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Motivation Quote by Isaiah Thomas

"We were going to have to experiment, and we needed to develop our younger players. And a lot of the changes were because of injuries. But that's where I give a lot of credit to the group in terms of being able to maintain things"

About this Quote

Isaiah Thomas is doing the veteran thing here: turning what sounds like chaos into a narrative of professionalism. The first move is preemptive honesty. “We were going to have to experiment” admits instability without calling it dysfunction, reframing tinkering as strategy instead of panic. “We needed to develop our younger players” is the socially acceptable cover story teams use when the present is compromised: it signals long-term thinking to management and fans while quietly lowering expectations for wins right now.

Then comes the crucial deflection that also doubles as an alibi: “a lot of the changes were because of injuries.” In athlete-speak, injuries are the uncontestable truth. You can’t argue with bodies breaking down. It also protects the coaching staff and the locker room from blame. If lineups are shifting, it’s not because people are underperforming or politics are happening; it’s because fate intervened.

The last sentence is where the intent tightens. “That’s where I give a lot of credit to the group” is leadership code: praise as glue. He’s not crediting talent or tactics; he’s crediting steadiness. “Maintain things” is deliberately vague, and that vagueness is the point. It implies standards, habits, and buy-in - the invisible infrastructure that keeps a season from splintering when rotations and roles are constantly rewritten.

Contextually, it’s a quote built for a postgame scrum or midseason slump: protect the room, reassure the outside, and remind everyone that resilience is a skill, not a vibe.

Quote Details

TopicCoaching
SourceHelp us find the source
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Citation Formats

APA Style (7th ed.)
Thomas, Isaiah. (2026, January 15). We were going to have to experiment, and we needed to develop our younger players. And a lot of the changes were because of injuries. But that's where I give a lot of credit to the group in terms of being able to maintain things. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-were-going-to-have-to-experiment-and-we-needed-151012/

Chicago Style
Thomas, Isaiah. "We were going to have to experiment, and we needed to develop our younger players. And a lot of the changes were because of injuries. But that's where I give a lot of credit to the group in terms of being able to maintain things." FixQuotes. January 15, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-were-going-to-have-to-experiment-and-we-needed-151012/.

MLA Style (9th ed.)
"We were going to have to experiment, and we needed to develop our younger players. And a lot of the changes were because of injuries. But that's where I give a lot of credit to the group in terms of being able to maintain things." FixQuotes, 15 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/we-were-going-to-have-to-experiment-and-we-needed-151012/. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.

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About the Author

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Isaiah Thomas (born April 30, 1961) is a Athlete from USA.

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