More NBA.COM quotes

["j.hironaka" <j.hironaka@unesco.org>]

Here are some more quotes off of NBA.COM from the past week or so.

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"I am anxious to have the ability to make the necessary calls to make 
players like Antoine and Paul, and anybody else, that much better," said 
O'Brien. "After a summer of intense study, I think I can say that I can use 
everybody on this basketball team a little better than I did last year."

"(Antoine) is a stronger, much stronger, player that has conditioned 
himself to lead us," said O'Brien. "And I would say the same thing about 
Paul. They have both dedicated themselves conditioning wise to get the job 
done."

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"We are putting a lot of pressure on our rookies," said Pierce. "They are 
going to have to go faster than expected. We are a perimeter orientated 
team and they are going to have to help us in a major way."

"It is a whole different level. You are playing twice as many games. Life 
on the road. There are a lot of things that are different from college, on 
the court and off. They have to learn that it doesn't come over night. Some 
guys mature faster than others. I think with me and Antoine maturing as 
ball players ourselves, it is up to us to show them the ropes, about NBA 
life on and off the court."

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 From Jack Ramsey
"The Celtics have to improve their defense and their rebounding - both 
individually and collectively. They have to limit their turnovers. As I 
watched their team last year, they missed an inordinate amount of shots, 
high percentage shots, around the basket area. You can't miss those. We are 
talking about missed lay ups and missed put backs and those kinds of 
things. If you are going to be a good team in the NBA, a winning team, you 
have to limit those factors. Good teams don't miss lay ups, rarely do they 
miss lay ups. They also have to keep their turnovers down to 15 or under. 
They'll keep their opponents field goal percentage to under 45 percent for 
the most part. That is what has to happen."