Detroit: Lawrence Frank | Tayshaun Prince
Chicago: Tom Thibodeau | Joakim Noah
(On the loss tonight): “We out ourselves into that position. We played 3 quarters, but our ability to get stops in the 4th quarter was not there. We just struggled offensively. You know on the road you are not going to have things going your way. That was a playoff team out there against us, and they played that way.”
(On Noah's save): “It looked like the ball went out of bounds. Belinelli just made a great shot. That's like his 2nd game winner in a week. Regardless, we put ourselves in that position. We just need to do more earlier. Also Nate Robinson was huge for them.”
(On what happened in the 4th quarter): “We had some decision making errors out there. We were passing up open shots, and allowed mistakes to let them back in the game. We allowed our poor offense to effect our defense. It is very disappointing. When you're not scoring you have to be disciplined on defense and get stops. It is harder to score in the 4th quarter. Nate Robinson opened up that game for them and that is sometimes what happens. One guy opens it up for the rest of his team. We just had too many stretches on both ends where we needed to be better disciplined.”
(On loosing the 7 point lead): “Lay-ups. We just did contest them. They got in the paint and back in the game that way. We let them start in the 3rd quarter but we responded then and didn't let them get back in it. We didn't match that energy in the 4th quarter and it cost us.”
(On their early 4th quarter offense): “Early in the 4th quarter we just rushed a couple shots. Then,we let Nate get out and play. We just got off to too slow of a start offensively. Thibodeau does a good job trusting his 2nd unit. He leaves them out there and lets them play. We have to match their energy for 4 quarters. We did it for only 3 ½ tonight and you see what happens. The last 2 or 3 times we have played them we had leads through 3 quarters. We should have had wins. We talked about that before tonight's game. You need to match the energy that Joakin and Taj give them or they are going to come back on you. Tonight Taj, Jimmy, and Nate did that. Their energy was there and they played off that to a win.”
(Do you want to talk about the strong 4th quarter or the poor play in the 1st 3?): “I think you have to look at the game in totality. We did not play our best and we found a way to win in the end. That is the type of stuff you have to do. We showed some perseverance. Detroit played really hard and they had a lot to do with our play. In the end, we had a lot of guys step up and make some plays. Whatever is necessary in the end, whether it is 4 or 5 stops in a row and some hustle plays. I liked our group that started the 4th quarter. They showed some energy and got some stops. That got us going.”
(On the play of Jimmy Butler): “I thought he struggled early. He just kept working the game. He probably settled early on. Prince is a tough cover. Jimmy never gets down, he just kept battling and battling. In the end, he figured it out. He got some good shots, some high percentage shots, his defense improved as the game went on. He made some big time plays for us and played some huge minutes.”
(Jimmy has shown a knack for being an end of game scorer): “Obviously there are a lot of things Jimmy has to improve on. But he is not afraid of the big moment. He has a lot of courage and toughness. Those characteristics go a long way in this league. He competes on every play. We want him to keep improving and keep studying. In this league at the 2 and 3 spots are the primary scorers and tough match-ups. He is taking the challenge and I like the way he is approaching things. He's never satisfied, he wants to keep improving.”
(On Joakim saving the ball at the end): “That was incredible. I don't know how he got to it. It was an incredible play and then Marco making the shot and hitting the free throw. It is big time stuff. Joakim was something. He had 18 rebounds and did not come out in the 2nd half. He made great hustle plays. I thought our team spirit was terrific. That unit that finished the game really inspired us. The whole bench was up and into it. The unit that was out there erased the deficit and got the lead for us.”
(On how long you can ride Nate): “That's Nate, that is how he is. He made a lot of big time plays. He is not afraid. I like that about him, I respect that about him. He also has to continue to improve. Our road is going to get a lot tougher so the challenge becomes greater.”
(On saving the ball on the last play): “The last shot, I'm not even sure who sot the ball, but it came up short. I was going out of bounds. I'm not sure it was the right thing to do. I wasn't hitting it to anyone, just trying to keep it in play. If they get it, it may have been a transition basket. The basketball Gods were with us.”
(On the substitutes for the All-Star game being announced tomorrow): “It would be a great honor to be an All-Star. I would love to play in the game, but I don't have any control over that. Right now, I'm just thinking about the team, not individual things.”
“We have to keep fighting. We are a team who can stay with anyone as long as we continue to play hard.”