WHAT THE PISTONS ARE SAYING: 81
In about 42 minutes Sunday night, Kobe Bryant made history, scoring 81 points in the Lakers' 122-104 win over the Toronto Raptors. Bryant made 28 field goals out of 46 attempts and hit 18 of 20 free throws to reach 81, second only to Wilt Chamberlain's 100 for most individual points scored in a game.
What a few Pistons had to say about the accomplishment:
Coach Flip Saunders
"Phenomenal. Amazing. (Sunday) was an NFL day. But the NBA stole the show ... I think the most amazing thing about Kobe scoring 81 was how easy he made it look. It's not like he made a lot of difficult shots. A lot of the shots he took were open shots. ... I was going crazy on the bench here trying to hold (Tracy) McGrady to 43 (Sunday), and Kobe had twice that. I said, 'I hate to see what I would have been like with a guy going for 81.' But I mean, he has the ability. He's a phenomenal player. He has a great amount of competitiveness, and I think the No. 1 thing, he said it after the game, was not about scoring 81, but that's what he thought he needed to do for his team to get the win. So I think he did what he had to do in order to get wins."
Guard Chauncey Billups
"That was unbelievable. I saw some of the game. It was great. I've never seen a performance like that ever ... He had it going. If you've got it going, you're supposed to keep it going. And I think people on his team should feel the same way. If you get someone on your team who's having a special night like that, it's only right to try and let it be as good as it can. You'll never see my 80. I'm not in that kind of shape to score that much. That's crazy. I think in high school one time I had 56. And my arm and my shoulder were so tired, I had to ice that thing down. That really takes so much energy to score those kind of points. ... No way I could do that."
Guard Lindsey Hunter
"See a guy score 81 points and nobody fouled out? That was my concern. I'm going to be fouled out of the game or something. Something has to give. My most ever was probably 48 in college and that was a big deal. It didn't even look right. I'm a defensive guy, so I look at the box, and say, 'Who fouled out?' Because if a guy is just scoring like that, I know I'm using my six (fouls)." (Raptors Chris Bosh fouled out and Morris Peterson and Matt Bonner each have five fouls.)
Forward Dale Davis
"No matter what type of game it is, to get 81 says a lot of his talent level. I don't think it's selfish. If a guy gets it going, if you're trying to win, you should want to get him the ball. He's the key to their team, so he's going to have to make shots for them. I scored in the 40s. I can't imagine getting up 40-some shots."
What a few Pistons had to say about the accomplishment:
Coach Flip Saunders
"Phenomenal. Amazing. (Sunday) was an NFL day. But the NBA stole the show ... I think the most amazing thing about Kobe scoring 81 was how easy he made it look. It's not like he made a lot of difficult shots. A lot of the shots he took were open shots. ... I was going crazy on the bench here trying to hold (Tracy) McGrady to 43 (Sunday), and Kobe had twice that. I said, 'I hate to see what I would have been like with a guy going for 81.' But I mean, he has the ability. He's a phenomenal player. He has a great amount of competitiveness, and I think the No. 1 thing, he said it after the game, was not about scoring 81, but that's what he thought he needed to do for his team to get the win. So I think he did what he had to do in order to get wins."
Guard Chauncey Billups
"That was unbelievable. I saw some of the game. It was great. I've never seen a performance like that ever ... He had it going. If you've got it going, you're supposed to keep it going. And I think people on his team should feel the same way. If you get someone on your team who's having a special night like that, it's only right to try and let it be as good as it can. You'll never see my 80. I'm not in that kind of shape to score that much. That's crazy. I think in high school one time I had 56. And my arm and my shoulder were so tired, I had to ice that thing down. That really takes so much energy to score those kind of points. ... No way I could do that."
Guard Lindsey Hunter
"See a guy score 81 points and nobody fouled out? That was my concern. I'm going to be fouled out of the game or something. Something has to give. My most ever was probably 48 in college and that was a big deal. It didn't even look right. I'm a defensive guy, so I look at the box, and say, 'Who fouled out?' Because if a guy is just scoring like that, I know I'm using my six (fouls)." (Raptors Chris Bosh fouled out and Morris Peterson and Matt Bonner each have five fouls.)
Forward Dale Davis
"No matter what type of game it is, to get 81 says a lot of his talent level. I don't think it's selfish. If a guy gets it going, if you're trying to win, you should want to get him the ball. He's the key to their team, so he's going to have to make shots for them. I scored in the 40s. I can't imagine getting up 40-some shots."
posted by Michelle at
1:27 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home