Practice Quotes, 4/28
Orlando Quotes
Horace Grant:
The Charlotte rebounding edge:
“Well, when you’re out rebounded like our team was twice by a great margin, it’s going to be their biggest key to getting a victory and we just have to stop that.”
About losing big leads in each game:
“I said this during the regular season, whenever we get a team down 15-17 points we need to learn how to put those teams away. I think it’s come back to bit us a little bit here in the playoffs. We need that killer instinct because you get a team down like this, if you don’t have that killer instinct then you’re going to be down 2-1.”
Do big leads mean less in the postseason?:
“Even in the regular season it’s not safe, especially in the playoffs because you know teams can go on the road, they can go on a run like they did. For the most part we just didn’t keep our poise when they went on a run and dropped our heads a little bit. I think it’s more psychological in terms of whenever we get a big lead like that we try to protect it instead of going ahead and winning the ballgame.”
On the play of Baron Davis:
“We got to find a way to slow him down and get the ball out of his hands and force the other guys to beat us because when he gets on a roll and makes up his mind to take over a game a lot of teams are going to be in trouble, especially us.”
Head Coach Doc Rivers:
Rebounding the key?:
“We knew that before the series started that rebounding would be an issue. It has been, it really has been. Everyone points to Pat Garrity and to Horace, but again in Game One, their guards destroyed us on the boards, in Game Two they did not, in Game Three destroyed us on the boards. As bad as it looks for our bigs, their guards are killing us on the boards. Baron gets 14 [rebounds] that just can’t happen. It really can’t, I know it sounds crazy but we can’t allow Baron Davis and Wesley and Augmon dominate our smalls on the boards. We’re already at a size disadvantage with the bigs, and I think we’re dealing with that pretty good. Pat Garrity had 10 rebounds and I thought he fought about as hard as you can fight. Horace has been in a war the whole game. That’s where we have to do a better job.”
Offensive rebounding of Charlotte hurts:
“Yeah, the defensive rebounds I really have never counted. I could care less about those. If you get more shots or miss more shots, then they should get more defensive rebounds. There could be a chance that if we had 10 more offensive rebounds than a team and they had 20 more defensive rebounds, then we actually won the war. That’s where the problem has come. We can’t give this team extra shots, as many as we’ve been giving them. When you think about it, if you take out overtime, one point in three games has separated these three games. As bad as we’ve allowed them back in, we’ve allowed them back in. Teams have made runs. We had a 14-point lead yesterday and they came back and took the lead. They had a 13-point lead yesterday and we came back and took a 5-point lead. There’s just been ebbs and flows throughout this series. Why? Who knows. We have to do a better job of slowing their run and we want to continue to make ours. I think the other difference has been we’ve taken about 15 more threes but only made about one more.”
About making adjustments to stop runs:
“Bottom line is, if you are who you are, and you played the way you played all year, you got to try to stay the course. I think when you see guys trying to make these drastic adjustments because of runs, that’s when they get in trouble.”
You’re used to having the best player out on the court with Tracy, but was Baron the best player yesterday?:
“Well, he was down the stretch, but I’m kinda partial to Tracy. Tracy has done everything for us in this series. Yesterday was the first day I thought he took a step backwards defensively. That wasn’t his best defensive night. For the most part he’s been awesome. When you’re playing as many minutes as he’s playing, when you’re asking him to score, rebound and then guard the best guy… you know Baron doesn’t have to do that. That’s a big difference.”
Tracy McGrady:
If you could be anywhere in the world next Friday, where would you be (Friday would be the potential Game 5 at Charlotte):
“If I could be anywhere in the world… is that a trick question? I want to be in Charlotte.”
About his back therapy being “different”:
“I can’t even tell you what I was doing over there. It’s all new to me to. It’s working. It’s definitely working. I was doing a little bit of that before the game, and I didn’t even stretch, I was just loose right away. The guy [the back specialist] is definitely a professional and he’s good at what he does.”
Can you stop Baron Davis on Tuesday?:
“Can I stop Baron Davis? I’m not guarding him, but he’s a b...., he’s tough to guard cause he’s strong, he’s quick with the ball and he can shoot the ball. It’s not easy to stop. We’re going to put Darrell on him to put some more pressure on him and try to slow him down. I really couldn’t put that much pressure because number one, my back was hurting, and number two I didn’t want to tire myself out for the fourth quarter. Baron kind of has it easy. First half, he’s getting everybody in the offense, getting everybody involved and second half is where he really explodes and really uses all his energy. By that time I’m doing my work in the first half and I gotta do work in the second half. It’s really tough on me. We’re gonna put Darrell, a guy who can go full blast from start to finish, so it’s going to be different.”
