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Postgame Quotes - March 19, 2018

PISTONS HEAD COACH STAN VAN GUNDY:

ON THE FEELING OF GOING HOME WITH A ROAD WIN

“I thought our second half, particularly at the end of the third quarter and the fourth, we were really really good. Blake [Griffin] was good all night. Ish [Smith] was good. Reggie [Bullock] played really well. I thought at times, we had really good ball movement. Our defense, we played in stretches, but we made our runs off good defensive plays. Andre [Drummond] had a couple at the end of the third quarter that we were able to get out and go. We did not turn the ball over a whole lot.”

ON THE TEMPO PICKING UP AND DID IT HELP OFFENSIVELY

“Well, I think it helped us a lot. I really did. I mean, we are better when we have some pace and the ball is moving. That was good.”

ON BLAKE BEING ON THE BENCH IN THE FOURTH QUARTER

“I didn’t think Andre had a good night, other than the rebounding. However, that stretch he took the game over defensively for a stretch of minutes and that is what turned the game. I liked him not having a good game, but at a crucial time, coming in and really defending. I thought that was outstanding. I had planned to bring [Blake] back in late, we just didn’t need to.”

ON BLAKE SHOOTING THE THREE BETTER THAN HE THOUGHT HE COULD IN THE LAST SEVEN GAMES

“He’s just a really good player. Whatever problems we’ve had, have not been because of him at all. His attitude has been great. His play has been great. When we get healthy and get the right people around him, it’s going to be a good team.”

ON STARTING STANLEY JOHNSON

“Well, we just haven’t been going very well with the other starting line-up. To be quite honest, the numbers. Just going back, that other line-up with Stanley had been better. So, that’s what we went with.”

PISTONS FORWARD BLAKE GRIFFIN: 

ON HOW IT FEELS TO GET HIS FIRST ROAD WIN AS A MEMBER OF THE PISTONS

“Great. Like I said, this time of year you’ll take it any way you can get it. But you get one on the road after being on the road for eight nights already, it’s always great. We took care of business and we have to go do it again.”

ON THE NECESSARY ADJUSTMENTS TO PUT THE GAME IN THEIR FAVOR IN THE SECOND HALF

“Just to lock in. I thought we moved the ball well when we came out in the second half and I thought we sat down and got stops. Some in the third, but really in the fourth quarter I thought the second unit that was in there did a great job of getting stops and that’s what eventually got us to that comfortable cushion.”

ON WHAT HE SAW WHEN THE TEAM GOT SEVEN STRAIGHT STOPS TO START THE FOURTH WHILE HE WAS ON THE BENCH

“I don’t think we were pressing and making it super tough on them – we just played our defensive principles and made them take the shots we wanted them to take. We blocked out, we rebounded, and we ran the floor. When you get stops it’s so much easier to run the floor and we took advantage of that.”

ON HOW THEY ADJUSTED TO ANDRE DRUMMOND GETTING DOUBLE-TEAMED

“He draws so much attention. Andre’s worth goes far beyond the box score – there’s games where he has 15 and 15 and it seems like he might have had an off night. He’s capable of 20 and 20, but a game like tonight, just his presence in the lane on both ends of the floor. Like you said, teams having to double him and teams having to be aware, be cognizant of him when he’s in the lane and when they’re going to the rim. He effects the game in so many different ways that you can’t just look at the box score to see what type of game he had.”

ON HIM SHOOTING THE THREE BETTER AND WHAT HE DID THIS OFFSEASON TO IMPROVE IT

“Honestly, it started at the end of last season, like right before the All-Star break. I started shooting a little bit more threes and started practicing on it more. But then in the offseason I just spent more time trying to extend my range. Not a ton – I wouldn’t say more than half, but I spent more time just making sure I wasn’t rushing my shot. The nice thing about being more of a driver is that you always have more time to shoot the ball from three – it’s normally off of pick-and-pops or normally off a drive, draw and kick. So just not rushing my shot and then eventually working on off the dribble – just working on all facets, I guess.”

