Rafer Alston Hard Quotations

He got into a rhythm early and it's hard to get him out of it. When you do want to play defense, you can't touch or breathe on a guy like that.

Regret? ... I just regret getting into situations. Because it's unlike me. I'm a guy who just loves to leave it on the floor, have a jolly old time playing basketball ... that's the great thing that everyone understands about me I'm going to play hard no matter what.

We had more consistent injuries than we had consistent basketball plays. We could never get that consistent feel of a starting lineup, playing with a set group of guys for a long period of time. That's hard to deal with.

You're supposed to get better. When other teams turn it up a notch or two levels, we turn it down a notch or two. Teams make it hard for us to get it to our best player (Yao Ming). We don't make it hard to get it to some of their best players.

You're a professional, you have pride, and you have a contract to go out and play hard. But we do have things to play for, whether personal agendas or team goals. You have to play hard and stay hungry.

That hurts not only him as a player, it hurts us as a team. And it hurts me to see another guy go down, especially him with how well he's been playing and how hard he's worked. To see him go down late in the year, that hurts a lot.