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Sign up for E-newsPostgame Quotes - February 27, 2009
Orlando: Stan Van Gundy | Rafer Alston | Dwight Howard
Pistons Head Coach Michael Curry
“I thought we were great on the defensive end and I thought guys coming off the bench, also the bigs did a really good job (Jason) Max(iell) and Rasheed (Wallace) as usual did a great job defensively. Max(iell) and Kwame (Brown) in their minutes defended really well and I thought Rip (Richard Hamilton) carried us offensively with good shots and good decision making and I thought we were able to get (Rodney) Stuckey back aggressive which I thought getting the ball in his hands more get him more aggressive and we were also able to spread the ball around to Tayshaun (Prince) and get him some post opportunities. We were well-balanced offensively but that only matters because we had good defense.”
On Rodney Stuckey’s play…
“I think that we talked to him about it, finding his spot on the court and pulling up. He has a great mid-range shot, I just think it’s just him being comfortable in the game. So I think he got comfortable within the game – maybe it’s because he had the ball in his hand more and he felt a little bit more comfortable that way but he looked really good tonight offensively and defensively.”
On their defensive effort against Dwight Howard…
“I thought those guys battled, I mean they bang inside with him, they go inside to him and our guys take the challenge. It’s a big difference you go one position and you’re out trying to defend Rashard Lewis at the 3-point line because our bigs switch up so much and the next possession you’re in there wrestling with Dwight Howard. So it is a rare balance and defensive effort that they had to have and then I thought all together we did a really good job also on (Hedo) Turk(oglu).”
On if they got more physical in the second half…
“I just thought we played defense the way we play. We play together on the defensive end, we don’t get frustrated with the game. One of the things that has caused us to have a bad streak is when we don’t play physical. Normally we get into guys, especially post guys, that’s just the way we’ve always been. We’ve just had a bad streak but hopefully this is the beginning of turning around.”
Pistons Guard Richard Hamilton
“It was big. We wanted to get a win and I thought guys did a great job digging down on both ends of the floor. We played together.”
“This is what I do. There is no added pressure. This (being in starting lineup) is my comfort zone. Coming off the bench is not my comfort zone. It is what it is and we got a win and that is a great thing.”
“This was a big game. They are a tough team at home. They had only lost six games at home. Guys got in their comfort zone and just tried to play basketball.”
“We wanted to get back into being aggressive, getting into the passing lanes, and pressuring the ball.”
“They are a tough team. They have a great center in Dwight. They have some great shooters around him. We are just trying to grind it out with them and play them tough. Our “Bigs” banged with Dwight and we played pretty well.”
Pistons Guard Rodney Stuckey
On why Detroit is so successful vs. Orlando Magic...
“I don’t know. We know they are going to throw the ball down into Dwight. Then we have “Bigs” that are going to play him one-on-one. So we have to full rotate to the shooters.”
Pistons Forward Tayshaun Prince
“There was a sense of urgency that you could see to try and get things going. I tried to get things going and had the hot hand right away. At the end of the day, we know who our first option is and we tried to get Rip going. He carried us. Kwame came in and had some very important minutes. Our bigs got into foul trouble, but our thing with Orlando is we have to play Dwight Howard straight up, and we have to lock up on their three point shooters. If we eliminate that, then we put ourselves in a good position to win the game.”
Magic Head Coach Stan Van Gundy
“I think there were some familiar things from past Detroit games – No. 1, we couldn’t get a rebound, and that’s the way it has always been. They know they can just take it to us on the glass, so we got outrebounded by 10. They get control of the tempo of the game. We got it going for awhile in the second quarter, but after that, they had control of the tempo of the game. They play very, very slow, the game is down in the 80s. Two years we have played them 11 times, we’ve won three. All three of the ones we’ve won we’ve scored over 100. In the other eight games we haven’t scored more than 93. They get the tempo down and that was a big part of it and they make it tough on our better players. Turk (Turkoglu) and Rashard (Lewis) in particular had very difficult nights. Then the thing that is becoming familiar this year is guards on the other team just tune us up. We can’t even limit people. They are not even at their average. Everybody is way over their average, the guards, and I don’t totally know what the answer to that is, but we’ve got to find something defensively. I mean 50-some points again tonight out of their guards, we need to defend people a little bit.”
On if it is tough facing Detroit’s scheme…
“For me, it’s very, very frustrating, and as I told our players, I’m not frustrated with our players, I’m frustrated from a coaching standpoint. I’ve had 11 games where I can’t find anything. I mean if they get up and in to us, we can’t beat them one-on-one. They play us one-on-one in the post and we are not able to exploit that. Then they are very aggressive pushing up and over on our pick-and-rolls and stuff, it’s just body on body, but when other teams try and do that to us they are not really able to. This team, they are very, very tough and physical, and we just haven’t handled it well, not for three years I guess, before I was here, and that’s 16 out of 19. So we are either going to get tougher or we are going to continue to struggle against them.”
On how to limit Richard Hamilton’s game…
“Look, he’s coming off the screens and he’s taking one or two dribbles and shooting the ball, I really don’t know what we would do on that. I mean I guess we could start trapping him and leave everyone else open. It’s getting very frustrating that it’s every night at that position, and it’s not 20 or 22, it’s 30-plus every night. Look, we can only help guys so much. You’ve got to be able to guard a little bit.”
Magic Guard Rafer Alston
“I was giving too many driving alleys for (Rodney) Stuckey. We’ve got to be able to contain them, keep them in front of us and make them take the jump. A contested jump shot is better than shots at the rim.”
“Coach said from the start he was going to come in looking to be aggressive being that he wanted back into the starting lineup and we should have prepared for that. He’s a great player and we can’t allow a guy like that just to get going. And then we’ve got to find a way to slow him down somewhere doing the game.”
“He was in more of an attack mode. He didn’t just settle for the jump shot. A lot of drives to the rim too.”
Magic Center Dwight Howard
“It hurts me every time we lose. I don’t know what it is but we’ve got to get over that hump. It’s more mental than anything. I think it’s the same thing we kind of went through with the Hawks. They just had our number. I think everything was mental, so we’ve just got to do a better job. Just try to block that out and come out and try to win.”
“They’re allowed to be a little bit more physical than anybody else. That’s nothing we can worry about. We’ve just got to try to be physical back. We’ve got to do it.”
“I’m not worried about it. I think we want to be playing our best basketball come playoff time. We know what it takes to beat this team, we’ve just got to do it.”
“They’ve always been the same Piston team. Physical. Rip’s (Hamilton) playing great, and Rasheed (Wallace) shooting 3’s. They’ve always been the same team. We’ve just got to find the answer.”
“We’re always on the road. Hopefully the beds are warm and provide some comfort so we can get some rest tonight.”
