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May 9 • Practice report May 8 • Snow quotes May 7 • Brown, Van Horn and Buckner quotes May 7 • Brown, Van Horn and Buckner quotes May 6 • Brown, Coleman and McKie quotes May 5 • Practice Report • Bender, Coleman, McKie, Snow and Thomas quotes May 4 • Brown, Hill and Williams quotes • More quotes |
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Practice Quotes - May 9
“There are a lot of things we have to do better. We had too many turnovers again. We gave up 25 points off turnovers. We took 13 more shots than them, and I think, 10 or 12 less three point shots than them, and they shot many more free throws. We have to figure out a way to get referees to call fouls when we are driving to the goal. We have to get to the free throw line. That sets your defense up and is usually a high-percentage shot. Then, we have to do a better job defensively, especially in isolations and when we rotate out of isolations. I’m hopeful we will do that.” On Eric Snow “He’s a great point guard. He can defend, he is unselfish and he’s a bright kid. He wants to do what is right. I liked him when I was at Indiana in the draft, but at that time we had a lot of point guards. When I saw the uniqueness of Allen (Iverson) and the fact we felt he would be better suited to be a two-guard on offense, we needed a bigger defender at the point guard spot, somebody who could play two guards as well as one, and then run your club. There are not a lot of guys out there like that. That’s why everybody in the league wants Eric.” On Snow’s presence as a coach on the court “Every point guard in our league I think probably has the ability to coach. They are unselfish and work hard at the game. He does. He really thinks the game and tries to do what we ask him to get done. Again, he is very unselfish. He’s a brave kid, too. He played last night 40 minutes with a bad ankle and never complained. I think it gave us a chance to win, just having him out there.” On Detroit’s Tayshaun Prince “I was (coaching) with Tubby Smith on the qualifying team for the Olympic team. He had Prince (at Kentucky) and told me what a special player he thought he was. One of my (former) assistant coaches is now Joe Dumars’ assistant (with the Pistons). He told me how excited he was in the draft to get him and what a great prospect he thought he would be. He is just playing extremely well. I think everybody on our team respects him. The kid made big plays in Game 1. He was a factor in the first series playing Tracy (McGrady). Most people thought he would have trouble defensively and strength-wise, but as a small forward, that is not an issue. He has just done a wonderful job. He made a great shot to put it into overtime. I think our team respects him.” On the well-rounded Pistons attack “That is how their team has played all year. Corliss Williamson has had great games and he creates tough match-ups for some people. Chucky Atkins steps in and gets 23 points on 15 shots for Chauncey (Billups). (Jon) Barry gets 11 points in the (fourth) quarter. But that’s their team. They have a lot of people that are capable. They are very deep. Their coach, I think, uses their bench very well. But I would hope you could say the same for us.” On the match-up problems Detroit presents “We have to get Keith (Van Horn) to stay out of foul trouble. That would be really helpful. But they have some match-up problems. That’s just they way they are. That’s the way their team is built. They can put (Corliss) Williamson at three or four, Prince can play two or three. They have a lot of good situations. Rip Hamilton is a tough match-up for everybody, and he’s playing at a high level. But I think we have some match-up problems for them. Derrick Coleman has done a terrific job with (Ben) Wallace. We just have to get everybody playing at a high level and hopefully things will take care of themselves.” On playing back-to-back games “(Detroit has) to go through it, too. It’s not the best situation in the world to have your starting point guard hurt. We really have a situation where we are not as deep. That’s just the way it goes. Whatever we are faced with, they are (also) faced with.”
