Cool Horry Article

I like to see this guy get some props because I've always wanted him back in a Rockets uni.

http://www.sportingnews.com/nba/articles/20020423/398802.html

Horry Usually At His Best In The Playoffs

April 23, 2002

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The playoffs are here, which means it's Robert Horry's time of year.

The Los Angeles Lakers' forward appreciates his reputation as an exceptional postseason player, but admits it also annoys him a bit because it discounts what he does otherwise.

"It makes you feel good. That means people have noticed you," Horry said after practice Tuesday. "In the playoffs, everything is magnified. You have extra life in the playoffs, you have extra energy."

And about the other side?

"It bothers me because I get tired of answering the same questions," he said. "I play every game, it's not like I sit over there and eat Snackwells, chew bubble gum. . . . It bugs me to some degree. I'm going to go out there and do my regular thing every day."

Horry, who started 23 of 81 games this season, isn't a big scorer. The Lakers usually rely on Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant for that.

But occasionally, the 6-foot-10 Horry will make the big shot, like in Game 3 of the NBA Finals last June.

With O'Neal and Derek Fisher having fouled out, Horry scored the Lakers' last seven points in a 96-91 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers beginning with a 3-pointer with 47.1 seconds remaining that gave his team a 92-88 lead.

Horry, who averaged 5.2 points during the regular season and 4.8 in 13 previous playoff games, scored 12 of his 15 points in the fourth quarter that night. Two more wins and the Lakers were celebrating their second straight championship.

And that's how a reputation is earned.

Horry, who averaged 6.8 points this season, played two of his best games last month in hard-fought victories over two of the league's better teams.

First was a 19-point effort capped by a 3-pointer in the final minute to give the Lakers a 105-103 victory over Dallas on March 17. Two weeks later, he scored a season-high 23 in helping his team erase a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit in a 96-95 win over San Antonio.

That's exactly what Horry means -- it's not just the playoffs.

And it's certainly not just when he scores. Like last Sunday, when he had four points and four rebounds in 30 minutes of a 95-87 victory over the Portland Trail Blazers to begin these playoffs.

"Robert does the little dirty work," Portland's Ruben Patterson said. "He's a great defender, gets the loose balls."

Horry, who played despite the discovery of a hematoma behind his abdominal muscle three days earlier that caused him great pain, called his performance "awful."

Maybe by his standards, but that discounts the defensive work he did on Rasheed Wallace, the Blazers' leading scorer, who had 25 points but shot 8-of-20.

"I didn't feel fluid out there, my whole flow was off," Horry reflected Tuesday. "I wasn't moving very well. I did a few things OK."

Lakers coach Phil Jackson agreed with Horry's assessment.

"He's right," the coach said. "He had some moments out there where he did good things. From the standpoint of stats, he didn't have his best game."

Horry made two of five shots and had three assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

"Rob knows the game," said Samaki Walker, who starts at power forward but is usually on the bench in favor of Horry in the deciding moments. "This guy has the smarts for the game, understands it almost like a player/coach. The players respect him for that.

"He knows when the most important time of the year is, and that's what matters. It's money time."

The Lakers will attempt to take a 2-0 lead over the Blazers in their first-round best-of-five series Thursday night at Staples Center. Horry said that while he's not pain free, he's close to 100 percent.

"Probably about 98," he said. "I feel pretty good."

Horry, who turns 32 in August, joked about the possibility of retirement should the Lakers make it a three in a row.

But he didn't sound like he meant it.

"Say for instance we win this year, I might quit," he said. "It'd be 50-50, five championships in 10 years. How many people can say that?"

Not many.