Postgame Quotes - November 19, 2013

(On Rodney Stuckey at point guard position tonight): “(Rodney) Stuckey did a nice job. He played some back-up point in Sacramento and I think we have to get him more comfortable at playing that some more because obviously for couple years he was the point guard. Clearly he knows how to do it. He knows when to do it. (We) put the ball in his hands and he was able to make plays for us. It wasn’t so much that he was at the point, it’s just that we kept the ball in his hands and he made plays for us.”

(On Kentavious Caldwell-Pope’s defense tonight): “He was good defensively, the way he guarded on the ball. He guarded J.R. Smith pretty good and he is a very good offensive player. He’s seeing a lot of these guys for the first time. So for him to be able to defend them the way that he defended them, it’s pretty good for him, seeing him for the first time. But he guarded on the ball extremely well. That’s the reason why he’s able to be in the game at the end of the game because he can move his feet and he can guard one-on-one as well as anybody on our team.”

(On team scoring effort): “We start the game out by going inside and out and we find things that work and we continue to go to it until it stops.”

(On defense): “I think we’re starting to come together really well, trying to find our spots and perform where we need to be and we’re getting back to our man quickly to run him off the 3-point line.”

(On Stuckey): “When he plays at the level that he’s capable of playing he’s a great player. We all depended on him to play big for us and he’s been doing that.”

(On scoring): “That’s what we need to hold people to. We’re athletic; there shouldn’t be a reason why we can’t do that each and every night. Hopefully we’re turning the corner and we’re establishing ourselves on the defensive end first.”

(On tonight’s game)

(On team composure): “We kind of lost our composure a little bit. Melo (Carmelo Anthony) thought he had a three-point play, which I went back and looked at and it was a three-point play that they took. Then they had a three-second call that I thought they called too early. We were frustrated after that. (Amar’e Stoudemire) Stat ended up getting a tech and Melo got one too.”

(On Game): “We still were in the game coming down the stretch. We just could not get offensive rebounds. We had the big lineup in but three straight possessions we gave up offensive put backs. One was a foul and two were put-backs. Those were big plays coming down the stretch.”

(On second half): “We had some decent looks. I thought the first quarter we really executed when the ball was moving and bodies were moving and as the game wore on I do not know if we got tired; We became very lethargic in not moving the ball.”

(On team’s offensive struggles): “We just have to get back to running. Last year we were running and it was easier for everybody; drive and kick so that guys can get open shots. We just have to do a better job when guys get the ball and they push it. It opens up the floor so we can get easy shots.”

(On team’s defensive play tonight): “They (Pistons) were getting offensive rebounds and second-chance points. I think in the second half, we just didn’t play well. We gave up too many easy baskets and committed too many fouls.”