Doc says Magic need backcourt rebounding:
“Well, rebounding’s been one of the biggest things before we even entered this series so everybody definitely has to rebound.”
Baron’s dribbling is tough:
“He has some tricky stuff with him man. He can penetrate, and he’s got all these moves with the ball, he’ tough to guard. He’s tough to guard, especially me guarding him cause I’m 6-8 and he’s 6-2, it’s a b.... for me to guard him. I think if we can put a much a quicker guy on him and a guy who can match his match his intensity like Darrell, it will be real tough on him. We’re going to have to change some things around, cause he could just take Darrell into the post cause he’s much stronger than Darrell. We’re just going to have to give him a lot more help.”
How much patience do you have to win a title?:
“I think we had a chance this year, we just weren’t a healthy team. We got one of our key guys out, so hopefully Grant [Hill] is healthy next year. I think the most important thing is we just got to have everybody healthy.”
Darrell Armstrong:
Will he be guarding Baron instead of Tracy in Game 4?:
“He’s mine… he’s mine. But I like that. He’s a great talent, great challenge for me and I just look forward to that challenge. He’s the type of player where you look at me, you look at him… he’s just more athletic and his energy is better than mine. I’m 33, he’s like 19. I need some candy bars and chocolate, he don’t need nothing right now! Wait till he gets my age, he might be going over the same routine I go on now. Best thing I have for myself, is I have another point guard, Troy Hudson, that does the same things I do and his energy is the same too. It will be a great match up.
Why are you guarding him?:
“I like to pressure the ball. I just think Tracy’s not the type you use to put pressure on guards, especially point guards. We need Tracy’s energy for offensive end and halfcourt defense. Tracy’s really a great halfcourt defensive player, he’s not a player who’s going to pressure the ball. We need him to save his energy. What I’m going to do is just put pressure on him and just try to him waste some time off the shot clock that way they won’t get into their offense real early.”
Worried about Baron posting him up?:
“He’s a talent. He’s a good offensive player. It’s a good offensive player going against a good defensive player and you’ll just see what will happen. Unfortunately, he’s a little bit bigger than me, but I’ve been playing big point guards all my career. I just battle him and fight him in the post and make him make tough shots.”
Can you stop him?:
“I don’t think you can stop a guy who’s going to shoot the ball for their team. I’m not like Ruben Patterson, a Kobe-stopper… I’m not a Baron-stopper, I’m just a guy who tries to contain him. When I say contain, make shots tough for him, make him work.”
Charlotte Quotes
HEAD COACH PAUL SILAS:
On not arguing the last-second shot at the end of regulation
“You couldn’t argue the call because once he (NBA official, Bernie Fryer) made his mind up, there was nothing left to say. I had to then regroup my emotions and make sure that my team had their emotions in tact so that we could go out and win the ballgame. It was over and done with, so why argue it?”
“I didn’t know whether the shot was good or not. I thought that it could have been, but he waved the shot off even before he took a good look and that’s the problem that I had.”
“On a last-second shot like that you have to determine whether or not it was a legitimate shot or not. Of course, if you had instant replay, then it would show it. At some point and time they’ve got to deal with instant replay. That’s something on the docket this summer for the NBA Board of Governors and they had better look at that hard and heavy because it would have been a shame for us to lose a game under those circumstances.”
On Charlotte’s effort in Game #3
“It was a great effort, especially after all that happened. We could have very easily just succumbed to the pressure, but instead we stepped up. That’s been the mark of this team all season long. When we’ve needed it, we’ve always found a way to step up and get it done.”
On the play of the Hornet reserves
“My reserves came through big time. A lot of them have been in big playoffs games, but then there are guys that have kind of surprised us like (Jamaal) Magloire and others that haven’t had as much experience. I have no problems about playing anybody who going to get the job done, and they stepped up and got it done.”
On the play of Tracy McGrady
“He’s going to score and he’s going to score on anybody. The different looks that we can put on him help us. We started off with George (Lynch) and then brought Stacey (Augmon) in on him, but he’s going to get his no matter what. The thing that I’m more concerned with is everybody else. Finally we found a way to keep (Troy) Hudson from killing us, but (Pat) Garrity got off more than we would have liked. I think that if we can keep those guys at bay, then we have more of a chance to win rather than concentrating on him (Tracy McGrady) as much. He’s just a great player and he’s going to score. I though at the end of the game we had worn him down a little bit because we were able to throw more people at him.”
