4/23/03 Post-Game Quotes
DETROIT PISTONS 89 VS. ORLANDO MAGIC 77
EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS
BEST-OF-SEVEN, GAME 2, HOME GAME 2
THE PALACE OF AUBURN HILLS
APRIL 23, 2003@ 8:00 PM EST
Detroit Piston Head Coach Rick Carlisle: Obviously an important win for us . . . I thought we made McGrady work for his shots, the guy is playing at an awesome level. We take our hat off to him but we got the win and that’s the important thing. . . We stuck to our coverage and I thought we played really hard tonight. We had to do what we needed to do to get the win. Chauncey and Rip have been doing it all year for us. They’ve been our two leading scorers. Chauncey has playoff experience and this is Rip’s first two and he had just played unbelievably with great force. He shot the ball really well and he played with a lot of heart. We’re happy for him. His effort the last two games has been really important for us. . . Tayshaun made a huge difference for us in the second half. He was factor. . .He will be a huge factor as we continue on through the series. We’re tied up now and we’re looking forward to the trip down to Orlando.
Corliss Williamson: It was a challenge yesterday to watch the film and prepare for tonight. We really wanted to come out and set the tone, especially at the beginning of the game, so that (Orlando) knew how hard we were trying to play. Our starters did a great job. Tayshaun (Prince) is 6’9’’ and very and is able to get up and contest (Tracy) McGrady’s shots and I think he blocked a couple. He did a great job.
Richard Hamilton: Everybody helps everybody out and everybody knows their place. If we do the little things, we win basketball games. In game one, we didn’t pressure the ball at the beginning of the game and Orlando pressured us. Tonight, we really wanted to get up in them (Orlando) and make them make decisions. We did a great job of doing that. We helped each other out and took a couple of charges. We have the best crowd in the world and we wanted to come out here and feed off them. We came out here and fed off them at the beginning of the game and gave them a reason to cheer. We did a great job of doing what we do, and that’s win the game.
Tayshaun Prince: (On guarding Tracy McGrady) I just tried to crowd him and follow him around the court. I just tried to be in his jersey and be wherever he went. You have to throw different people at him; (Michael Curry) did a nice job of guarding him and then Corliss (Williamson) coming off the bench and Cliff (Robinson) had to get the opportunity. When you have a player like (McGrady) that’s what you have to do. You have to bring different people in and bring energy. (When I came in) guys were in the right place at the right time and that made my job a whole lot easier.
Orlando Magic Head Coach Doc Rivers: It looks like we’re coming back to Detroit. I tell you what, I thought they played extremely hard and aggressive. I thought they took it to us for the most part. Tracy was awesome. We obviously need to do a better job getting more guys involved. . . We had fourteen, fifteen opportunities where our other guys had to step up and instead of taking the shots, they put it back on the floor and went back to Tracy. I thought the stretch, six or seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, you can always tell when he’s tired, when he starts settling for jump shots. We have to do a better job getting more guys involved. The guys need to make an effort to step up and they have to have confidence. . . I thought they all struggled at the beginning of the game. We kind of knew (Detroit) would come out full of emotion and full of energy. My belief to start the game was to go out and take that away.
TRACY MCGRADY: “The game felt the same to me. It seemed like when I came off of pick and rolls the defense was a little different. Guys trapped me and made me give up the ball. They tried to get up in to me but I’ve seen any and every type of defense so it really didn’t affect my play at all. If I had one other guy going, I think it would’ve been a different game. Those guys (Detroit) did a great job of not letting anybody else get off. Their defensive strategy was to let T-Mac get his but to shut everybody else down. Detroit played well, I give them credit. In the beginning of the game I was trying to get those guys going. I just kept telling them to believe. Every time I gave up the ball they were a little tentative, they were trying to find me. They can’t be like that because I can’t win it by myself and I’m pretty sure they should understand that. I give Detroit credit for really shutting those guys down and not letting anybody else get any easy buckets. They did a great job of containing everybody else. I put it on myself every time we lose. Those are my guys. I won that first game with those guys and it was just two of us in double figures. Tonight it was just me in double figures. We definitely have to look over some film and see what we can do to get other guys involved. They (Detroit) came out with a lot of energy and you expect that. It’s game two, we won game one so they felt like they have something to prove especially being home. We came out a little flat, we dug ourselves a deep hole where we tried to fight back but we never could get over that hump. They did a great job of making a run every time we made a run.”
DARRELL ARMSTRONG: “They played well and they won the game. Give them credit. When you get behind sometimes it’s tough to come back, especially on the road. Even at home it’s tough. They played well. Their energy was good and their intensity was good. Finally we matched their intensity and made a run in the second quarter to cut it to nine but we couldn’t get any closer. I like the way we responded in a hostile environment. We came right back in but unfortunately we couldn’t get back in. I’m very disappointed in my play offensively because I wasn’t even being aggressively. After getting the two fouls I was just trying to stay in the game. We all have to get going. We have to help him (McGrady). We have to be aggressive as a team.”
DREW GOODEN: “Tracy is our number one scorer, he’s our first option. We need to step it up offensively and score some buckets for this team. We just didn’t match the intensity they came out with. Tonight we were waiting for them. We waited and waited then finally we responded and we got back in the game. The key for us this game was offense, especially me. I need to step it up. I can’t go 2 for 9 from the field and have four points. I need to have my average, 13, and it would be a whole different ball game. I think we were just waiting to see what T-Mac was going to do. You can’t do that in the playoffs. You have to be ready to fire when he pass you the ball. We feel bad. We left him on a limb hanging by himself but it will be a whole different story next game. He (Ben Wallace) came out after he got that Defensive Player of the Year, he was on a whole other level. He came out blocking shots, getting rebounds and doing the little things that became contagious for his team.”
