Toronto Raptors vs. Detroit Pistons
Friday, April 14, 2005 – Air Canada Centre

Mitchell

Did it feel good to execute down the stretch?
Yes. We got the ball into the people’s hands we wanted and we made some shots and we did some stuff. It seemed like we learned from some of the mistakes we made in the past. I thought everybody who played, played hard and played well and tried to do things we asked them to do. I was very pleased with the effort and execution, it’s hard to complain.

On tonight’s performance…
We only committed 15 fouls. We went through a stretch of about three games when we were putting some teams on the line 40 times. That’s something we’ve been talking a lot about, playing defence without getting cheap fouls. Sometimes in the NBA you have to learn every now and then if you get beat, especially early in the game, if you got one quickly, you have to learn and judge when to let a guy go sometimes. That’s hard to say as a coach to give up a basket, but you have to do that, especially if you want the better players to stay on the court. We didn’t commit cheap fouls tonight. Again, Charlie (Villanueva) wasn’t feeling well tonight, but I thought he rebounded and played some tough defence at the three and the four. I thought all the guys played well and their effort was great. It was satisfying and these guys deserve that. They’ve been working hard, they’ve been coming close a lot and they deserve that.

On Mike James…
I thought we got to the free throw line and Mike only took 16 shots and anytime you score 39 points on 16 shots, how more efficient can you be? I think the way Mo (Morris Peterson) has played for the most part this year, his in between game is starting to develop, he’s taking the ball to the basket. I thought Jose (Calderon) came in and ran the show and made some good decisions, he had nine assists and only one turnover. We had nine turnovers at halftime and only had one the whole second half. Especially against that team, their guards pick up, Lindsey Hunter and those guys they pressure you. I just thought we did some good things under pressure and when we move the ball we attack them.

Peterson

MORRIS PETERSON

It was a complete game tonight…
It was. Our guys played well. I’m proud of the way our young guys played, especially Jose Calderon. To be able to do what he did today was big. It was a total team effort. Guys played hard, we rebounded and we played tough. As a result, we won the game. Also, Mike (James) rescued us in the fourth quarter, he was unconscious. He’s been doing that for us all year, making big plays and making big baskets. He made some great plays tonight.

How much of a relief is it to end the losing streak?
It definitely was a relief for us to get the win because we’ve been playing so hard and coming up short. We realized we only had three games left, now we have two. We wanted to win tonight. Like I said, guys played well and guys played together. I thought Loren (Woods) came in and played some good minutes for us. It was a total team effort and I was happy, especially because me, being from Flint, right down the street. At home I have to hear it from my friends when we lose, so at least I can say we beat Detroit when I go back home.

James

MIKE JAMES

Thoughts on his 20-point performance in the fourth quarter…
Whatever it takes to win, I’m just thankful that we were able to pull one out tonight. That’s still a good team, even though they rested a lot of their starters, they’re still a good team. Their bench is going to have to step up in the playoffs to help them win a championship. Even though we played a lot against their second unit, it doesn’t matter, you still have a performance to go out there, you still have to play and those guys still have contracts. We still have to play the Detroit Pistons. I’m glad we played well enough to get a victory tonight.

Thoughts on your performance at the free throw line tonight…
You have to step up there and knock down shots, that’s what it is about. When you’re in that situation, you can’t feel any fear and you can’t think about anything, just go up there and just shoot the ball. I practice free throws every day, so the only thing that will stop you from making them is fear, doubt, and non-belief and all these other things. You go up there, block everything out of your mind and just shoot the ball.

Saunders

FLIP SAUNDERS

It was a good learning experience for the young guys…
Our main guys played really well, especially in the third when they turned the heat up. We worked on some of our trap defences and they were really effective. Then we gave our young guys some fourth-quarter experience against a team that was playing at home with an emotional crowd and was trying to get a win after losing 10 straight. The only thing that would have been better is if they had pulled it out and won it. Overall they did some good things. They did some things we can look at on film and that they can learn from.

Were there any thoughts on your part to go back to the starters?
No. I was probably going to take them out six minutes into the third quarter, but they seemed to be having a lot of fun playing and playing pretty good. So I thought, “let them play”, and entertain them a bit.

Are you planning on resting them for the rest of the regular season as well?
Yeah, pretty much. We want to keep sharp and not be hurt, but still be competitive and have opportunities to win. So I think we’ll pretty much play the same way.

Was Sheed (Rasheed Wallace) experimenting with his left-hand three-point shot?
Yeah, I knew it was time to get him out when he did that.

Billups

CHAUNCEY BILLUPS

Did you want to get out there at the end of the game?
Of course you want to win the game, especially when they made that run and the crowd is going crazy. You want to come in and shut it down a little bit, but it is what it is. It gives our guys that don’t get to play that much an opportunity and lets them play in those tough situations too. It’s a catch-22, you want to get in there and try to win but at the same time they can pull out those wins too.

Your starting unit looked to be firing on all cylinders?
Oh yes, we were crisp. We came in and did what we had to do. Everybody played well and we got out of this healthy.

Are you surprised the Raptors still come out to play every night?
I am not surprised at all about that. All teams go through some tough times and they’ve definitely done that. They have some guys hurt and their main guy is hurt, but I know Sam (Mitchell) is not going to let them come out and give a half effort, that’s just not his character and it’s not him, so I am not surprised at all.

Hunter

LINDSEY HUNTER

The bench played pretty good in the fourth quarter…
We played pretty good, but we didn’t win and that’s our ultimate goal. We made some plays and did some good things. It shows we are a capable bench of doing what needs to be done.

On the playoffs…
We’re excited about it. This is a time of the year we look forward to. Thank God we are all healthy and raring to go. We have a couple more games and we just try to stay sharp and play hard and get a good start on our post-season.