BARON DAVIS
On his last-second shot at the end of regulation
“I’ve watched the replay about three or four times, but I already knew that it was good. I knew that it was good and I knew that he (NBA official, Bernie Fryer) waved it off. Sometimes referees miss calls. They’re human, so it’s nothing that we need to dwell on. If we had lost the game in overtime, then I would have been upset that we didn’t play well in overtime, not because the refs missed a call.”
On Orlando’s play throughout the playoffs
“They’ve done a good job at getting to the basket and getting to the free throw line. A lot of their role players have really stepped up and made big shots and big plays for them. We just really need to keep those guys at bay and try and contain McGrady as much as possible.”
On being in a leadership role
“It’s no pressure. I’ve been called upon at different points in this season to lead this team, especially with two of our main guys out, so it’s nothing that I’m not used to.”
“I feel that I have to play well in order for us to win. With this team you’ll sometimes get different people who will step up. I think that I have to be that consistent force, that solid rock that people can look towards in their time of need. Now, I’m really stepping up to that challenge, especially with Mash (Jamal Mashburn) being out.”
On playing Tracy McGrady
“I feel that if I can get to the hole on McGrady, with him having a bad back and all, it’s going to pretty much hurt him on defense as well. I’m just going to try and tire him out towards the end of the game. We know he’s going to come out the gate and play well because he’s a tremendous scorer, but as long as we keep attacking his body on the offensive and defensive end, hopefully we can wear him down towards the end of the game.”
GEORGE LYNCH:
On Tracy McGrady’s performance in Game #3
“If you can give a player 37 points and still come out with a win, then you did a great job. He was trying so hard to get his points that he kept his teammates the ball, and that’s the key. You can’t have Tracy (McGrady) score 37 points and two or three guys on their team score 25 or above their average.”
“Late in the game you hope that his legs are gone or that his back is bothering him enough that he can’t make the shot or he can’t make the plays to help his team make shots. I think that’s what happened last night. He spent so much energy trying to carry his team throughout regulation, that he didn’t have anything left in overtime.”
Horace Grant:
The Charlotte rebounding edge:
“Well, when you’re out rebounded like our team was twice by a great margin, it’s going to be their biggest key to getting a victory and we just have to stop that.”
About losing big leads in each game:
“I said this during the regular season, whenever we get a team down 15-17 points we need to learn how to put those teams away. I think it’s come back to bit us a little bit here in the playoffs. We need that killer instinct because you get a team down like this, if you don’t have that killer instinct then you’re going to be down 2-1.”
Do big leads mean less in the postseason?:
“Even in the regular season it’s not safe, especially in the playoffs because you know teams can go on the road, they can go on a run like they did. For the most part we just didn’t keep our poise when they went on a run and dropped our heads a little bit. I think it’s more psychological in terms of whenever we get a big lead like that we try to protect it instead of going ahead and winning the ballgame.”
On the play of Baron Davis:
“We got to find a way to slow him down and get the ball out of his hands and force the other guys to beat us because when he gets on a roll and makes up his mind to take over a game a lot of teams are going to be in trouble, especially us.”
Head Coach Doc Rivers:
Rebounding the key?:
“We knew that before the series started that rebounding would be an issue. It has been, it really has been. Everyone points to Pat Garrity and to Horace, but again in Game One, their guards destroyed us on the boards, in Game Two they did not, in Game Three destroyed us on the boards. As bad as it looks for our bigs, their guards are killing us on the boards. Baron gets 14 [rebounds] that just can’t happen. It really can’t, I know it sounds crazy but we can’t allow Baron Davis and Wesley and Augmon dominate our smalls on the boards. We’re already at a size disadvantage with the bigs, and I think we’re dealing with that pretty good. Pat Garrity had 10 rebounds and I thought he fought about as hard as you can fight. Horace has been in a war the whole game. That’s where we have to do a better job.”
