Detroit: John Kuester | Ben Gordon | Tayshaun Prince
Memphis: Lionel Hollins | Zach Randolph | Rudy Gay

Pistons Head Coach John Kuester
On tonight’s win:
“I thought we did a great job. I think we held them under 38 percent tonight. The team was really focused. I thought Memphis really came out strong in the beginning of the game. Our guys were taking the punches and were very resilient in how the competed during every possession. I am very proud of the way we played tonight.”

On Ben Gordon:
“He got things going in the right direction. Both Bens [Ben Wallace] were phenomenal in their efforts defensively. But, I think Ben Gordon is a very special offensive player. He’s really done a great job of continually coming into the game and getting some points.”

On Tayshaun Prince:
“I thought he came out well. Rudy Gay made two jumpers over him in the first quarter and I was very impressed that Tayshaun went right back at him. I think [the Grizzlies] have an outstanding team and we just played at a high level tonight.”

On the Pistons:
“[Ben Gordon and Richard Hamilton] are very explosive offensively. You get into the area where they’re getting stops, and when they’re getting stops it allowed us to get into a night flow offensively. The leadership of [Rodney] Stuckey and Will Bynum again is starting to come into its own. They really did a nice job of running the team. When Ben and Rip are able to feed off of those guys, boy it makes things easy for our team. It’s a work in progress. I know we have to continually work on this. But, it’s a good start. One game doesn’t make a season, as we all know. It is the right type of way to win. We had good offensive flow and defensively we were getting stops. That’s the thing that was so impressive tonight.”

Pistons Guard Ben Gordon
On tonight’s win:
“It was important to win tonight, obviously. We wanted everybody to start the season off well. I just wanted to come in and take care of business. This was a team that beat us pretty badly in the preseason. We didn’t want to have that kind of showing again. We wanted to come out and play well, and we did.”

On the Pistons’ offense:
“[We need to be] aggressive and take whatever the defense gives us. I thought the bigs tonight did a great job of bringing up our shooters. Rip, myself and everybody else just kind of played off of them. Each night we just have to see what’s going on out there on their offensive end and just take advantage of it.”

Pistons Forward Tayshaun Prince
On the Pistons’ defense:
“I think our defensive effort was pretty good the whole game. Early on offensively we weren’t making any shots, but we were doing a good job of defending. I think after the first quarter we came up on the defensive end and were making plays. Helping each other out was key. We responded well.”

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Grizzlies Head Coach Lionel Hollins
On the defense against Detroit:
“Detroit is a very perimeter-oriented team and they set a lot of screens for their perimeter people that we just couldn’t get over. They are a veteran team with a lot of good scorers. We didn’t shoot the ball well, and our percentages were low. The only thing we won over the Pistons was our rebounding battle. We have to do better defensively.”

On the loss:
“It was generally a bad night shooting. I am very disappointed for our team and for our fans, especially with all the excitement generated around the city. They just have to come down to earth and realize that winning in the NBA is very difficult and it takes a lot of work and effort. Our young guys were like deer in headlights, but win or lose, this game will not make our season.”

On adjustments in the first half:
“I went small. There aren’t many adjustments you can really make in the first game of the season, because we still have to figure out who we are and who can play well in the game.”

On the Grizzlies preseason victory over the Pistons on Oct. 17:
“I was worried at the beginning of this game. We beat them pretty handedly in preseason but preseason is nothing. Even if we were 8-0 or 0-8, the pre-season record still doesn’t mean a thing.”

Grizzlies Forward Zach Randolph
On the loss:
“It got away on defense. We have to play defense. If we don’t play defense, we’re going to be like this every night. We can score with the best of them. Everybody can score the ball on this team. We need to get stops.”

On the Pistons:
“I’ll give Detroit credit. Richard (Hamilton) and Ben (Gordon) were on fire tonight and made tough shots. It’s a tough night; we’re real disappointed. We need to do what we’ve been doing. We’ve worked so hard this preseason. This isn’t a two-game season. We need to win Friday and win on the road.”

Grizzlies Forward Rudy Gay
On the loss:
“We were making it too easy on them. We weren’t attacking. We didn’t move the basketball around. We didn’t come out like we were supposed to. We didn’t stick to our principles and they exploited that. You have to put forth effort. We didn’t do it tonight.”

On the team’s youth:
“I am not going to use that as a crutch. We are a young team, but we have had a whole preseason and a camp just like they did. They are a young team and so are we.”

On the Pistons’ shooting:
“They hit a lot of tough shots, but we have to make it tougher for them.”

On moving forward:
“Although we didn’t come out like we wanted to, we have another chance on Friday. All we can do is use this as an example and try to play Friday like we were supposed to today.”