couldn't access it through the rox site but found it through the sixers site. i especially like ai's quote about rox. http://www.nba.com/sixers/news/postgame_report_070129.html Sixers Head Coach Maurice Cheeks on the game... "That was a game that Houston defended us after the 6-minute mark. We didn't move the ball, and they got easy shots all night. They played very good defense, and our defense wasn't where we wanted it. After the 6 or 7-minute mark we got down by 20 (points). Their defense was so much better than our offense, and they made a lot of easy shots." on the 76ers' play.. "I was not satisfied with our play at any point. Everything we did didn't work, and everything they did worked. The second unit came in and moved the ball around, but it was way too late." on Tracy McGrady... "He looked great. (Tracy) McGrady has been an All-Star since he's been in this league. It looked like he was loving playing out there and was having a lot of fun." Philadelphia 76ers Forward Kyle Korver on the game... "You have to give them a lot of credit. Their defense is tough and they have great rotations and a great scheme. Houston started hitting their 3's and it was all over." on the 76ers... "We're not down on ourselves, or anything, but still this team has a lot to prove and we're not going to give out. We're not throwing it in, and we're not going to stay frustrated more than a game." Philadelphia 76ers Guard Andre Miller on the game "We lost and we'll move on. It's part of the NBA. Teams and players both go through ups and downs during the season. I can't think about myself. I have to help us become a better team." on the Rockets "They are a well-coached team with players that play their roles and two superstars. They'll be at the top and give anybody a run for their money." Philadelphia 76ers Guard Andre Iguodala on taking over the team leadership now that Allen Iverson is gone... "This is a great opportunity for me, but it was horrible to see a guy I played with and learned so much from leave the team. We all have to pick up the slack and get through the tough times." on the lessons from this game... "You can always fix some things, clean up the offense, and always learn from every game, but you don't want to harp on a game like this." on the Rockets... "They're a very good team, and don't get the credit they deserve. They're a great team, and have guys step up and play their roles. They're playing good without Yao (Ming), and will be more dangerous when he gets back. They have good tools in each and every aspect of their game." Houston Rockets Head Coach Jeff Van Gundy on playing perfect basketball in the 1st 3 quarters on both ends of the floor... "Perfect is a bit much, but I thought they played with good energy level and good intensity level through the 1st 3 quarters." on whether the Rockets defense was the reason for Philadelphia not getting good looks... "I thought our defense was pretty good. I'm sure they'll go back to the film and see some shots that they liked. I thought (Samuel) Dalembert hurt us early, we didn't contest his jump shot. He has improved as far as a shooter." on the play of Rockets in the 1st 3 quarters in putting the 76ers away... "We're just trying to concentrate on playing good basketball with a good level of physical and mental energy and I thought they did a good job of that tonight. I thought we started a little shaky in the 3rd quarter with turnovers, but they gathered themselves and played very, very sound in the 3rd quarter with the lead. And the 4th quarter is totally unacceptable, obviously, and that's why I never want to hear somebody else tell me they want to play more." on the play of the team... "Again, we shared the ball. Sometimes we don't pass on target as well as we'd like to and our turnovers had started to creep back up again, but through 3 quarters I thought we were very unselfish. When we're unselfish and we pass on target, I think we're going to shoot the ball well." Houston Rockets GuardTracy McGrady on the Rockets maintaining their commanding 1st half lead... "It's fun. I came in here (the locker room)at halftime and I looked on the board, because they always post halftime stats, and we had 19 assists and I thought that was phenomenal. We were moving the ball and getting everybody involved. On a night like this, it's not necessarily about your numbers. When you get out to a great lead like that, it's fun to just sit back and watch, especially 2 nights in a row. Wow." on the Rockets' success this home stand... "We are playing some teams that are pretty much not at the elite of this league and it's to our favor to go out and play the way we are playing. Sometimes you can have mental lapses, not bringing the type of energy we brought tonight, and you play into their hands. But I think we're doing a great job of coming out right away and just treating it like it was Dallas out there or any other big time team. It looks good, but we've still got to improve because our bench came in in the 4th quarter and did a terrible job." Houston Rockets Guard Rafer Alston on the defensive effort of the Rockets... "We were all over the place. Guys were helping and then recovering. We were chasing down (Kyle) Korver before the 4th quarter. We weren't letting them get up easy lob passes and we weren't giving up much in transition." on the Rockets' journey from a good team to a great team... "We're working on it. We're working on being a great team. I think when Yao Ming gets back, that could tell it all, how good we are and are we going to go from good to great." on the Rockets' proficiency in passing the ball tonight... "To have 31 assists is great. We share the ball and we love passing. The great thing about our team, I think, is that we have 2 stars that love to pass the ball, too. When you have (Tracy) McGrady and Yao (Ming) who love to pass the ball, you can't help but pass the ball. You better pass the ball." Houston Rockets Forward Shane Battier on the improved play of the Rockets lately... "I think we've come out with a great resolve to play better and when we put our minds to it and T-Mac (Tracy McGrady) gets rolling like he does, I think we're a good team. We need to do this against the top teams in the league to really feel good about ourselves, but we'll take the way we're playing right now." on the Rockets resting their starters in the 4th quarter due to their large lead... "That is a luxury few teams have ever. When we play with a lot of energy and a lot of focus, especially on the defensive end, we can go on runs like we did tonight. It's a fun way to play basketball for us." on the Rockets building on their halftime lead in the 3rd quarter... "You really can't play the scoreboard at that point. If you play the scoreboard, you're not going to have the intensity or the focus that you need to finish the game. We said to ourselves to come out after halftime, to come out with the same energy that we started the game with and try to pick the lead up even more so that we can relax in the 4th quarter."
