Bobby Sura: "I am having the most fun of my career with this team, that is for sure"

This quote is for all those people who think Bobby doesn't like Yao. Last night, I witnessed Bob playfully slap Yao's butt and in the Bulls game, they could be seen laughing together and joking around, with Wesley smiling in the background. After the Bulls game, Bobby said the team had two great scorers in Yao and Tracy and now, check out his quote below.

Folks, theres no hate between Yao and Bobby or anyone else for that matter. Last night, Jon Barry ran into the padded goal base and looked dead laying there. Yao was the first guy to run over see if he was ok and help him up. You can see he truly cares about every single teammate. It's genuine care, not an ounce of fakeness to him at all. The team is really showing chemistry and they look like they're having fun out there.


ROCKETS GUARD BOB SURA


(On defense in the fourth quarter) "Our defense was pretty good tonight. I think we held them to 13 points in the fourth quarter. It’s a good win on the road; it’s a big win for us. Our offense is starting to really click and I hope we can keep it up."

(On his fit with the Rockets) "I am having the most fun of my career with this team, that is for sure. It helps to be playing with two great players. Anytime you get a chance to do that, it’s great. It makes the game a lot easier with those two guys (Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady) and it also helps to be winning. It’s always fun when you’re winning."

(On Reggie Miller) "He’s had a lot of great moments in this league, fortunately for us; he wasn’t able to have another tonight. He’s had a great career. He’s been great for this franchise and the league, with all of his community involvement. When he came into the game at the end, I went right up to him and told him that I am not leaving your side for anything.”

 

Sorry, here's the rest:

PACERS GUARD REGGIE MILLER


“I really wasn’t going to say anything all year and I think when Sager somewhat outed me, it kind of put me on front street as well as my family because my family had no idea either. With Cheryl working for the same network, I thought it was very disrespectful of him to do that when they are co-workers and you haven’t even had a chance to tell your family any idea of what you are doing and every game after that, everybody was asking me what I was doing. It was almost like it forced my hand. After talking to Cheryl, my parents, it was get it over with and move one.

“I just believe it’s time. I’ve always said to you that when I felt this organization, this franchise, the players were able to take the next step, I think it would be time for me to move on. I really think the younger players, Fred, Stephen, I think these are able, willing bodies to carry this franchise on. It started off in ’87, there really wasn’t a lot of excitement for the Pacers. Right now we’re at the level, where, arguably if we had everyone healthy, we’re in the top 10. This is the time for me to move on and for the other guys to step into the light.

“There’s no ideal situation that I’m going to leave on. Last year would have been great, at least getting to the Eastern Conference Finals with a chance to get to the Finals. There’s no ideal. I think what happened in Detroit gave me more motivation to work harder because I knew we were going to be short-handed for such a long period of time. That was another reason I didn’t want to say anything. The focus shouldn’t be on me, it should be on the team and the other players that were going to have to step up because of the suspensions. You don’t want to bring attention to yourself, you want to bring attention to the team. I’m not going to let this year ruin 17 others that have been fantastic. Another thing, we’re still in the playoffs and we can still beat a lot of teams if we play the right way. This year can still be special for us.”

(On Jermaine trying to change his mind) “No, there’s no Michael Jordan thing going on, there’s none of that.”

“I just want our team to play better, that’s the most important thing. We haven’t really found our stride this year. We’ve played well in stretches, but we haven’t played consistent. I’d be happy if we just played consistent. You want the team to play well and play consistent.”

PACERS COACH RICK CARLISLE


“We made a great run to get back into it and had a couple opportunities to get the lead and couldn’t do it. They got it back up to two and then four and we had a hole we couldn’t get out of. They played a real solid game. "

(On rebounding) They were quicker to the ball. I’ll have to look at the film for an exact cause. I like the way we fought back. A lot of it for us is going to have to come down to the defensive end."

(On Reggie Miller’s retirement announcement) "It’s not final yet. We’ve got 33 games left. When you have an announcement like this, it gets your attention and makes you swallow hard. It adds extra meaning to these 33 games.”

PACERS FORWARD STEPHEN JACKSON


“We have to come out with the same intensity as them (Houston). The last five or six minutes of the game they turned up their intensity but we didn’t. We have to rebound better and get stops."

(On defense) "The second team brought us back into the game but we were not able to maintain it. Our hats are off to our bench. They had the intensity. Our starters have to step it up.”

PACERS GUARD FRED JONES


“We prepared today like we do any other game."

(On Reggie Miller) "He deserves to go out any way he wants to. He’s the greatest. He’s the best Pacer to every play and the best pure shooter to play. We have to try and put him in a better situation."

(On the game) "We battled back in the second half; but the Rockets had some big shots in the fourth quarter. We just did not convert on a couple of possessions.”

ROCKETS COACH JEFF VAN GUNDY


“It was a hard-fought win. They made a run at the end and we were able to hold them off. Heading towards the All-Star break, we would like to finish strong. We’ll see what we can do. At the end of the game, we wanted to defend Reggie well. Dikembe did a great job at that. I’ve seen him do that to me enough.”

ROCKETS FORWARD TRACY McGRADY


(On Reggie Miller’s retirement) "By this being the first game after Reggie’s retirement announcement, yeah, I think we kind of spoiled the party. It was a packed house in here tonight. It seemed like there was a lot of energy in the building. But we were able to get the win and we wish Reggie well in his retirement.”

ROCKETS CENTER YAO MING


(On both teams being tired) "Yes, I think so; but that happens sometimes in a game. When it does, you get to see who the tougher team is mentally and who can get it done on defense. But yes, the fourth quarter looked ugly out there. There’s nothing worse than a loss when it’s like that; but we won and that’s the most important part."

(On Reggie Miller’s retirement and how he is perceived in China) "People here (United States) don’t realize how famous Reggie Miller is in China. People think that it’s all Michael Jordan back home; but people watch him (Miller) just as much. I remember watching him against Jordan in the 1998 Eastern Conference Championships. So there is another player that they follow. He was so quick at that time. He could get his shot off before you knew it. Plus, he was so skinny and I think that’s why people were drawn to him. I think this will be big news in China.”

ROCKETS GUARD BOB SURA


(On defense in the fourth quarter) "Our defense was pretty good tonight. I think we held them to 13 points in the fourth quarter. It’s a good win on the road; it’s a big win for us. Our offense is starting to really click and I hope we can keep it up."

(On his fit with the Rockets) "I am having the most fun of my career with this team, that is for sure. It helps to be playing with two great players. Anytime you get a chance to do that, it’s great. It makes the game a lot easier with those two guys (Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady) and it also helps to be winning. It’s always fun when you’re winning."

(On Reggie Miller) "He’s had a lot of great moments in this league, fortunately for us; he wasn’t able to have another tonight. He’s had a great career. He’s been great for this franchise and the league, with all of his community involvement. When he came into the game at the end, I went right up to him and told him that I am not leaving your side for anything.”


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