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May 1 • Ayers, Thomas and Van Horn quotes April 27 • McKie and Snow quotes April 25 • Brown, McKie, Snow and Van Horn quotes April 24 • Practice report • Brown, Coleman and Van Horn quotes April 22 • Brown, Iverson and Snow quotes April 21 • Practice Report • Brown, Mckie and Van Horn quotes April 19 • Brown, Coleman, McKie and Snow quotes April 18 • Practice Report • Brown, Iverson, Thomas and Van Horn quotes |
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Practice Quotes - May 2
We won Game 4, the way they won Game 5. In the fourth quarter in Game 4 here, we got every loose ball, every long rebound, made every hustle play and came out with a win. In Game 5, they did that. We had six turnovers (in the fourth quarter) and shot the ball poorly. I thought we did a good job defensively. But George (Lynch) gets a couple of key stick backs and made shots. I believe that this game is going to come down to the same things the whole series. Whoever rebounds, defends and takes care of the ball, is going to have the greatest opportunity to win. On Eric Snow’s situation and thinking about his son during the game I think we would all expect that. That was a pretty serious situation. He got back this morning, and I think things are pretty stable. Hopefully, he can come out and focus. He’s going home tomorrow. His son is going to have the best care. Everybody is concerned about him and we’ll see. I don’t know how you go through a situation like that and respond. He’s with family here, and this is what he does. Hopefully, this is something that will take his mind off that. On Snow’s impact We are not the same team (when he is off the floor). I’ve said this all along. Our team is at its best when he’s out there and when Aaron McKie is playing as well as he is capable of playing. With Eric’s situation, we need Aaron to really step up. And every time I’ve asked him to he’s responded. I’m confident he’ll do that tonight. On the frustration of coming back to New Orleans If I had my druthers, I would have liked to have stayed home and get it settled. You’ve go to respect what they did. I think it’s great having (Jamal) Mashburn back, I don’t like to see a team not playing at full strength. But they gave themselves a chance to make this a longer series. And I said from the beginning that they were the best team in the East. The sad thing is that we had a chance to win the game. We didn’t execute in the fourth quarter. And to not play as well as we are capable of playing, and to lose a two point game, hurts. If we are able to play well, and can win this thing, it will only make us better.
He’s going through a difficult situation at this time with his personal problems. We’ve got to play basketball. Like I said from the beginning of the series, it’s not just on one or two guys, we have to do it collectively as a team. We are prepared for that. We have been faced with adversity before, this is not the first time. We just have to come out and play well as a team. On being back to New Orleans We didn’t prepare for this. But we are here, and we have to get ready to play those guys and be ready for a physical all out war. Nothing is guaranteed. We didn’t come into the First Union Center, and they said, ‘well, ok we are going to lay down for you guys.’ We knew we were going to go out there and those guys were going to play hard and give it a good effort. They won the game, so we are here now. We’ve got to prepare for a war tonight. On the strategy of the game taking a back seat to emotion Well, I think that’s the critical part of it all. By knowing it’s so important to those guys and so important to us. To block out all of that and be mentally focused and prepared. For us, we need to execute a little better because we are playing on the road and it’s going to loud in here. A lot of time you are not going to be able to hear. It’s doubly important that we pay attention, and we are more focused than those guys.
My middle son Darius Snow, he’s 16 months, had a febrile seizure after the game (on Wednesday), and we rushed him to the hospital. He was aware and breathing when he got into the ambulance to the hospital. We did tests and blood work and found out it was a viral and ear infection that brought the fever about. Once we did the research and talked to all the different doctors, it’s common for that kind of virus to cause febrile seizure. The fever goes up real rapidly. It’s common in kids that young to five years old…he’s doing better. The fever’s still (running its course). Everything that he has been doing is pretty much what has been predicted by doctors. On the situation weighing on his mind I just have to do my job as hard and as well as I can. It’s going to be on my mind. There’s nothing I can do to erase it. I’ve got to be there for my family, and I am going to do that. They want me to come down and do well. I’m going to try to that and get back tonight. On his morning I couldn’t sleep last night…He fell asleep in my arms last night, that’s hard. Then just leaving. After this happens and then have to leave within 48 hours, it’s just tough. I’m just hopeful we can come down and get this victory, and get back home and then I can spend the whole day tomorrow with them. I’ve slept, not my normal sleep, but I am not here to make any excuses. On the feeling of getting it done in Game 6 I do. I have not spoken with any of the team about that, but I’m quite sure that’s their focus also. There’s no need to dwell on Game 7 because there are no guarantees. (We need to) try to take advantage of opportunities when you have them. We didn’t do that the last game, so we have to do that tonight. |
