Postgame Quotes - April 6, 2011

Detroit: John Kuester | Greg Monroe
New Jersey: Avery Johnson | Carlos Boozer | Kurt Thomas

Pistons Head Coach John Kuester
(On the game) “In the first half they shot 56 percent, for the game 48 percent. We did a heck of a job in that second half. We had number contributions from Greg Monroe with 20 and 10 rebounds. He did a great job on the boards. He did a great job trying to attain Lopez as much as you possibly could. Lopez is a great player and Avery (Johnson) has those guys playing together. I thought Rip (Richard Hamilton) with 25 points and nine assists again doing things the right way. He’s been playing so hard and it’s amazing what you can accomplish when your hearts in the right place and being focused on what needs to be done.”

(On Rodney Stuckey) “It was very easy. He said ‘I’ll go the whole half for you.’ He was very engaged during the game and did a great job.”

(On Tracy McGrady) “First of all I had not planned on playing him tonight. He came through when we needed him those last two games and gave us good minutes and he was tired. He would have given it to me. That’s why you keep telling people that you don’t tell a player that he’s out of the rotation or whatever because anybody that has a uniform on has got to be ready to play. So if you tell somebody he’s not going to play then all of a sudden things like Will Bynum, guys get hurt and that’s why I keep communicating with you guys about that.”

(On zone defense) “Lopez was such a load and was playing so extremely well that we tried everything on him. We came out of two timeouts telling our guys that we were going to double on the dribble then we changed it on the second one and doubled on the catch. Neither time did it happen and our energy was not there for a split second and I made a decision saying hey lets try zone.”

Pistons Forward Greg Monroe

(On Brook Lopez) “He's a big guy and he plays a little awkward and tonight he had a great game.”

(On team energy) “We've played about 75 games and playing back-to-back, it's tough but the guys fought through it.”

(On the game) “I think we were just clicking today. Everyone was just in a groove together and everybody was making shots and attempts at easy buckets. When all of those things come together it's going to be a big scoring game.”

(On playing a zone defense) “Coach had us switch to a zone, we were having trouble with Lopez and it worked. And we just stayed with it, it gave us an opportunity to make a little run and get a little distance down the stretch to win the game.”

Pistons Guard Rodney Stuckey

(On game) “Just trying to come out be aggressive, that was it. Starters did a good job of starting the game out good, so I was just trying to get my guys involved.”

(On not playing the last two games) “We've already dealt with that. It was a situation that's already taken care of. I let the emotions get in the way. I'm still a young player. I'm really passionate about this game and I just let my emotions get in the way.”

(On message being sent) “Absolutely, any time I'm not out there court competing with my teammates it (stinks) because I want to be out there fighting, like I said I got punished and everything's good now and let's move on.”

(On second half) “Like I said I was just trying to get my guys involved, the first half I was just looking for Rip (Richard Hamilton) and those guys to come off screens and make shots. I knew I was going to be play the whole second half so I was just trying to save some energy for the fourth quarter. I picked my offense up and got to the free throw line, made a couple jumpers, and got it going from there.”

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Nets Head Coach Avery Johnson
(On the game) “It just slipped away for us. We lost that game by not getting the ball back inside. Brook had just an outstanding offensive game, especially that first half. Normally the second half you tend to not have the same type of energy. So we challenged him at halftime to not finish the game with 22 points and to make a statement and that is what we have been looking for from him all year. So, again, they did a nice job. They went zone on us and we missed some wide open shots, ones that we made in the first half just didn’t go down for us in the last seven minutes. Our guys laid it on the line tonight, they played hard, we weren’t very good defensively, but again the guy’s played hard tonight and we just didn’t come out with the win tonight.”

(On when they double teamed Lopez) “We didn’t make our shots. He made some good passes and we just didn’t make our shots and we didn’t get the ball back to him. We had ways to get it back to him, but we just didn’t execute.”

Nets Guard Jordan Farmar

(On not closing out game) “We didn’t. They tightened up their intensity and switched to the zone and threw us off a little bit. Brook (Lopez) was having an amazing game tonight and we were just trying to get him the ball and then when they took that away we didn’t have any flow of continuity. They made us take tough shots and they put us in a tough position.”

(On getting Lopez the ball) “It was tough late, there were a lot of times when he just wasn’t open. They had a guy in the front and back of him and guys just have to make plays in that situation and we have to do it without thinking. The fact that we were still trying to get him the ball and not just playing basketball it made it tough on us.”

(On being shorthanded) “Guys played hard tonight, we don’t have a lot of games left and playoffs are out of the question, but guys are still coming out here and competing and playing down to the wire and that is a good feeling to come away with. It is the love of the game to go out and play and the respect for other guys in the locker room especially those that don’t get to play a lot. It is a privilege to go out there and put your best foot forward.