PISTONS HEAD COACH STAN VAN GUNDY
(On Boban Marjanovic matching up with Brandan Wright:)
“Out of quickness it will be tough, but he will play against him.”
(On Henry Ellenson’s play in the last game:)
“I love the fact that he rebounded the ball, and I love the fact that he shot the ball without hesitation even though he didn’t shoot it very well. I like that when he was open, he shot the ball. We have had a problem with that with some of our guys this year. Passing up shots and taking it back into the defense. I thought Henry took the shots he should have taken. I thought he made a couple of nice plays off the dribble. I thought he played pretty well.”
(On recognition issues for Henry Ellenson given his lack of experience:)
“Again, Houston is a really tough team. What he is going to see over these four games is every game is a lot different, particularly at that spot. You’re a point guard, some guys may shoot it better than others, but you’re going to defend a million pick-and-rolls. You know that. Twos and threes, you’re going to chase guys off screens. But the four spot is really a different spot in this league. Sometimes, you’re guarding perimeter oriented guys. Sometimes, you’re guarding bigger guys. Some guys are better on the boards. In a lot of ways, it’s the hardest position to defend in this league. When you don’t have any experience, it makes it really difficult.”
(On where Stanley Johnson will play:)
“Yeah, mainly three. He will play some at the two probably and pick up some minutes there. The guys I’m really trying to make sure get minutes are Boban [Marjanovic], Henry [Ellenson] and Stanley.”
(On Boban Marjanovic’s lateral movement:)
“I thought he played pretty well. He has gotten a lot better laterally. He has really worked on it. He works every single day. Jordan [Sabourin] and Louis [Thompson] have done a really good job with him. Malik [Allen] and Aaron [Gray] have done a really good job with him working on stuff. He does a lot of extra work on his own. A lot of guys want to just come in and shoot. He understands that that’s an area he has to work at. He works at it diligently. I thought he was a lot better the other night at covering ground, so that’s all a good thing.”
(On trying to get a win for the last game at The Palace of Auburn Hills:)
“I’m trying to win all of them. I’m going to still make sure Henry [Ellenson] gets minutes and Boban [Marjanovic] gets minutes. With those guys playing, the other night was the best we have played. This idea of sitting some guys down and that we’re not trying to win, that’s crazy. Obviously tomorrow night will be an emotional night for a lot of people, you talk to Mike Abdenour and stuff like that. It’s the last home game and hopefully guys will want to play really well. I hope that every single night. It’s a little bit of a shame that on the last night in there, it’s on a back-to-back, but they didn’t know that when they did the schedule, we were going to be moving. It makes it tough.”
( On Boban Marjanovic getting calls with his size:)
“I don’t know. That’s been a problem for big guys in this league for a long time now. You can’t as much as breathe on a guy on the perimeter, but on the inside you can beat the crap out of guys if you want. It’s been a problem and it’s not just with him. It’s pronounced with him because he is so big. They want to try to even up the size advantage, and I don’t really understand that because on the perimeter they don’t want to let you be physical to ease up the quickness advantage. That’s just the way it is. Boban doesn’t complain, I just think he is used to it. I think it was the same way in Europe. I think he is used to getting beat up.”
PISTONS CENTER BOBAN MARJANOVIC
(On the difference in the second half:)
“I think we improved more in the second half. We played like a team like we did last night. We played well.”
(On the shooting of Reggie Bullock and Darrun Hilliard tonight:)
“They played great. They helped a lot. Last game it was Stanley [Johnson]. This game it was Reggie, Henry [Ellenson] and Darrun. Next game it can be someone else. This is a team.”
GRIZZLIES HEAD COACH DAVID FIZDALE
(On the game:)
“We looked sharp. I thought we really brought a good intensity to the game. I thought we respected our opponent. The areas we are really trying to focus in on I thought we paid real close attention to, so I was happy with that. Our young guys couldn’t wrestle with that big boy down there. I told DD [Deyonta Davis] you’ve got to grow up kid and drink some milk. I was happy with the minutes.”
(On younger guys playing in the fourth quarter:)
“Just energy, athleticism, length and a lot of mistakes, but that’s what you expect. It was good. They competed really hard. I thought defensively they really got after it. We forced them into misses. Like I said, that big kid [Boban Marjanovic] is mobile man. He’s a good player too. That’s what I don’t think people understand is how good a basketball player he is with his hands, his footwork, his touch. You know he started out with that Spurs program and then went over to Stan [Van Gundy], which he just fell right in line, similar programs. He’s a tough guy to block out.”
(On the regular season versus playoffs:)
“No, I don’t think that’s still the case anymore. You watch the Finals last year and those games didn’t look like they were slowing down at all. You have to make plays at high velocity. The play that won the Finals, LeBron’s [James] block, that was a high velocity play with two fast teams running around out there. Some games will slow down and they’ll call for that but overall, teams are who they are. They’re built for speed and teams are going to be running and spacing.”
(On his approach for Wednesday:)
“Similar. I don’t even know if we’re giving a guy the game off. Our schedule has allowed for us to rest to a certain extent. Due to our experts, they say we shouldn’t necessarily give a guy a whole game off. That’s not necessarily a good thing. We want to keep them in rhythm and keep the cardio up and still let them get the contact and execution and all of the stuff you get with playing a real game.”
(On any worries that the Pistons were able to hang around:)
“No, not necessarily. Like I said, we knew coming into this game, even if we played our guys at full minutes, the Pistons are no pushovers. They were all part of that race over to get into the playoffs as well. Stan is as good a coach in this league as anybody. I really consider him a top-tier head coach. We knew they were going to come in here and play hard and execute this stuff because he wouldn’t settle for anything less. Whether our guys played full minutes or not, we knew Detroit would come in here and play a good game.”
GRIZZLIES GUARD TONY ALLEN
(On the starting lineup:)
“We paid attention to detail, we executed offensively, and we were just practicing some behind the scenes schemes that we are going to use in the playoffs. That goes along with paying attention to detail. I like how we executed on both ends.”
(On the second half:)
“Although we knew we’d be limited on minutes today, I kind of thought with that being a restriction we weren’t able to make that run back there and put our imprint on the game. We wanted to see our young guys blossom today and unfortunately came up short, but we saw great things in those guys. Like I said, we’re trying to pull some things out for the long run as far as the playoffs go. I saw some good things in doing that, like I said, paying attention to detail, but we’re preparing for the playoffs.”
(On setting screens:)
“With Mike (Conley) and Marc (Gasol) being so much of a threat on the court, its least expected when they have a guard screening for the bigs. Whenever we get the opportunity to do that, we give them a steady diet of that so I take pride in that.”
(On advice for those who haven’t been to the playoffs:)
“Just stay in the moment. Pay attention to detail. I know that it’s kind of hard for myself to stand in the huddle and listen… but it counts. Like I said, we just have to play hard for 48 minutes and it will be a good scene going to San Antonio and getting a win.”