Detroit: Lawrence Frank | Greg Monroe | Kyle Singler
Toronto: Dwayne Casey | DeMar Derozan | Jose Calderon
(Thoughts on what the difference was down the stretch….) Well I think you need to look at the whole thing, it’s 48 minutes. We had a real hard time getting a handle on those guys, DeRozan and Anderson, that third quarter, Anderson with the three threes. Some of it, and the thing that’s disappointing was our catch-and-shoot defence was very, very poor tonight. We gave up 18 points off baseline screens, and that’s being tied together and it’s disappointing. Not that you are going to shut them out of those situations, but we have to be better in those situations. Finally, when we went to zone we were able to disrupt their rhythm a little bit and were able to get stops, but then some real untimely second chance opportunities we gave them. We had real good pace in the first half offensively, and then as the game went on we kind of lost some pace. We missed 12 free throws, we missed 24 shots in the paint and that resulted in the outcome.
(Thoughts on Jose Calderon…) I don’t know why you guys are surprised; you guys have watched this guy for eight years. I mean this guy is a damn good player, think about his international experience playing for Spain, seen him in playoff performances. He’s got great moxie. The guy had 17 assists. Calderon just over time of having been in the division with him for a number of years, I’ve always had a great deal of respect for him, he’s a super competitor and has just great moxy. He really plays at a great pace.
(Was there something about (Jonas) Valanciunas that you saw you could take off the dribble?) No, I mean, I was just being aggressive. I was able to get to the basket, get to the rim, get some finishes around the rim. Coming in it wasn’t Greg, take him off the dribble, but as the game wore on I saw that I had an advantage and we just tried to capitalize.
(How were you so effective tonight?) I was just being aggressive. I got into a good rhythm early and it just kind of carried on throughout the game.
(Is this one of those games where you guys are making plays to give yourself a chance but you just can’t quite get over the hump?) I think we definitely did a good job on defence. They made shots and in this league you are going to have nights like this where the other team is going to outplay you, it doesn’t mean that you played bad but they just played better than you. I think that’s kind of what it was. I think we made them shoot some tough shots but they made them.
(Do you wonder where this team is going right now?) I mean everybody is just wondering, we are trying to find what we need to do to get back on track. I don’t think we’ve fallen totally off of track, the way we’ve been losing hasn’t been horrible games. We are right there, a little bit more we have to do to finish games and attention to detail coming down the stretch.
(Where do you sense that the team is at…) It’s frustrating when you don’t win but we’ve given ourselves opportunities to win so that is optimistic or however you want to look at it. When you don’t win it’s frustrating and for us as a team we want to win.
(How did you feel about the team’s defence tonight?) I felt like they made tough shots, but for me personally, if guys make shots I take full responsibility. I don’t think my defence was that great but they did make good shots.
(What could you have done differently defensively?) I think pressured them a little bit more. It was just one of those games where I felt like whatever I did there was going to be a foul called, not saying the refs were bad or anything, I was just put in a position to give the guy some space and he just made some tough shots.
(What would you like to take out of this game personally?) With this game, there’s not much you can take positively from it. We gave ourselves a shot to win and I thought Greg (Monroe) played great and he really led the team.
(What’s it going to take to close out games late in the game?) We’ve just got to learn how to win in the fourth quarter. Someone mentioned to me that we are 0 and 17 when we are trailing in the fourth quarter so I’m not quite sure how we are going to get there but we’ve got to learn how to manage the fourth quarter better as a team and learn how to win.
(Thoughts on the game…) There are a million different ways to win or lose a game and right now we’re finding ways to win. That’s the most important thing for our group, finding ways to win.
Thoughts on the steal by Amir Johnson… Big time play and again, finding a way to win. Not just scoring points, but he found a way to get a stop. He dove on the floor a couple of times to beat them to the ball. Those kinds of plays are championship types of plays and winning plays that you make instinctively without even having to talk about it.
(Thoughts on Alan Anderson…) Alan (Anderson) has been big time. He’s our voice of reason right now, a veteran guy, he’s hungry. The young man has been to China, Europe, got cut, and his back is against the wall, so that’s why I like him. He’s the underdog and plays like an underdog; he’s hungry. That’s the way you have to play in this league. No one owes you anything. You have to play hungry and desperate.
(Thoughts on Jose Calderon…) Jose (Calderon) is our quarterback, he’s our Peyton Manning. He sees everything.
(Thoughts on the offensive rebounding…) I can’t get my eyes of those 22 offensive rebounds. That really sticks out and we have to do something about that. That’s the only area where I was disappointed. Going forward we have to do a better job of finding bodies early in the game. When you set that tone early of hitting first they stop coming in. I didn’t think we established that in the first quarter.
(Thoughts on game…) It just felt good. We played until the last buzzer and the last second. That’s what we have to do even if things aren’t going our way on the offensive end. We try to stay focused on the defensive end.
(Thoughts on the play of Jose Calderon…) I’ve been playing with him for four years and until he gets forty assists, then he’ll surprise me, but it’s not surprising. He knows how to find guys in their sweet spots and he gets guys going.
(Thoughts on the play of Alan Anderson over the last three games…) He brings a lot; he has experience even if it’s not in the NBA. Playing in Europe is tough and you have to be tough minded and tough as nails. That is one thing about him on the court and off the court. His mentality is you have to get it done so we follow his lead a lot.
(Thoughts on the team’s play over the last four games…) I think we are playing with more confidence and we realize that’s the way we have to play to be successful.
(Does it feel easy for you out there right now?) No, it’s not easy at all. We have to play for 48 minutes. They (Detroit) were right there until the end with their offensive rebounds. Everybody helped a little bit, we stopped that and that’s when we got the lead.
(Thoughts on a season-low six team turnovers…) When you are playing with more confidence you know where your teammates are. You just try to make that extra pass if it’s there and if not it’s better to take a shot because we have a chance for a rebound instead of a turnover.