Offensive rebounding of Charlotte hurts:
“Yeah, the defensive rebounds I really have never counted. I could care less about those. If you get more shots or miss more shots, then they should get more defensive rebounds. There could be a chance that if we had 10 more offensive rebounds than a team and they had 20 more defensive rebounds, then we actually won the war. That’s where the problem has come. We can’t give this team extra shots, as many as we’ve been giving them. When you think about it, if you take out overtime, one point in three games has separated these three games. As bad as we’ve allowed them back in, we’ve allowed them back in. Teams have made runs. We had a 14-point lead yesterday and they came back and took the lead. They had a 13-point lead yesterday and we came back and took a 5-point lead. There’s just been ebbs and flows throughout this series. Why? Who knows. We have to do a better job of slowing their run and we want to continue to make ours. I think the other difference has been we’ve taken about 15 more threes but only made about one more.”
About making adjustments to stop runs:
“Bottom line is, if you are who you are, and you played the way you played all year, you got to try to stay the course. I think when you see guys trying to make these drastic adjustments because of runs, that’s when they get in trouble.”
You’re used to having the best player out on the court with Tracy, but was Baron the best player yesterday?:
“Well, he was down the stretch, but I’m kinda partial to Tracy. Tracy has done everything for us in this series. Yesterday was the first day I thought he took a step backwards defensively. That wasn’t his best defensive night. For the most part he’s been awesome. When you’re playing as many minutes as he’s playing, when you’re asking him to score, rebound and then guard the best guy… you know Baron doesn’t have to do that. That’s a big difference.”
Tracy McGrady:
If you could be anywhere in the world next Friday, where would you be (Friday would be the potential Game 5 at Charlotte):
“If I could be anywhere in the world… is that a trick question? I want to be in Charlotte.”
About his back therapy being “different”:
“I can’t even tell you what I was doing over there. It’s all new to me to. It’s working. It’s definitely working. I was doing a little bit of that before the game, and I didn’t even stretch, I was just loose right away. The guy [the back specialist] is definitely a professional and he’s good at what he does.”
Can you stop Baron Davis on Tuesday?:
“Can I stop Baron Davis? I’m not guarding him, but he’s a b...., he’s tough to guard cause he’s strong, he’s quick with the ball and he can shoot the ball. It’s not easy to stop. We’re going to put Darrell on him to put some more pressure on him and try to slow him down. I really couldn’t put that much pressure because number one, my back was hurting, and number two I didn’t want to tire myself out for the fourth quarter. Baron kind of has it easy. First half, he’s getting everybody in the offense, getting everybody involved and second half is where he really explodes and really uses all his energy. By that time I’m doing my work in the first half and I gotta do work in the second half. It’s really tough on me. We’re gonna put Darrell, a guy who can go full blast from start to finish, so it’s going to be different.”
Doc says Magic need backcourt rebounding:
“Well, rebounding’s been one of the biggest things before we even entered this series so everybody definitely has to rebound.”
Baron’s dribbling is tough:
“He has some tricky stuff with him man. He can penetrate, and he’s got all these moves with the ball, he’ tough to guard. He’s tough to guard, especially me guarding him cause I’m 6-8 and he’s 6-2, it’s a b.... for me to guard him. I think if we can put a much a quicker guy on him and a guy who can match his match his intensity like Darrell, it will be real tough on him. We’re going to have to change some things around, cause he could just take Darrell into the post cause he’s much stronger than Darrell. We’re just going to have to give him a lot more help.”
How much patience do you have to win a title?:
“I think we had a chance this year, we just weren’t a healthy team. We got one of our key guys out, so hopefully Grant [Hill] is healthy next year. I think the most important thing is we just got to have everybody healthy.”
Darrell Armstrong:
Will he be guarding Baron instead of Tracy in Game 4?:
“He’s mine… he’s mine. But I like that. He’s a great talent, great challenge for me and I just look forward to that challenge. He’s the type of player where you look at me, you look at him… he’s just more athletic and his energy is better than mine. I’m 33, he’s like 19. I need some candy bars and chocolate, he don’t need nothing right now! Wait till he gets my age, he might be going over the same routine I go on now. Best thing I have for myself, is I have another point guard, Troy Hudson, that does the same things I do and his energy is the same too. It will be a great match up.
Why are you guarding him?:
“I like to pressure the ball. I just think Tracy’s not the type you use to put pressure on guards, especially point guards. We need Tracy’s energy for offensive end and halfcourt defense. Tracy’s really a great halfcourt defensive player, he’s not a player who’s going to pressure the ball. We need him to save his energy. What I’m going to do is just put pressure on him and just try to him waste some time off the shot clock that way they won’t get into their offense real early.”
