NBA ALL-STAR WEEKEND

February 10, 2001

Ruthie Bolton-Holifield

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: It felt really, really great, and I participated in the first year. And I have a basketball signed by the whole team, and every time I look at that ball it reminds me that I was just here. And I said that if I ever got to participate again, that I wanted to actually win it. So it feels awesome to finally win it.

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: The focus is really to try to be a team and try to pick up the slack for the other player, and I knew when he missed some shots in the beginning, he was probably a little tight and I needed to take the pressure off. And he actually relaxed and made a crucial eight-point shot in the second round. I knew I had to steal and make as many shots as possible and it just felt great. We just kept talking to each other, trying to relax, focus on each shot at a time.

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: Actually, just really today when we got here. We didn't really have a strategy. Actually, I was going to shoot first and, then he decided that he would shoot first and it actually helped because at first I thought we had to shoot at every spot, but when I found out that we didn't have to shoot at every spot; that helped me out a lot.

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: To me it was definitely an advantage, because I think I probably would have been a little more nervous if I had gone first or second. But if I sit down and relax, it really helped to take some of the pressure off, and to see that some of the scores were not that high, I knew that we didn't have to score 60 or 70 to advance. That took a lot of pressure off. Watching them shoot, you knew how many shots you needed to just to make it to the next round.

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: Sacramento, we're trying to get on the map. And the Kings are having a great season and the Monarchs are looking forward to having a great season coming up, and this is a good way to start it off. I actually felt good about it coming in. I felt that we were picked to shoot 2ball for a reason, so just being here, we wanted to do more than just be here. We wanted to actually prove that we are the best shooters in the League, without being cocky.

RUTHIE BOLTON-HOLIFIELD: It's fun, just being able to participate means a lot. Some people are at home watching it and can't even be here. But also, to win, any time you win, it feels great. And actually, I was sitting there thinking about the pressure; it's a lot of pressure. If you really think about it, like: "I've only got one minute to win," that's a lot of pressure. But I sort of sat back a little bit: "You've won two gold medals." There's no pressure. Actual my partner is getting ready for the eight T and T shootout that he was going to win.