Detroit: Lawrence Frank | Greg Monroe Charlotte: Paul Silas | Gerald HendersonPistons Head Coach Lawrence Frank
(On the bench’s role in tonights win): “I thought the bench guys changed the game tonight. By the first timeout in the second quarter, it was 15-9 for the quarter. I thought Greg Monroe had defensive energy and I thought Rodney (Stuckey) set up unbelievable screens. I think if you look at the first seven shots taken in the second quarter, they were either Brandon (Knight) or (Ben) Gordon and that was because of very good screening, good movement off the ball and getting stops. I thought they changed the tone of the game and we fed off them. I thought overall it was a very good team performance, we had some notable individual performances, but as a group we took five charges; that is a season-high for us. Obviously, dominating the glass, and Rodney’s attack throughout the game. We had a lot of encouraging signs tonight.”
(On if this game was needed after three losses): “No, I didn’t even know that that we lost three games in a row, I just focus on today. I knew we lost last night and it’s all about making progress. It is, like I have said many times, the wins and losses we don’t let that get in our eyes. It’s about improvement and so we played a better game tonight and we got to continue to build and get better.”
(On Brandon Knight and turnovers): “I think a big part of it is when Brandon is playing north and south and not east to west. So he had those transitions, we call them rack attacks and those are vital. I mean it is vital for a ball handler. You have to be able to attack north and south and now when you do that, it may not be your shot, but you are going to collapse and force help. I think especially when you look at Rodney’s attack and Brandon’s as well. This then helps Greg Monroe get those rebounds because the screens, you roll, you get people off bodies and guys attacking north and south.”
(On rebounds): “I just tried to get my team second shots. That’s one of the things I try to do every night; find the ball and try to be in the right place.”
(On snapping the three game losing streak): “We definitely needed to get a game on our home court, get a good win and try to start up some momentum and string some games together.”
(On erasing yesterday’s performance): “Tonight was definitely big. We know we didn’t play well at all (yesterday). We had to come back and we had to put out a better performance and I think we did a great job of that tonight.”
(On Rodney Stuckey attacking the basket): “We’re a different team when he’s attacking the basket, that’s point blank. When he’s attacking the guards with that intensity, that consistency throughout the game, we’re a different team. That’s something we’re asking him to do every night; impose his will all over the court.”
(On impact of Bismack Biyombo going out in the first): “I would have to watch him more to see how he affects the game, but he definitely is a big part of their defense and rebounding. I would say it would probably have been a little different.”
(On loss): "When we lost Bismack Biyombo, he was the one that was playing tough and rebounding for us and blocking shots; all the things that we needed and when we lost him it was tough to make that up."
(On Biyombo’s injury): "I'm not really sure. He has to have it checked out; probably a MRI tomorrow and we'll know."
(On their bench): "D.J. White shot the ball well, but that’s his game. He can really shoot the ball and Reggie (Williams); he shot the ball pretty good and made some lay-ups, that kind of thing. The problem was our defense. We just did not defend well, we didn't rebound well and if you don't do that then you don't win ball games."
(On trimming down the lead): "We got it down to 12 points and then made some substitutions and then it went back up to 20. It’s not going to happen overnight; you get everybody back and they got to get a chance to play with each other, but it is disheartening to lose like this."
(On coming back off of injury): "I felt fine. It’s just tough coming back and losing, but my body felt fine. I just want to get back and help the team as much as I can."
(On loss): "It started with our defensive rebounding. It was really bad. I think (Greg) Monroe had 20 total rebounds and I think we got out-rebounded 55-38 which is unacceptable. We can't expect to win with a differential like that, so we need to get tougher in that area of the game. We were still in the game at some points, so I we have got to get better at that."
(On losing Bismack Biyombo): "Bismack obviously could have helped with that (rebounding), but it’s not just on the four's that go in there and rebound. I only had three rebounds myself. I think I can get in there and help out more. It's on everybody, but we need to improve with it as a team."