Detroit: Lawrence Frank | Ben Gordon | Ben Wallace Phoenix: Alvin Gentry | Channing Frye | Jared DudleyPistons Head Coach Lawrence Frank
(On tonight’s game)
“I think when you look at it with an offensively talented group like this and putting up these numbers after the all-star break, it’s the second shots. When you think about it, we shoot over 50% from twos and threes and you think you are going to win the game. But 22 points off of second shots and their pick and roll attack. Each one of their role players had different quarters. So, you look at Michael Redd in the second with 10, Grant Hill in the third with 10, Lopez (Robin) in the fourth with 10, and Nash (Steve) obviously making those scoring passes. But, the extra possessions between the offensive rebounds and the turnovers at the end of the day probably lost us the game.”
(On not being able to pull it out at the end)
“You know they are a good team. Nash (Steve) did a real good job of kind of just picking us apart all night; making pin point passes all night for easy scores. They did a good job.”
(On the Suns’ pick and roll) “I would say one Nash (Steve). The way he can get guys shots and they surround him with all shooters. They keep one big out there that can finish and they rest are just shooters. It is just a tough thing to play against defensively. You have to give them credit tonight, even though it was their third game. We just didn’t make the plays we needed to.”
(On tonight’s game)
“I mean coming down the stretch they made plays. They made enough plays to win the game and we didn’t. We were in the game and had a chance to win it but that’s all you can ask; is for us to fight and give ourselves a chance. Give Phoenix credit, they made plays when they counted the most.”
(Opening statement) “Good win, really good win. They came in and shot the lights out of it. We did a much better job in the second half challenging shots and keeping them out of the paint. For us, the energy was there but we weren’t quite finishing shots although we shot the ball well the first half. I thought our bench came in and played well again. Shannon Brown always seems to make a big shot for us and do some good things in there. Robin did a good job and gave us a presence in there, blocked some shots and had a couple of tip ins in there. Michael Redd came in and gave us that lift early on. We are 500 and we are ecstatic about that but we still got a lot of work to do.”
(On playoff race) “We know that we have very little margin error. We know we are still going to have to put together some wins and do it on the road because of some of the things we let slip away at home. We understand all that. We just have got to play and be focused in at the task at hand. I will not say we have to take it one game at a time. We just have to be focused in at the task at hand..”
(On winning back-to-back-to-back games) “For us, I think it’s just we wanted this win, we wanted that win last night and we’re just trying to compete. We keep looking at that (playoff) board and we’ve just got to keep grinding, keep grinding and so we’re just going to do the best we can every night. You see everybody’s having a good time, everybody’s cheering each other on. The crowd has been fantastic, especially at home and for us this is a big time of the season and guys are making big-time plays. ”
(On the Suns’ offense) “Running – but that’s because we are getting out in transition. I think even though they scored a lot, I think still we’re getting out on defensive plays. They have great guys – (Rodney) Stuckey, (Brandon) Knight, (Tayshaun) Prince really attacked the basket and just playing good ball. So for us we’re just trying to get stops and get out and run and being unselfish.”
(On winning at home) “It’s big for us because we are trying to get above .500 before we hit this road trip. We know it’s going to be a difficult road trip going up playing against a lot of elite Eastern Conference; and to just keep the rhythm going. We just had a big emotional win against the Clippers. To come back and lose to Detroit at home would be devastating in the sense that we’re trying to bump up in the standings and that’s a bad loss.”
(On the bench) “It’s been big just because they now have a better flow, better chemistry. For the most part you see we kind of know when you’re going to go in. That basically takes a lot of, your confidence goes up so much more because when you know your set time and everything it’s different from when you go to the arena and you don’t know if you’re going to play. So, Alvin (Gentry) has done a good job with that and guys have responded because of that.”