NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND

February 11, 2001

Rick Adelman

RICK ADELMAN: You know, it was a terrific game. Our guys really played well for three quarters, and then they really got it going in the fourth quarter. I don't think we got back as quickly as we did in the first three quarters in the fourth quarter. If we maybe -- we got a little bit complacent and relaxed a little bit. But, you know Marbury was terrific, Iverson was terrific and Mutombo really controlled the basket area. But it was an enjoyable game.

RICK ADELMAN: Well, you know it is one of those things that, you know, we only had four guards and no small forwards. So it was not like there was a lot of choices and I really didn't want to play Gary that much more. He's been hurting. You know, I just felt, you know, down the last half of the game, left the guys who started the game, they did a good job, let them finish and see how -- see who was going to win. Like I said, the last two or three minutes were exciting. They made some huge shots. We responded, but, you know, give them credit. I think we would have loved to have won the game, but, you know, when he put those four small guys out there, it was hard to get to them. You know, I thought they hurt us more -- you think about the three-point shots, but they hurt us more when they came back, getting to the basket in the open court. We didn't get back as well as we did earlier.

RICK ADELMAN: I think he was fine. We talked about it. I really felt that if they felt good, those guys who started for us, I was going to try to get them somewhere between 25 and 30 minutes. But I thought Kobe played well. We played him a week ago and he didn't look banged up to me -- and I told him that, too. But he's a great player. There's some great players out on that floor.

RICK ADELMAN: I have not seen him play as much as other people because we are out West. We only see him twice a year, except for TV. But I've got tremendous admiration for him. I thought the fourth quarter was typical of the way he plays. He's just fearless in the way he attacks the basket and takes it there. There was times I thought we closed him out pretty good and he still got through. But I think you see in him, like you do a lot of players, as a they mature in the League off the floor, they mature on the floor. They understand what it is all about. Allen seems to have done that. I just, like I said, admire the way he competes night after night and kind of just -- it's like tonight. He did not do a whole lot in the fourth quarter; he exploded. That's what you see a lot with him.

RICK ADELMAN: Yeah, there was a couple guys. I was concerned about Gary. I didn't know if he was even going to play. He said he felt good beforehand. He told me at halftime that he felt about. His injuries, it could happen at any time. Karl, I played him the first half and the second half he basically told me he was kind of done. So that was fine. I was trying to get minutes for the other people, too. We were able to distribute the minutes pretty good. Just, I wish we could have won the game because the guys played so well for three quarters.

RICK ADELMAN: I really do think it was a great game. I think there was only about three or four spans that I felt, you know, a minute or two, we got a little bit crazy out there but I think for the most part, guys tried to make solid plays. They got -- we tried to get back and shut the lane off against them. There was, you know, you are always going to have the high-flying dunks and the lobs and stuff like that, but I think the guys for the most part made good decisions. There was a couple stretches where I thought I was getting a little bit wild now, but for the most part it was a really well-played game. You saw the skills of both teams. And I think you see how good basketball is in the NBA, when you look at this game today, especially when you look at all of the big guys we have and the small guys they have. It was such a competitive game. It was fun to be involved with it.