Worried about Baron posting him up?:
“He’s a talent. He’s a good offensive player. It’s a good offensive player going against a good defensive player and you’ll just see what will happen. Unfortunately, he’s a little bit bigger than me, but I’ve been playing big point guards all my career. I just battle him and fight him in the post and make him make tough shots.”
Can you stop him?:
“I don’t think you can stop a guy who’s going to shoot the ball for their team. I’m not like Ruben Patterson, a Kobe-stopper… I’m not a Baron-stopper, I’m just a guy who tries to contain him. When I say contain, make shots tough for him, make him work.”
Charlotte Quotes
HEAD COACH PAUL SILAS:
On not arguing the last-second shot at the end of regulation
“You couldn’t argue the call because once he (NBA official, Bernie Fryer) made his mind up, there was nothing left to say. I had to then regroup my emotions and make sure that my team had their emotions in tact so that we could go out and win the ballgame. It was over and done with, so why argue it?”
“I didn’t know whether the shot was good or not. I thought that it could have been, but he waved the shot off even before he took a good look and that’s the problem that I had.”
“On a last-second shot like that you have to determine whether or not it was a legitimate shot or not. Of course, if you had instant replay, then it would show it. At some point and time they’ve got to deal with instant replay. That’s something on the docket this summer for the NBA Board of Governors and they had better look at that hard and heavy because it would have been a shame for us to lose a game under those circumstances.”
On Charlotte’s effort in Game #3
“It was a great effort, especially after all that happened. We could have very easily just succumbed to the pressure, but instead we stepped up. That’s been the mark of this team all season long. When we’ve needed it, we’ve always found a way to step up and get it done.”
On the play of the Hornet reserves
“My reserves came through big time. A lot of them have been in big playoffs games, but then there are guys that have kind of surprised us like (Jamaal) Magloire and others that haven’t had as much experience. I have no problems about playing anybody who going to get the job done, and they stepped up and got it done.”
On the play of Tracy McGrady
“He’s going to score and he’s going to score on anybody. The different looks that we can put on him help us. We started off with George (Lynch) and then brought Stacey (Augmon) in on him, but he’s going to get his no matter what. The thing that I’m more concerned with is everybody else. Finally we found a way to keep (Troy) Hudson from killing us, but (Pat) Garrity got off more than we would have liked. I think that if we can keep those guys at bay, then we have more of a chance to win rather than concentrating on him (Tracy McGrady) as much. He’s just a great player and he’s going to score. I though at the end of the game we had worn him down a little bit because we were able to throw more people at him.”
BARON DAVIS
On his last-second shot at the end of regulation
“I’ve watched the replay about three or four times, but I already knew that it was good. I knew that it was good and I knew that he (NBA official, Bernie Fryer) waved it off. Sometimes referees miss calls. They’re human, so it’s nothing that we need to dwell on. If we had lost the game in overtime, then I would have been upset that we didn’t play well in overtime, not because the refs missed a call.”
On Orlando’s play throughout the playoffs
“They’ve done a good job at getting to the basket and getting to the free throw line. A lot of their role players have really stepped up and made big shots and big plays for them. We just really need to keep those guys at bay and try and contain McGrady as much as possible.”
On being in a leadership role
“It’s no pressure. I’ve been called upon at different points in this season to lead this team, especially with two of our main guys out, so it’s nothing that I’m not used to.”
“I feel that I have to play well in order for us to win. With this team you’ll sometimes get different people who will step up. I think that I have to be that consistent force, that solid rock that people can look towards in their time of need. Now, I’m really stepping up to that challenge, especially with Mash (Jamal Mashburn) being out.”
On playing Tracy McGrady
“I feel that if I can get to the hole on McGrady, with him having a bad back and all, it’s going to pretty much hurt him on defense as well. I’m just going to try and tire him out towards the end of the game. We know he’s going to come out the gate and play well because he’s a tremendous scorer, but as long as we keep attacking his body on the offensive and defensive end, hopefully we can wear him down towards the end of the game.”
GEORGE LYNCH:
On Tracy McGrady’s performance in Game #3
“If you can give a player 37 points and still come out with a win, then you did a great job. He was trying so hard to get his points that he kept his teammates the ball, and that’s the key. You can’t have Tracy (McGrady) score 37 points and two or three guys on their team score 25 or above their average.”
“Late in the game you hope that his legs are gone or that his back is bothering him enough that he can’t make the shot or he can’t make the plays to help his team make shots. I think that’s what happened last night. He spent so much energy trying to carry his team throughout regulation, that he didn’t have anything left in overtime.”
