DETROIT PISTONS HEAD COACH STAN VAN GUNDY: (On Spencer Dinwiddie): “(Spencer Dinwiddie) was outstanding. There was a difference in him in the last two practices. He was going harder, better pace, better motor to him and then he played well tonight. I thought he played an outstanding game. His approach tonight was great. He looked in control handling the ball and running our offense. I thought he did as good a job as he could do playing Derrick Rose. He was poised and didn’t turn the ball over at all in the second half. I couldn’t be much happier with what he did tonight.”
(On defensive effort): “Second half, we were really good. Our fourth-quarter defense was important because we really struggled to score early in the quarter, but our defense kept us in it. I thought everyone worked really hard defensively. I thought our big men did what they needed to do which was, make better efforts to control the paint and contest shots.”
DETROIT PISTONS GUARD REGGIE JACKSON: (On the trade to the Pistons): “I was traded at the deadline, that’s about the story… Happy to be here, ready to hit the ground running. I was in a great organization, great situation before, I enjoyed it, but I’m just happy to be here; happy to possibly be the starting point guard and try to get this team running. We saw the way we played tonight against a great team, played up and down, we banged, we have bigs and shooters, you have everything around you so just come out here and try to play my best and utilize all the weapons and try to rack up as many wins as possible.”
(On his excitement of being a Piston): “I didn’t envision this trade, didn’t know this was one of the trade possibilities. It’s no disrespect to the fans in Thunder nation, I cried tears of joy because I’ve always been a military kid. Growing up, moving around, a lot is more just fit in versus you have a team and someone gives you the keys. I think I had it one time before at Boston College my last year with Steve Donahue, so I’ve always had to grind. I’ve always felt I’ve had to fit in, not necessarily have to be myself. After I got on the phone with Stan (Van Gundy), people don’t necessarily know what happened before, but once I was on the phone with Stan and I got to talk to him about the vision and what we’re trying to do moving forward I broke down and started crying; tears of joy, I was happy. It’s something I’ve always envisioned. If it doesn’t work it doesn’t work, if it does it does, but I’ve always wanted the chance to try and make something special.”
DETROIT PISTONS FORWARD GREG MONROE: (On his play down the stretch): “Just playing. The block is just playing D, helping my teammates. The fadeaway is something I work on. I just don’t use it a whole lot but it’s a shot that I work on. I’m just trying to help my team, do whatever I can to contribute and help us win.”
(On Spencer Dinwiddie’s play tonight vs. Bulls): “It was good. I think he played really well. For this to be the first time he gets major minutes and for it to come against one of the best players in our league matched up against him, I think he handled himself really well.”
CHICAGO BULLS HEAD COACH TOM THIBODEAU: (On tonight's loss): "I thought we played decently in the first half. Second half, we had a lot of turnovers. The Pistons are a good team. If you take away their start you would understand that they played very well ever since. They made their changes. They played at a high level and a high intensity level. So you have to play for 48 minutes. If you let your guard down, you're going to get beat. We've got to bounce back."
CHICAGO BULLS GUARD DERRICK ROSE: (On tonight's loss): "They were aggressive throughout the whole game. Just couldn't find my game tonight. Thank God we've got another one tomorrow because this one hurt tonight."
(On why he struggled throughout game): "Just missing shots I guess. Not touching the ball in a couple of days and coming back. I've just got to catch that rhythm. Just trying to feel the game, wasn't trying to force anything. We were up a couple of times in the game, so I just had to learn from my mistakes."