Quotes, 4/19
Doc Rivers:
Are you ready?
“We’re ready. We’re just looking forward to getting up there and play, that’s all we can do now.”
How’s Tracy?
“Tracy’s good. I don’t know if great is the right word for him but I think he will be great by tomorrow and Mike’s going to play tomorrow, I don’t know how good he’ll be yet. He didn’t look great, let’s put it that way.”
What’s reasonable to expect from Mike in this series?:
“30 and 15 a game… that sounds good to me that’s what I’m going to expect I don’t care how injured he is. That might not be realistic but that’s what I’m going to expect anyway. I think you have to expect more. Obviously 30 and 15 is a high number. I just think athletes have the ability to rise to the occasion even when injured. That’s not anything we’re pinning our hopes on, if he can’t go, we’ll just go in another direction.”
Talk about how ankles are a problem with shooters:
“That’s my biggest concern, foot movement on defense and balance on shots. Historically, great shooters with foot problems have struggled because they just can’t get their balance. So if I have a concern with Mike, it will probably be that. I think it will be very important for him to come in and hit a couple of shots early just for confidence sake.”
Ewing’s role in playoffs:
“I don’t really know, that’s a good question. I know he’s going to help us with his size, you know, we’re playing the right team because they’re big and so is Patrick Ewing so that can help us. I’d love to get some scoring out of him on the post and just him being a rebounding presence. If he can do those things for 20 minutes, that’s 20 minutes of help.”
Elden Campbell:
Campbell’s tough. The tough part about Campbell is when he really comes to play he’s really difficult and when he doesn’t he’s not, you just don’t know which one. Usually in the playoffs, Campbell’s had pretty good playoffs so you know he’ll come to play.
Troy Hudson the X-factor?:
Troy’s the X-factor every night because you really don’t know on a given night what he’s going to give you. I think at times we don’t know but neither does Charlotte and I think that’s an advantage. I think Mike Miller is actually the X-factor in this series.
Horace Grant:
Going up against Charlotte big men a big challenge…:
“Yeah it’s a big challenge but it’s not like I haven’t been there before. Anything can happen, this is the playoffs and it’s going to be a battle. Personally, I’m looking forward to it.”
Advice to guys who haven’t won a playoff series before:
“You have to come in and play hard and play relaxed. If you get uptight, you’re going to go home quick and we don’t plan on going home quick.”
Charlotte crowd:
“Doc said something the other day about the fans not being there and the team moving, hopefully a couple hundred fans will show up and that will be like homecourt for us. We can’t go in there and bank everything on that, we have to go in there and play.”
Size difference a factor?:
“If we don’t come out there and rebound it can be a big factor but they have to guard a guy like Pat Garrity on the outside and some of their big guys don’t like to come out so hopefully we can use that to our advantage.”
Can Tracy step up game like Kobe and MJ and carry the team?:
“He almost did it last year. I was out there in LA and I was just watching it and it was unbelievable what he did in the playoffs. Hopefully guys like myself, Mike, Darrell, Pat and the other guys can help him.”
Monty Williams:Coming off the bench matter to you?:
It doesn’t matter. It’s not a big deal whether I start or come off the bench. The biggest thing is that I bring the energy and bring my defense and try to help the team anyway I can.”
Playing Mashburn and Nailon: “They’re both a load. Jamal can shoot it, he can put it down, he’s pretty strong. Lee is a great post up guy, but he’s the kinda guy that can hit any kind of shot. You can tell, cause his nickname is “All-Day”, that means he hits shots all day.”
Tracy McGrady:
Can you play 48 minutes with the back problems:
“Hopefully I won’t have to play 48, but if it comes down to it that I have to, sure I’d be willing to play 48. I did it before.”
Are you a better player than you were going into the playoffs last year?:
“I feel like a better player. Last year was a different role for me, I was THE guy and I had to carry a lot. This year I think I got a lot more help. I think this team knows what to expect going into the playoffs, we kinda got a feel for Charlotte, what their strengths are, what their weaknesses are.”
Taking a game in Charlotte:
“Definitely we wanna get one up there. That’s our goal, get one up there and bring it back home. If we can get the first one, we’ll definitely have the confidence to believe we can get that second one. Winning the first one is important, but winning one out of the two is definitely big for us.”
Baron Davis:
“I think Baron Davis is the guy that really gets them into their offense, a guy that can take over the ballgame. He’s very athletic, it will be kinda tough for Darrell to guard him cause he’s so big and so strong, he can post Darrell up and we gotta give a lot of help. With me guarding him, we won’t have to help as much, we probably won’t have to help at all. I think we can put Monty on Mashburn and Darrell can do a lot of chasing David Wesley cause I don’t think I want to chase David Wesley around screens, Darrell and Troy do a good job of that.”
Ready for Charlotte:
“We better be ready cause they’re a big physical team and I think we can match that, we’re going to have to and I think the biggest thing is we gotta out-rebound them.”
Can you and Mike lean on each other:
“We’re going to have to. We’re too young guys, we’re not the healthiest guys. There’s going to be times when I’m going to be struggling in the game and he’s going to be doing the same, we’re just going to have to communicate with each other and help each other out.”
Injury tough on Mike?:
“It’s been real frustrating for him. He wants to play so bad and help the team out, and he’s just not at full strength right now. He says he’s fine and can tolerate the pain that he has and hopefully he can help us out.”
Darrell Armstrong:Are you ready?:
“Oh yeah… gotta be ready, if you can’t get up for this… I’ve been sweating in bed, I’ve just been ready to play basketball. What a challenge we have to go there and take a game from them, maybe two, you never know. This is the time you focus in, you focus out all your friends and people who call in and try to get tickets and just get ready.”
Is the team healthy enough to win?:
“We’re not worried about being healthy. You don’t get to the playoffs if you’re worried about being healthy. That’s why we’re in this position now, cause we got guys who will their way through games and will their way through practice. They fight.”
Distraction for you playing near home?
“No it’s not. It’s not going to be a distraction because you know what? I changed my number, my cell phone number, my name in my room and I’m really just focusing on helping these guys win games. My concentration is definitely going to be on this playoff run.”
Mike Miller:
The ankle injury:
“It’s probably 70% at the most. I will play through it and I ain’t going to make any excuses when I do play. This is the playoffs, it’s never easy. You play through what you got and you make the most of what you got, this is what I got and this is what I gotta make the most of.”
What did he learn about the playoffs?:
“It’s a different game. Every possession counts. The game slows down, there’s not a lot of easy buckets, you just got to be ready to play. Execution is the key, execution on both ends, offensively and defensively. It’s a learning experience. The playoffs will always be a learning experience. I don’t care how many times you’ve been there, something different is always going to occur.”
Will Charlotte attack him?:
“They probably will, but that’s another thing. You just gotta play through it. It’s going to be a thing where it’s going to hurt but you play through it. If Doc sees that I’m a liability out there, I’m sure he’s going to take me out. If I’m going to step out there on the floor, I’m not going to make excuses, if a guy beats me, it’s not going to be because of my ankle. It’s going to be a lot harder to do the things I’m capable of doing, but if I’m stepping out there, I’m out there cause I think I’m going to help the team, not because I’m going to hurt the team.”
