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May 13 Practice Report May 12 Brown quotes May 10 Mckie and Van Horn quotes May 9 Practice report Brown, Snow and Thomas quotes 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 13
Tyrone's mother is better because he was going to go down to Atlanta. His calf is a problem, and he probably won't be playing for a while. That means that Brian Skinner or Monty (Williams), depending on match-ups, will have to probably play. Tyrone gave us quality minutes, especially defensively and rebounding. I don't think that we win Game 3 and 4 without his energy, so we have to get them from someone else. On Brian Skinner He just has to rebound and defend. I am not concerned. If he does those things, he'll really help us. On who is going to take Hill's minutes It just depends on who they (Detroit) play. I think that there are some match-ups that if they go big, it's unfair to Monty. There are some match-ups that if they go small that we'll be able to use him. We'll just have to wait and see. On Keith Van Horn The guy averages 16 (points) a game, close to eight rebounds and shot 50 percent. Those are the kind of guys you want on the court all the time. The fact that he is a threat to score opens it up to everybody. He can rebound the ball. They have size. Our best lineup when we are out of foul trouble is Kenny (Thomas), Keith (Van Horn) and DC (Derrick Coleman). We'll put Tyrone in the mix with two of the big guys, so it is important that he is out on the floor. The reason he has had to sit is because he is in foul trouble. On talking to Michael Jordan It's between him and me. He is home with his family. I told him what I told all of you. He is just home with his family, getting things together there. On the intangibles lost with Hill He is a great defender and a terrific rebounder. He gives you toughness. They (Pistons) have size, depth, and they have some matchups that are really critical. He can defend (Corliss) Williamson. He can defend any of their other big guys and not a lot of people can do that. He can get out on the floor and defend pick and rolls. The fact that he has been in the league and understands his role, and is not afraid to fail is huge. On what the Pistons might change I am not worried about it. I am sure that they will try to do something else. We have to anticipate that and prepare our guys for it. Again, Allen has been in the league a number of years, and he has seen different things. I think he is more mature and better suited to handle those situations, but we have to try to anticipate what they are going to do. It is going to come down to rebounding, defense and taking care of the ball. On Iverson's mindset going back to Detroit after missing the free throws in Game 2 He is not responsible for Game 2. We had chances. What's the difference in Game 3 or Game 4? He probably felt the same way in Game 3 and Game 4 about Game 2, and he played great. I think he is always concerned about how he plays and what he is to our team. To take responsibility for a loss is commendable, but it's not accurate. Nobody goes up to the free throw line expecting to miss. He made a great defensive play to get fouled. We had other opportunities, and we all understand that. My biggest thing is let's learn from the good things we did and forget about the negative stuff. It's a new series now. We have to go from there. There were some runs in Game 2 and Game 1, but the last two games have been pretty predictable. I would hope that would be the pattern for the rest of the series, but I doubt it. These are two teams that have taken care of their home court and played good at home. I hope that changes. I hope we have an opportunity to steal one.
Just being aggressive more than anything. I was trying to help out on defense as much as I can. Those guys were running a lot of isolation plays. On playing at 35 I don't even think about it. I just try to approach it one game at a time. We knew we had two basketball games to win. I thought we came out and our energy was up both games for the whole game. On what he has done to contain Ben Wallace Nothing. A guy like Ben Wallace, you can't really isolate him. You always have to be conscience where he is on the floor as far as his rebounding and his shot blocking ability. On playing at Auburn Hills Back when the Pistons were really the Pistons that was pretty a tough place to play. I think right now it is growing because they are starting to get back in the playoffs. It is constantly a building process for them. On their regular season road record I don't think it matters in the Playoffs. I think we really have to be more focused as far as our execution when we're on the road. We had an opportunity to win a basketball game there. We got into a situation where we're missing free throws and going into overtime. We really just wanted to go back and be focused that we had here and tie the series up. On Iverson's comments about him The main thing is just going out there and doing whatever is asked of me to win basketball games more than anything. I hope I keep continuing to go out there trying doing that. On his blocks in the Playoffs That's just hustle more than anything. A majority of the guys, just by the way that they're going to the basket, are going to lay it up. So it gives me an opportunity to catch them from the back. If I see that he is going to turn it over (and dunk the ball), I'd just stop. On losing Tyrone Hill It's very big. I was just down stairs talking with him a minute ago. I think that really hurts us because he brings us that extra strength off the bench, that force in the middle that we need. I think it is really an opportunity for other guys to step up and fill that void.
We definitely have to get it. It's a big game. We do have the momentum right now, but none of that is going to matter when we step out on the basketball court. We just have to get it done. On the lack of lead changes I think it had a lot to do with playing off the energy of our crowd and it was the same thing from them in Detroit. I think that we need to make a conscience effort of making sure that doesn't happen to us again. We have to stay focused in the beginning, so we can win at the end. On going back to Detroit after missing the free throws in Game 2 I think that I can get the bad taste all the way out of my mouth if we win the series. That's the only thing that I am concentrating on. I am definitely looking forward to going back to Detroit and make up for what happened last time I was there. On Chauncey Billups I don't know what is going on with him physically. I felt that the way he played the last game, it wasn't the normal Chauncey Billups and rightfully so being that he had a grade two sprain. I expect him to be a lot more aggressive. You really can't tell what is going to happen because of his injury. If he's feeling any better than he did the last game, then I think hell be more effective. If he is pretty much the same, I think he'd be pretty much the same out there because he can't move around like he is used to doing. On how the Pistons might play him defensively I really don't care how they play me. I have been playing (in the NBA) for seven years. I am kind of accustomed to what guys like to do against me. I've seen it all. I've seen zones, man-to-man and traps. I've seen every type of defense. I don't think they could to anything different to me that I haven't seen. Whatever they do, I'll just try to adjust to it.
Yes, I've always been ready. On Tyrone Hill's role He comes off the bench, gives us a lot of energy and gets a lot of key rebounds. He has a lot of playoff experience. When you have been in the league for that long, you are going to have a lot of experience with the playoffs. That's always an extra bonus. On if he thinks his minutes will increase I don't know. We'll just have to wait and see to find out. On his preparation for the possibility of increased minutes Anytime you have a player that doesn't want to play, he needs to quit. He doesn't need to be in the league. In terms of preparation, I've been doing the same things. In terms of being ready, I am not any more ready today than I was yesterday.
I think it's the way that we came out with our defensive intensity in the past two games, compared to how we came out in Detroit. Right from the start of the game, I thought that we established how we wanted to play the game. Not only defensively, but rebounding the ball too. I thought that we were more aggressive to boards and loose balls. I don't think that offensively there was a huge difference between the two games we won and the two games we lost. I think it all comes down to how we played on the defensive end of the court. On how the Pistons have been playing him The way that they play me defensively is that they don't leave me. I score a lot of my points just off of knowing where Allen is and feeding off of Eric (Snow). They never leave me. I guess in a way that opens it up for other people. The only time when they sagged off me and tried to help was in Game 3 when they were really hurting with the pick and roll and they decided to help off me. Other than that, they haven't left me. |