PISTONS GUARD LUKE KENNARD: 

ON THE SECOND UNIT PULLING AWAY WHILE GRIFFIN WAS ON THE BENCH

“Blake brought a sense of urgency for us tonight, honestly, especially after the first half. He just got going and that’s what we needed –we needed it and we just fed off of his energy. He led us into that run and we allowed ourselves to make plays and keep that lead. He had a sense of urgency and we just fed off of it.”

ON GETTING SEVEN STRAIGHT STOPS EVEN WITH GRIFFIN OUT

“Yeah, we knew we needed to get some stops. We knew our defense wasn’t where it needed to be, especially in the first half. The group we had in there, especially some of the bench guys, we told each other that we wanted to be positive and try to get a lead going to continue what the starters did at the beginning of the third – they built a lead. We talked to each other about it and it’s good when we can communicate and be on the same page – that’s what we did. We fought hard and brought some energy.”

ON HIS DEFENSIVE EFFORT TONIGHT AND IF IT’S BEEN MORE OF A COMFORT THING AND LEARNING OVER THE COURSE OF THE SEASON

“Yeah, most definitely – I think that the more that I’ve played, the more that I’ve learned – there’s so many things in this game [to learn]. But, the comfort of just playing and getting my mind and my body into the same spots at the same time. It’s taking some time and I’ve had some ups-and-downs with it, but recently I’ve been trying to focus on that a lot – I’m just going to continue to do that the next few games.

KINGS HEAD COACH DAVE JOERGER:

“We had a pretty ugly game there. We did not play well, did not shoot the basketball very well, did not execute very well. We were a step slow most of the night and kind of hit [them] second. 4-of-9 from the foul line – I can go down the line – they were more aggressive than we were and they made some more shots. We talked about earlier with our team that this certainly had a high possibility of being a letdown game. I hope they have a great chance to make the playoffs – they have an outside chance. It was a tough game for us and one of those games we just let roll off us and move on to the next one.”

ON IF THIS LOSS COULD BE A PRODUCT OF THE SCHEDULE

“A little bit, but every game and every practice is an opportunity for learning. We’re trying to point out the mental mistakes we can’t have – the missed free throws and not knowing where you’re supposed to be and some other things. Collectively as a team, when you’re mentally tired you’ve got to take that extra grind and lock in and we just weren’t able to do that tonight.”

KINGS FORWARD VINCE CARTER

ON PASSING PARTICK EWING ON THE ALL-TIME SCORING LIST

“It means a lot because in my days in Orlando I played with Pat Ewing and know him very well. Obviously, when he was still playing I played against him. To pass guys like that, it just means a lot. I’m sure I’ll hear from him at some point and he’ll tell me about it. It’s just an awesome feeling to play this game. I always say if you play long enough, things like these happen, but at the same time you’ve still got to put the ball in the basket for it to happen. I’m very thankful.”

ON IF HE PAYS ATTENTION TO THE MILESTONES

“Honestly, I just don’t look at that stuff anymore. I think when you do that you naturally put the pressure on yourself where you press instead of just playing. At this point, I just play basketball and I let those milestones and records happen, if they happen. I think that’s been good for me. I’m very thankful that I still have the opportunity to play this game and I don’t take these opportunities for granted and I’m very appreciative. When you talk about Top-25 scorers of all-time, I mean you just look at the list of the greats and the elite players, the best of the best, and to still play and be in that group, I’m very humbled and thankful for it. When I’m in those positions, I’d rather just let it happen when it happens instead of press because I know how important it is and how special it is and a lot of guys don’t get that opportunity.”

 

KINGS GUARD De’AARON FOX

ON IF THIS WAS A LET DOWN GAME

“A little bit. The energy just wasn’t there and we weren’t making shots. Sometimes you let your offense pick up your energy and today we just weren’t make those shots. We’ve just got to let this game go. Just make it feel like this game didn’t happen and try to get back to where we were the last three games.”

ON THE POOR FREE THROW SHOOTING AND LACK OF ATTEMPTS

“No, we just didn’t get to the line. I didn’t make mine when I got there. Whether it’s us not being in attack mode, for us we just have to force ourselves to get to the rim and just try to get to the line. If it’s not being called it’s not being called.”

ON VINCE CARTER’S CAREER SCORING MILESTONE

“That’s crazy. That’s a lot of buckets. Top-25, that’s huge – a lot of guys won’t get close to that.”