Cavaliers 97, Pistons 84
Game Quotes: Cavaliers vs. Pistons - December 31, 2005
COACH MIKE BROWN
(On the game)
I thought our guys did a nice job of playing as close to 48 minutes as possible. I have been preaching that all year, and this is really the 1st time that I saw it against a really good team. Detroit went on their runs and we were able to withstand their runs. I thought our guys did a nice job of contesting shots. We did get lucky a few times, they missed some open shots, but in order to beat a good team sometimes you’ve got to get lucky. Not only that, I thought our guys on their own made some adjustments in the 1st half. Ben (Wallace) had 7 offensive rebounds, in the 2nd half he had two. The first quarter, we started out with five or six turnovers, we ended the game with ten. So to get that kind of production from a team as a whole against a very good team gives you a chance to win down the stretch. Like I keep telling our guys if we find a way to get stops we will be able to get out and run. To score 20 fast-break points against a very good team is another thing coming into the game you don’t even thing about doing.
(Talking about individual players)
‘We had some individual guys step up and do some nice things. Both of our bigs, Drew (Gooden) and Z (Zydrunas Ilgauskas) rebounded extremely well. You can’t say enough about the combination of Larry (Hughes) and LeBron (James). Those two guys played fantastic on both ends of the floor.”
(Question about beating the Pistons)
“It feels good. Again they missed some shots, but I thought we had a little bit to do with it to because we were there most of the time throughout most of the night. This is the 4th or 5th game that we have done that, not this low, but that have held guys to 43% or below. 43% if you can hold teams to that, you are going to have a chance to win a lot of ballgames. This is what I keep preaching to the guys, I keep preaching to the guys that our defense fuels our offense. I thought that was evident tonight by the low percentage and the 20 fast-break points that we got.”
(Question about having 5 Cavaliers in double figures tonight)
“I think we are going to win more games if we get stops. It’s great that we have 4 or 5 guys in double figures. We want to stay away from those types of ballgames. If we can continue to try to focus on the defensive end of the floor and getting stops we will give ourselves a chance to win against almost anybody in the league.”
(Importance of this game)
“Yes this game does help because that is the best team in the league, but we have to keep going no matter who we play on that end of the court….Anytime you play the best team in the league and get a win it feels good. But I look at it is we got to win our next ballgame just like this ballgame. I said coming in, yes it is the Pistons, yes they are the best team in the league, but we need a win.”
LEBRON JAMES
(On the team bringing their A game)
“We knew we had to bring our A game today. They are either first or second in the league. We had to bring our A game and that’s what we did.”
(On locking down defensively)
“Defensively we just tuned in, every assignment that we had and every assignment that we practiced yesterday. And we just executed.”
(On Mike Brown’s system being put to use in the last couple games)
“We feel like we got to protect each other. We can’t win by ourselves defensively and offensively, and we just trust one another. It’s working and you can see that. We are holding teams under 45 percent shooting. Detroit only shot 35 percent today.”
DONYELL MARSHALL
(On holding Detroit to under 35 percent shooting)
“This is a very big step especially after the game we had against Atlanta. I’m sure a lot of people were down on us and didn’t think we were a “for real” team. To come back and get a victory like this is big, but not even just today, but Miami, Indiana, the other two Chicago games. To be able to come back and play the way we have speaks volumes for us. It is a great way to close out the year.”
(On going through Detroit to go far in the playoffs)
“As soon as the game started, I looked at Damon Jones and said, “If you can’t get up for this game then you can’t get up for any game.” It’s just like when Chicago won a championship. They had to go through Detroit. I told LeBron, “If we want to go deep, then this is the team we have to go through and this is the team we have to beat.” We were able to get this one, but we still have to play them three more times. We can’t think that they are going to lay down for us.”
LARRY HUGHES
(On beating a quality opponent)
“Those guys have played well throughout the season. They are expected to do big things. They are in our division so it’s definitely a big win. This is a good team coming in our building. We think that we are supposed to win.”
DREW GOODEN
(On bringing the intensity)
“We brought a lot of intensity. Not only us, but the fans, everybody was in the game today. Our bench, everybody was in the game. That gave us a lift and we built off that.”