“Just got to play. We’ve just got to play and try to do all the things we can to win. We gave ourselves a chance to win the last two games. Everyone collectively – I think everyone can do more to help this team win. That’s the way it’s going to be done. It’s not going to be done by any one person. It has to be done by everybody.” On Tayshaun Prince “I think, as far as Prince, we just have to give him a little more respect than maybe we have been giving him. I think some of that is we didn’t double team him. We let him play. In this league, there are a lot of guys in this league that can score on you if you give him the whole side of the court to just make a play. He has nice height, and he can play. He’s talented. So, I think that we just have to make adjustments, give him different looks and make him catch the ball out a little further.” On regrouping after two losses in Detroit “It’s tough. That’s why you have this day in between to let it go, look at tape, let it all sink in and realize that there is still a lot of basketball to be played. Just win tomorrow first. Just take it one game at a time.” On how the Pistons create most of their shots “They are penetrating. I think we have to cut down on their penetration. A lot of their open shots are coming off offensive rebounds. For the most part, they catch, and they like to penetrate and drive and put us in a situation where we are helping a lot.” On some of the defensive adjustments the Sixers need to make “I think maybe if we just cut down on the early penetration and have ourselves in help position before they make their move. Maybe them reacting to us instead of us reacting to them will help a little bit.” On being named to the All-NBA Defensive Team “It’s a blessing. I put in a lot of work, but at the same time, I’ve had great people around me. Great players around me that play hard and play defense, defensive minded coaches that stress it, dating back to college. It feels good to be appreciated by your peers and by the coaches. That speaks volumes when you are one of the top 10 and you are voted by the 29 coaches. That shows that a lot of people appreciate what you do.” On his playing status with the injury to his ankle “I’m telling you right now, I’m probably 50-50 for the rest of this season if it feels like it feels right now. Unless I just get a miracle … I could come in one day and say I’m playing, and I could come in the next and not be able to. It’s unfortunate, but that’s just how it’s going to be.” On returning to the First Union Center for Games 3 and 4 “It always feels good to get back to your arena. We know our fans will be great – they’ll be excited, they’ll bring energy – but it doesn’t guarantee victory. We still have to go out there and get the job done. We know they are going to do all they can to help us, but we still have to finish this out.” On the offensive adjustments the Sixers need to make “Be consistent in our execution and get the ball down low. We know we have a little advantage down low, so we have to take advantage of that. That puts them in a help position. Sometimes they seem a little unsure when to help or who is helping whenever we get them in a situation.”
“It’s heartbreaking. The whole thing is that we were thinking we could go in there and steal one from them. In Game 1, we had an opportunity. I think the score was 74-77 and they were up by three. Last night, we went on a run in the fourth quarter. All of a sudden, Tayshaun Prince made a tough shot and put the game in overtime.” On Tayshaun Prince “The guy is not that big. I don’t even understand how he got so deep in the paint. The guy looks like he only weighs like 85 pounds or so. Apparently, he did get in the paint, and he was going to his left hand jumper the whole night. He is a little bit taller than our guards. I guess, we just basically have to try and figure it out. Whatever coach thinks is the best decision, as far as guarding him, we just have to go with that.” On the effect of Thursday night’s loss “It’s devastating because we did have our chance to win the game. It’s heartbreaking. The whole thing is, now, we have to take care of home court. I know people say we play better on the road, but home court is home court. The fans are going to help us get motivated, and we also have to come out motivated ourselves on Saturday and Sunday.” On Keith Van Horn “Keith is a great asset to this game. He does a lot for this team. It was unfortunate that he got in foul trouble last night. I think he came out with the mentality to play hard, and it just didn’t go his way last night, as far as foul trouble. You have to remember, Keith did come in and knock down a couple big jump shots in the fourth quarter. That’s all that matters.” On the rebounding battle “People were talking about how they beat us on the boards in Game 1. We came out in Game 2 and beat them on the boards. We just didn’t finish out the game. That’s all you can basically say.” On Ben Wallace “Everybody can see how big and how strong he is. He’s a specimen, as far as I’m concerned. I think they play really aggressively, really hard and really physical. We just have to try to come out and try to beat them on the boards. I think if we win on the boards again, we will win at home.” On the Sixers injury situation “We do have some nagging injuries. The whole point is that Eric is going to play and Derrick is going to play. I think everybody is going to bring a lot of energy on Saturday, and we just have to stay focused and forget about the injuries and just play hard.” On Allen Iverson’s missed free throws late in regulation “We can’t blame Allen for those free throws. The ball went in and out. That’s just the way it goes. Allen is a great player, and he helps this team out a lot. We have to blame everybody on this team because there were a lot of points in the game where we didn’t do what we were supposed to do as far as helping on defense and running our offense. I’m confident that, if it came down to it again, I want Allen shooting free throws again.” |
