NBA Tip-off presented by AutoTrader.com

Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith and Charles Barkley

TNT’s Craig Sager interviewed Hornets forward David West prior to Game #4 in the Hornets/Spurs series.

West on the Hornets’ focus in the series: “We’re just trying to maintain our focus, we’re not caught up in the atmosphere or in who we are playing against. We are just trying to take care of what we can between the lines.”

West on the game plan against Spurs forward Tim Duncan: “(The game plan) is going to be similar, we are going to make (Duncan’s) catches tough, we are going to try put him in positions where it’s not comfortable to make plays.”

Smith on the series getting tied up: “I think this series goes back to New Orleans tied. Tim Duncan will figure out a way to beat those double teams, (Parker and Ginobili) won’t need to get over 30 points tonight.”

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Game 1: New Orleans Hornets (80) @ San Antonio Spurs (100) – The series is tied 2-2.

Announcers Marv Albert and Reggie Miller with Craig Sager reporting

Miller on the point guard position: “The point guard is the hardest position in this game because at the point guard position you’re trying to make everyone happy. Chris Paul, at such a young age, understands where his bread and butter is on this team.”

Miller on Spurs guard Tony Parker and Hornets guard Chris Paul forging a friendship off the court, that includes hanging out on off days during this series: “(The Godfather’s) Don Corleone is proud right now, ‘keep your friends close and your enemies even closer.’ That absolutely wouldn’t have happened back in our day. It was oil and water, we didn’t have dinner, we didn’t take you out after a game, it was all business. But as Byron Scott says, ‘it’s a new breed of players today.’”

TNT’s Craig Sager interviewed Hornets coach Byron Scott after the first quarter.

Scott on the Spurs hustling more than the Hornets in the first quarter: “I thought they did come out and play a little bit harder and a little more aggressive. They are running transition like we want to run, they are pushing the ball so we need to do a better job of defending, rebounding and looking to pushing the ball.”

Miller on the Knicks hiring former Suns coach Mike D’Antoni: “Donnie Walsh, I love you like a grandfather, but you’re wrong on this D’Antoni system. He is a nice guy but it is New York City, and I think Mark Jackson – I’m biased because he’s a good friend of mine – but I think he would have been perfect for that situation, I think it was the wrong call at the wrong time.”

Albert: “There is one thing that Donnie (Walsh) will be particularly upset about, forget about (you) disagreeing, but you love him like a grandfather…he would have preferred father.”

Miller on he and Albert being in the background of the latest issue of Sports Illustrated, featuring an action of shot of Hornets guard Chris Paul: “I think were going to be cursed, any time you’re on it, the following week something bad goes on. We are not going to view the (production) elements like we normally do, our production meeting is going to be off. I was never on the cover of Sports Illustrated, and now I am with Chris Paul, the runner up for MVP!”

TNT’s Craig Sager interviewed Spurs guard Tony Parker at halftime.

Parker on whether offense or defense was more important in the first half of the game: “It’s defense right now. We are doing a pretty good job of going to the lane, controlling everybody, if we can go keep it going that’s pretty nice. Since the beginning of the series we’ve had a hard time stopping New Orleans.”

Parker on his strong first half performance: “I’m going to be aggressive, since the beginning of the series Pop (Spurs coach Gregg Popovich) told me to attack Chris, and that’s what I’m trying to do. I’m trying to make good decisions between shooting and passing.”

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Halftime

Johnson, Barkley and Smith

Barkley on the amount of shots taken by Lakers guard Kobe Bryant despite a back injury: “( Kobe ) should have quit jacking it up, he shot 33 times.”

Smith on Lakers guard Kobe Bryant trying to take over in overtime in Game #4 against the Jazz: “Kobe did a great job of passing the ball in the last quarter, then in overtime he tried to take over the game and didn’t get his teammates those wide open looks he was giving them (earlier). If he was hurt…”

Barkley: “If he was hurt, he was only hurt on defense.”

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Miller on his experience playing the reigning NBA Champions during the NBA Playoffs: “Only once, it was in (Michael) Jordan ’s last year (with the Bulls) in 1998 that we were going against the defending champions, and we met them in the Conference Finals. To win a game, let alone a series, every game is magnified when you’re going against the Champions. They play so much harder, they understand that they are that much better. We were going against (Dennis) Rodman, (Scottie) Pippen, Jordan, and Phil Jackson was the head coach. We were never in a road game until Game #7, they blew us out the first three games. We were in Game #7, we had a chance to win it, but Steve Kerr made some big shots. I applaud the Hornets playing loosey-goosey, they don’t understand the pressure.”

Miller on the frustration the Hornets will feel watching this game film: “This is one of the tapes that as (the Hornets) fly back to New Orleans that is going to be hard for the Hornets to watch, they are going to look at all the countless mistakes and the bad close outs.”

TNT’s Craig Sager interviewed Spurs coach Gregg Popovich after the third quarter.

Popovich on what he attributes the success the Spurs enjoyed in Game #4: “We’ve been aggressive defensively, we’ve hit the boards pretty well and (we’ve) pushed (the ball) after we’ve gotten rebounds.”

Popovich on wanting to finish the game strongly: “We just want to play well, we are down right now, they beat us to death two times and we just want to keep playing better.”

Miller on this Game #4 victory being an important win for the Spurs: “This may be a signature win for Gregg Popovich and the Spurs, put something on the minds of this upstart New Orleans Hornets. (The Spurs) really got run out of the gym in Games #1 and #2, Gregg Popovich was scratching his head and came back in Game #3.”

