featured-image

Postgame Quotes - March 21, 2017

Detroit Pistons Head Coach Stan Van Gundy

On Brook Lopez’s game-winning shot:“I thought the defense was pretty good on it. He shot a one-foot step back off of his left foot on the move.I didn’t think Brooklyn got a great, clean look. He’s 7’2” and he made a hell of a shot. Aron Baynes is upsetwith himself; I thought Aron played him great on it. I don’t think there was anything more we could’vedone on it.”

On tonight’s game:“The team that played harder and with more energy won the game. Ish Smith came into the locker roomand said, ‘I knew that was going in when he shot it.’ He said it coming down the hallway. I said to him,‘Why’d you say that?’ He said, “Because we effed around with the game, and it’s basketball karma.’ I don’tknow if I believe in karma. We didn’t deserve to win tonight; they did deserve to win tonight. The result isprobably what it deserved to be. Look, our ball movement is sporadic at best. Our offensive energy is notgood.”

Detroit Pistons Forward Tobias Harris

On what slowed things down so drastically in the middle two quarters:“Lack of ball movement. Lack of getting stops. Lack of pace. That pretty much sums it up right there.”On whether it’s puzzling that those things seemed to be elusive after having such a strong first quarter:“Yeah, especially to end the first quarter, we had a good flow, a good run. That’s the thing when we keepsaying ‘consistency, consistency.’ That’s where it comes into play, where we have to keep playing thesame way over the course of the game. It can’t get to the point where you don’t want to do it if it’sworking. If it’s not broke, don’t fix it. Keep it going. So that’s what we’re talking about when we sayconsistency, that’s a part of it that we talk about. It is puzzling and it is frustrating that we didn’t get thatdone.”

On the frustration level when you start off strong and are able to tie it before losing the game:“We were playing hard. We played hard all game, but if you really look at it, we made a lot of mistakes.They had more intensity than us. They played harder than us. In games like that, shots like that go in. Idon’t want to call it luck or anything, but it’s part of the game. It’s frustrating. Everybody in this lockerroom is frustrated. It’s a game that we came in here expecting to win. We knew this was like a wild cardteam. You have to give them credit, but at the same time we needed this win. They played like theyneeded this win more than us.”

Detroit Pistons Guard Ish Smith

On the outcome of tonight’s game:“I just thought they played well. They played hard. Guys made shots. We made a late run, it just wasn’tgood enough. I kind of had a gut feeling. As soon as he (Brook Lopez) let that thing go, I said that’s goingin. We fought hard. That’s what we’ve done all year. I hate that we put ourselves in a predicament, but I’llgive them credit. I don’t want to take anything away from them. I’ve been in that situation. Last year I wasin Philadelphia, we just played hard, we took the shots, and played with the ultimate confidence; and they(the Nets) did that. They drove the ball hard. We just couldn’t make enough plays at the end and Lopezmade that big shot.”

On whether their lack of energy on offense contributed to the loss:“Yeah, you saw it. I think some of that stuff is self-explanatory, but like I said, we played hard. We got backin the game, but they played well and they got the win. Lopez hit a big shot, so I take nothing away fromthem. I thought we played really hard in the fourth, got back in the game, but it just wasn’t enough.”On whether this was the Nets playing well or the Pistons not playing well enough to win:“No, you give them 100 percent credit. When we lace it up and go out there and play, may the best manwin. Tonight they were better than us. They made more plays and hit some big shots. As you know Lopezhit that last second shot, but we played well, hard enough for us to win the game.”

Brooklyn Nets Head Coach Kenny Atkinson

On the final play of the game:“Basically, it was a cross screen for Brook (Lopez) – get him into the open space and let him go to work. Ithought Isaiah (Whitehead) set a monster screen, really had a great hit. Randy (Foye) delivered it andthen, quite honestly, Brook made a heck of a play. It was more for a catch and shoot but he took a dribble,knew how much time was left and made a heck of a shot. It’s more about Brook being a heck of player.”

On the Nets’ execution down the stretch:“Really good as opposed to the game against Dallas, I thought we made big progress. It was really goodexecution from out-of-bounds plays to set plays. I thought we did a much better job than the other night.And then I thought our bench was good. Archie (Goodwin) came in, gave us a nice boost. K.J. (McDaniels)made some plays, made some nice finishes at the rim, hit a couple threes. It’s not easy playing against agood team like that and those guys hadn’t been with us very long and I was pleasantly surprised with theirperformance.”

On what he’s trying to improve upon with the team as they move forward and into next year:“We’re trying to improve on our habits. We have set things that we want to do and we’ve kind of set thegroundwork on how we want to play and now it’s just reinforcing those habits, doing it for a longer periodof time. I think we do it in pockets. I thought tonight we extended that to a longer period of time. Ithought we competed at a higher level for a longer period of time and kept with our principles. So we’rejust going to keep building it and part of that is the spirit of the guys and, led by Brook, it’s just, in thesituation we’re in, his enthusiasm – whether it’s a timeout, whether it’s a shootaround – and I know that’shis job, but this isn’t the easiest situation. So I’m happy for him, that he hit the game-winning shot,because I just think his spirit, what he brings to the team every day, it’s been huge for us.”

Brooklyn Nets Center Brook Lopez

On if he thought he had enough time for a dribble on the final play of the game:“Initially, I honestly wasn’t sure but we talked about it in the huddle and we felt we did. It was plenty oftime. Zay (Isaiah Whitehead) set a beautiful screen, Randy (Foye) made a great pass and just tried to get itup there.”On how meaningful it is to the team to close out the game after losing an 11-point lead:“It is, it’s very big. I wasn’t pleased with myself. I thought I made some bad plays both offensively anddefensively but our team was very resilient. Everyone played huge roles and helped close the game out forus.”

On if he thought was final shot was good when it left his hand:“Yea, I was very confident in it. It felt good. We executed so well on that last play which is something thatwe’ve learned throughout the season to do.”

On if the Nets were trying to play a spoiler role to the Pistons’ playoff chances:“I think we were passively aware of that and it’s always fun to play spoiler but you know honestly at theend of the day we’re really focused on ourselves and improving and I think the constant theme and motivefor the remainder of the season is to keep playing through, not quit and have no slippage. Again, you wantto build a foundation and get things right so we have continuity going into next season.”

Brooklyn Nets Guard Archie Goodwin

On what it felt like watching Brook Lopez hit his first career buzzer beater:“It’s a great feeling because since day one being here, they’ve treated me like I’ve been here all year andthat’s a big thing for me. Especially as a lot of new guys are coming in, you don’t know how the team isgoing to be, but these guys have been great to me. I’m thankful and I’m just glad to be a part of seeing himmake his first game winner. It was a big shot.”

On what led to his effective play tonight:“Just playing the way I know how to play. Be aggressive, getting to the rim and making plays for others,rebounding and just trying to come in with some type of energy. The biggest thing for me I think to help usis to bring energy off the bench and make the right plays.”

On what feels different now with the Nets after watching them earlier in the season:“At the beginning of the year they started off hot and then injuries happen and sometimes things justhappen where you just lose some games and it becomes a trickling effect. But a lot of the games they lostwere close. They had a couple of losses, but a lot of games were close and I was just watching how hardthey played and they played together and I was thinking to myself if they continue to do that, then they’regoing be good down the line because the players are going to get better. They work hard, we all workhard, we’re going to get better and it’s just a matter of us continuing buying in and listening to thecoaches and continuing being ready whenever our name is called.”