On what has to be done to establish consistency:
“That’s a tough question. I would say the inconsistency is coming from our older players, and that’s the disappointing thing. We shouldn’t be putting the pressure on the younger guys to do what they’ve been trying to do for us. They’re talented players, but we still need balance. We need some of those guys that want to make hustle plays. More importantly, when we call a play to try to work through them, it’s them wanting to play with a kind of force and the kind of aggression that you want them to play with as opposed to just going through the motions. You look at Jaden Springer’s line tonight—I thought Jaden did a great job. The fact that he’s trying to play a lot of minutes—I thought we had some great looks at the three and we’re going to take them, but some nights when those aren’t going in—we’re still going to take them—but when we go to a set and play inside out—and it can’t be through those guys all the time. We’ve done some of that in the last couple of games, and they were trying to do it tonight on their own, but they kept getting themselves in too much trouble holding the ball. We knew all night long when they were coming to double, all we had to do was make the pass to the other side, but we weren’t doing that quick enough. And to get the consistency you’re talking about; it’s not going to come from just one player. It’s going to come from a group of guys as a whole on both ends.”
On the struggles of Victor Bailey, Jr. and John Fulkerson:
“We didn’t start Fulky tonight, and V.J., he comes in. We need those guys, but when they go in, they’re going to have to be productive. If not—I thought Olivier (Nkamhoua) showed us some things tonight. E.J. (Anosike) does it, but we can’t give away those point-blank layups. It’s hard enough to score in this league. When you execute and get exactly what you want, you’ve got to finish those plays. Olivier—I thought his demeanor was good. The fact of the matter is, we’re trying everything to get guys to understand that we need them. It starts in practice with the mentality that I’m going to get better. I always say this, I believe this game gives you what you put into it.”
NEXT: Rick Barnes postgame continued