We defended. We made them keep tough shots, and we executed offensively.
Our team, because of our depth and our talent, we were able to do that, and it turned into a special season as a result.
Well, it speaks to the character of the players more than anything. Bob Myers and his staff have done an incredible job of putting together this roster. I was well aware of the versatility that the roster had, but as I got to know the players I realized they had what it took spiritually, emotionally. They were united. They wanted to win. They were close.
The last couple years they've been good, but it's just a great group of guys, and they were willing to take the vision that we gave them in the beginning of the season, and we started off really well, which I think helped. But as I mentioned, Andre's sacrifice, David Lee's sacrifice, their willingness to accept roles and keep pushing really was the key to the whole thing.
It's different as a coach because you feel responsible for a lot of people. Even though you don't take a shot, you don't get a rebound, you feel like you just want people to succeed and you want to help them any way you can.
I'm just thrilled for so many people. Our players, mostly, but the people in our organization - Rick Welts, Joe Lacob and Peter Guber and the whole group. It's just a phenomenal group of people. I think as a coach you just appreciate kind of the big picture a little bit more.
Every decision he made, I think everybody bought into it. Whether you understood it or not, you bought into it. Because he's a champion. He's won five of these or something like that, so you've got to trust a guy that's been here before and his view for our team.
I can speak volumes about the guy sitting next to me. You look at his stat line tonight, he had a lot of foul trouble and didn't really get going, but when he was in there, he was defending. He was playing physical, and he was doing everything he could to help us win.
So after 11 years you're just picking up all this information. I'm a basketball junky, so I watch old players. The '90s was a great era of basketball. I watched so much of that. That just helped me be a student of the game and pick up any moment. It's the 10,000 hour rule. You're just trying to master your craft.
Just because we are back home, don't get comfortable. Have that same uptight feeling like it's just us against everyone.
These fans here are unbelievable. They showed up and showed out tonight. We needed every little bit of it.
As loud as fans were , they need to go home now and start soaking up a lot of tea, drinking a lot of tea for the next 36 hours, whatever the case may be, 'cause they need to be just as loud Thursday night.
We did what we are supposed to. We protected home. We have to try to do it again Thursday night.
I felt like we would have definitely won an NBA championship if everyone was healthy.
They played great and I can honestly say I don't think any of us were expecting this type of performance. They were great. You have to give them credit for that.
I'm not skilled enough to explain properly how we feel. Not only me, but I'm sure Tony and Tim and Pop feel the same way. Last year was a tough one for all of us. We felt like we had the trophy, that we were touching it, and it slipped away. We all felt guilty. We got to this spot, and we didn't let it go.
Just wanted to inspire my teammates. Obviously, I didn't do enough.
They played exquisite basketball in this series and in particular these last three games. They are the better team. There is no other way to say it. They played great basketball, and we couldn't respond to it.
When hired three years ago, I willingly accepted the challenge of leading the Bulls back to the type of team this city richly deserves. I'm proud of the fact that each year the team has taken another step toward an NBA championship, and played with intense pride and determination.
Winning an NBA championship is the biggest thing that can happen professionally because it's the top. But representing your country-with more than 30 million people cheering for you and then seeing you up there on the podium-it's hard to find any more words to put on that.
I'm pleased that they performed as well as they did while we've been in Miami and that's about as far as it goes. Now, we've got to go home and play as well or better.
They jumped on us. They were the aggressor. They had us on our heels from the beginning.
There are moments where we forgot what got us to where we are now. ... We stopped moving the ball. We know how it works. We are playing a great team with great players, and we've got to be close to perfect to win.
I want to go get a stop on defense so James can do it again. It was a big spurt for him. That made then get out of their game plan and play him closer. But when he does that, we want to make sure we capitalize and get timely stops. And that's what got us right back in the game.
We lost one (Finals), we won two and we lost another one. (We'll) take 50 percent in four years in championships any day. Obviously, we want to win all of them, but that's just the nature of the game. Not proud of the way we played (in this series).
Follow AzQuotes on Facebook, Twitter and Google+. Every day we present the best quotes! Improve yourself, find your inspiration, share with friends
or simply: