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
four games holding prior reason straight teams tough
The one reason we have been in the games prior to this was because of our defense. We had four (actually three) straight games of holding teams in the 70s. That's pretty tough to do in this league.
bench benches comfort fifth fourth guys minutes reason situation tendency
It's natural. We're in a very different situation than a lot of teams. A lot of teams, the reason they play their bench is because they don't like their fourth and fifth guys that much. I like my fourth and fifth guys. That's why our bench doesn't get the minutes some of the other benches get. You have a tendency to go to a comfort level.
beat breathing contest great job jump looks position produce reasons rip team teams top
Rip did a great job and Redd didn't have a lot of breathing room. One of the reasons we aren't a big fouling team is that we don't produce a lot of steals. We don't jump out and we don't gamble. We play position defense. That's why so often our man-to-man looks like a zone. We try to make teams beat us over the top and contest every shot.
hearing last night occupied played reasons sit sleeping
One of the reasons I played him a lot, I thought it was better for him to be occupied than to sit and think. And considering his circumstances, not sleeping much last night after hearing about it, he played pretty good.
extremely great guys high johnson playing reasons stepped
He's playing great right now. I said one of the reasons they're playing so well right now is because of the play of Johnson and the play of (Danny) Granger. Those two guys have stepped up and they're playing at an extremely high level.
bought drive everybody forward guys looking playoffs reasons team trying
Everyone has their own reasons why they do things. All I know is this is my team right now, and the guys have bought into what we're trying to do. The playoffs are what drive everybody in this league, and we're looking forward to what's going to happen.
accomplish game guys nice step win
You want to try to win every game you step out, but I think it would be nice to try to accomplish something like that at home. It's one of these situations, when we go in, all 12 guys got to play well because all 12 guys are going to have opportunities.
cities common dead game games half happened last percentage rough second seventh shooting sign stretch three
This is our seventh game in seven different cities in 10 days. This has been a rough stretch and I think the common thing that has happened to us the last three games is that our shooting percentage in the second half is going down, which is usually a sign of dead legs.
finals last playing playoff team understand
The thing is, we're not going to change. You have to understand something: This team has a lot of playoff experience. They've been to the Finals the last two years. They're not playing differently than what they've played. That's how they play.
exactly number time true
Every time it happens, you always try to find out if there's questionable ones. I don't exactly know what the number is and what the true number is.
supposed
You want to go in, play solidly for 48 (minutes) and play how you're supposed to play.
continue next shake
A lot of things could still happen. We will continue to look and see what's available. There will be things that could shake out in the next day or so.
came concerned couple guys heard machine mention might morning overlook played stuff
I was concerned because at shoot-around this morning I heard a couple of guys mention some stuff about Miami. I was concerned we might overlook Atlanta. But we came out and played like a well-oiled machine in the first half.
doubtful reevaluate
Then we'll reevaluate him. But I would say it would be very doubtful that he would play.