HEAD COACH FLIP SAUNDERS
(On the game)
“They (Cavaliers) came out and were very aggressive. And, as I told the guys before the game, in an emotional game like this, they’re going to play extremely well, they’re going to play aggressive, and you have to match their intensity and makes shots. The two things you need to do to start the game, we didn’t do. We hung in there, then they went on that barrage at the beginning of the second quarter, and it seemed we never could muster enough to get a run to get up over the hump. So, we never really gave ourselves a chance. They did a nice job defensively on both Chauncey and TP (Tayshaun Prince). When two of your main cogs go 4-for-23 (FG), it’s going to hurt your shooting percentage and hurt your offensive flow.”
(On rest of Cavs besides James)
“Marshall came in and did a great job for them. He hit some big shots and he hit two threes when it was 21-20. Before you know it, it’s 30-21. They (Cavs) did a nice job. We said we had to control tempo, they controlled the tempo. We didn’t give ourselves a chance down the stretch to make it a game. That’s maybe the most frustrating thing. They were very aggressive and I think we were looking to draw a lot of fouls. Sometimes when you fall behind, you play out of character, and I think that’s what we did a little bit. We played out of character. Some had to do with how they played, and something had to do with how we didn’t play. “
(On defending LeBron James)
“Great players in this league are going to score. He’s going to get his, 25 to 40 (points). That’s just going to happen. What you don’t want to do is let other people do things as far as get off . And, I think tonight was a situation where some people rose up and hurt us.” ith a lot of young players and that comes in time.”
BEN WALLACE
(On the rest of the Cavaliers without James)
“They come to play every night. That’s all you have to do in this league to be successful, is come ready to play every night. Something is gertting done every night when you know you’re doing that.”
CHAUNCEY BILLUPS
(On the game)
“It was just one of those games. We got pretty much what we wanted anytime and we just couldn’t knock it (shots) down. I had too many turnovers. You come up with those games sometimes where you can’t catch a break. Every time we made a run, that next big play, we couldn’t make it. It happens. They (Cavaliers) came out and played good. You have to give them credit. But, it was just one of those games.”
(On falling behind and having to rely on jump shots to get back into a game)
“Not really. You’ve just got to play the same way. If you keep getting good shots, the shots you usually get, just keep firing away. If you’re going to make them, you’re going to make them. If not, they’re going to extend the lead. You’ve just to keep playing the same way.”
(On the rest of the Cavaliers besides LeBron James)
“I think they played good as a unit. The entire unit, everybody played good. They’re tough when everybody can contribute like that, as opposed to when LeBron having a great game. When he plays great, and everybody else plays good, they’re tough.”
TAYSHAUN PRINCE
(On the Pistons offense)
“Early on, we had a lot of open looks, we had all the looks. Once we couldn’t make them, they (Cavaliers) just kept playing the same defense. I would have done the same thing. Usually, after we miss some shots, we heat up a little bit and teams start changing their defense as we start making some shots. We couldn’t get anything going in the whole first half. We missed a lot of layups, we missed some easy shots and they continued to stay with the same defense and didn’t have to change anything up. It was basically Rip (Hamilton) and Rasheed (Wallace) who were the only ones making shots. From a perimeter standpoint, we don’t make any shots and that’s the kind of day it was going to be. Coach Flip (Saunders) talked at halftime about taking the ball to the basket, be aggressive and try to get to the foul line. They were leaving us so wide open on the perimeter that you don’t want to dribble into the defense. We played horrible offensively. We got all the shots that we wanted.”
(On defending LeBron James and how rest of Cavs played)
“The thing about it is, if you keep him out of the paint, then that means you have to sag off your man, and he’s probably No. 1 in the league as far as finding open men. So, if you want to keep him out of the paint, you’ve to sag in, and he finds guys. It’s kind of pick and choose your poison with him as far as do you want to contain him, let him shoot outside shots or let him penetrate and get help. They won the game pretty successfully without Damon Jones making threes. It’s a good win for them and, obviously, a bad one for us.”
