Detroit: Maurice Cheeks | Greg Monroe | Brandon Jennings
Portland: Terry Stotts | Lamarcus Aldridge | Robin Lopez
On the late and unsuccessful comeback: “The difference was that the Blazers shot three’s. We have talked about it before – they [Trail Blazers] have inside and outside game, but all of their prominent guys shoot three’s. And it happened tonight. We had a chance when Brandon [Jennings] got a layup, the ball came out and it was a two point game then. We had a 10 point run when the Blazers were up. They missed some shots they would have normally made, we didn’t call a time-out, we had a couple of long rebounds and we just stopped playing.”
On Lillard: “He really had two consecutive bad games. He is a confident shooter and tonight he proved how capable of shooting the ball he was. He outplayed us.”
On defense: “I thought in the first half our defense wasn’t so bad, but as we progressed we allowed Aldridge to play more by himself. He was able to separate himself and shoot. I am not satisfied with how we are playing defensively now and we need to get better. Every game you have to make some adjustments. But we did talk about what the Blazers do before the game – we knew they like to shoot three’s. They are able to spread the floor with different shooters and they do it well. They shot the ball well. For the most part, they also did a nice job of rebounding. We need to block more shots.”
On offense: “We still have guys who need to click together better and get in a rhythm. Stuckey missed a lot. Everything is a work in progress. We need to be better tomorrow.”
On his performance: “I had some good plays today, but I am still looking to get better. We have another tough game tomorrow. I have to work on moving better and being more agile. I do not like losing. I am back at it tomorrow. We came close and we didn’t finish. We can’t let that happen tomorrow night.”
On the Trail Blazers: “We all know what Aldridge can do and he has a good support from other guys. They played physically, had rebounds and shot well. Aldridge is a tough cover. He was the best in the game. He is a very good jump shooter. I tried to give him as little space as possible.”
On his performance: “It is a tough loss. We had some good shots, we came back but we didn’t execute well at the end. We had them down to four. But it’s still early in the season and I just look to play better every game as a whole team. We have another one tomorrow and I am focusing on that. And we play another team that likes to shoot three’s. I try to be vocal on the court and we are communicating better every game. In arena tomorrow, it will be tough but I know I can do it. I am satisfied with my one-on-one game tonight, but you win games as a team.”
“I thought it was another solid win. I was pleased with our offense, disappointed with our defense, but ultimately we made stops when we needed to. You can never analyze a win too much, but it was definitely good to get a win and I think it shows we still have room to grow.”
On new additions contributing off the bench: “I wasn’t worried about Mo and Dorell as far as their shooting. They’ve made a career of being excellent shooters. I’m glad for them and I’m certainly glad for us that they had a good shooting night.”
On Lopez: “I love Robin. He just plays hard every minute he’s out there. He gives effort at the boards at both ends. He’s a great team player and does what we need him to do. When he’s able to contribute offensively, that’s great. For him to get a double-double, he’s really an important part of our team.”
What would you like to see improve with defense? “I’d like to get to the point where we’re able to take away other teams’ strengths a little bit better. Detroit did what they did. They are a paint team, they are an offensive rebounding team. We did a better job with the transition defense, but they’re a transition team. I’d like to get to the point where we’re a little bit better at taking away other teams’ strengths. That being said, they shot a fair amount of mid-range shots. Actually, they shot more mid-range shots than they usually. They shot 42 percent from mid-range which is a decent number. If you look at effective field goal percentage, we did a nice job. We took away threes. I would have liked to have rebounded the ball a little bit better. The first half, I would have liked to control their transition a little bit better. Shots at the rim, control that a bit better. Just getting to a point where – teams do what they do, we just need to not let them do it quite as well as they normally do.”
On facing Detroit: “I thought they’re not as sharp as they can be. They have a whole new team, so they’re not the Spurs or Miami, so it was a mental game for us, but I thought guys came and played hard and played the game right.”
On Lopez: “His mom is here so she’s staying for the rest of the season now! He was making post moves and diving to the basket throwing dimes to me. Tonight, he played with that energy and at that level that we need from him. He blocked shots, he rebounded, he scored, he was talking more tonight. I thought his energy was great tonight.”
What do you like about team and being 5-2 now? “Just the growth. We brought in new guys and new additions. I think guys are coming back and being more comfortable. Just being in this system another year, I feel like guys are just growing. Guys are fitting in well. Tonight, Mo was big for us. Off the bench, he just controlled the game, made passes, made shots, and that was big for us. D-Wright came in and made some big threes for us. Joel came in and played active, offensive rebounds. So I think guys are buying into their roles and I think that’s good for us. “
On defense being an area of focus: “There was definitely a little bit of inconsistency with that and that’s something that we’ll have to adjust going forward.”
Is it hard to maintain defensive focus “It is a little bit in a sense, just because mentally you can get lulled into a sense of complacency. That’s something that we just need to fend off. We need to be a little mentally tougher, mentally stronger.
On 9-0 run by Detroit late: “They got a few easy buckets. Some of them were shots I think we wanted them to take – midrange twos and stuff. We really were stressing they didn’t get any threes and we didn’t want any put-backs.”