Postgame Quotes - March 20, 2011

(On the game) “I thought our guys played hard, but one of the things that happened is we dug ourselves a hole. They made some big shots at the end of the shot clock as well towards the end, so that hurt us too. I was very pleased with our effort and with our energy. Chris (Wilcox) and Rodney (Stuckey) gave us great energy off the bench. But Chris’ fifth foul hurt us. Greg Monroe also played great tonight. If we play with this kind of energy each night, we will have a better opportunity to win.”Pistons Center/Forward Greg Monroe

“We did a good job in a lot of key areas tonight, but it wasn’t enough to pull out a win. Atlanta is a good team, and they made some plays down the stretch that made it hard for us to overcome their lead. They’re tough to beat at home. We need to continue to play hard and stay aggressive in our approach and it will eventually start to pay off for us. It will be important for our bench to continue to come in and also give us a great effort, no matter who comes in the game.”

(On the game) “I thought we did a great job, particularly in the third quarter. We had a little bit of a letdown right in the middle. But we stuck with what the game plan was. I know, when you’re trying to grind it out as we were trying to against a very good Detroit team…what their record is does not indicate who they really are. They play such a physical style, and they’ve got guys that can make shots. They’ve got guys that are good off the dribble. But I thought our guys willed themselves to tonight’s win. I thought Al was magnificent. I thought Josh Smith was really good. I thought Zaza came in off the bench and gave us some really good minutes. I just think it was a total team effort overall.”

(On Zaza Pachulia’s play): “He’s been playing really well. He’s come in and really given us a big lift. He’s really making himself a presence down in the low post. We try to get him the ball when we can put him in a position when he can score. I thought tonight he did a great job in battling down there. There were times we had some mismatches down there and we took advantage of it. I thought Zaza posted up well and really did a great job down in the paint.”Hawks Forward Josh Smith

(On the game) “It feels good, especially when we do it the right way. We had 25 assists, were very unselfish out there, and we were making the right decisions, the right plays. We just have to tighten up the defensive end a little bit more.”

(On the energy at the start of both halves): “We have to pick up the energy, and keep playing (that way) on a consistent basis on that end. Energy, effort … when we do that, we make a pretty good ballclub. We have to be consistent. We can’t be like a rollercoaster.”Hawks Forward Marvin Williams

(On Zaza Pachulia) “Zaza’s come in the last few games, and impacted the game so much, rebounding the ball and defending. He’s been scoring when he’s had opportunities. Tonight it was a total team effort.”

(On the upcoming back-to-back): “We’ve played Chicago twice this month, and we’ve split with them. I think we were in a good position to win the last time we were up there, and it kind of got away from us in the second half. Last time they came here, we got them. So hopefully we can duplicate that again, and worry about Philly the next day.”