May 31, 2002
by Sean Deveney

This season marks the 10th time in his 10 years in the league that the Lakers' Robert Horry has played in the postseason. He has been part of four championship teams, two with the Rockets and two with the Lakers. With the Lakers weakened at power forward after losing free agent Horace Grant last summer, Horry has been forced to pick up the slack, guarding Rasheed Wallace, Tim Duncan and Chris Webber in consecutive postseason series. TSN caught up with Horry for a few questions about Shaquille O'Neal, the Kings and his teammates' trash talking.

Q: How does this team compare with the Rockets teams you were on in the mid-'90s?
A: I was on those teams?

Q: Oh, you know you were. What do they have in common?
A: It's a confidence in yourselves. You have got to believe in yourselves. You've got a lot of doubters out there, and if you have the ability to believe in yourself and believe in your teammates, you will have that aura about you. You won't worry about other teams. It's just like, we do what we do. You have to beat us.

Q: You had Hakeem Olajuwon then, now Shaq. Is there something in common there?
A: When you have that anchor�and when I say anchor, I mean that big, dominant man in the middle�you are going to have that confidence. No matter what goes on on the outside, if they penetrate, you know there is someone back there to deter all that penetration. When you get that anchor back there, that gives you a little of the self-confidence, and that's where you get the aura.

Q: Was there as much back-and-forth nonsense between teams then? You know, all the talk?
A: I'd rather my team shut up, honestly. You never try to stir up anything if you don't have to. We have a tendency to talk. I don't talk trash. I know how some people can get fired up.

Q: In Game 3 of this series against the Kings, they had you down by 27 at the Staples Center. Was that surprising?
A: At one point, I looked up and I was like, 'Dang! They doubled our score?' You don't even realize it sometimes, you are just out there playing. But you look up at the scoreboard and you're like, 'That has got to be a misprint.' But you have got to keep playing hard.

Q: You have played better on the road. Why is that?
A: I don't have a freaking clue. It's like, when you are at home in your comfort zone, everything should run well for you. But it hasn't.

Q: What do you see as your role with the Lakers? You play a lot of power forward, but you are not a typical power forward.
A: I can handle it. When I play the four, I have to take my man out away from Shaq. If I'm shooting well, my man has to come out and get me. That leaves Shaq one-on-one, or they double him with a guard.

Q: There were times in the regular season where you guys seemed to coast. Does this team know how to come out of that?
A: We still know how to get it done. Knowing how to get it done and applying it are two different things, though. That's the key. We know how to get it done, but sometimes we have a tendency to skate here and there. And it bites us in the butt. I try to say all the time, 'Each year is a different year.' Each year, teams might be the same, but there are always different pieces and people get better. They learn each other better.