at it. It's not something that's going to happen overnight. Team defense takes a while to develop."

"It's got us all frustrated. The first part of the game we couldn't get back on defense. Then in the second half, we couldn't guard them when they were in front of us."

"I thought we were better on defense, and it allowed us to get out on the break more consistently. I think it was important for us to get a split just so the kids will get some confidence in themselves and what we're doing."

"The other area is certainly an area for debate. We'll just have to see it plays out. I understand both sides of the argument."

"I think Ellis is an explosive athlete."

"He's got to fight his way through it. He's got to get rebounds, defend, (get) loose balls and pass. Eventually, it'll all work itself out."

"This isn't like college where you are building character and molding people. This is wins and losses and you better figure that out pretty quick."

"It could actually get interesting without really stretching the imagination too far. But it still depends on us winning games, as it has been all year."

"They win a lot of close games, that's what they do."

"It (fouling) is not something I believe in."

"In college, you're in charge of everything. In the NBA, you're in charge of nothing."

"Those guys are younger than me. I did my thing in college. I had all the success I needed to have. I came here to do this, to try to get this thing going. No, I'm not going back to college."

"You've got to force him out of his comfort area and I don't think we did that consistently."

"Kobe Bryant is a monster who is extremely difficult to defend. They get so much confidence from having him out there."

"Very, very surprised. We had had a 45-minute conversation, and we talked about a lot of things. So I apologized to Billy, and that's the end of the story."

"It's pretty obvious to me our confidence is shot a little bit and we're just going to have to work our way through it. We've got guys who are missing shots they can make."

"We ended up getting a ton of mediocre shots. The longer we did that, the more they got confidence that they could stay in the game. Then we got ourselves in a hole that we had a tough time digging ourselves out of. We got three shots at the end, but we never should have been in that situation."

"I thought we were better on defense tonight; it gave us confidence,"

"We have lost a little bit of confidence and the Spurs are not a good team to try to get your confidence back because they are a great basketball team."

"Kobe's got such confidence in shooting the ball. He's got the ability to drive and the ability to shoot over the top of you as he falls away. He's certainly one of the toughest guys to defend around the league."

"There was a recipe for disaster not having Jason Richardson out, getting in at 4 a.m. and playing a back-to-back. But the guys hung in there and gave us a chance. We battled hard."

"The doctors say he's OK to go, the trainer says he's OK to go and he says he's OK to go. You don't put a guy out there with a restriction."

"The experience of, for anybody, being a head coach, having to make the decisions, I just think it helps your understanding of the whole process. Just confidence and making his own decisions and being in charge, I think it helps everybody."

"There's no excuse for playing that poorly in the first half, ... But it is two halves."

"You've got to admire his courage. He wasn't getting any lift off the ankle early and kept coming up short. You knew he was hurting but he didn't want to come out and let it stiffen."

"We battled back from 20 points down. The guys were hustling, working and playing together. They had some energy. The game was right there. All we had to do was finish it and we didn't finish it."

"He's a little more relaxed (this season), I think. I think he feels like he can give us energy off the bench. And obviously, if he shoots the ball, that's a bonus. He's a good defender. We'd like him to rebound a little bit more, but he's helping us a lot right now."

"But they're really taking individual challenges personally. We've had some crummy shooting nights, yet you look up and we're in the game with a chance to win. And that's what defense will do for you."

"This is the first time in recent history that the governor has declared a state of emergency because of fire conditions across the state. Any even though the conditions are not as severe as what we've seen up in north Texas, they are affecting us."