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| Tuesday, December 29, 2009 Final Score: Houston 108, New Orleans 100 Hornets Post Game Quotes
On the game: “The fourth quarter was the roughest for us, we really played a good third quarter and we needed to do it early in the fourth but couldn’t get the job done. Houston played extremely well in the first half. They had good movement and good shots and they seemed to make every one of them. I was pleased with our third quarter but we came up short in the fourth.” On the key to the game: “The biggest difference was the three-point shooting. Their ability to get open threes was the difference. Emeka (Okafor) had a big impact in the paint. Battier and Brooks came up with big shots. Battier is an outstanding defender and he knows the personnel that he is defending.” On David West's career high game: “He was outstanding. He played with his post-up and face-up game against his defender. It was a welcome thing for us, but not enough to get the win.”
On the team's play: “I was trying to be more aggressive because we really needed a win on the road. We weren’t able to sustain things in the fourth quarter. We didn’t’ come out with the right mindset (in the fourth). We have to continue to move and share the basketball. We let Brooks and Battier hit too many shots.” On his career high: “I was playing with a certain level of aggressiveness and my teammates were getting me the ball in positions I could score. I was very confident and I was hitting my shots.”
On the key to the fourth quarter: “I think the tempo changed and that really hurt us. I had an early turnover on the first possession and then they hit some big threes and we got out of our rhythm.” On the team's play: “Some people think this team plays through me but we play through David West. He had a big game for us. David west took a blow early in the fourth quarter and it took us out of our game.” On the Rockets: “They shot lights out. Brooks and Battier both were shooting the ball well and that killed us.” Rockets Post Game Quotes
On Trevor Ariza: "I think he's got to learn. Everyone has talked about him not shooting the ball over the last two weeks very well. This is a transition period for him. As much as he's had it going early, things were easy and now it's a little tougher and teams are playing him differently. He's got to figure out a way to be effective. I told him don't worry about making shots, worry about affecting the game in other ways, be a facilitator, be a rebounder and affect the game that way and then the scoring will come. He's just going to have to learn. He's going to have to learn what they're trying to do and take advantage of it and take it to the basket. That's what he needs to do. That's something he's got to learn. He's never really done it and he's got to be more aggressive and not worry about getting a shot blocked. He needs to just go in there and draw contact, make people foul him.” On Aaron Brooks: “I thought Aaron was really good, that's why I played him so much the first half. I thought he was active, he was into it. I still think we can push the ball better than we have but that takes five people. Like I said, we have to get back to what I said. All five people have to run the court. They did a good job of coming at our shooters when we tried to get to the basket but again, our guys persevered.”
On the win: “It wasn't looking very good for us but we came back and we closed the game pretty good. It was a huge win for us. We needed the win. We were able to get over it and play the right way in the 4th quarter.” On the play of David West: “He is an all-star. I thought I was doing a good job on him and he just kept making shots and doing whatever he wants. He is a great player.”
On his crucial 4th quarter dunk: “It feels good because all throughout the game I was missing (shots). To have a big shot, it does a lot for me and it helps our team out too.” On the Rockets team effort: “It's been rough for me the past couple of games but fortunately, we were able to come out with wins. When one of us isn't playing good, somebody else steps up and we were fortunate enough to come out of here with a win.”
On the 4th quarter comeback: “We knew that we were playing un-Rockets basketball in the 3rd quarter and we wanted to come out and finish the game strong and down 8 (points) in the 4th quarter we said to ourselves, 'Come on guys. Let's play the way we know we are capable of playing.' That means turning it up on the defensive end, turning up the intensity and getting out and running. We were able to survive a scrappy game by them (Hornets) and that's what we usually try to do to other teams.” On Trevor Ariza's dunk in the 4th quarter: “Trevor is figuring it out. When you are struggling like he has the last couple of games, you find ways to get it done. He was upset after the game but we told him that was a huge play to get that dunk and really get the crowd into the game and it really sealed it for us.”
On what changed from the 3rd to the 4th quarter: “We just started moving the ball a lot more. We got out around a little more. Carl Landry came in and did a great job and gave us some points. Normally when we come out in the game and have a bad 3rd quarter, we put our heads in the dirt and I think we did a good job in the 4th quarter of saying that's not going to happen again. We came out and played our game. We didn't hesitate. When the shot was open, we took it and we got back to doing what we were doing 1st and 2nd quarter.” On closing the December schedule: “I think we are ready to start a new year. We have one more against Dallas. It's a tie breaker so that's a big game. It's been a rough December with all these back to backs. I think it was good for us to be ready to move forward.” |
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