http://www.nba.com/rockets/news/Game_Quotes_Rockets_114_Wiza-199429-34.html They Said It ... Game Quotes: Houston 114, Washington 109 ROCKETS HEAD COACH JEFF VAN GUNDY On Yao Ming: “He gets fouled and he’s going to make his free throws, so he’s going to have bad nights – teams are going to do a good job on him, but consistently he will score when guarded legally.” On Tracy McGrady’s injury: “Obviously it’s not good, but I don’t want anything to detract from what the guys did tonight – and Tracy. He played on the fourth game in five nights. He played an energetic, really good game. So we’ll see where he is in the coming days.” On injuries to the Wizards’ top two centers: “Injuries have a huge impact on the game, I mean, I didn’t realize (Brendan) Haywood was out until they put (James) Lang in, and they took an unfortunate hit to (Etan) Thomas. Those two guys defended Yao very well in Houston, and so the sting of injuries many times can’t be overcome, but I thought (Calvin) Booth did a good job. You feel for any coach and any team that goes through injuries like that.” ROCKETS CENTER YAO MING On playing the Wizards without Etan Thomas and Brendan Haywood: “(Etan) Thomas and (Brendan) Haywood are great players. They know how to guard me and when they are out it is good for us and good for me. Then I can just do what I need to do and score.” On playing without Tracy McGrady: “It changed my play, I was more aggressive. Tracy (McGrady) is our best player and somebody had to step up.” On playing without Tracy McGrady in the long-run: “I know how to play without him, shoot the ball and be more aggressive.” ROCKETS GUARD TRACY McGRADY On back injury: “Back spasms. I don’t know what happened – I stepped on somebody’s foot and I lost my footing and a spasm shot to my back immediately. I think it’s a little different. The pain level is definitely different. I feel pretty good right now walking around.” On Yao Ming’s performance: “I didn’t get a chance to see the fourth quarter, but for three quarters, it was me just being aggressive doing what I needed to do for our team to get a win. Yao took over for me in the fourth quarter – he had 23 in the fourth quarter. That’s what the big fella can do. He’s comfortable carrying the team now.” On team depth: “We have a better team. Yao’s even improved his game a little bit better this year. It helps to have a guy like Shane Battier on your team as well – something that we didn’t have last year. I think we have a team where if one of our key guys goes down we have enough depth to continue playing good basketball.”
Yao is always like that. If you ask him who the best center is, he will say something like, "Shaq for sure. I am not even close."
Finally a close game and a win. We've had a lot of blowup win this season. This kind of tight game would make us a better team mentally as well. I'm very comfortable with our lineup without Tmac. I guess we can still make good numbers without him. I'mnot saying that we don't need him, I still believe that we need Tmac to get a ring. If Tmac can't return next game then we'll now find the exact reason why Bonzi is not playing. That is if we still don't see Bonzi in uniform. Head has matured in a lot of ways so he can be a legitimate backup for Tmac now. The only worry I have is our bench. Yes we have Novak and Span but they're not ready for the big games yet. Still a work in progress.
Agreed, Yao's always been modest. He's not the type of player who would brag about being the best. I don't think he'll ever admit he's the best player in a rockets uniform, but he's actions on the court will speak volumes instead.
Actions speak louder than words and having his actions speak volumes is better than the latter. The problem is, why is T-Mac insisting he stepped on someones leg to cause the spasm where in the replay they've been showing CLEARLY he did not step on Gilbert Arenas' leg. Actually, he held his back on the way UP, not when he came down. He already was in pain on the way down. Maybe the way he stretched his back upwards to contest the shot? Or maybe he really did step on someones foot a play before that or something. I am so pissed. He was JUST starting to look like superstar T-Mac again. I hope he's not out long and I hope when he gets back he's not afraid of hurting it again and he plays extremely conservative. Not that I want T-Mac to be a ballhog, but i'd rather him take the scoring role than the passing role. As long as he doesn't stop sharing the ball, which I think we all know he won't, the Rockets will be great. The Rockets are just better when both T-Mac and Yao put up about ~25 or more each. Having T-Mac be himself again really makes the 1-2 punch work like butter and gives the Rockets a fearful 3 headed monster: Yao (can't stop him) T-Mac (can't stop him) and wide open looks for the role players (high pct. shots). I was waiting SO PATIENTLY for the Lakers game too. T-Mac, come on man, we're pulling for you!
I agree that it didn't look like he came down on anyone's foot in the play where he put his hand to his back... however... Do you all think perhaps its possible he tweaked it on another play and then when he went up to guard the shot and stretched like that is when the pain hit him so badly that he couldn't straighten up? Back injuries aren't always like a twisted ankle or broken bone, you can feel something funky and go on playing. Just a thought, since I'm not his trainer, I have no idea what happened... neither do yall.
when u find the "full story", then click "quotes" e.g. "topic: Yao's big fourth quarter lifts Rockets over Wizards Houston 114, Washington 109 Game Recap: Box Score / Quotes ... ..."
he did land kindof funny on the alleyoop from luther head. which btw was a great pass. i lvoe luther. and tmac will be okay, he realizes that this team is great and will doe verything inhis power to come back healthy. maybe he needs to go to the mayo clinic ; ) that was francis did when he had those killer migraines.
T-Mac is most deadly when he is isolated at one side of the floor with a defender on him and everyone else spacing out. If he has his game, he can't be stopped. Why? The minute he drives in the lane, the entire opposing team collapses on him leaving the rest of McGrady's team open and we all know how good T-Mac's vision is. If they don't collapse on him, they've got one defender on Tracy McGrady near the rim. Good luck. He also has the ability to fake a drive, step back and hit his jumper or fake a jumper and then drive the lane. T-Mac still hasn't found his range yet so sticking him out behind the 3 line is no good unless you wan't him to clear a defender out from Yao. Hopefully the back spasm he's experiencing had nothing to do with the way he was playing and everything to do with stepping on the ankle of someone else or something like that. I say that because I don't want T-Mac to stop playing like this when he gets back, he's just too good.
t-mac's starting to look really good and frankly as good as yao is, i don't know how well we can sustain being without tracy for an entire game. particularly against a good defense. all the elation of winning and watching yao is tempered by t-mac going out. his post-game comments seem positive enough to where hopefully he's not out long.
I hope TMac can last another 2 weeks. I just looked at our upcomming schedule. The next 7 games are that 5 game West coast road trip that ends in SA bracketed by home games with the Lakers & Clippers. I'll be estactic if we go 4-3!
