Flip Saunders
Flip Saunders
Philip Daniel "Flip" Saunderswas an American basketball player and coach. During his career, he coached the Minnesota Timberwolves, Detroit Pistons, and Washington Wizards...
ProfessionCoach
Date of Birth23 February 1955
CityCleveland, OH
bit conserve energy few gets guys last thinks tries
He's been like that the last few games. I like when he's a bit more aggressive. A part of it is he tries to conserve energy when he thinks he has to and gets other guys going.
came commitment good opportunity player saw understood until versatile
I think everyone thought he had the opportunity to be a good player. I thought he was a good player when I came here, but I never understood how good he was until I saw him day in and day out. His commitment to the game, his commitment to the team, and just how versatile he is.
against playing trying
They're trying to find out who they are. I think everyone who is playing against them is trying to find out who they are a little bit, too.
aggressive character dictated played run
They were aggressive and we played out of character on defense. They're 18-0 run really dictated the game.
came controlled defense good
I thought we came out with a good focus, especially after a back-to-back. We came out methodically offensively and defensively went into a swarming defense and controlled things right from the beginning.
beat people quick
He has his niche. Defensively, he's got that quick first step. He can take away that first move. And most times defensively, people get beat off the first move.
against confidence floor game player score straight thinks walk
You never want to have a player that has so much confidence against you that he thinks he can just take the game over at any time. At least he's not going to think he can walk on the floor and score 17 straight on us.
again amazed beat ben catalyst defensive player score tough year
Ben is our energy. I would be amazed if he wasn't the defensive player of the year again just from everything he does. He's our lock-down guy. When we have energy, we are tough to beat and tough to score on. When we don't, we can be pretty ordinary. And Ben is usually the catalyst for that energy.
both confidence ends players score shows stops
We can still get stops and we can score 67 in a half, ... That shows the players that they can get it done at both ends of the floor, which is going to be big for their confidence as we go through the season.
games improve last sharp six stay
The last six games you want to stay sharp and you want to improve in some areas.
chance effective impact impressed player plays seems
I have been impressed with him from Day One. He always seems to be pretty effective for us. He has a chance to be an impact player in this league. He's still young and he's still learning, but he plays with a lot of aggressiveness.
both changed free game half helped played teams tempo throw trap tried worked zone
I thought our full-court trap changed the tempo of the game out of free throw situations. And I thought we played some zone the first half that helped us a little bit. I think both teams tried some things to see what worked and to use down the road.
ball easy move normally tried
We didn't move the ball like we normally do. We got to make easy plays. I thought we tried to make too many spectacular plays. We've got to make easy plays. We had 21 fast-break points; we could have had 40.
bring checked energy game point
I think we kind of checked out at that point and thought the game was over. They have a lot of young players, and what they bring you is enthusiasm, energy and they (don't) know any better.