Detroit: Lawrence Frank | Jonas Jerebko Heat: Erik Spoelstra | LeBron James | Dwyane WadePistons Head Coach Lawrence Frank
(On amount of turnovers and simple mistakes): “I mean, you have got to give credit to their defense. We knew exactly how they were going to play things, in terms of hard blitzes, pin downs and pick-and-rolls. We had a hard time moving their hands, we tried to throw a lot of air passes due to high hands and they got steals and deflections, which obviously created a lot of offensive transition for them. In the first quarter we got pretty good shots, we just couldn’t make the shots. We didn’t go to the free throw line, but we did have open shots that we just could not make. The way they ended the first and began the second obviously created that separation and then we gave up 59 points in the first half, and they were shooting 60 percent. That is not a game that we are going to win. It was not until the second unit came in that they really turned it up and brought the intensity to win. You look at the third quarter and Miami had 13 points in that third quarter and nine of those being off turnovers, so against our set defense we did a better job. The turnovers obviously fueled a lot of opportunities for them. We had a hard time making shots, but I do credit our second unit for coming in there and really putting a lot of effort in the game to at least give ourselves a chance.”
(Shooting percentage in the first quarter): “Well it is a recurring theme; that is something that we talk about with our group. If we are going to become more consistent in our play it has to start with our defense. This here is a prime example because in the first quarter we got several good rhythm looks that we couldn’t make. Some were corner jumpers that are good shots, but those guys started leaking out and since you are shooting from the corner, your core balance is not as good. At the same time you got to be able to line your defense. That was the story to me for that second unit. Those guys just really put a lot of sweat equity into the game and found a way to turn the game around.”
(Difference in the Miami Heat from last year to this year): “Look any time a team like that, that is extremely talented and extremely well-coached and is together for time, they are just going to continue to get better because they will understand how to play off each other and with each other. In different game situations, they understand the different time and score, when they have to crank it up a little bit. So they are obviously a high level team.
(On coming back): “We showed toughness coming back in the game, but at the same time we gave them the lead in the beginning and never really got back after that. We’ve got to try harder than that.”
(On changes in second half): “We tried to take care of the ball. I don’t know how many turnovers we had, but it was way too many and we gave them way too many easy points. That first half, they came out with a good start.”
(On Miami’s defense): “I think we threw the ball away way too much and they got easy buckets. If that’s there defense or not, I think we were a little sloppy tonight.”
(On slow starts in first quarter): “We need to come out stronger than that and try to stay in the game. Our game plan was to take care of the ball and we didn’t do that and it showed in the game.”
(On schedule): “We just came back at four in the morning (Thursday), slept all day, had a game today and now were off on the road for nine days. It’s the same for all the teams, not much to say. We love playing basketball.”
(On turnovers): “Everyone in that locker room knows the one thing that we’ll walk away from this arena not feeling terrific about is those turnovers, particularly there in the third quarter. We weren’t able to execute and get shots and some of those were a lack of concentration. Some of those were careless plays, but that should not over shadow a lot of the good things we did particularly defensively.”
(On Ronny Turiaf’s first game): “He did some good things as well. He’s very active and you can see that in the first half in particular. He’s intelligent. He’s able to pick up the things that we want to do pretty quickly. He still has obviously a ways to go, but he fits our fabric, our mold. He makes things happen defensively. He’s an energy player. As he spends more time with us, I think that will just continue to get better.”
(On game): “We played well all game. Other than our turnovers in the third quarter we played a pretty good game. We held a pretty good offensive team to 70-plus points so we played well.”
(On team defense): “We are a defensive-minded team and we just got to keep our turnovers down and we didn’t do a good job of that in the third quarter, but for the most part we had a pretty good game.”
(On upcoming games): “Obviously they’re a very good team. Record wise they’re (Oklahoma City) the best team in the Western Conference. Last year, we played them and they beat us at home, once they made a trade for Perkins (Kendrick Perkins). They’re a very good team, so its always a good opportunity to measure us up with the upper echelon teams in the league and its going to be a tough environment, but we look forward to going on the road and seeing what we can do.”
(On tonight’s game): “Just learning from your mistakes. We understood in that third quarter that we gave them opportunities by turning the ball over. Give them credit, they turned up their defensive pressure but we were a little careless with the ball, but we understood what we needed to do and that was execute and continue to trust and get shots.”