TMAC on Yao's play, "He is playing at a MVP caliber level"

http://www.nba.com/knicks/news/gamequotes_061120.html

Game Quotes

Head Coach Isiah Thomas

On the third quarter: We came out and we made two quick turnovers. That group had been playing well. Before we got down fifteen, I wanted to try and get some pace back into the game. Jamal (Crawford) and Nate (Robinson) were playing well. I was just trying to reach and grab for anything that I could tonight, to try and stay in the game, to try and win the game.

On the Rockets: They (Rockets) were good. Yao (Ming) and Tracy (McGrady) were a little too much for us tonight. Rafer Alston made a couple of big shots that really hurt also.

On the Knicks: In the end, it’s not about just one or two people. It’s about trying to utilize everything you have, to try and win the basketball game. We try to use everything within our resources to win the basketball game. We’re not always going to play well. The thing that I like about our team is that we fight. Even though some guys may not play well, there hasn’t been a game all year, thus far against any opponent, where we haven’t fought. There’s a lot of fight in us, and we’ll keep fighting.


Stephon Marbury

On his lack of playing time in the second half: I didn’t understand it. We (Steve Francis and Stephon Marbury) were in the game for two minutes. Stevie (Steve Francis) got a turnover, I got a turnover I guess he felt like he wanted to get Nate (Robinson) and Jamal (Crawford) back in. The message is loud and clear. I am not going to play like that anymore. I just have to be more conscious about not getting a turnover.

On his struggles playing at home: I only took two shots tonight. When you are pressing, usually you are just trying to score. I am doing what is being asked of me. That's all.

Channing Frye

On tonight's game: I was just trying to get open shots. I wasn’t trying to rush anything or force anything. I was just trying to get what comes through the offense.

On the Houston Rockets: They were hitting tough shots. They were executing their game plan. They were hitting the third or fourth option. We have another game against a good Minnesota team so we have to focus on them now.

On his struggles earlier in the season: The ball just wasn’t falling in the hole. Today my teammates stuck with me. I just want to be aggressive whether the ball was going in or not.

David Lee

On guarding Yao Ming: I think he is pretty used to big guys, seven footers leaning on him and I was trying to give him a different look. He is a load in there and I was just doing my best to keep him as far away from the basket.





Jeff Van Gundy

On coming back to the Garden: It’s always special, there’s not as many people that I know that have had the honor to walk out onto the floor at Madison Square Garden. That never gets old, not when I was here and certainly not when you only get to do it once a year.

Tracy McGrady

On Yao Ming: I had a chance to see it last year when I was out. He is doing it night in and night out. He is doing it on both ends. It is unbelievable of what he is capable of on the basketball court. He is real consistent. He makes things look too easy. He is playing at a MVP caliber level. If we can get him the ball in the right spots he is going to score.

On the end of the game: I think, somewhat in the past few games, they are trying to drill Yao (Ming) a little too much and I have been deferring in the second half and the fourth quarter. I just wanted to assert myself (tonight).

Yao Ming

On getting blocked by Nate Robinson: I have been blocked by 5 foot 3 guys before so that was nothing.

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/story/473469p-398349c.html

Instant replay: Yao swats Eddy

BY CHRISTIAN RED
DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

The Rev. Jesse Jackson shared a few quiet moments with Eddy Curry at the Knick center's locker last night, moments after the young prodigy absorbed his second pounding in the span of 10 days at the hands of Houston's Yao Ming.

Asked if Jackson had provided any tips on how to guard the Rockets' 7-5 Yao, Curry smiled and said, "Oh man, I wish he would have. He's just letting me know he's there for me. He's been following me for a little while. It's a thrill for me to meet him."

Curry experienced few thrills on the court, although his performance was a marked improvement on the Knicks' Nov. 10 visit to Houston - when Yao torched Curry and the Knicks for 35 points, 17 rebounds and seven blocks.

Last night? Yao was the game's leading scorer with 26 points, but grabbed just nine boards and blocked three shots. "He didn't have 40," Curry joked. "Every time you play somebody of his caliber, it's going to be a total team effort. We definitely held him under control."

Well, at least in the first quarter. Yao scored just four points to start the game, though two came on a pretty spin move around Curry on the baseline before Yao punctuated the play with a dunk. By the half, Yao had scored 15 while Curry had picked up three personal fouls.

Isiah Thomas had said during the team's morning shoot-around that the game wasn't about Yao vs. Curry.

"It's about how well our team plays against Houston," Thomas said. "We've stayed away from the one-on-one competition and the 'macho' thing for first 11 games. We're not into the macho-ness of basketball."

That said, Thomas added that he would be happy not to see Yao anymore this season.

With Curry picking up his fourth foul in the third quarter after missing two consecutive shots over Yao, Thomas went with Plan B, substituting David Lee and using a two-pronged attack of Lee and Channing Frye to contain Yao. The two Knicks combined for 37 points.

Curry finished the night with a quiet eight points and two rebounds in 21 minutes. After talking with Jackson, Curry slapped a huge bag of ice around his right ankle, which he said he rolled in the first few minutes of the game. "I tweaked it. It's minor," he said.

If only the same could be said of his overall performance.