Isaiah Thomas Quotes

You're always at war with the guy on the other bench. You pick up their patterns. That's what I got the most out of this year. I know what other coaches like to do.

Most players in this league say they want consistency.

How can I tell the eighth or ninth man on the team that I want you to work hard every day and I want you to improve and get better, but while you're doing that you're not going to get any minutes?

It's been made clear to all of us that a player should never leave the playing field and go into the stands.

We decided to go the way of trading and getting younger players.

I can't think of any NBA team over the last few years that lost three starters. And we replaced them basically with three guys who really haven't played in this league.

We were going to have to experiment, and we needed to develop our younger players. And a lot of the changes were because of injuries. But that's where I give a lot of credit to the group in terms of being able to maintain things.

I'll continue to try to make changes to better improve the team.

My greatest gift that I have in life is basketball.

I love what I'm doing.

Instead of me telling them what they need to work on, I wanted to hear from them what they needed to work on.

It was important to me to believe, because if I don't believe, how can I expect them to believe?

You have to develop your whole game to completion.

It's hard to get people to overcome the thought that they have to take care of themselves first. It's hard to get players to give in to the group and become selfless as opposed to selfish.

I would still like to get more athletic and have players that can really cover what's going on in the game.

Larry Brown thought Steve Francis was a Larry Brown type of player.

It wasn't about the X's and the O's and the strategy; it was more about keeping 12 guys focused and committed to a task. That group dynamic, and then helping them to grow as people and basketball players.

If all I'm remembered for is being a good basketball player, then I've done a bad job with the rest of my life.

I've been in pressure situations before. All my life it's been about pressure and having to get it done. Just because you say it publicly, it does not make me afraid of it or make me shy away from it.

I've always believed no matter how many shots I miss, I'm going to make the next one.

All of those things had been talked about, suggested, rumored, as a manager and as a member of the Knicks organization, I couldn't allow myself to think that way or believe that.