Q. Al, you played a lot better in the second half than you did the first half tonight. Was it something that you decided at halftime that you wanted to be a little more involved in terms of the scoring in the second half?

ALLEN IVERSON: Not really. Coming to the game, I felt everybody probably figured I would come out and try to shoot up all the balls, try to think I had something to prove, win the MVP Trophy. That wasn't the case. I just wanted to come out and give my teammates the ball. It was an All-Star Game, get them some easy baskets, layups. They ran the ball really well. Gave me the ball, I finished for them. Without those guys, I wouldn't be holding this trophy.

Q. You looked like a traditional guard. Were you sending a message to your coach and other people?

ALLEN IVERSON: I wasn't really trying to send a message. I feel the point guard position has changed so much over the years. The team I play on, they need me to score, so I score. I just try to create for everybody. During this game, I mean, a lot of guys want to come out and play well. I felt I should come out and just try to keep those guys involved so they could keep their head in it, we could come out with a victory.

Q. Allen, why do you think you were booed after you won the trophy?

ALLEN IVERSON: Maybe people felt that Kobe should have won it. He played a great ball game. They probably felt he was supposed to have won it because he had 31 points. I came out with the victory. That's probably why.

Q. Allen, is this an All-Star look (haircut), are you bringing this back for regular season?

ALLEN IVERSON: I'm going to keep it like this until I'm finished playing basketball. I won't cut my hair anymore. I don't think I'm going to keep the head band, but I'll keep it like this.

Q. Any particular reason or you just like it?

ALLEN IVERSON: I guess it's just tired of getting haircuts on the road, things like that, when I can just get a girl to braid it and it will stay done for a while. I guess that's it.

Q. What do you think of Kobe?

ALLEN IVERSON: I think Kobe played a great basketball game. I think he's been playing great all year, considering here is a guy that never played college basketball, he comes in and plays with a team like the Lakers and he's able to come off the bench and contribute. That says a lot about Kobe Bryant. I felt he played a great game. You know, we came out with the victory. That was more important.

Q. Did Coach Thompson give you any tips on dealing with Coach Auerbach?

ALLEN IVERSON: He just told me to come out and play hard. I was playing with a great coach. I was talking to Coach Auerbach and I told him that I'm playing for my coach's coach, which is a great experience. Something I'm going to treasurer for the rest of my life. I'll never forget this.

Q. Allen, can you sum up the whole All-Star Weekend experience for you? Good? Bad? Positive? Negative?

ALLEN IVERSON: I think it's been great. I really wanted to be on the All-Star team. That was always a dream of mine, to play on the All-Star team. Unfortunately, you know, I wasn't selected. That just makes me that much more stronger. That will make me work that much harder for the rest of this season and during the off season to try to get in an All-Star Game next year. But it was a great experience playing in the rookie game. I had a chance to play with some of the guys I played with on the World University Game. It was fun. I had a lot of fun.

Q. Allen, what would happen if you played like this with the Sixers? Could you win that way?

ALLEN IVERSON: I mean, with us, I don't think that's the problem. Right now we having a problem defensively. We are having a problem giving guys second shots. I can count on one hand the number of times we've been blown out, all the ball games we played. I think it's a matter of just keep playing hard and working on the defensive end. We have got to stop people, and that's the most important thing.

Q. Allen, did some of the crowd, some of the boos in the crowd, did that bother you?

ALLEN IVERSON: That was the first time I ever recall being booed. I mean, it's natural to be booed at another team's home. I didn't feel that they was going to boo me for it. I mean, that's their opinion. Those people probably wanted Kobe to win it or they might have wanted Vitaly to win it. We're in Cleveland. You never know. That's not something I'm going to let bother me. We have a chance to play them here Tuesday, so for them booing me, I can't wait for the opportunity to come in and play the Cavaliers.

Q. Do you almost feed off of that? ALLEN IVERSON: Definitely. I always feed off of things like that. It just helps me work that much harder, to come into the stadium and hear some people boo me for going out and playing hard. It's not hard to deal with for me because there are so many other negative things that have happened to me in my life; that's just something else I have to deal with.

Q. What about Marcus Camby finishing a lot of your passes in the first half?

ALLEN IVERSON: Like I said, without those guys, no way I'd be in here talking to you guys, no way I would be sitting in front of my trophy right here. Marcus played a great game. Marcus is the guy that should have got this trophy, along with a couple other guys on our team. They just decided that I deserved it. I feel my teammates did a great job. I told them after the game, without them, I wouldn't have had this trophy.