“We were coming off Christmas break and I knew we'd be rusty. Our defense could have been better. That's what hurt us. Usually at the end of the game is when our defense picks up, but we were having to play catch-up.”
Charlotte Jones
“Shaquille obviously looked rusty offensively. But he looked very good on the defensive glass, and he was more active defensively than he was for big parts of last year.”
Stan Van Gundy
“I knew he was going to be rusty coming back. It doesn't surprise me. You figure it's going to take at least three starts down there. Hopefully he gets it together in five days.”
Lloyd McClendon
“I was still a little rusty coming back from break in yesterday's game. I felt a lot sharper tonight because I played yesterday. Our team defense was just phenomenal this weekend and we just need to keep getting better as a team.”
Joe Fallon
“I've only played two competitive rounds since August and my game was rusty before coming here. But I've slowly started to feel the competitive juices and desire coming back.”
Nick Price
“Naturally, coming out on the first day, you're going to be a little rusty. You've got to get the butterflies and the kinks and things out, but I think as a team our morale is up. We're definitely excited about coming in.”
Darius Walker
“I wouldn't say I was rusty I'm just adjusting to the defense and all that.”
David Irons
