Postgame Quotes - February 4, 2011

(On the game) “I thought in the first half our guys shot the ball extremely well. We shot 55 percent, took care of the basketball and had four turnovers. That’s the good news and we out rebounded them also which was good. The thing that I was concerned about was them shooting 51 percent and I thought they had a number of good looks. That was important for us.”

(On Monroe) “He is now playing like the old zone where penetration he gets it back to the baseline and figures out a way to get behind the defender. He’s done a great job.”

(On DaJuan Summers) “The thing that I was so pleased with was DaJuan Summers got an opportunity and he took advantage of it. I thought he did a great job. They were great on the bench in regards to as I stuck him in the second quarter; you should have heard them, ‘yeah come on DaJuan keep going’ so that was important.”

(On Austin Daye) “I knew he made those shots and that was important. He’s starting to use his length to a tremendous advantage much more so than last year. I was so impressed with him getting big rebounds and getting rebounds in traffic but also when he’s open I feel very very confident when the ball is in his hands whether it’s a shot or he’s making a play for somebody else.”Pistons Guard Tracy McGrady

(On performance tonight) “It wasn't nothing special, I'm just glad we got a win.”

(On sense of urgency) “Well, I think the effort we have been putting out the last couples game could be a lot better, we showed that tonight. For us to make a playoff push, we have to step it up, we've got to play a lot better at both ends of the court, and the effort has definitely got to be there.”

(On alley-oop from Tayshaun Prince) “I was a little disappointed in the first one, it was an awful pass from my teammate (laughing), so we both had to redeem ourselves on the next one. I felt good tonight. My legs are starting to feel normal and I'm feeling like I'm getting my bounce back. It's starting to show a little.”

(On how his body feels) “In terms of how my body feels, yea. Back-to-backs have really been a struggle for me, so I'm curious to see how the game is going to go tomorrow, so we'll see.”Pistons Forward Greg Monroe

(On progress made in his rookie season) “It feels good. It's even better that we got the win tonight. I'm just out there working my stats are just showing that I'm out there trying to help my team win the game.”

(On getting open more at the end of the game) “It's not me, my teammates find me and that's basically it. I'm just trying to get myself in to position to get easy baskets and they're making great passes, that's basically it.”

(On guarding Brook Lopez and Derrick Favors) “Lopez has proven he's a great scorer so he's a tough match-up, Derrick Favors is a very skilled player, excellent rebounder, so I just have to be solid on him.”

(On game) “We got off to another slow start tonight and it has consistently been like that for our performances. So we have to do a better job of getting off to better starts and they had more energy tonight. We beat them twice this year and they had that look in their eye like they definitely wanted to get this series to 2-1. We just didn’t respond. We aren't a team yet that responds to adversity well yet and hopefully when a little bit of maturation sets in we will be able to respond. Defensively we just weren't locked in tonight. McGrady had his way with us tonight on the post and they made open shots. So take your hat offs to them tonight, they deserved to win.”

(On giving up offense boards) “Right now we need to do better on the boards and we have to hit first. Until we learn how to hit first it is going to continue. You have to win the rebounding battle and you have to get in the paint. In the first quarter I think that they 18 points in the paint.”

(On Monroe) “The kid looks good. He is improving. He spent a couple of years in college and they are utilizing him more at the elbows and he is utilizing some of his passing skills. He is long and he really was impressive tonight.”

(On his game and defense) “I was late on some feed backs tonight and wasn’t doing certain coverages, especially in the second half, and I didn’t know that which is why I got pulled out there in the second half. The lack of defense was definitely contagious, but it started with me.”

(On the game) “We just didn’t have any energy in the first and third quarters tonight and that is what it was. It seems to happen a lot (slow starts), we got lucky that we were covered against Cleveland and another recent game. But it happens a lot and those games we were fortunate to recover, but not tonight. We can't always rely on that we have to get better.”

(On next game to bounce back) “We have a tough practice tomorrow and we definitely have to get better.”