I know some of our fans were worried before the Pistons game that I might not play after missing shootaround, but everyone gets a little sick here and there. That's all it was. I wasn't feeling well that morning but I knew I had enough strength to play. If I was feeling that bad, I wouldn't have played, but I had the energy and strength. That and I just wanted to play. I hate to miss games. I want to be out there for my teammates trying to help those guys win games. I knew it would take a lot to keep me out. When I heard coach say I was doubtful at shootaround, I was kind of surprised. I knew I was going to play. It takes a lot to keep me out. I hate to miss games, so I had to be out there.
We're dealing with some injuries right now, having lost MKG (Michael Kidd-Gilchrist) early in the season and now with Al (Jefferson) out. But this league is all about guys stepping up. If someone goes down, the next guy has to be ready â that's how it's always been. Our guys have been ready. P.J. (Hairston) got the starting role when MKG went out and defensively, he's been great. He's guarding one of the other team's top players every night, which is a tough thing to do. You have to realize he's only in his second year, too, so I think he's doing a really good job. He's still learning and getting better. Each and every day he's working hard to improve his game. Cody is another guy who has just gotten so much better. He brings that energy and been a big boost for us as well. Everyone has a role on this team. We're all role players, and we're all just embracing our roles. The guys on this team are all very unselfish and just a great group of guys. We play for each other. That's what we're all about on both ends of the floor. Defensively, we're constantly trying to get better and always be there to help each other. Offensively, we always try to make that extra pass to get the best shot possible. That speaks to our unselfishness.
We have great depth on this team and it's making a huge difference. The guys behind the scenes â (General Manager) Rich Cho and (Assistant General Manager) Chad Buchanan â did a great job bringing in people who can really help, especially when guys go down. We've got a whole bunch of guys who can just come in and make plays. It's great because when we've had guys go down, we haven't had to worry about other guys coming in and not playing well. For the most part, all of the guys have come in when their number is called and given us an extra boost.
It's been a really competitive season so far. I think the Eastern Conference has gotten a lot better. It's been crazy to watch. Every night I'm looking at scores in the East and it seems like every team is doing well and keeping things close. All you have to do is take a look at the standings â we're 1 ½ games out of first and one game ahead of 10th. I think everyone in the East has gotten better, and of course, every team in this league wants to win. For years people have been saying the East isn't as good as the West, but it's been pretty solid so far.
I'm having fun just like our fans and everyone inside the organization is having fun right now. It was a rough couple years for all of us that have been here, and this has us all believing. Since I came to this organization with the Bobcats, it hasn't been like this. It feels good to be in all of these games and compete â actually really compete and give us the opportunity to win every night. That's a great feeling and we all want to do whatever we can to keep it going!
