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(On their execution from last game to this game) “I thought our bigs were a lot more active covering the paint than we have been. We played them last week without Rasheed (Wallace) so that hurt us. I thought our guards realized that even if you run trap off of Harris or any of those guys the guard has to get up into them a little more and I thought we did a better job of that tonight as well.”
(On bringing starters back after losing the lead in the 4th quarter) “I didn’t really want to come back with Rip (Richard Hamilton) and Tay (Tayshaun Prince) but I thought I needed to bring them back to stabilize everything. It was tough when you get up like that - especially after playing three great quarters-it’s tough to keep a lead on a team like this that’s just going to shoot a ton of three-point shots. The last stretch they made shots that made it a little difficult, but overall I was pleased with our performance.”
(On getting to the playoffs and where the team is at) “We’ve talked about it a lot. We’ve been through some struggles and rough times this year, but if we can learn and take things from that, it will hopefully help us in the playoffs. We were always confident we’d be a team in the playoffs. We are just a different seed this year.”
Pistons Forward Tayshaun Prince
(On Devin Harris) “I think he got injured early. Our main focus coming in was not to let him get into the paint as much. We tried to keep him and Vince (Carter) out of the paint. Obviously down there they did a lot of pick and rolls.”
(On their defense) “We wanted to protect the paint. They made shots from the outside, then so what. It kind of helped us out early when Rasheed (Wallace) hit some threes and we ran our offence pretty well and got to a good start. It just goes to show you that we are trying to get into good grove by the way we start off today’s game. We just trying to build on the way we did the last previous games.”
(On Will Bynum) “He’s just going out there being aggressive. One thing that is great about it is when he turns the basketball over he comes back right away and responds. He’s just trying to make it up in very next play.”
Pistons Guard Will Bynum
(On not scoring a lot in the fourth quarter) “I don’t really care how I played in the fourth quarter so long as we win. I’m fine with it.”
(On Coach Curry playing them in the fourth quarter with the lead dwindling) “It’s supposed to give us confidence. It was good for us to know that Coach has our back whether we’re playing good or bad. That he’s still going to come to us just shows his confidence in us.”
(On defending New Jersey’s pick-and-roll) “You know me and Stuck (Rodney Stuckey) put it on ourselves because it has been killing us and we just wanted to go out there and try to be as aggressive as possible on him (Devin Harris) on the defensive end and put more pressure on him on the offensive end.”
(On the game) “Again. I don’t want to make excuses because our rookies have played the whole season. I think the first half our guys; our approach wasn’t what it should be because this isn’t about just giving guys time without accountability. We just don’t play that way. I think the second half we came out with a much better approach. One thing I did on purpose in the fourth quarter was I put some guys in different positions so they could feel what it is like. So instead of going to Vince (Carter), we went to Chris (Douglas-Roberts) or Brook (Lopez) and I thought Ryan (Anderson) gave us a big lift from the middle of that third quarter on. It is a shame in the first half we didn’t have that mental focus that we needed because we put ourselves in a big whole and we fought back.”
(On making it a close game at the end) “We are not supposed to mail it in. I think this is a part of our responsibility. I wish, for guys’ sake, we had come out ready to play in the first half because then you never know what could have happened. Now, we showed some fight. I mean 20 (points) could have gone to 40 (points), like it has done at times and we showed some grit. So probably around that six-minute mark on in in the third quarter, Vince (Carter) did a great job of leading the guys by moving the ball. Even some of the shots we missed were the result of extra passes. Like I said, we did not get enough stops in the first half, and we created a big hole but we did show some fight.”
Nets Center Brook Lopez
(On the game) “It was just a lack of energy but we kept playing tough. We did make some big plays down the stretch. Ryan (Anderson) kept us in there in the third quarter and CDR (Chris Douglas-Roberts) made some big plays late that kept us in the game and we had a shot.”
(On Ryan Anderson) “He played defense well. He hit the glass the best he has all year. He hit the glass well. When he got the open three he took it and that is what he has to do. He is a great a shooter and he has to keep shooting.”
