Detroit: Lawrence Frank | Jonas Jerebko | Brandon Knight Philadelphia Doug Collins | Elton Brand | Spencer HawesPistons Head Coach Lawrence Frank
Q: You had a chance to cut it to four in the 4th quarter and, just like that, it was 14 points. It seemed like turnovers were critical especially late in the game.
A: Yeah, you are right. We are looking at 68-62 with 9 and change, then we turned it over and they score. They set a step up pick-and-roll and they get a corner three. They set a side pick-and-roll and [Jodie] Meeks gets another three. [Lou] Williams gets a little run. [Thaddeus] Young gets an offensive rebound so a six-point game becomes a game that gets out of hand. Especially on the road, you just want to get to the six-minute mark where it’s anyone’s game. Unfortunately, when the dam exploded, it really exploded.
Q: Is that a product of them playing good defense, or were you guys too careless with the basketball?
A: You got to give them credit. We obviously have to be better. You look at the turnovers and we had 16 turnovers. Typically you want one-to-one, so if you had 16 turnovers, you want to give up 16 points. We gave up 27. When they are doubling you up like that, that means your turnovers are their first pass to their fast break, which isn’t a good thing.
Q: What did you think of Greg Monroe’s performance tonight?
A: Greg did a lot of really good things. I thought he was very assertive on both ends. I thought Greg played a very good game.
Q: You had a chance to cut the lead to four, and before you know it, things are out of hand.
A: Yeah, nine minutes left it’s a six-point game. They got a couple threes and a couple turnovers and that was it. We just got to fight back and play better.
Q: The turnovers especially on the road will be a killer.
A: Yeah, they were going to be tough at home. We knew they had shooters. They like to run the floor, and if they get turnovers, they are going to run the court. We just need to play better than that.
Q: You were without Ben Gordon and Rodney Stuckey, as a team do you say, it’s on us and we need to pick things up collectively?
A: Yeah exactly, other guys have to step up. That’s two great players and two starters for our team so other players have to step up. We just have to play better than that.
Q: What do you take away from this game that you can carry over to the next game?
Well as a team, like I said, we were close in the fourth. It was a six-point game. We just need to eliminate the mistakes so that we can continue to chip away at that lead.
Q: Does that show you how little the margin of error is? You could play close for so long then a couple of turnovers and it’s a 14-point game.
Like I said, we were right there but made a lot of mistakes, a lot of turnovers, and a lot of defensive mess ups and that led to them going up 14.
Q: I see your foot in an ice bucket, how is that feeling?
It’s alright so far. It’s still gelling and still a little warm. We will see tomorrow.
Q: Have you had many of them in your career and how does this rank?
Not a whole lot of them but I think I will be fine.
Basketball is an amazing game. I told our guys afterwards, “You can go from the depths of despair as a player, and in two minutes be back on top of your game.”
Jodie Meeks was unbelievable tonight, and he has really struggled for us early this year. To see him do what he did tonight was so gratifying because he is such a huge part of what we do.
They really are a long, lanky team, and they play a defense that is very much like a zone, although it’s a man-to-man, and they really keep you on the perimeter. We were one for 13 at one time, I think, from three. It’s a scary game because we get a little separation, and then they would crawl right back in it.
I thought our bench’s activity, Thad [Thaddeus Young], his activity tonight was spectacular, getting out on the pick-and-rolls, doing what he did. He tipped a few balls in around the basket. He got out on the break. He ended up with 15 and seven. I thought Evan [Turner] was terrific. He had eight defensive rebounds. I talked about Jodie [Meeks]. Jrue [Holiday] had nine assists. Spencer [Hawes] – I don’t know if anybody would have thought they’d be chanting “Spencer Hawes” at this time last year, but it was sure nice to hear. For us to win this game with two of our guys struggling from the floor, Dre [Andre Iguodala] and EB [Elton Brand] combined three for 13, and we were able to win this game, I think speaks volumes about our team.
I talked to you guys before the game. We are a team in every sense of the word, and it was so great to see our guys rally around Jodie tonight and show him the love they showed him. You could see him just be delighted to finally see that ball go in the basket. More importantly than that, I thought he did a great job on [Will] Bynum defensively there when we started picking up our defense. We ended up with 27 points off turnovers, 24 fast break points, 18 second chance points, 46 in the paint, and to start the game, it sure didn’t look like it was going to be that way. Less than 24 hours we’ve got to be back here tomorrow and we’ve got to be ready to play again.
Q: How important is it for him to play the way he did, or close to it, for your system and the way you guys are running that system?
A: He gives us that shooting. I think one of the stats I looked at last year, I used to always do in the playoffs, was I looked at teams that had a guy who made 100 threes on their team. Most every playoff team had at least one guy that made 100 threes and Jodie was our guy last year. Boston, the year they won the championship, had four guys make over 100 threes. That shot is so important because it spaces the floor for you and it’s such a dynamic weapon.
If you look at our shots, we had 85 shots at the basket. If you look at the distribution – EB with nine, 14 for Spencer, 13 for Jodie, nine for Jrue, 11 for Thad, 13 for Lou and nine for Evan. That’s as boundless as you can possibly get, and that’s the way we play.
I was so happy for Josh Harris and David Blitzer, and Adam [Aron]. Adam has worked so hard to get people in this building for this home opener tonight. To see some of my old teammates back, it was great to see them be here tonight. For our guys to get a chance to be around greatness, for the fans to recognize those guys…I was so happy Andrew Toney was here, trying to get him back in the mix. Andrew was such a great, great player here. It was a proud night for our franchise.
The game wasn’t pretty. They’re not always going to be pretty, but at the end of the day, we were able to find a way to win. Once again, our defense was terrific. 36 percent they shot, and they didn’t make a three. We gave ourselves a chance to win until we got that spurt offensively that broke the game open.
Q: How does it feel to play on your home court after being on the road for such a long time?
A: It’s fun, getting up twenty in our home opener and getting the win felt great.
Q: With it being a short season, is it advantageous to you all having much of the same team back?
A: Yes, I think it is great for us. You have guys like Spencer Hawes who is familiar with everything, so he comes in, gets settled and knows the plays, the defense and the sets and keeps stepping up as well as Jodie Meeks. It doesn’t matter, it could be a new person every night.Sixers Center Spencer Hawes
Q: Did you expect the fans to be chanting your name like they did here tonight?
A: It caught me off guard a little bit. But it felt good just to see all of the fans back here and being able to play for them here in Philadelphia, and be off to a good start feels good.
Q: There was a time when you went to the bench with foul trouble, but how did it feel to come back in with the fans giving you more applause?
A: It’s exciting. It’s great to be playing in a town with such a rich history of basketball, so to get support from the fans like that, knowledgeable fans like that feels good.