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Pistons vs. Suns
Postgame Quotes - March 24, 2008

Detroit: Flip Saunders | Chauncey Billups | Rasheed Wallace
Phoenix: Mike D'Antoni | Grant Hill

Pistons Head Coach Flip Saunders
(On Arron Afflalo): “No one works harder than he does before and after practice. I always told him he would be ready. As I told you guys before the game, you never know, and what you want to do is take advantage of those situations.”

(On Richard Hamilton) “He got hurt and he says he kind of twisted it (his hip) when he was guarding Caron Butler. I guess on the flight home and today it kind of stiffened up. He thought maybe it might loosen up but he got here and it was too tight for him to go.”

(Rodney Stuckey): “I think the impressive thing is that he's played pretty good in big games. Popcorn player, when he smells the popcorn, the big game, he seems to rise to the occasion a little bit and enjoys that stage a little bit. As I said the other day, I have been most happy as far as how he's developed over these last three weeks.”

(On the game): “Chauncey, ‘Sheed (Rasheed Wallace), I thought everybody made plays and we played with a great amount of energy. They're a tough team to defend and when their players find out that Rip is not playing, basically a half-hour before the game. The guys made a great adjustment.”

Pistons Guard Chauncey Billups
(On the game): “It was a big game for us. A lot of people have just been saying that we don’t have any big games left because we can’t move up or down (in the division). I thought this was a big game because we have struggled the last two games, mightily. This team (Phoenix) is looking to be a number-one seed, so they’re playing for a lot. Of course, we were a little shorthanded without Rip being out there. So, it was an opportunity for our young guys to step up and they did just that.”

(On Rodney Stuckey): “I think this was his best game, easy. Not just because he hit shots, he was just mentally in tuned to everything. I thought his defense was good, he got tough rebounds and he was great and very steady.”

(On the bench): “All season I’ve been encouraged and confident in our bench. A night like tonight is just more validation but I’ve got the ultimate confidence in our bench. A lot of times when we’ve lost, it has not been them (the bench). They’ve came in and played great, it has been the starters not playing well.”

Pistons Forward Rasheed Wallace
(On the game): “It was definitely a bug game. We knew they were going to come out ready especially after what we did to them in Phoenix. They were all riled up but we persevered and came out with a victory.”

(On playing with out Rip): “It’s always a bad thing when we're missing one of the key components. We're missing Rip (Richard Hamilton) and Juan (Dixon) tonight but we still had to go and do it without them. I think Arron (Afflalo) did a hell of a job defensively on (Steve) Nash in the first half. (Rodney) Stuckey came in second half, mainly the end of the third quarter and beginning of the fourth quarter; he got aggressive and scored some buckets for us.”

(On playing against Shaq and Stoudemire): “They are two of the best center/power forwards that are in this league and it’s always good going against stiff competition.”

(On second chance opportunities/offensive rebounds): “(Antonio McDyess) Dice went to the boards a lot so did (Jason) Maxiell and Amir (Johnson) when they were in the game and it definitely helped out for us. The second-chance points definitely played a key part in it tonight.”

(On Afflalo and Stuckey): “Those two guys, the two rookies, came in and did a good job for us. They definitely showed the coaching staff that they can show up big and make games.”



Suns Head Coach Mike D'Antoni
(On the game): “I thought it was a good game, that we played hard and they played hard, and it was right down to the wire, but we didn’t come up with some rebounds at the end of regulation that would have given us a chance to win, but such as life. I think that overall we did a good job and it was a great game; we are getting better. This would have been a huge win for us for the Western Conference, but obviously it wasn’t in the cards so we will take it and move on to Boston and try to win one there.”

(On Chauncey’s play): “He is big all the time and that is what he does. He is one of the best point guards in the league and there is no doubt about that.”

Suns Forward Grant Hill
(On the game): “I thought that we fought hard and in the fourth quarter the second unit got going and we were up 85-87 and thought that we had it there in regulation, but we couldn’t come up with that rebound. You have to tip your hat off to the Pistons though; they are a good team that has been together for a long time. They did what they had to do in overtime.”

(On strides the team has made): “We played well tonight, but we couldn’t come up with a win. We are getting better defensively and they are a solid team out there that we were playing tonight. They are very good and when they are motivated and want to play they can beat anyone, but defensively I thought that we were making steps, getting better and just have to keep going.”

(On losing in OT): “I think that we will be ok, especially considering the last time that we played them. When you to Detroit and Boston you just want to give yourself a chance down the stretch to win the game and we did, but we came up short. However, we did play well and we are going in the right direction, continue to improve and we need to take this same mentality into Boston and try to get that win.”