Postgame Quotes - March 25, 2011

Detroit: John Kuester | Austin Daye
Cavaliers: Byron Scott | JJ Hickson | Daniel Gibson

Pistons Head Coach John Kuester
(On not being able to overcome the deficit): “(We) couldn’t get over the hump. We had a couple of chances at the end. The guys were fighting hard and we just have to keep finding guys that are going to continue to play hard the whole time.”

(On the energy level of the team): “It wasn’t there; no question about it. (The Cavs) had more energy than us (and) they hurt us on offensive rebounds. We took care of the ball the first half (and in the) second half, we had too many turnovers. You try to warn a team that ‘Hey listen, when anybody plays hard in this league, good things will happen’ and they played harder than us.”

(On Charlie Villanueva not playing): “What we are trying to do is continually search for things and I communicated with him in saying where the rotation is going to be…A.D. (Austin Daye) had 12 points at the half and was playing extremely well and I liked what I saw, so I stayed with him.”

Pistons Forward Austin Daye

(On the lack of energy from the team): “It was an unfortunate effort by all of us. I think we just didn’t have a lot of energy throughout the game. I think because we won our last game against them by such a wide margin, I think we kind of took them for granted a little bit. Next time we play them we will have to play them with a ‘Grade A’ mindset.”

(On not believing that the Cavs could beat them): “It’s tough and when you play as many games as we play throughout the season and you see an opponent who does not have as good of a record as we do. You hopefully can win that game, but tonight we were not able to pull that off because of energy and the next couple of games are going to cost us if we do not come out with the right energy.”

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Cavaliers Head Coach Byron Scott
(On the play of J.J. Hickson): “The last two games he has played extremely well on both ends of the floor. Tonight I thought offensively was probably one of his better games. He didn’t force anything; he just played. He made excellent choices. He did a really good job of swinging the ball and running right into our pick and rolls. We have been talking about trying to get the ball from one side to the other and looking to attack. I think he’s in a good place. He is playing really well. He is really confident about what he is doing and he knows that we have a lot of confidence in him.”

(On having Baron Davis in the fourth quarter): “It’s always nice when you can have a guy that is a closer. As soon as he took the ball over to the right side, I knew he was going to shoot. He kind of took it upon himself to close the game out. It’s great when you have a guy that has that type of ability and confidence. Obviously it was good to see him out there tonight.”

(On J.J Hickson’s potential): “I know he has not reached it, not even close. As long as he continues to work and believe in what we are trying to do, continue to have confidence and a good work ethic it could be a very high ceiling for him. He needs to stay humble in what he is doing, keep working and trust what he is doing and trust what we are trying to do.”

(On what makes a guy a closer): “A lot of it has to do with confidence. You also have guys who just have the cojones. (Baron) definitely has them. Those are the guys who separate themselves from the good players to the great players. They are the guys who are willing to be the hero but are also willing to be the goat. If they miss the shot they say, ‘hey, I had the cojones to take the shot’ and that is how you have to be. You have to have the confidence to say I’m willing to take the shot and be the hero but I’m also willing to be the goat if I miss it.”

Cavaliers Guard JJ Hickson

(On if he feels like he should get every rebound): “Of course. I’m the kind of guy that would take 15 rebounds over 15 points any day. Like I said, it’s just me being active and I’m just translating that to the four (position) right now.”

(On the play of Baron Davis): “I think when he’s out there, he changes the game a lot with his ability to score at times. He just knows the game. He’s a great guard and I think he’s been one of the top guards his whole career. When he comes on the floor, it just picks everybody up and gets everybody excited.”

(On what he needs to improve on): “The ins and outs of the game and making the correct reads. When Baron and I were in the pick and roll, I thought AP was going to be in the corner, but he wasn’t. The ball just kind of went out of bounds. I need to just take my time and make the correct reads.”

Cavaliers Guard Daniel Gibson

(On what about Baron Davis’ game he has learned since his arrival): “His fearless approach to the game has been the biggest thing that’s rubbed off on me. When he approaches a game, he approaches that game to win. He forces that out of everybody on the team. If you’re not doing something that you’re supposed to do, he will let you about it. I think that’s the thing that I have learned most from him. I think he was born with an extra pair of eyes, and I don’t think very many people have that attribute. His pace is also something I think I can learn from, the way he is never going too fast. He is always playing at his pace and making the defense do what he wants them to do.”

(On Davis’ talent for the game of basketball): “Some guys are just blessed with that talent. When you are around a guy like that, you hope to just be able to watch what he does and see what he sees so that you can start to implement those things into your game. I try to be a sponge with every guy that I play with and try to learn those things and learn from everyone. I’m grateful that he’s on our team and grateful that he’s knocking those shots down for us.”