Mid-Series Locker Room Speeches for Every Playoff Team

Every NBA playoff team has registered at least two games at this point, so I think it's time to take a look at what's going on with each team moving forward.

However, I've got a bit of a secret to tell you guys, I'm not just speculating here: I actually set up a microphone in the locker room of each team, so I can tell you what each team said after their most recent games.

Some of the teams had some really emphatic speeches from their coaches, others had players step in to rally the troops, but one thing is certain, each team was pumped and ready to go for the rest of the playoffs after these guys gave their speeches.

Well, I can't keep them from you forever. Here's what I overhead from each team over the past few days after their most recent games.

Chicago Bulls, Delivered by Derrick Rose

Guys, my knee hurts—a lot—and I'm not coming back until the beginning of next season at the soonest. But that doesn't mean you guys can't still do this without me.

Do you guys know how many games I missed during the regular season? Do you realize that you guys won 18 games this season without me? And do you all realize that this first-round series is against the most disappointing team from the past season?

C'mon, C.J., I sat on that bench and watched you put up 20 on the Sixers back in March, you led this team in a win over Miami just a few games before that, I know you can fill in for me, I've seen it before.

And John, you've had some huge games this season. Remember when you dropped 24 on Miami and then 20 on Orlando just a few days later? You've got it in you dude.

This team is all business, and that's why you were able to kill it with me on the sidelines, now get out there and take down those Sixers, I know you can do it.

Philadelphia 76ers, Delivered by Doug Collins

Guys, remember the first few weeks of the season? Remember when even the best players in the league couldn't slow us down on either side of the ball? Well, that's how we played in the second half of Game 2.

Didn't it feel good to get back to that level and play like a bunch of unstoppable basketball machines?

The Bulls are hurt, the game they won was with Derrick Rose, and he's not coming back in this series, so all we need to think about is us playing well, not trying to stop a guy who could come in and tear us apart limb from limb.

We can do this guys, we've played at this level before, and now that you've got a taste of that again, I think you're all ready to get back to that. 

Miami Heat, Delivered by Pat Riley

Good news, guys, I've convinced Spo to wear an earpiece so I can tell him what to do when things get tight. Sure, he hasn't made a mistake yet, but he really hasn't had a chance to.

Anyway, we've got these Knicks right where we want them, that is, we just kicked the hell out of them in two straight games. They can't get much more down on themselves now.

We're going into New York tonight, and if we can win this game, then what happens from then on out is in our hands. 

They're talking about bringing Jeremy Lin back for Game 4, and you know what can happen when he gets on the court. It's like Tim Tebow to the max; the kid knows how to finish things off. If we give in tonight and let them take a game from us, then who knows what can happen.

So guys, keep your foot on the pedal and don't let up. Don't read any of the tabloids or watch any television, just go into Madison Square Garden and kick some ass.

New York Knicks, Delivered by Mike Woodson

So Amar'e Stoudemire has a hand full of glass, and we're down to one superstar roaming around the floor for tomorrow night's game, and you know what, that's probably something working in our favor.

How many times have the media looked at our team and deemed we're done. Back when Carmelo Anthony was out for a handful of games back in February, we ripped off a nice win streak, and then Amar'e went down in March, and we went on another one.

If there's one thing that's obvious about this team is that it doesn't make any damn sense. It doesn't make sense that Jeremy Lin tore apart the league for a month, it doesn't make sense that Steve Novak is making every three-pointer he takes, it doesn't make sense that Mike Bibby and Dan Gadzuric are still in the NBA, but this whole team doesn't make sense.

Now guys, let's get out there and keep not making sense!

Boston Celtics, Delivered by Doc Rivers

Alright guys, we got the job done in the second game, now, we just need to go out there and do it again at home tomorrow night.

At the end of the day, we did what we wanted in Atlanta, we stole a win and took home-court advantage away from them, now, all we have to do is play our game, and we'll be on our way, but let's not look forward just yet.

Avery, you're doing a great job covering Joe Johnson. Sure, he's getting his points here and there, but he's struggling to get them, and he's not working in the flow of an offense. And Kevin, you had a rough night in the first game, but you came back with some stellar play on Monday. Keep doing that and we'll win this series.

Paul, keep doing whatever it is you're doing. Channel Tim Tebow or whomever you need to, I don't care, let's just get the job done.

Atlanta Hawks, Delivered by Larry Drew

Guys! Guys, settle down, it's time to get serious here.

We won that first game of the series, and then, we got cocky and forgot who we were playing. In case you haven't noticed we've topped out with 83 points in the first game and then scored just 80 in the first. We just aren't getting it done on offense.

Our defense is working well, but we can't plan on that hanging our hat on that, we need to get work done on both sides of the floor.

They have a lot of firepower offensively, and even though they're an old team, they can still break out of a funk at any time.

We need to stay buckled down on offense, guys, but we need to do more to get to the rim in order to open up the floor and get some open shots. So let's go out there tomorrow night and attack, attack, attack until they can't take it anymore.

Indiana Pacers, Delivered by Frank Vogel

Alright guys, I knew that first game was a fluke, and I was right.

We've had a few letdown games over the course of this season, and let's go ahead and say that game one was our letdown game for the playoffs.

We just went out and held this Magic team under 80 points for the second game in a row; that's a helluva performance there fellows.

Keep boxing out, keep playing tough and keep them out of your lane and we'll be done with this first round in no time.

There isn't another team in the Eastern Conference that plays as well as a team as we do, we've got a system that can beat anyone in the league, and we're going to beat these Magic, you guys just have to keep playing as a team, which I know you can do.

Orlando Magic, Delivered by Stan Van Gundy

Hey, can somebody grab me a Diet Pepsi? I've got a lot to say here.

