[nba.com] Postgame Quotes/Notes - Houston vs Sonics

Postgame Quotes/Notes - Houston 96, Sonics 89

SONICS HEAD COACH P.J. CARLESIMO:
On the game:
I thought seven of the last eight quarters defensively was the best we played in a long time. I thought we did a good job defensively on Yao (Ming). We were concerned with our defensive rebounding. We put them on the free throw line way too much in the first half and the offensive rebounds killed us.

On Kevin Durant's development:
He's growing the most defensively and his shot selection is getting better. He has to learn not to leave his feet too early. I liked his shot selection tonight, but it is hard for him when he gets inside with the bigger bodies. He's learning.

On Jeff Green's game:
Jeff was very encouraging with his play. He had a costly turnover early, but he has to keep learning on all aspects of the game. He guarded well, made good decisions and boarded out well. He ran the floor well for us. He went to the basket very aggressively.

FORWARD NICK COLLISON:
On defending Yao:
He's tough. You really have to work on him early. He is a tough matchup for anyone.

On the game:
There's always calls and plays during the game that don't go your way but you can't worry about them. We cut the game to six points but couldn't make the plays at the end. We have a lot of young guys that are trying to learn how to play the game on the run.

CENTER KURT THOMAS:
On defending Yao:
The only one that compares with Yao is Shaq (O'Neal). He has such great touch and shooting ability. He is a great free-throw shooter and is almost automatic. I definitely look forward to it, as he is one of the top superstars in the league.

On the game:
It was a good ballgame, as we kept fighting. We have to keep learning from the game films and make adjustments when we play them later this week. I have to learn to not get the cheap fouls on the other players so I can stay in the game.

GUARD KEVIN DURANT:
On his play:
I want to keep being aggressive and go to the basket stronger. I'm trying to be more of a ballhandler and work on the pick-and-roll plays. Every level has been difficult for me to adjust to at the beginning. I don't think there is any pressure; I just try and have fun and keep learning and try and progress.

FORWARD JEFF GREEN:
On his play:
I wanted to start off and get easy baskets and I took it to the hole and got their big men in trouble. I didn't decide, I just took what the defense gave me. I had the open lane to get to the basket and took it to it.

HOUSTON HEAD COACH RICK ADELMAN:
On the game:
It's good to get the win. I just didn't think we played very well. We talked about how they pushed the ball and they hurt us in transition. We just did enough to win the game, but we have to play a lot better than that if we are going to win in Seattle.

On the Sonics hanging around in the fourth quarter:
We have to continue to guard, you have to get good shots, you have to be tough enough to finish plays and it was a very frustrating game. It was a very frustrating game to watch from that standpoint. Sooner or later we're going to have to learn our lesson. You know that we get up there and we don't relax and act like we have it knocked and I didn't think we did that. We gave up so many easy opportunities.

GUARD TRACY MCGRADY:
On coming off the bench:
It's different. You've got to approach the game in a different way. The speed of the game is already going on and guys have their legs and they have their rhythm. When I'm coming in off the bench, I'm struggling on one leg anyway trying to keep up with those guys.

On his knee:
Today was really bad. Not only was I tight, but I was also feeling pain in my knee. It's going to be that way because I can't rest to let it heal all the way up. It's just something I'm going to have to tolerate. It was good to see that I played more minutes tonight. I stayed out there for a good portion of the third quarter when I was really tired.

CENTER YAO MING:
On the game:
The good thing is that we won today, but we know that we have to do better because we have to play against them at their house.

On facing the Sonics:
It's inconsistency. This team is totally new for us. This is the first time I have played against them this year. They play so fast. We scored a lot of points but we let them get a lot of transition points where sometimes they would score right after we made a basket. I couldn't believe that.


TONIGHT'S NOTES

# Houston hits the 41-game mark with a record of 22-19 after a 96-89 win today over Seattle. The Rockets will enter the second half of the season as winners of 10 of their last 15 games.
# The Rockets have now won four straight games over the Sonics after sweeping the 2006-07 series (3-0). Houston also owns a six-game home winning streak against Seattle. The two teams square off again on Wednesday at Seattle (1/23/08).
# Houston moved to 14-1 this season when holding an opponent to less than 90 points with a 96-89 win today. After allowing Seattle to score 52 points on 23-of-45 (.511) shooting in the first half, the Rockets limited the Sonics to 16-of-47 (.340) from the field for just 37 second-half points.
# The Rockets were just 1-for-12 from beyond the arc today, marking Houston’s fewest three-point field goals made and attempted in a game this season. The previous lows were three makes (done twice: last on 11/29/07 at Golden State) and 14 attempts (done twice: last on 12/7/07 at New Jersey).
# Yao Ming finished with 30 points (12-19 FG), 17 boards and three blocked shots. Overall, it marked his seventh 30-point outing of the season and his fourth 30-13 game (points-rebounds) of 2007-08: 30 points, 15 boards vs. Dallas (11/21/07); 31 points, 13 rebounds at Phoenix (11/28/07) and 30 points, 16 rebounds vs. New Orleans (1/13/08). Yao now has consecutive 30-point games against the Sonics: 31 points (11-11 FT) at Seattle (4/9/07).
# Yao Ming actually had 17 points and 10 rebounds in the first half alone. It marked the second time this season and the ninth time in his career to post a double-double by halftime. Yao also had 14 points and 10 rebounds in the opening half vs. Dallas (12/15/07).
# Yao Ming also scored 11 of his points in the first quarter of today’s game, marking his best opening period since scoring 12 first-quarter points at Orlando (1/4/08).
# Bonzi Wells scored 16 points in a start today at guard with Tracy McGrady once again coming off the bench. McGrady finished with 17 points, six rebounds, five assists and two blocks in 29:40 of action. Carl Landry added 12 points (3-4 FG, 6-10 FT) off the bench to help give the Houston reserves a 31-point game.
# Rafer Alston scored 12 points but was 0-for-3 from beyond the arc, which snapped his string of consecutive games played with at least one 3-point field goal made at 24 outings (11/24/07-1/19/08).
# The Sonics, who set the opponent high last year with 32 assists at Houston (1/31/07), dished out 27 assists today. The Phoenix Suns (28 on 11/17/07) are the only opponent with a higher total against the Rockets in Toyota Center this season.
# Jeff Green and Wally Szczerbiak led the Sonics with 15 points each. This was Green’s best total since scoring 16 points vs. Philadelphia (12/31/07). Szczerbiak moved his active string of consecutive double-digit scoring games to six (1/11/08-1/21/08).

 

Here's the link, forgot to post it earlier:

http://www.nba.com/sonics/news/quotes080121.html