Postgame Quotes - January 21, 2012

(On losing the 16-point lead): “Well that is what we talked about in the locker room after the game. I thought our guys showed great resolve and think about the guys that were out there, so you have Walker (Russell), Damien (Wilkins), Tayshaun (Prince), Jonas (Jerebko) and Jason Maxiell. Everyone who stepped on the floor did a great job. They really brought it, however it was disappointing that the lead dwindled but look obviously they were a high-level team. We knew they were going to run, but you have to bend don’t break, and we weathered the storm, finished the quarter on a positive note and made enough plays to win a game.”

(On the choice of line-up): “There was no rotation tonight. It was all based kind of what you saw, it was no planning of Tayshaun going in just as there was no plan of taking Tayshaun out at that 5:22 mark, or whatever that was, it was just going based on raw performance and what we got done; and you look at the job that Jonas Jerebko and Jason Maxiell did, those guys were tremendous, obviously Rodney (Stuckey) was playing at a very high level and, like I said, it was a quality team win.”

(On taking control of the game in the 2nd quarter) – “Yes, and it is a great credit to Walker, Walker’s making play calls that we drew up and after timeouts he is running them as plays. He did a very nice job, but if you look at that first half and the amount of advance passes, we had a couple of rim runs, we had seven coast to coast off the dribble, getting to the rim, we call them rack attacks, those are the things we didn’t have last night. Then the second quarter, defensively was huge and overall just taking care of the ball. I think they got the last couple minutes off of offensive rebounds, but I know that at one point they were at nine before that stretch so you eliminate any extra possession and give ourselves a chance to win.”

(On Stuckey starting and the energy he provided during the game) – “Yes I agree; he attacked, he really asserted himself his ability to get into the paint, I mean the 32 free throws I believe were our highest for us this year and that’s because of him, his post ups, his pick and rolls; I thought he did a really good job and that there was really good chemistry there with him and Brandon.”

(On win) "It's very exciting. As a team we have been playing better, but we haven't really crossed over until tonight, so it feels good to get out of that slump. It always feels good to get a good win, especially on your home quart."

(On line-up in second quarter) "They did a wonderful job. Those players that were in did the job while they were in the game, they kind of gave us a good spark and we were able to continue the momentum in that quarter. The rest of the game spoke for itself."

(On limited turnovers) "We know we can play well, we just have to execute with that kind of focus and intensity for every game. Tonight was an example of what we can do; we just have to find a way to do it every night."

(On mentality after losing big lead) "It feels good. A lot of the time we've been on the other side of it, so it feels good to get a win like that tonight."Pistons Guard Brandon Knight

(On losing the lead and holding them off) "It's good because we've had times in the past where we lost a little bit of our focus, lost a little bit of what we do as a team, so it felt good, especially playing a complete four quarter."

(On taking care of the ball): "As long as we take care of it, we kind of limit points in transition, which is something that has kind of hurt us in past games. If we take care of the ball it's a big plus for us."

(On playing with Rodney Stuckey): "It's great because I can play off the ball, he can play off the ball and we can play off of each other and get feedback off of each other. That's a great way to play and something I'm sure we will explore later on, but it's definitely good having two ball handlers that can both attack and create for the team."

(On loss)"You can’t flip a switch in this league and I thought we tried to flip a switch against these guys tonight and that’s not going to work. You have to come in being ready to play. I didn't think that offensively we worked to establish ourselves inside. We settled for jumpshot after jumpshot. Not only did we settle for jumpshots but they were contested shots. Only six or seven free throws in the first half and that doesn't show that you are aggressive getting to the basket. You don’t allow any team to get confidence regardless of what their record is whether its good or bad."

(Difference down the stretch): "Again, they had confidence and we struggled. We missed some shots down the stretch. They made the plays. They came up with a couple big boards. They made some big shots and that was the difference in the ball game."

(On defense): "I just thought that we didn’t establish ourselves inside. We settled for jumpshots early in the game. I thought our second quarter really hurt us. They really won that quarter 28-16. That hurt us when we bring guys in to keep that lead close and that's kind of where they broke the game open."

(On past play) "We haven’t played well. The ruffle on this road trip, 2-4. You’ve got to flip the switch and that switch has to be on when you take that floor."

(On road trip): "It's a long flight back and we have to think about what was. Going 2-4 is definitely unacceptable. We thought we kicked some ball games that we should've won and tonight we just didn’t give ourselves a chance in the first half after being down double digits in the first half."

(On Pistons play):" It seems like they were getting shots. Stuckey was hitting shots, knocking down free throws going down the stretch. I think we got to about one a couple times but never were able to get over the hump. Anytime we had a chance we either missed the shot or turned the ball over."

(On team’s mentality): "Up and down; we're frustrated but we have to figure out a way to win them back-to-back. I think that's been our downfall all season. When we get back to Portland we have back-to-back-to-back so we're not looking too far ahead. We just have to regroup tomorrow and concentrate on Sacramento come Sunday night.