Detroit: Lawrence Frank | Greg Monroe
Washington: Randy Wittman | Emeka Okafor
(On win): "Obviously, Washington was a little bit short-handed, minus (Bradley) Beal and Nene, but in this league, hey, you see it all the time. You got to come out with the right focus. In the first quarter, we set a really good tone. We got fortunate at some of the shots that they missed, especially in the paint. Some other guys competed and battled, and obviously it's nice for everyone to get in there. It's good to taste that winning feeling after losing some games in a row. Now the challenge gets different, because you have to play the same opponent on their court."
(On Greg Monroe and defense): "It's got to start on the defensive end. It starts with Greg (Monroe) because he's our defense quarterback back there, but carries over on the offensive end. As long as the ball moves and we have good ball and body movement, the ball will always find the open man. You know Greg Monroe is such a skilled guy that he's able not just to score, but find open teammates, put the ball into flow and create some advantage situations. Andre (Drummond) brought great energy. I thought everyone had some real good moments, and it's good to come away with a win."
(On drawing offensive fouls): “Guys were attacking and being aggressive, and we were able to get to the line. We were in attack mode.”
(On being conscious of keeping Washington off their game): “I don’t think so. I think I will just continue to play. If we get ourselves a lead, a lot of guys can rest a full quarter. We are going to look at tonight’s game tomorrow and see what we have to clean up and see what we did good and try to win the game tomorrow.”
(On winning and having the bench get minutes): “It’s always fun to get a win, especially at home. We can’t get too hot right now. We are expecting some different people to play tomorrow for them (Washington), so we need be prepared to play tomorrow.”
(On game): “We started 1-for-11 and we never played with any confidence. This is an opportunity to step up and show that you belong in the league and we did not see it tonight. That was embarrassing from an offensive stand-point to play the way that we did. I do not care who is in or who is not in. I apologize to ownership and fans back home that watched it if they did watch it. I would have turned it off. I would have turned it off after the first five minutes. That falls on me. I have to find, even though we only have eight or nine guys right now, I have to find five. I have to find five that can play and can play with confidence like they belong in the NBA and I have to do that. I will take responsibility for that.”
(On loss): “You’re trying to fight, man. You’re trying to fight because you’re a competitor so you’re not giving up but obviously whatever you’re doing is just not working. The harder you fight, it’s like you’re stuck in quicksand, the harder you fight you’re just sinking faster. But those games happen, they’re not fun but they happen, and as long as they don’t happen too often that’s cool. With this team, those games don’t happen too often. So, we’ll have them (Pistons) tomorrow.”