http://www.nba.com/raptors/news/quotes_031607.html SAM MITCHELL Stats looked even but at the end of the day they had more shots than you did... There you go. We are supposed to be a team running them a little bit but they shot the ball well early and they got more shots than us. We didn’t get enough shots. I thought that we got a little tentative in the second half and we had guys that were in position to take shots and we missed a couple shots then we stopped shooting the ball. You’ve got to keep shooting the ball when you’re open, the only thing you can do is miss. Thoughts on first quarter… Well, I mean you have to trap. They made shots. You’re not going to guard Yao Ming by yourself and they got Tracy (McGrady), and they swung the ball well, those guys made three’s and we knew that. Houston, they didn’t make those shots and we knew it would be a tough night if they make their threes. Is there anything that is positive that you can take from this game? Well, I mean we had some opportunities. The only thing I can say is that it is a disappointment. We had guys in position to make some plays but they shot the ball a little tentative. You’ve got to shoot the ball, you got to drive the ball to the basket. We got hesitant tonight after we missed a couple of shots Bosh CHRIS BOSH Payback is a monster… Yes it always is. They shot the ball very well in our house and we did the same in theirs. A game like this you can’t get too down on yourself because we did what we are supposed to do, they just made great shots. Thoughts on Yao Ming… It’s tough to ask one guy to guard him straight up because he is so big and so long down low. We were helping but they passed the ball well. They were aggressive with their three-point shooting and they made them. Thoughts on rebounding… They grabbed a lot more rebounds and we missed a lot of shots early. It was tough to get to the offensive glass. In the long run, when you play decent defense and it’s close in the percentage battle (field goals) the battle on the boards is very important. Ford TJ FORD Thoughts on the play of Yao Ming, Tracy McGrady and Rafer Alston… They are a good ball club. We stuck to our game plan and they made us pay for it. Rafer made shots and Shane Battier made shots and they weren’t missing. I see how teams feel when we are rolling and everybody is making shots on our team. We tried everything to stop them but we just couldn’t tonight. We could not get over the hump. Every time we had a chance we just couldn’t come up with the shot to get us over the hump. Thoughts on the Yao Ming… He’s so big and it’s hard to guard him one-on-one. It’s hard to battle him because he’s so big. Then, on the offensive end, imagine a guy 7’7 just in the paint. You are not really sure what shot to shoot, or if you can even shoot the ball. He definitely causes a big problem and a big distraction on the defensive end. Van Gundy JEFF VAN GUNDY Was it a good energy night for Chuck (Hayes)? Yeah, Chuck did a good job. How did your team match up against the Raptors? We got off to a good start. You know we played from ahead which is important on the road obviously. How do you judge the performance of Yao Ming? I thought he was better in the second half than the first. I thought his pick-and-roll defence was better than it has been, as was his rebounding. McGrady TRACY McGRADY What was so different from your last game against Toronto. Of course it was different. Last time we didn’t have Yao (Ming), so it was easy for them to go to a box and one and disrupt our offense a little bit and also we weren’t prepared for them. We didn’t know what style of play that they played, it was more of a Phoenix style with multiple pick-and-rolls, they like to get out and run in the transition. We were more prepared tonight than we were the first time we faced them and it also helps when you make shots. Was it the shots going in or did you do something else in your offence that created those shots? We did a great job of executing on the offensive end and we were making shots. I think when you have that presence down low, which we were lacking in the first game against them, it was just all jumpers and we weren’t making any shots. It is going to be tough to beat a team that shoots the ball from the three extremely well. They have a guy that they can post up in Chris Bosh, they can go outside and stretch our defence out with all their shooters that they have. Tonight we were more prepared, we have Yao (Ming) back, we got the basketball inside, we worked inside out, got some threes and we made them. The team had a great first quarter… It was for us to set that tone. It got us scoring right away, we buckled down on the defensive end. Tonight was really all about executing, once we got a comfortable lead it was really all about just staying focused, staying poised and knowing that they were going to make a run and it was up to us to stop them from making that run and establish an offence and defence Alston RAFER ALSTON Thoughts on the game… Well I felt good, my whole rhythm felt great. It was a big game we needed to come in and get road victory. We need to keep making a run at that third spot in the West. We are going to play as hard as we can and keep matching other team’s intensity, energy and effort. Is it fun to come to the old stomping ground and get the victory? It’s always good to get the victory. It is a beautiful place and I love this city, I love the community and I love playing in this arena. It was a wonderful place for me and I had a wonderful time despite the distractions and being traded. Did you know that you were close to a triple-double? Yes, late in the game, late in the game during a timeout a couple of teammates said you need two more rebounds and an assist. I was just playing the game and trying to do as much as I can tonight, so we could win.
