- Title: Houston Rockets, New Orleans Pelicans prepare for upcoming game
- Date: 8th October 2016
- Summary: SHANGHAI, CHINA (OCTOBER 8, 2016) (REUTERS) HOUSTON ROCKETS PLAYERS TRAINING VARIOUS OF GUARD OF HOUSTON ROCKETS, JAMES HARDEN, SHOOTING BASKET HOUSTON ROCKETS PLAYERS TRAINING FORWARD OF HOUSTON ROCKETS, TREVOR ARIZA, SHOOTING BASKET HEAD COACH OF HOUSTON ROCKETS, MIKE D'ANTONI, WALKING FORWARD OF HOUSTON ROCKETS, COREY BREWER, SHOOTING BASKET HEAD COACH OF HOUSTON ROCKETS, MIKE D'ANTONI, TALKING TO MEDIA (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD COACH OF HOUSTON ROCKETS, MIKE D'ANTONI, SAYING: "You know he was a great passer, he has to make the plays anyway, so he must play the point guard. He sees the court really well, he's one of the best players in the league so why wouldn't he be?" HOUSTON ROCKETS PLAYERS PLAYING BASKETBALL WITH STUDENTS OF NBA CLINIC GUARD OF HOUSTON ROCKETS, JAMES HARDEN, TEACHING SHOOTING HOUSTON ROCKETS PLAYERS PLAYING BASKETBALL WITH STUDENTS OF NBA CLINIC FORMER HOUSTON ROCKETS PLAYER, DIKEMBE MUTOMBO, HAVING HIGH FIVES WITH NBA CLINIC STUDENT HOUSTON ROCKETS PLAYERS PLAYING BASKETBALL WITH STUDENTS OF NBA CLINIC (SOUNDBITE) (English) GUARD OF HOUSTON ROCKETS, JAMES HARDEN, SAYING: "The point guard is basically, you know, you get the offence going, and you make the play. So what I've been doing basically my entire career, so it's nothing new to me, I'm comfortable like I said and as long as I can give my teammates open shots and open layups, then they're happy then I can always figure out my game after that." FORMER HOUSTON ROCKETS PLAYER, YAO MING, TALKING TO STUDENTS OF NBA CLINIC YAO TALKING CAMERAMAN FILMING NEW ORLEANS PELICANS PLAYERS IN TRAINING FORWARD OF NEW ORLEANS PELICANS, ANTHONY DAVIS, IN TRAINING NEW ORLEANS PELICANS PLAYERS IN TRAINING GUARD OF NEW ORLEANS PELICANS, BUDDY HIELD, IN TRAINING VARIOUS OF HEAD COACH OF NEW ORLEANS PELICANS, ALVIN GENTRY FORWARD OF NEW ORLEANS PELICANS, ANTHONY DAVIS, SHOOTING BASKET (SOUNDBITE) (English) HEAD COACH OF NEW ORLEANS PELICANS, ALVIN GENTRY, SAYING: "Our goal in the new season. I think our goal really is to play really good basketball. And you know, we want to be a playoff team. I think it's important for us to strive to be a playoff team. And once you get into the playoffs, obviously anything can happen. But we would like to, if we stay healthy and everything goes according to plan, then we would like to be one of those teams, you know, one of the 16 teams that are in the playoffs." NEW ORLEANS PELICANS PLAYERS IN TRAINING (SOUNDBITE) (English) FORWARD OF NEW ORLEANS PELICANS, ANTHONY DAVIS, SAYING: "Like I said before, I work on everything. I go back after every season and look at the places on the floor that I struggled shooting from, and try to fix that and rep it out a lot, and just try to get better. There is no one specific thing I look at, I work on everything." GUARD OF NEW ORLEANS PELICANS, BUDDY HIELD, RUNNING AND SHOOTING BASKET FORWARD OF NEW ORLEANS PELICANS, ANTHONY DAVIS, RUNNING AND MAKING LAY-UP
- Embargoed: 23rd October 2016 10:26
- Keywords: Houston Rockets New Orleans Pelicans Mike D'Antoni Yao Ming Alvin Gentry
- Location: SHANGHAI, CHINA
- City: SHANGHAI, CHINA
- Country: China
- Topics: Basketball,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA0015358RWF
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text:The Houston Rockets and New Orleans Pelicans held training sessions in Shanghai, China on Saturday (October 8) in preparation for the first of their two pre-season NBA games.
The Pelicans and Rockets are playing pre-season games in Shanghai on Sunday (October 9) and Beijing on Wednesday (October 12) as part of the NBA Global Games 2016 before the regular NBA season gets underway on October 25.
The head coach of the Rockets Mike D'Antoni announced last month that he has changed the position of James Harden from shooting guard to a full-time point guard.
"You know he was a great passer, he has to make the plays anyway, so he must play the point guard. He sees the court really well, he's one of the best players in the league so why wouldn't he be?" D'Antoni said.
Harden said this position was not new to him and he was willing to help his teammates.
"The point guard is basically, you know, you get the offence going, and you make the play. So what I've been doing basically my entire career, so it's nothing new to me, I'm comfortable like I said and as long as I can give my teammates open shots and open layups, then they're happy then I can always figure out my game after that," he said.
Former Houston Rockets center Yao Ming, who started his career in Shanghai in the Chinese Basketball Association, also was present at the cares clinic to teach students.
New Orleans Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry said his goal of the new season was to lead his team to the playoffs.
"Our goal in the new season. I think our goal really is to play really good basketball. And you know, we want to be a playoff team. I think it's important for us to strive to be a playoff team. And once you get into the playoffs, obviously anything can happen. But we would like to, if we stay healthy and everything goes according to plan, then we would like to be one of those teams, you know, one of the 16 teams that are in the playoffs," New Orleans Pelicans head coach Alvin Gentry said.
The Pelicans' Anthony Davis is coming back from injury, having not played an NBA game since March because of knee and shoulder problems. Despite this, Davis said he was still working on everything and trying to improve his game.
"Like I said before, I work on everything. I go back after every season and look at the places on the floor that I struggled shooting from, and try to fix that and rep it out a lot, and just try to get better. There is no one specific thing I look at, I work on everything," he said.
The National Basketball Association (NBA) said this 10th edition of NBA Games China will celebrate the Pelicans' first trip to the country and the Rockets' first visit to Shanghai since playing the inaugural game there in 2004. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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