Detroit: John Kuester | Tayshaun Prince Cleveland: Byron Scott | J.J. Hickson | Daniel GibsonPistons Head Coach John Kuester
(On the game) “First of all you got to give them credit. They came attacking. I thought we had some moments where we did some outstanding things especially early on offensively, but we didn’t defend the ball very well. Pick and roll defense, we just couldn’t stop their penetration at times and the thing that they did is they kept attacking us and you have to give them credit. The second and the third period when they scored 33 and 30 our defense fell down but Rodney Stuckey had a great game. I’m asking him a lot because he’s the only point guard we have and he plays 44 minutes with 29 points and 14 assist and only 2 turnovers so he did and outstanding job. We try to give a lot of guys a lot of times.”
(On loss) “We’ve been playing good basketball and they got us on a back-to-back. I thought our energy offensively early on was good and like I said defensively we couldn’t stop them. They’ve had trouble as of late scoring points. They kept attacking and you get guys like Gibson’s coming off the bench and he did a great job four for seven from three and that hurt us.”
(On what the Pistons have meant) “Not too many people get the opportunity to play five, six, seven, eight, nine seasons in a row with the same team, especially the team that drafted you. It’s meant a lot. I got spoiled over the first five or six years where we were able to accomplish the things we were doing, never had a taste of what we’ve done this season and last season. It’s been unfortunate the past couple of years, but this organization has meant a lot to me. I try to pay that back by going out there and playing how I normally play in each and every game that I’m healthy to where I can walk on that floor and play.”
(On the game) “I think after the first quarter, I thought our guys did a heck of a job defensively. I thought we did some good things offensively. Fourth quarter they did a better job really pressuring us and taking us out of our offense a little bit. I also think we were a little bit on our heels trying to protect the lead but all-in-all a very good win for us.”
(On team effort) “Our guys did a good job. We kept our composure and like I said, I thought we were on our heels a little bit in the fourth quarter but we made enough plays in the end, in the last two or three minutes to get the victory, but I thought we won the game on the defensive end. In the second half defensively we did a much better job and in the second quarter our bench got us back in the game.”
(On Baron Davis’ playing time) “I told him he was going to play the whole third quarter and I thought I was going to sit him down. I thought he was still hurting a little bit. He said his back was hurting him just a little bit, but he wanted to play. I thought if I could get him warmed up he could play that whole third quarter, which he did, and was able to help us get a double-digit lead I thought Sesh' (Ramon Sessions) and Boobie (Daniel Gibson) and those guys would be able to close it out and they were able to do that.”
(On the game) “I think that in the second quarter that our bench was tremendous and I think that at that point we were down like 10 points and going into halftime they gave us a lift and then in third quarter we did a nice job. Then in the fourth we did a good job of closing out the game.”
(On playing hard building pride) “Of course, we are just trying to get a couple of wins in row here to finish out the season and finish above .500 in the second half of the season. We are hoping to build some momentum going into next season. We have a young core group on this team and it is going to be fun playing with them next season.”Cavaliers Guard Daniel Gibson
(On the fight) “You just don’t want it to escalate like that. There were a lot of expletives exchanged that I don’t think I can repeat, but that stuff happens when your competitive nature kicks in and you just hope it doesn’t go as far as it did.”
(On Hollins) “He is just hard-nosed and he is going to play. That is just the type of player he is, we love him being on our team, but I’m he frustrates the other teams just like tonight. That is just Ryan and he is going to play hard every single night.”
(On his play) “That was great for me tonight because I love impacting the game more on that end (defense) than making shots. It is a lot of fun to get out, get some steals and get your team going. I think that it got my team inspired to see me get those steals and make a couple of plays. I love that.”