Barkley gave up his team captaincy because he didn't want to shake Pippen's hand at the team captain meeting before the game. Matt Bullard went in his place. Barkley's comments:
"I wasn't going out there to shake his hand or have anything phony to say to that guy," Barkley said. "I thought we were friends, but he showed that we obviously weren't and so I gave up my captaincy for the night... Why do I even want to say anything to that guy?" Barkley asked. "I hit him a couple of times when he was coming down the lane, just to let him know that I was thinking of him."
Barkley on what he thinks of Pippen and his leadership abilities:
"Last year he came to Houston and had career lows in just about every statistical category and everybody said he (was horrible). Now all of his numbers are even lower and people are saying how great he is. He is the same player."
Pippen wass asked if he had any regrets:
"Probably just the way things came out between Charles and me," Pippen said. "I looked at it as an opportunity to get out of there and go play in LA. I wasn't trying to disrupt any relationships."
Dr's Editorial Commentary -- This one's weird folks... wonder how Portland fans feel about this. Pippen flat-out admits he said what he said to get out of Houston and so he could go to... LA. What an IDIOT that he'd admit he'd rather go to LA than Portland now that he's at Portland.
Olajuwon on the Pippen/Barkley feud:
"That is their thing," said Olajuwon. "But I am disappointed in Scottie."
Barkley on Pippen again:
"He's happier now," said Barkley. "Because he's not in Houston. I guess we are too."
Bullard on his last second miss to tie the game in overtime :
"I don't mind if you can't shoot it well, but I felt the shot was perfect," Bullard said. "It felt so good and it came out. I hate that feeling. I thought for sure it was good. I was backpedaling for the highlights it felt so good."
Olajuwon on his injury and when he may be able to return:
"I don't know at all with this kind of injury," Olajuwon said. "It's the wrong sport for this."
Pippen on the Blazers' lackluster play:
"It wasn't that great a win," Pippen said. "We don't have anything to celebrate about. We didn't come out and beat this team as well as we would have liked to."
Dr's Editorial Commentary - damn right you didn't bastard, and you're lucky you even left with a win
Francis on his poor shooting after coming off a sprained ankle:
"I shot us into a coma," he said. "The two days away really hurt me."
Rudy T on what he thought of his team after the emotional loss:
"I'm very proud of the way we played," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "We played great defense, a lot of heart. We got the shots we wanted. The game plan and defense, we were a little smarter -- I enjoyed the hell out the game."
Dr's Editorial Commentary -- Man, you just gotta love the joy this guy gets out of basketball whether you like his style of play or not.
Cuttino and Scottie are close... wow... didn't know:
"I kept telling Scottie I was coming at him," said Mobley. "I love him. He's my mentor."
Cato on the way his team played:
"To a man, everybody played hard," Cato said. "Nobody thought they were overmatched. If we played every night like we did tonight, we would have a winning record."
Bryce Drew killed Tony Massenburg! :
"I didn't stretch good enough, I guess," Massenburg said. "Bryce (Drew) got ahead on a break and I went hard to try to block the shot. He was ahead of the pack and I was closing, but he up put one of those floaters. I don't even know if it went in...I'll be all right," Massenburg said. "I really want to be ready by (Monday). I'm pretty sure I will be back by then."
TrailBlazer fan on the Oregonian's Blazer Forum:
"i just went to clutchcity.net to read what rocket fans had to say about the game. boy was i amazed. almost everyone is saying we had a great game or something similar. it makes you feel like the blazers lost."
Another Blazer fan's post on the Rockets' apparent happiness with the loss and Pippen's disappointment with the win:
"It wasn't that great a win for us," Pippen said. "We don't have anything to celebrate about."
"I was very proud of the way we played," Rockets coach Rudy Tomjanovich said. "We laid it out on the floor."
THE WINNING BLAZERS (represented by Pippen) is unhappy with their play.
THE LOSING ROCKETS (represented by Tomjanovich) is proud of his team.
How the mighty Rockets have fallen. They've been losing close games all year and now their coach is proud of them for losing this one. The Blazers certainly gave the Rockets opportunities to win tonight and the Rockets still couldn't get the job done. Could Houston possibly fire their 2-time Championship-winning coach??
before 03/04, i wasnt that big of a nba fan. when we got yao ming i assumed he was as good as shaq, so ya i didnt know about this back then, didnt konw we had pippen till 05 lol .
wat game was bullard referring too in that quote? was it rockets vs blazers?