EASTERN CONFERENCE QUARTERFINALS
BEST-OF-SEVEN, GAME 2, HOME GAME 2
THE PALACE OF AUBURN HILLS
APRIL 23, 2003@ 8:00 PM EST
Detroit Piston Head Coach Rick Carlisle: Obviously an important win for us . . . I thought we made McGrady work for his shots, the guy is playing at an awesome level. We take our hat off to him but we got the win and that’s the important thing. . . We stuck to our coverage and I thought we played really hard tonight. We had to do what we needed to do to get the win. Chauncey and Rip have been doing it all year for us. They’ve been our two leading scorers. Chauncey has playoff experience and this is Rip’s first two and he had just played unbelievably with great force. He shot the ball really well and he played with a lot of heart. We’re happy for him. His effort the last two games has been really important for us. . . Tayshaun made a huge difference for us in the second half. He was factor. . .He will be a huge factor as we continue on through the series. We’re tied up now and we’re looking forward to the trip down to Orlando.
Corliss Williamson: It was a challenge yesterday to watch the film and prepare for tonight. We really wanted to come out and set the tone, especially at the beginning of the game, so that (Orlando) knew how hard we were trying to play. Our starters did a great job. Tayshaun (Prince) is 6’9’’ and very and is able to get up and contest (Tracy) McGrady’s shots and I think he blocked a couple. He did a great job.
Richard Hamilton: Everybody helps everybody out and everybody knows their place. If we do the little things, we win basketball games. In game one, we didn’t pressure the ball at the beginning of the game and Orlando pressured us. Tonight, we really wanted to get up in them (Orlando) and make them make decisions. We did a great job of doing that. We helped each other out and took a couple of charges. We have the best crowd in the world and we wanted to come out here and feed off them. We came out here and fed off them at the beginning of the game and gave them a reason to cheer. We did a great job of doing what we do, and that’s win the game.
Tayshaun Prince: (On guarding Tracy McGrady) I just tried to crowd him and follow him around the court. I just tried to be in his jersey and be wherever he went. You have to throw different people at him; (Michael Curry) did a nice job of guarding him and then Corliss (Williamson) coming off the bench and Cliff (Robinson) had to get the opportunity. When you have a player like (McGrady) that’s what you have to do. You have to bring different people in and bring energy. (When I came in) guys were in the right place at the right time and that made my job a whole lot easier.
Orlando Magic Head Coach Doc Rivers: It looks like we’re coming back to Detroit. I tell you what, I thought they played extremely hard and aggressive. I thought they took it to us for the most part. Tracy was awesome. We obviously need to do a better job getting more guys involved. . . We had fourteen, fifteen opportunities where our other guys had to step up and instead of taking the shots, they put it back on the floor and went back to Tracy. I thought the stretch, six or seven minutes left in the fourth quarter, you can always tell when he’s tired, when he starts settling for jump shots. We have to do a better job getting more guys involved. The guys need to make an effort to step up and they have to have confidence. . . I thought they all struggled at the beginning of the game. We kind of knew (Detroit) would come out full of emotion and full of energy. My belief to start the game was to go out and take that away.
TRACY MCGRADY: “The game felt the same to me. It seemed like when I came off of pick and rolls the defense was a little different. Guys trapped me and made me give up the ball. They tried to get up in to me but I’ve seen any and every type of defense so it really didn’t affect my play at all. If I had one other guy going, I think it would’ve been a different game. Those guys (Detroit) did a great job of not letting anybody else get off. Their defensive strategy was to let T-Mac get his but to shut everybody else down. Detroit played well, I give them credit. In the beginning of the game I was trying to get those guys going. I just kept telling them to believe. Every time I gave up the ball they were a little tentative, they were trying to find me. They can’t be like that because I can’t win it by myself and I’m pretty sure they should understand that. I give Detroit credit for really shutting those guys down and not letting anybody else get any easy buckets. They did a great job of containing everybody else. I put it on myself every time we lose. Those are my guys. I won that first game with those guys and it was just two of us in double figures. Tonight it was just me in double figures. We definitely have to look over some film and see what we can do to get other guys involved. They (Detroit) came out with a lot of energy and you expect that. It’s game two, we won game one so they felt like they have something to prove especially being home. We came out a little flat, we dug ourselves a deep hole where we tried to fight back but we never could get over that hump. They did a great job of making a run every time we made a run.”
DARRELL ARMSTRONG: “They played well and they won the game. Give them credit. When you get behind sometimes it’s tough to come back, especially on the road. Even at home it’s tough. They played well. Their energy was good and their intensity was good. Finally we matched their intensity and made a run in the second quarter to cut it to nine but we couldn’t get any closer. I like the way we responded in a hostile environment. We came right back in but unfortunately we couldn’t get back in. I’m very disappointed in my play offensively because I wasn’t even being aggressively. After getting the two fouls I was just trying to stay in the game. We all have to get going. We have to help him (McGrady). We have to be aggressive as a team.”
DREW GOODEN: “Tracy is our number one scorer, he’s our first option. We need to step it up offensively and score some buckets for this team. We just didn’t match the intensity they came out with. Tonight we were waiting for them. We waited and waited then finally we responded and we got back in the game. The key for us this game was offense, especially me. I need to step it up. I can’t go 2 for 9 from the field and have four points. I need to have my average, 13, and it would be a whole different ball game. I think we were just waiting to see what T-Mac was going to do. You can’t do that in the playoffs. You have to be ready to fire when he pass you the ball. We feel bad. We left him on a limb hanging by himself but it will be a whole different story next game. He (Ben Wallace) came out after he got that Defensive Player of the Year, he was on a whole other level. He came out blocking shots, getting rebounds and doing the little things that became contagious for his team.”