TNT’s Craig Sager interviewed Spurs forward Tim Duncan after the game.

Duncan on the difference in the game tonight: “I don’t know if there was a difference, we made some shots tonight. It’s all about moving the ball against these guys, we know where they are coming from, we understand what they are going to try to double team and we’ve got to try to find our shooters and make sure they knock down shots.”

Duncan on whether the Spurs shook the confidence of the Hornets: “I hope so, obviously we’ve done nothing but win our home games as have they, so we’re going to have to go in there and try to steal one from them.”

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Inside the NBA presented by Hyundai

Ernie Johnson, Charles Barkley and Kenny Smith

Smith on the difference in the game between the team’s guards: “If you check the bottom of Tony Parker’s feet they had a lot of paint on them because he drove to the paint every single time and if you look at the bottom Chris Paul’s feet, (they were) on the perimeter, that was the difference in the game.”

Barkley on Hornets forward David West letting Spurs center Fabricio Oberto frustrate him: “I’ve got advice for David West, he’s got to let the thing with (Fabricio) Oberto go. Oberto can’t guard him. (Oberto) is a terrific player but all he can do is frustrate (West), and he got frustrated and got a couple of offensive fouls in the game. When you’re playing against players that you’re better than, all they can do is disrupt your flow, so knock the hell out of him one time and let it go.”

Smith on the pace of the game dictating who will win: “(What will dictate who will win) is the pace of the game, it has nothing to do with the numbers, it is who controls the pace of the game for their team. In the early going, Tony Parker controlled the pace for the San Antonio Spurs and that will help them win it. Chris Paul did not get into the paint, he did not get his guys easy shots, he stayed perimeter and he even hit a couple of jump shots which I thought was worse for them because then he started stepping out and shooting three’s as well. The biggest thing for the San Antonio Spurs and the New Orleans Hornets is the pace of the game, that’s what separates the superstars for me, not the scoring, not the assists but who creates the pace of the game.”

TNT’s Craig Sager interviewed Hornets forward Peja Stojakovic after the game.

Stojakovic on the Spurs winning both games at home: “We knew they were going to respond coming back home, they are the defending champs. We didn’t even play even close to how we play at home, we couldn’t defend tonight, we couldn’t stop them tonight or two days ago, so we need to go home, regroup and hopefully play better basketball.”

TNT’s Cheryl Miller interviewed Cavs forward Wally Szczerbiak.

Szczerbiak on beating the Celtics at home in Game #3: “We have great coaches that have a great game plan. We are a defensive team like Boston, that’s our M.O. (modus operandi), we like to take away what a team likes to do. We have personnel that can really follow a game plan, we have veteran guys that can follow the lead of the coaches and we help each other on both ends of the floor.”

Smith on Celtics guard Sam Cassell needing to step up when Rajon Rondo has off nights: “That has to come down to mental focus, the regular season means nothing, mental focus wins basketball games in the playoffs and it has to be extremely high. That’s why Sam Cassel was brought in there, those moments (with Rajon Rondo) were there in the regular season, but they weren’t as noticeable because there isn’t much on a regular season game and they were winning those games. He needs to step up as well because Rondo is going to have those (off) nights, he had them in the regular season but they still won.”

Barkley on the poor offense of the Cavaliers: (James) is just not making shots, he’s not a great shooter, he’s a streak shooter. They can post him more, they need to go to (Zydrunas) Ilgauskas more, they need to quit putting LeBron in pick and rolls with big guys because all they do is trap it. The Cavs coaching staff has not done a good job, I always thought that LeBron should be finishing plays, getting dunks. They should play at a much faster pace, their offense stinks.”

Smith on the Celtics causing the Cavs to play an offense that is less conducive to LeBron James scoring: “This is one of the first teams that have consistently made (James) perimeter, they’ve done a good job playing a soft man to man, ‘we’re guarding you, but we’re just going to stay in front of you and we’re going to tempt you into shooting an outside shot,’ and LeBron has fallen victim to that. He’s missed a couple of those and then he doesn’t get those runs to the rim that he gets in the half court set, he’s only getting dunks on the fast breaks, now you don’t fast break, and you’re cutting down those points and you’re shooting 22-percent.”

Inside the NBA announcers went barefoot in an effort to raise awareness for Samaritan’s Feet, a charitable organization whose mission is to help outfit 10 million impoverished children worldwide with 10 million pairs of shoes in 10 years. Samaritan’s Feet founder Emmanuel “Manny” Ohonme joined the Emmy® award-winning studio show.

Ohonme on the inspiration behind “Samaritan’s Feet”: “Just to stand here today, it’s a phenomenal opportunity. I tell people that I’m the most blessed person on the face of this planet. To look at a poor African boy, born in Nigeria, and I didn’t have a pair of shoes until a missionary came to my country and gave me a pair of shoes and told me to dream. They taught me the game of basketball which gave me the opportunity to come to the United States to get my education. I stand here today to say that I’m blessed and I’m trying to pay it forward for what has been done for me.”

Ohonme on what the lack of shoes means to millions of children around the world: “300 million children woke up this morning without a pair of shoes. Their feet are their primary mode of transportation. Children are walking miles over dangerous terrain and broken bottles and different things poking their feet. One of the key reasons why people have diseases and infections is because they are walking around in their bare feet and things are cutting up their feet. There are a lot of people suffering in the world.”

Source: TNT

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Ohonme on the reaction he gets from the children receiving the shoes: “You should see the faces and the reaction of these kids when you give them a pair of shoes. It’s like you’re giving them gold. You see their face light up and nothing can describe the reception and the reaction (of the children).”