(On James Harden’s new role...)
“He has the same role: scorer. That role has not changed. You could say he starts or didn’t start, starts now, but his role is the same. Put it in the hole.”
(On Jeremy Lin...)
“He’s a hard working young player. He has surprised a lot of people. I don’t think there have been too many NBA players from Harvard. He probably was to some degree overlooked. He’s worked hard and proved himself to be a fine basketball player. He runs the point very well. A very aggressive player. He really drives it well. His shot has improved as he’s played in the league. He’s found a home.”
(On Rockets’ acting coach Kelvin Sampson...)
“I think that you could tell very quickly that he had the ability to earn the respect of the players. He knew how to communicate with NBA players. He has a confidence in his abilities to understand what’s going on at the NBA level. He catches on very quickly. When we brought him here, I did it because I wanted to bounce ideas off of him. I respect his basketball knowledge. As I said, he’s a great communicator, he understands people, he knows how to get the best out of people, and he’s competitive.”
(On if he thinks Kelvin Sampson is head coach material...)
“I think he would be fantastic. He loves it. It’s in his blood. He competes, he loves the game. It’s intuitive for him and he likes the competition. The NBA is where he belongs.”