Detroit: Lawrence Frank | Rodney Stuckey | Greg Monroe Bucks: Scott Skiles | Mike Dunleavy | Drew GoodenPistons Head Coach Lawrence Frank
(On inconsistency of the game…) “You look at both the first and third quarters combined, we gave up 58 points. To start the third quarter, we have five turnovers and four jump shots. You look at the points off turnovers, you get doubled up basically, 28 points off turnovers. Jennings in that third quarter, I don’t think he missed a shot. Dunleavy, catch and shoot jump shots. It’s disappointing because we made it a two possession game in reality. When you look at some of the shots we missed in the first half, could have been even closer than that.”
(On the Bucks defense on Greg Monroe…) “They did a good job of fronting Greg. When they’re able to commit that sort of help, you’ve got to be able to drive, close out, move the ball. We missed some open shots, but it’s the turnovers. The turnovers cannot be their first pass to a fast break. If you’re going to turn the ball over 14 times, you can’t give up more than 14 points, a point per turnover. To give up two points a turnover, it’s hard to recover.”
(On the Pistons’ second quarter run that wasn’t sustained throughout the game…) “We weren’t getting stops, we weren’t getting easy baskets. It’s been inconsistent all year. We’re just trying to figure out how we’re going to play. We just have to stick with it, stay together, and keep fighting. Our consistency comes together, then it falls apart. We just have to somehow make it sustained for 48 minutes. We have another chance tomorrow against New York, and hopefully we’ll do a better job.”
(On the Pistons’ first quarter struggles tonight, being a theme this season…) “We’re just getting off to bad starts. We’re letting other teams score. Our goal is to not let teams score 20 or more points in a quarter. Tonight they had it their way in the first quarter, making easy shots, just doing whatever they wanted to do. When you’re letting teams do that, it’s hard to win games. We just have to focus more on defense.”
(On inconsistency of the game…) “They came out and hit some shots and made a run right after halftime. We just have to stop those runs.”
(On slow starts in first and third quarters…) “We have to do a better job of bringing energy. In the first and third quarters, we have to be the one making those runs against other teams.”
(On the Bucks’ adjustment after Monroe’s big game against Bucks earlier in the season…) “They did a little bit more double-teaming, fronting me in the post, different things. They weren’t doing anything too specific. Both games I let the game come to me. The looks I was getting the first time, I wasn’t getting tonight.”
(On pulling ahead for the win…) “I thought Brandon (Jennings) and Mike (Dunleavy) both, when (Detroit) got it to eight and were battling and trying to make it interesting, those guys stepped up and made some big shots for us. Then we get a couple solid stops to push them back up. But after the other night, overall a good win.”
(On Mike Dunleavy’s progress…) “I think he’s settling in a little bit. He’s clearly getting back in condition. Mike makes a lot of plays for us besides just shooting the ball. He really helps us facilitate the offense, he sees the open man, he’s a great inbounder of the ball when we run our inbound plays. It’s things like that you appreciate as a coach.”
(On offensive contributions from many players…) “It’s good. Any time you get a win it’s a big thing. I thought we came out and shared the ball, passed it around the court and moved it and guys knocked down shots so it was good to be a part of.”
(On looking forward…) “It’s a good win. We beat some good teams this past week so our confidence is where it needs to be and we’ve just got to build on it.”
(On offensive contributions from many players…) “It was a great job. It was a team effort tonight. We’ve got a rough schedule so it’s good for our starters to get some rest and have guys go out there and give us a boost.”
(On how he has adjusted to the center position…) “It was tough. It was a new role for me in my career playing backup center and it’s taken some time to get used to. Unfortunately, we lost Andrew (Bogut) and I’ve had to step up and become a starter which I’ve been for a majority of the time in this league. I’ve got my rhythm but even if I miss a couple of shots I know they’ll be there later on to get back in it. It’s starting to work out for me.”