Postgame Quotes - January 17, 2012

Detroit: Lawrence Frank | Greg Monroe | Brandon Knight
Houston Kevin McHale | Luis Scola | Kevin Martin

Pistons Head Coach Lawrence Frank

(On the key to the game) “It was a combination of our turnovers and the extra possessions Houston got on their rebounds. We cut it down to eight to ten points, but then those two turnovers hurt us. We pieced together about thirty-eight good minutes; we have to defend, rebound, and keep down our turnovers. We did parts of those things at times. Protecting the ball is essential. Our effort, energy, and focus is where we want to be. We will get better as a team.”

(On Dalembert’s presence) “Give Dalembert credit. It always takes guys a little while to figure him out. Those our good challenges for our team; those our the challenges that we have to work on and get better at.”

Pistons Center Greg Monroe

(On his play) “It was a combination of Dalembert playing me well and I just couldn’t seem to find a rhythm. They drew up a scheme, and I couldn’t get things going. There’s nothing out of the ordinary that he does, but he kept me off balance. They did a good job on defense.”

(On the team’s play) “We got it down to six points and then things went downhill from there. It was a tough loss that we could have had.”

Pistons Guard Brandon Knight

(On the game) “We had a lot of good streaks during the game, but we couldn’t hit shots and they kept putting together nice runs.”

(On Kyle Lowry’s play) “He has definitely gotten a lot better since his college days. Kyle is very good at the pick and roll, and he puts a lot of pressure on our defense.”

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Rockets Head Coach Kevin McHale
(On the energy of the team) “It was good because I was really concerned about our legs and our energy, you know I've played the guys really long minutes. Tonight it was nice to give him some rest and try to give K-mart (Kevin Martin), Luis (Scola) and Kyle (Lowry) under 30 (minutes). It was good. They pumped it pretty hard. I think that was our ninth game in 13 days. I was concerned with what kind of energy they would have.”

(On Goran Dragic) “We just talked about a couple things that he is comfortable with. I said, 'Just go play'. I think that Goran is one of those guys that the more he plays the more comfortable he gets. He's going to have to get comfortable out there and go play. He has really good instincts and like everybody, when you play as aggressive as he does, you might have a turnover or two but that doesn't bother me.”

Rockets Forward Luis Scola

(On the Rockets reaching .500) “We are back to .500 which is where we wanted to be after a little bit of a slow start. I think the best thing is that we are playing better. We have to continue to play better. Our defense is playing much better. We held teams below 100 (points) pretty much every one of the last five or six games. This is the way that we have to keep going.”

(On the play of Samuel Dalembert) “Sam is a big part of our getting better. He has been playing great. He is rebounding the ball, playing defense, blocking shots and he is playing good offense too. So, he is doing well for us.”

Rockets Guard Kevin Martin

(On the Rockets reaching .500 with the win) “ That just shows how quick this season is going to move. I think it was like five days ago we were four games under .500 and now we are back to .500. We have some more work to do.”

(On the Rockets improved play as of late) “I think we are just coming together and just knowing what to expect from each other on the court. Kyle (Lowry) is running this team great, Sam (Dalembert) is bringing a great defensive presence and everybody else is just coming along. Coach said that this is an important part of our schedule and to take advantage of it.”