Those Pacers are on the same level as us right now, they don't have a superstar out there ready to take over a game and neither do we, so all we have to do is stop them and we can win a game.

Back when Dwight was playing down low we could stand around and shoot three-pointers all game, but Dwight's not down there, so we need to get to the rim.

J-Rich, remember what it's like to get to the rim? Remember when you dunked on half the league? Let's see if there's any youth left in those knees.

Jameer, you're the fastest, trickiest guy on the floor, get to the rim and draw some fouls, get their big guys out of the game.

That's all there is to it, if we get to the rim and score there, we're going to have open threes to take, but if we don't, they're going to run us out of the playoffs faster than Dwight would run out on us if we let him.

San Antonio Spurs, Delivered by Gregg Popovich

First of all, somebody get this damn trophy out of my hands, I don't know why I'm still carrying it around.

Well guys, we just dismantled the Jazz, so I won't be long here, I know you guys want to get home and get some sleep.

We've gotten up two games on this Jazz team, but this is no time to let up, let's go into Utah on Saturday and get ready to finish this one off so we can get some more rest.

Now go home, get some sleep and get ready for a quick trip to Utah so we can get this first round over with.

Utah Jazz, Delivered by Tyrone Corbin

Oh boy guys, I don't know what to tell you at this point. It's going to be tough, that's for sure, but we're a young group of guys who know how to push the ball.

So guys, we're really going to have to buckle down over the next week if we want to have any chance to come back and grab a win in this one.

This Spurs team is a lot to handle, and they're pretty darn good, so we're going to have to play a whole lot better next game.

We've had winning streaks before, and we've beaten this team before, so let's go out there in Utah on Saturday and take down this Goliath. 

Oklahoma City Thunder, Delivered by Scott Brooks

OK guys, I don't want to say we're lucky to be up two games to none at this point, but this Mavericks team is playing us exceptionally close.

We need to do a lot if we want to start to run away with a few games, because these games are going to get a lot tougher once we get into Dallas.

The defense needs to be a lot tighter, and we have got to attack the rim and quit settling for jumpers.

This Mavericks team is smart, they're tough and they've been here before, so let's not count them out at this point, or we could get in trouble.

Keep the pedal to the metal and let's win this next game.

Dallas Mavericks, Delivered by Rick Carlisle

OK guys, some of you are new to this team this year, and some of you have been on this team for over a decade, but we're a team, and we need to play as a team if we want to turn this series around.

We're down two games to none against what is one of the three best teams in the league right now, but we've beat good teams before.

Nobody thought we were going to beat the Blazers in the first round last year, but we beat them. Nobody thought we were going to beat the Lakers in the second round last year, but we beat them. Nobody thought we could take down this Thunder team in the conference finals last year, but we did. Nobody thought we could take down Miami in the finals, but this ring on my finger reminds me that we did.

Right now, everybody is counting us out. Nobody believes in us, so let's go out there and remind people why they should believe in us. 

Los Angeles Lakers, Delivered by Coach Kobe

Guys, I sent Mike to go move my car, I had it parked at a meter so let me go ahead and talk to you really quick.

We're killing it right now; we are absolutely killing it. At the beginning of this season, there were guys picking us to miss the playoffs—how crazy is that.

Right now, we're up on the Nuggets with two wins, and now, we're taking a trip to Denver to try to get our third tomorrow night.

Quite frankly, these dudes can't hang with us. They're all about running the ball up and down the court as fast as they can, but we're not letting them. Suddenly, our bench is producing, and everyone in our starting lineup is playing like they're me, which means they're playing great.

Let's keep this up and get this series over with so I can go and win another title.

Denver Nuggets, Delivered by George Karl

Fellows, this is going to be a tough series to get back into, but I know we've got a shot at the very least.

We've got the Lakers coming in tomorrow night to tip off Game 3 and we're going to have to win this game to have any shot at coming back and winning this series, but let's not think about that.

The problem is that we're not playing our game; we're letting them force us to play their style of game.

What we need to do is run the ball more, get out in transition and get more second-chance points. I know they have a seemingly endless number of big guys, but we've got harder workers and more energetic players.

Keep running, start boxing out more and throw some elbows if you need to, just get the ball and push it fast and we'll have a chance to win some games.

Memphis Grizzlies, Delivered by Lionel Hollins

Alright guys! That was a great win for us there last night!

I told you not to come out flat after that big loss on Sunday night, and you listened to me. It could have been rough if we got down to that Clippers team, but we went out and outhustled, outrebounded, out-toughed and out-everythinged them.

Through two games, we've outscored those guys in six quarters; the only one that they really killed us in was that fourth quarter in the first game, and I think we showed last night that that was a fluke.

We're going to have some angry moments in Los Angeles but don't back down. There's going to be some hard fouls, I want you to foul just as hard—just keep your head about you.

Keep playing tough and we're going to win this one guys.

Los Angeles Clippers, Delivered by Vinny Del Negro

Alright guys, that wasn't a bad performance la...

{Chris Paul steps in} Coach, I've got this one.

Boys, we got beat last night. In every way shape and form, they beat us. We shot better, and we scored better, but we got beat; there's no doubt about it.

We're going to go out on our home court Saturday night, and we're going to defend it, we're not going to let them take any from them on our home floor.

They beat the hell out of us on the floor last night, they dove for balls, they boxed us out and they drove to the rim; that's what we need to do. We're done settling for jumpers. Done.

We're getting to the rim, and we're shooting free throws on Saturday. Blake, DeAndre, I know you can make them, just have confidence in yourself.

Let's go out there Saturday and show them why we're not only the best team in Los Angeles, but also the best team in this league!

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