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ShareDec. 10 Rockets vs. 76ers Postgame Report
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 Philadelphia 76ers Head Coach Maurice CheeksOn tonight’s game: Well, it was a nice defensive game for us. I think we've been talking about having to play the Knicks, playing two big guys (Zach) Randolph and (Eddie) Curry, then coming back trying to play Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. I thought our defense was why we got up so many points. Opportunity traps with Yao Ming, trying to keep the ball out of his hands, have him guessing on the offensive end, and the same with Tracy McGrady. I thought Reggie (Evans) did a nice job as he's coming up the floor, trapping (Yao) getting the ball out of his hands, although early on he was pretty good. I thought Sam (Dalembert) did a nice job of guarding Yao Ming and Willie (Green) starting out with Tracy McGrady, I thought our guys did a nice job of opportunity trapping them, keeping them out of the paint as much as possible and we've been putting a lot of emphasis on pushing the ball up the floor, getting a lot of transition basketball. I thought early on we did a nice job of that. We kinda faltered late, but early on, they built the lead; that’s one of the things we've been emphasizing and that's a lot of the things we did tonight. On whether coaching a game like tonight's is easy: No, never. It's only easy when it's 00:00 on the clock and you win it. We got a big lead and we tried to hold on because (we knew) they're gonna make some type of run and they're gonna make some shots and we're not gonna continue to make the type if shots we were making so we just had to try and knock some balls away, try and get to the open court, have some guys make some shots. It's always a tough game when you're up twenty, twenty-five points, because you're know you're players' minds are going to relax a little bit. You have to learn how to play with those type of leads. I hope we have a lot of those. On the play of Andre Miller: Well, the last few games he's been controlling the game. I thought in the New York game he controlled the game and certainly tonight. He has a knack for controlling the game, knowing guys when they have a shot, haven't had a shot, guys who are shooting the ball well. He has a knack for that and he understands about controlling the game. He understand how the guys are playing; if they need a basket, an easy basket, if a guy hasn't had a shot in a while, he understands about the game, so he's been great about controlling the game, not having to have me call every play, having a guy like him, he understands the game, making the game easier for me and for the players.  Philadelphia 76ers Forward Andre IguodalaOn tonight's win: We just try to finish our games and play hard no matter what and always be alert no matter what the score is. We wanted to just play well. We wanted to win this for ourselves. On the difference between last years' score against Houston and this year: We lost by a lot. Tonight we were just trying to play good basketball. When Andre Miller plays like he did tonight it's incredible. He's one guy that we really need. We definitely need Sam, but Andre (Miller) really gets guys involved. He attacks the basket, runs offense, and makes it easy for everyone. On winning three games in a row: We've been playing good basketball all year; we just had three or four games that were bad. We got some stops, got our hands on loose balls, and got some easy baskets when we got the stop. No one seems to be in a funk right now.  Philadelphia 76ers Guard Willie GreenOn the difference between last years' score against Houston and this year: They beat us by close to 50 points, so this game we played close attention to detail. We really tried to get out there and run, stay close to Yao Ming. Guys came in and fought hard all game; it was a good game for us. On the 31 point lead during the game: It was nice to get up, get a big lead, sustain it, and not have a team come back and have to fight again. It was all around well played game. On a three game winning streak: This is definitely helping our confidence, especially being a young team. Guys are coming in, (Jason Smith and Thaddeus Young). We are going to need them down the stretch. It was a well-played game by everybody on the team. We all came in and played basketball. It was a great win.  Philadelphia 76ers Guard Kyle KorverOn the 31 point lead during the game: We got stops and we were able to run. We got steals in the backcourt. Reggie(Evans) was really active and got some traps and steals. We got lay-ups and Andre (Iguodala) got a couple of dunks, and before you know it we had that 30-point-lead. It does a lot for our confidence. We are playing a lot of our team. The young guys are getting some good minutes, not just toward the end. We are still playing hard and we are still executing. Our half court offense has been much better and we have also been running a lot. We are able to score.  Houston Rockets Coach Rick AdelmanOn tonight's game: The fourth quarter when we busted our tails and worked hard and finally got something going. I guess if you want to build on something, that's a positive because they really worked hard in that fourth quarter. The way we came out in the start was kind of a continuation of last night in the second half. They were quicker in every area of the game, we made a ton of mental mistakes defensively. Things we talked about, we didn't carry it out onto the court. You know you've got to play with energy and you’ve got to play with intelligence, and we didn't do either one. We have to find people who are gonna step up, you know and help out. There's nothing that Yao's (Ming) going to be able to if they're gonna put up three or four guys around him if we don't make them pay. So all we can do is look at this and evaluate it. A game and a half ago we were feeling pretty good about ourselves, but now we're not feeling very good. Now we've got to go home and try to turn it around against some good teams. On getting through tough times: I think you find about your team and you find out about individuals. It was easy a game and a half ago when we won the opening game of this trip against New Jersey and then we were ahead by 11 against Toronto. Those are the easy times but when it gets tough as a team there's no way around it but to stay together and to play together at both ends of the court. You can't do it all on your own and just like tonight, I told them at the start of the fourth quarter that you can't do it in one possession. You're gonna have to it possession-by-possession-by-possession and that's the hardest thing to do.  Houston Rockets Guard Mike JamesOn tonight's game: As a team, the way we played tonight, obviously they came out, made some shots, made some plays, shot the ball well, and then it's hard to play catch-up when the clock is against you. By the time we get the ball by the hoop, the guys are out of breath, but it shows how we can be if we play like that for 48 minutes instead of waiting until we're down.  Houston Rockets Forward Shane BattierOn the team's change: We just need to figure out what our strength is when things aren't going well, especially when teams take away Tracy (McGrady) and Yao (Ming). That's really the only difference right now. |
Post-Game AudioCoach Cheeks | Green | Iguodala | Korver 76ERS PLAYER OF THE GAME 20 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists |
