Apr. 21 2003 Playoffs Quotes

Head Coach Doc Rivers
"We held our own when we had guys in foul trouble in the first half. I thought that was big for all of our bench guys and all the others. I thought that was important. The bottom line is that we got a win, and of all the things, that's the most important part."

On having Tracy McGrady on his side: "It's a great advantage for me and it's a great advantage for any coach that has a great player. You always know where you can go. Not only that, he might not take the shot, but he has the opportunity to have someone else take a very good shot, and that's always comforting."

On the Magic bench play: "We are who we are. I'm not going to change anything now. I'm not going down to an eight-man rotation. I'm going to play our guys, and we have to show them a lot of confidence that you still believe in them. I've believed in them for 82 games, so I'm not going to stop right now. Detroit has the best bench in the league, in my opinion. We had a great game, but we have to continue to just play with confidence."

Drew Gooden
On his play during his first playoff game: "I didn't really relax much at all. I wish I could've relaxed a little more. On the offensive end, I felt like I was shooting a bowling ball into a thimble. Defensively though, and rebounding, I can do that all day no matter what."

On trying to become more patient: "It is tough. I want to go full speed, 100 miles-per hour, non-stop. But when you look at the really great players in this league, they know when to go fast and they know when not to. That is something I've got to learn, and I think it'll come with more experience.

Tracy McGrady
On practice today: "We just came in today, watched a little film, tried to look at some of the things we did write and try to correct some of the things we did wrong on the basketball court yesterday."

On what he could take away from yesterday's Game #1 win @ Detroit: "We're just very confident right now. We know that this is a wide-open series for us. We need to continue to play for four quarters, play strong for 48 minutes, execute our game plan and stay focused and play."

On adjusting to a different defensive scheme by Detroit for Game #2: " I've seen it all before. Whatever they decide to do...it's not going to bother me. I'm just going to go out and continue to play my game regardless. If they want to be physical, let them be physical, because I know how to do the same and I know how to prevent myself from getting caught up in whatever they may try to do. I don't really know what they are going to."

"Right now, I'm on a mission and my team is on a mission. Whatever they are trying to do, it really doesn't matter. We have to just take care of what we have to do."