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May 2 • Brown, McKie, Snow quotes 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 4
We accomplished our goal to get out of the first round. I would hope we all have loftier goals. My personal thing, it should be a real positive the way Keith played, the series Allen had, the contributions our bench had and DC. Everything should be positive. We should move forward. This is a different team than last year. We don’t have a lot of the same guys back. I would hope everyone is as excited as I am. On the Sixers being the best team in the East I don’t know. I just thought at the end of the year the way New Orleans was playing and getting Baron back, that they were the best team. But that doesn’t mean we’re the best team. They had some injuries as we did, but I think we played against a great team and proved we're pretty good, but that means nothing in the next series, you got to start all over again. Match-ups are critical. I don’t know how right now we match-up against these teams. The last time we played Detroit, they did not have Ben Wallace, the time before that, they beat us by 100. The problems we had with Orlando for years was when they had Miller, we’ve only played them once without Miller. I’ll wait and see. On Keith Van Horn I try to coach guys to make them better…Keith Van Horn is somebody, I’ve said this all along, I thought he had a great year. I think he is better than what we’ve seen. I still think he had a great year. Is he capable of getting 18 rebounds every night? I don’t think anybody in our league is. But I think he can have nights like this on a consistent basis. I thought Derrick said it best, (Keith) is sometimes afraid to take chances. If he misses a shot or two, sometimes he is reluctant to take another shot. I don’t think great players even think about that. Me sitting there watching him play after what he has been through, I was pretty proud of him. And I think our whole team was, and I would hope that he feels pretty excited about it.
We just need to keep our mental toughness and approach every game like it’s the last game. Because if you start looking past your opponents you are playing in front of you, you are going to get lackadaisical and that’s kind of what happened in New Orleans. We kind of took them for granted. We knew they were a good team, and we had them down 2-0 and got kind of lackadaisical in those two games. We are going to be all right. We talk about it every day, mentally just staying above your game and being mentally ready to play. And just be ready. On recharging in a short time If you think about it, there are a lot of guys who are not as banged up as they were two or three years ago when we went to the finals. With Keith and then Aaron and myself coming off the bench, we have got to be more productive. When it comes to the playoffs, you have a second life, re-boost yourself, and the energy level just stays up. I am pretty sure that guys are going to be charged up. On Derrick Coleman I have never seen Derrick play this hard in my whole career. It just shows you how bad he wants to win. His clock is ticking, and of course mine is ticking also. He knows that this might be his last shot at reaching the Finals and trying to win it all. On the play in Game 6 I think we play our best at times when we are under the gun. We got too much cushion, we get not too lackadaisical, but we get too relaxed…We’re better when there’s a lot of adversity or under the gun, pressure. I think that’s when our team plays its best. For some reason, I don’t know why, but we always rise to the challenge. On Keith Van Horn Keith played well. He was a big factor in that game. If he can keep that up throughout the series, there’s no telling how far we might go. On Detroit and Ben Wallace Whenever you have a shot blocker, he’s always going to cause problems. Just like we had Theo (part of) that one year we went to the Finals. It makes it easier on the defensive end because you are thinking about it going to the basket. That kind of changes the game plan. It’s always a big factor.
They are both perimeter teams, the only difference is Tracy, he consumes the ball so much. I think Detroit shares it a little more. I think with Ben Wallace, you have to match up with him based on his energy. And what he brings to the team. For the most part, they both play outside. On a rooting interest No, I hate both of them. I really don’t care who we play, I think we match up well against both teams. I think we have a lot as far as playing inside. Right now, I don’t think anyone can handle Allen. So I think we will fare well. On Keith Van Horn I was happy for him because he got so much flack from Game 5. Coach is always on him about rebounding, and he came up with 18 boards. He hit big shot after big shot. He’s done it for us all year. He doesn’t get the credit for it, but he’s done it for a while. On his role in next round I think either way, my game is the same. Coach always tells me not to be Dave Kingman. I know who he is now. I am trying to hit more singles than swinging for the fences. I think with my game, I have to make sure I am under control, but at the same time, make sure my defensive intensity is at its highest. With that in mind, I have to think about stopping guys like Tracy and every once in a while I might be on Rip Hamilton. It just depends. For me, with my teammates playing great team defense, it gives me a better chance to gamble and play guys a little more aggressively. |
