Maurice Cheeks

Maurice Cheeks
Maurice Edward "Mo" Cheeksis an American retired professional basketball player and currently an assistant coach for the Oklahoma City Thunder of the National Basketball Association. He was the head coach of the Detroit Pistons from June 10, 2013, to February 9, 2014 and has also served as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers and Philadelphia 76ers...
ProfessionBasketball Player
Date of Birth8 September 1956
CityChicago, IL
backs based challenge coming game gets knew playing runs team totally tough upset
Us coming off back to backs and playing a team that gets out and runs was going to be a challenge for us. I'm not totally upset about this game. We knew it was going to be a tough game just based on the way they play.
bit certainly defense game gets needs overall team unfolds win
That part of the game is better than the overall game. We'd like our defense to get better for 48 minutes. But I think as the game unfolds and when another team needs a basket, I think our defense gets a little bit better. Certainly if you're going to win games, it has to be better down the stretch.
ball bit discredit effective gets jump people plays rebound skills stronger toughness work
Shavlik is a little bit stronger than people think. He can rebound the ball in traffic. Offensively, he can put the ball down on the floor. Once he gets a 15- or 16-foot jump shot, I think he can be an effective player. I think people discredit his toughness. I think as he plays a little bit more, the toughness will come out, the ball skills will come out. Right now, he?s got to work on that jump shot.
ball bit gets half open second sleep somebody teased turned
The second half they just lured us to sleep and made open shots. Once we turned the ball over, they were into the break, somebody gets a wide-open three, and somebody gets one to the basket. It was like they teased us a little bit and then they go up 16 or 17 points.
consistent discredit effective gets jump people
Once he gets a consistent jump shot, he can be a much more effective player, ... I think people discredit his toughness. He has to keep working on his jump shot.
andre defends extremely foul game gets johnny kyle nice tracy
Andre gets in foul trouble, wasn't able to play a lot of minutes, Johnny and Kyle come in and do a very nice job, and then Andre comes back in at the end of the game and defends Tracy (McGrady) extremely well.
ball hands tried
We tried to put the ball in Chris' hands a lot more, especially down the stretch.
against boston brief feels game realize realizing tied win
We just had a very brief meeting, and we realize that we have to win (tonight) against Boston and it?s tied up again and realizing we?re going to Chicago. So ..I think everyone still feels like we?re there. We just have to win the game against Boston.
attention cleaning either jump offensive paying rebound shot standing
We were paying so much attention to Shaq. He ... was cleaning up after we doubled Shaq. He was the one standing there, either making a jump shot or cleaning an offensive rebound up.
advantage example guy guys michael opportunity prime sit steps taken whatever
When a guy has to sit for whatever reason, another guys steps in. Michael Bradley's a prime example. He's been impressive. He has pretty much taken advantage of an opportunity with guys being out.
easy missed shots
We missed easy shots and they got opportunities on the other end.
above consistent rise
We have to find a consistent ground, consistent way to rise above .500.
american-coach basketball certain chris factor fatigue playing point
When it got to a certain point I think the fatigue factor went out the window, because everyone was playing on adrenaline. I know that Chris was exhausted.
certainly defense dribble hurt quite shots zone
The zone hurt us quite a bit. We couldn't get any shots; we couldn't get any dribble penetration. We didn't make any shots and certainly our defense was not up to par.