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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 1
“Probably a little frustration I would say. I think we know that we need to make the necessary adjustments to go down to New Orleans tomorrow and play a good, solid 48-minute game. We were a little frustrated at times last night, and it may have carried over to today. But I think we’ll be focused and ready tomorrow night.” On the adjustments made for Game Six “I think we have to come out with a lot of energy. You have to give (New Orleans) credit for coming in here with (Jamal) Mashburn, who I thought got them off to great start. But you know with him it’s another key match up for someone on our club and he sort of stretches your defense more than some of the other guys on their bench. So we have to adjust to having Mashburn back on the floor and hopefully we can do that and close down the floor a little bit.”
“We have to try and contain (Jamal) Mashburn. I was trying to do that (in Game Five) but, I held him under his average (and) I think we all did. And Baron (Davis) didn’t shoot the ball that well, hopefully tomorrow, he won’t shoot well at all. “We just have to go into tomorrow night’s game and try to stay focused. Everybody is always talking about rebounding. It’s unbelievable how (New Orleans goes) to the boards. We just have to go down there and play like we did in Game Four, with a lot of intensity and play hard and rebound. If we rebound, I think we can win.” On Jamal Mashburn’s performance in Game Five “The guy didn’t play in Game Three and Game Four, (so) he was fresh. I guess it’s to the point where we have been banging inside with their big guys, and me having to guard him, he’s an all-star. I don’t know what else to say. He made a lot of big shots in the first quarter. He made a shot on me in the fourth quarter, but he took two shots that he had missed down the stretch in the fourth quarter and we didn’t get the rebound. I think if we had gotten one of those, who knows what would have happened.” On the Sixers’ mood after last nights loss “We’re still up 3-2. I don’t think we have anything to lose. We go down there and we just play hard. They’re the ones that are in the hole right now.” On the difficulty of wining in the road “Well everybody is talking about how we played so well on the road. I think we just go down there and play like we did in Game Four. Their gym is unbelievable. Like I said after Game Four, I think that was the most exciting game of the series because the crowd was really in it. The Philly crowd is great, but there’s just something about being on the road. It’s like you hear everything. (Game Four down there) was just unbelievable. We just have to go down there and maintain in tomorrow night’s game.” On playing on the road in a hostile environment “It’s just loud. You hear the fans at home, but to me it’s different. I don’t know why, but it is. I think you have to stay more focused on the road. (New Orleans fans) being as loud as they are, you have a tendency to get down especially if you’re not playing well.”
“I think we really need to make the hustle plays at the end of the game. I think we need to obviously play more effectively so we don’t have to depend on what happens in the last minute (and) thirty (seconds) or two minutes of the game. Or have the game won by then and not put yourself in that situation every game. I think making hustle plays at the end of the games and playing all around better basketball in the previous three quarters or so.” On becoming more involved on the offensive glass “I think that it’s something that I just need to make a conscious effort of coming in from the three-point line because a lot of the plays that we have I am out on the perimeter. I think just making more of an effort to come in from that distance. I think it s a lot easier when I am at the four position, because I am always right there. But at the three position, it’s a little more difficult.” On the importance of closing out the series tomorrow night “We don’t want it to have to come down to a Game Seven. So that’s going to be our approach. I don’t think we’re sitting there saying, ‘Well we have two games, (just) win one.’ I don’t think that’s our mindset because we want to get this taken care of and we want to win tomorrow night.” On the importance of forcing turnovers “In the games we have won, we have kind of disrupted them a little bit more. I think that comes down to being a little more active on the defensive end. Trapping the ball better, (and) creating a little more havoc on our full court press. I thought we showed moments of that last night when we were doing a good job of it and then we went through periods of time where we weren’t doing it at all. I think if we can get that pressure on a consistent basis from our guards and then our forwards coming in and double-teaming and helping, then we’ll be a better team.” On the difficult matchups New Orleans presents “The only difficult match up for us as it is, comes down to rebounding the ball because that team is so big. George (Lynch) is 6’8, and bigger than any of our guards. A lot of it comes down to our mindset. No matter who’s bigger than you or stronger or taller, you just need to come up with those balls and I think that we have the heart to do it.” On the key to Game 6 “I think (New Orleans is) really going to come out and with a big punch at the beginning of the game and try to take us out early. I think we need to not necessarily counter that, but come out with our own punch. We need to set the tone, just like we did in our last game there in New Orleans. We need to establish that we are going to be the dominant team.” |
