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POSTGAME QUOTES
NOVEMBER 12, 2002


On the key to the game:
"Our defense in the second half was great. The second half was great."

On Steve Francis’ fall:
"It was a hard fall. It was one of those falls where it won’t hurt him now, but it will be sore like a thigh bruise. It wasn’t deliberate by Rasheed. Steve opened up his body, and when you open your body like that, you leave yourself vulnerable. I’m glad he’s OK."

On Francis’ toughness:
"Steve’s amazing, man. To take a fall like that, a lot of people would be done for the night; he knew how big that game was. That’s a true champ right there. He’s a heavyweight. He’s definitely a heavyweight. It’s unbelievable."

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On On his fall to the floor:
"Honestly, I couldn’t even tell you (what happened). I just remember I went up and though Rasheed Wallace is known for getting technical fouls, he’s not a dirty kind of player that’s trying to hurt me, so I know it was something that was a fluke accident and that he was going for the ball. I just came down awkwardly."

On the game:
"I’m glad the guys kept their composure after that (the fall). I felt like we played good down the stretch to where we kind of controlled what we wanted to do on the offensive end. We didn’t shoot the ball well in the first half, and I thought the defense helped us in the second half. Once we decided in our minds that we wanted to play defense, the game changed."

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On the key to the game:
"Francis took over the game late and I thought we had a good defense on him. When he’s making his jump shot he’s tough to stop. We didn’t win the game because of the third quarter. We did some good things, but not quite enough of them."

On Portland’s early season play:
"We’ve led every game on this trip at halftime, and we’ve had to scratch and claw to try and win games."

On Rasheed Wallace’s play:
"Rasheed had a rough shooting game, but he did get us some rebounds. We have to try and find a way to get him on track."

On Yao Ming's play:
"I think he’ll be pretty good. He has some good skills for his size and an excellent touch for a shooter."

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On the key to the game:
“We just lost. Houston played well and pulled it out in the end. Give Steve Francis credit. He took over the game and just went off on us in the second half."

On Portland’s early season play:
“It’s early in the season and we have to focus on the future. We have to get better and learn from our mistakes."

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On Portland’s 3-6 record:
"Our margin of error is very small. WE are in a predicament where our margin of error is very little. The season is early and there is a lot of time, but we’re off to a rough start."

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On Yao Ming:
"He needs to change his style and get more physical and add more muscle. He will get better and better. He needs to learn every day and if he has no injuries, he’ll be OK."

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On the key to the game:
"We lost our momentum in the second half and Francis got it going and Houston ran away with the game. We lost our rhythm and they got effective shooting the ball and they limited us to just one shot."

On playing in Houston:
"Houston has a real nice package. The fans still love me here, don’t they?"

On the booing:
"It doesn’t bother me at all. The booing doesn’t distract me, as I’ve played in some pretty hostile places."