I love reading the opponents quotes after a Rockets win. That quote by Iguadola is perfect. I wish all of the media started realizing it, too.
It looks good, but we've still got to improve because our bench came in in the 4th quarter and did a terrible job." Jeff Van Tmac
Yep, agree. This is the best quote and a well deserve compliment from an opponent. "You can always fix some things, clean up the offense, and always learn from every game, but you don’t want to harp on a game like this," Iguodala said. "(The Rockets) are a very good team, and don’t get the credit they deserve. They’re a great team, and have guys step up and play their roles. They’re playing good without Yao (Ming), and will be more dangerous when he gets back. They have good tools in each and every aspect of the game."
on the play of Rockets in the 1st 3 quarters in putting the 76ers away... "We're just trying to concentrate on playing good basketball with a good level of physical and mental energy and I thought they did a good job of that tonight. I thought we started a little shaky in the 3rd quarter with turnovers, but they gathered themselves and played very, very sound in the 3rd quarter with the lead. And the 4th quarter is totally unacceptable, obviously, and that's why I never want to hear somebody else tell me they want to play more." Billy nailed to the bench for the rest of the season. Don't bite the hand that feeds you, Billy.
that's one aspect i don't like jvg. he has to realize that if he don't play the bench they'll never be good. and always criticizing your young players in public especially when feel down and unloved is not going to help to build their confidence. some encouragement here and there is going to go a long way, especially for guys like vspan, in a new league and new country, away from home and familiar atmosphere. unless, you just want to crush them and dump them afterwards, which i don't believe is the case.
I think if JVG is still here next season (very likely at this point), they will simply buy out VSpan's contract, save couple million and let him go back to Europe. Anyway VSpan won't be here next season.
Exactly. JVG is a great interview, he can be pretty funny even, but sometimes he needs to shut his damn mouth. OK, Jeff, we KNOW you didn't want Vasilis on the team, WE GET THE POINT. But he's a little blind sometimes. Vasilis has lost all desire and confidence in playing the game, and despite his need to show something when he does get minutes, has probably decided, Hell with it, if I'm gonna get publicly mocked, I'll go home. The sad thing is, Spanoulis might just have talent. Pairing Spanoulis with JVG was a giant mistake. And Jeff doesn't care if he trashes the guy's NBA career. With the right coach, Spanoulis might come out OK, but barring a trade or JVG being let go this summer, Spanoulis will just head on back to Greece and that'll be that. Yes, the fourth quarter sucked. But Spanoulis wasn't the only guy who sucked out there. And Spanoulis probably sucked because he's already checking the flight schedules from George Bush Intercontinental to Athens.
Shouldn’t V-Span use this as more motivation to prove his coach wrong? What does that say about his mental toughness and his ability to handle criticism?
Exactly, it wasn't just JVG that was openly criticizing the bench. It was pretty clear that their play WAS terrible and deserved no praise. How much positivity can you squeeze out of such bad basketball? There was no way to spin it, they were baaaaaaaaaaaaad.
All you V-Span sympathizers ... even T-Mac said the bench flat out sucked in the 4th quarter. I don't get the sympathy for Mr. T-Macopoulis. He's making a cool $3 million per to ride the pine. If he doesn't have the mental toughness to take criticism and improve his game, and would rather go about yakking off to the media about his problems with the team, I have no sympathy for him. He needs to ride the pine, watch and learn. Or go back to Europe. We're doing just fine without him. This team rocks. Right now, Vassilis Spanoulis is nothing but a cancer on this team. Everything he has done so far has contributed NOTHING of substance to the team .... he is a negative in virtually every aspect, both on and off the court. Sorry you fans of his have to hear that, but it's the truth. It's not like he's the first scrub player this league has ever seen. Look at Ronny Turiaf. He has been a huge inspiration for his team ever since he entered the league even though he would rarely get more than 3 minutes per game on a *bad* Lakers team. Now he's giving his team something to cheer about on the court. We need team players. Not cancers. Vassilis, right now, is a cancer. And I ain't crying for him.
That is good, Tracy is becoming more of a vocal leader, and let these young guys know when they play like crap cuz that 4th quarter was the worst basketball I have seen in a while.
Just to show how much of a cancer T-Macopoulis has become: he is the only reason why people are still whining on this board even though our team is tearing it up.
V-Span is not whining, the board is just polarized about him...... I am tired of the argument, none of us are going to convince the others.. 28-16 is pretty darn good ! DD
JVG said openly that he was right for not playing the backups. He's still pissed with Spanoulis talking to the media and he's right about that but there's one thing that I don't like: taking shots at a guy who can't defend himself and is struggling to get his game together. Even the legendary quote ' I was T-Mac back in Greece' was quoted by JVG with the obvious intention of mocking the guy in public. Even if Spanoulis made a mistake in his despair, JVG is supposed to be a seasoned coach who's more mature than Vassilis and be able to punish and forgive. This treatment by JCV also looks like a double standard and shouldn't happen in public.
