Udonis Haslem
Udonis Haslem
Udonis Johneal Haslemis an American professional basketball player for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association. He played college basketball for the University of Florida, where he was a key member of four Florida Gators NCAA tournament teams. He played professional basketball in France for a year, and then signed with the Miami Heat in 2003. He has won three NBA championships while playing for the Heat...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth9 June 1980
CityMiami, FL
CountryUnited States of America
He mentioned one thing, one time and we went out and responded. He didn't have to keep telling us and drilling us like little kids. He made one statement about it this morning in the walk-through and we came out and took care of business and that's the sign of a good team, coming out and making adjustments.
He is always going to ask for more; usually he's right. We have a lot of areas to improve in. Defense is where our problems are.
It is a game I'll never forget as long as I play the game of basketball. Obviously it's always in the back of our mind, how close we were last year.
They pretty much had us dead in the water.
We came out and took care of business and that's the sign of a good team, coming out and making adjustments.
We wanted to take away his penetration and keep him out of the paint, and he hit his jumper.
We didn't deserve to win that game. If we would have won that game, it would have defied the laws of basketball.
We can beat anybody. We just haven't been doing it.
We're two different players and we can bring two different things to the table. If we put that together, we should have a pretty good tandem.
I've learned a lot from the experiences that I went through in high school, through college and overseas, and just everything in life. That is what prepared me for coming into the NBA, being undersized, no recognition, not getting anything easy, and I have been fortunate to prosper in this league.
The Heat gave me an opportunity when nobody else wanted to.
Anytime you have a Pat Riley running things, calling the shots, you are not going to question things because he has been through it. He knows what it is all about and what it takes to win. All we have to do on our end is play basketball because we know the right calls and the right decisions are going to be made up top.
A lot of people look at playing overseas as a step down from the NBA. And, yes it is a step down from the NBA money-wise, but there is just as good of talent overseas as in the NBA. Not better talent.
We haven't been beating top-10 teams. We felt kind of desperate to get a win. We can beat anybody; we just haven't been doing it.