NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND

February 10, 2001

Wally Szezerbiak

WALLY SZCZERBIAK: Obviously it worked out great. I said, you know, as long as I was going to be coming I was just going to make the most of it and have a great time, because I did have a great time last year. The weekends are a lot of fun. The NBA puts on a great show. I wanted to get a little bit of a rest for my knee but a lot of guys feel the same way. So I figured come on down, have a good time and try and put on a show.

WALLY SZCZERBIAK: There's no doubt about it. Once I reassessed the situation and saw how important it was to the off-and-on fan, to the NBA and pretty much the whole game, why would I not want to come and be a part of it, and I think that is how most guys feel. We have a lot of pressure to win, but at the same time, on our regular time, so I'm sure a lot of guys wanted to get some rest but at the same time, this is the pinnacle. When you can come here and play with all of your peers and have a good time with all of your peers that you play against all year and see the best and play against the best, there's nothing like it. It just worked out great and I'm having a great time.

WALLY SZCZERBIAK: I don't know if you saw it, I was a little ticked off, Khalid El-Amin. He never cuts his nails so he got me good right below the cheek bone. It will be fine, just a scratch.

WALLY SZCZERBIAK: Well, I'm delighted. I've said it all along that this year has been a lot different than last year because my teammate, coaches, organization, fans, all believe that I'm going to contribute day-in and day-out and as a rookie, they wonder if you're a young guy, inexperienced, not going to show up on certain days and that was tough for me to deal with, because I was a four-year guy and worked hard day and day out and wanted to make an impact right away and its like you are not supposed to do that's a rookie and went through some up-and-downs and I did. This year I'm more comfortable and found a role, liking to the team, how to get shots and contribute and help the team win and as a result, the first half of the year was great and hopefully we can continue on this win streak.

WALLY SZCZERBIAK: Not really. I think Flip(Saunders) kind of brain washes you to play the game the right way and that's how I want to play basketball, that's how I played my whole life. If you saw how I tried to play, hit, box out, fundamentally sound basketball, probably shot a lot more than I normally do but that was a lot of fun. I just had a good time-out with the guys, the guys saw I was hot and were getting me the ball and I just have to say thanks to them for helping me to do well and achieve this honor.

WALLY SZCZERBIAK: I can't do that, I'm not going to jump that high so I had to do something to try and put on a little bit of a show. I know shooting is a little bit of a lost art, and I know a lot of guys want to high-fly and dunk, and what I do best is knock down shots and knock them down at a good percentage. I just wanted to go out, and I know the coaches really wanted to win, so if I was going to hit open shots, I was going to help us win, and I did.