Thursday, April 24, 2008

Sixers - Pistons reaction Game 2

Maurice Cheeks

"This is not a secret. This is how they play. Chauncey, Rip, Rasheed, Tayshaun, those guys, that's one of the blessings that Flip has on their team. They have different guys that can deliver. You can see the aggressive play of Rip, the wau he was coming off the screens. You can see the aggressive play of Tayshaun. They still post the ball to Rasheed but it was different guys, but it wasn't just the one guy, it was several guys. Then Chauncey got into it in the second half, making the shots that he normally makes. We just have to do a better job of guarding those guys one on one, which we talked about."

Andre Iguodala

"They played good tonight, they played Detroit basketball and they got the win tonight. We just need to come back for Game 3 and be ready to attack and I will be ready. They got that lead in the first half and then went ahead and turned it up another notch in the second half. They were clicking everywhere and they were the Detroit Pistons that you are used to seeing."

"They just did a good job of getting us out of our offense tonight and they stepped up defensively. They were trying to get the ball out of my hands by doubling on the pick-and-rolls and they had a great game plan as far as taking the ball out of my hands."

"They just shot the ball well tonight. They played well on all cylinders and they took away the things that we normally get."

"They had five weapons out there and every guy was making shots. Even with the rotations, and even though we were getting there, they were still knocking down tough shots and relentless on the glass getting second chance points."

Flip Saunders:

"We talked a little bit the other day and I had told him (Prince) he's the one guy I thought had the ability to do more things, putting it on the floor, being more aggressive to the rim and really taking a hold of things. I thought that he played with that edge tonight. That's very much a credit to him."

"I thought we were definitely more attentive to helping each other out. Moved a lot better, didn't stand around and watch each other. Much more aggressive both offensively and defensively and looked like we had better legs than we had our last game."

Chauncey Billups

"We were focused. We had a good night. We were really locked in with the things we had to do, that we emphasized the last couple days. We never let up. Everybody, you look at the stat sheet, all the starters played so good, shot the ball so well. Young guys game in and played great. I thought we were just locked in."

"We came out aggressive, attacking the basket. Whenever we had opportunities. Defensively, just picking up the pressure a little bit, just playing the way that we play and trying to sustain that for the entire 48 minutes."

"They (bench) played great, We finally gave them an opportunity to come in and not worry about the pressure of coming back or looking over the shoulder. We gave them an opportunity to preserve. We came out and played good, we came out and sat down and they came in and did the same thing."

"That Game 1 was a big wake-up call for us. We learned from it. You see the way that we came out today and the way that we executed and took care of business. We know that that team can beat us if we're not playing the right way. And they showed us that early in the series and it was a good wake-up call for us."

"I wanted to start out the game aggressive but Tay had it going so good, Rip had it going so good, all the starters with the exception of me shot over 10 shots and shot a great percentage. So some nights that's my job. I've got to look and see what's going on. I have to just fall back and let guys that are feeling good play good and do what they've got to do. I don't play for stats, I play for wins anyway, so it was great."

"Dyess was huge. I know he was really frustrated with how the other night ended up for him. He kind of struggled a little bit, he was kind of too excited. He came out today, calmed down, and really just put together a great game at both ends."

Rodney Stuckey

"The first game we knew that we came out flat. We gave them a chance to win the game. Our focus was just to come out in the second half and just keep it up, just keep the intensity up, defense and offensively. We came out with a chip on our back and came out and just played hard."

"It was a wake-up call. It happens. It's past us now. We just have to get ready for Game 3."

"Tonight our bench stepped up like always. We just come in and get the job done. Our starters started it off. They weren't joking around this time. They came out, got a good lead, held it, and we came in and did the rest."

"The first game I just wasn't being aggressive. That's what all these guys said, I was being passive. It was my first playoff game but that's no excuse though. The second game I was just being aggressive,getting to the basket, trying to create for my team."

Antonio McDyess

"Definitely. Not only that, just the way I played, my performance last game. I just feel like I didn't help the team so I wanted to come out and be aggressive tonight and just concentrate on helping the team."

"No question. We were very disappointed. We gave the game up. I felt like we had plenty of opportunities to win. It's just tough to lose your first game at home against a team you totally have an advantage over. But things happen. We just came out and made a statement tonight."

"I just wanted to come out and play hard. 'Sheed definitely carried us that first game. Just to come out and help in any kind of way I could was a plus for me because I played pretty horrible the last game. Collectively as a team I think we did a great job and got this win."

"I didn't know but Rip looked up just on time, just to see me coming down the court and get that shot off. A couple players were like, 'Oh, that was a play, huh?' Nah, I didn't mean it. Max liked to break my ankle on that."

"I think the biggest difference was taking away their transition points. They love to get out in transition and score. I think we did a great job of getting back and Tayshaun did a heck of a job on Iguodala, just not letting him have his way on the court. He always starts their offense and gets them going. Collectively we really were talking out on the floor. I think that was the biggest difference."

Rasheed Wallace

"That's just how we play, just play team basketball. It's not one star on here, We don't have no specific go-to guy. Everybody can contribute to the win, bench included."

"We're just taking shots that they gave us. I don't think anyone forced any shots out there tonight. We just took what the defense gave us, tried to catch them in rotation or whatever, and played basketball."

"We did that the first game also. It was a good battle on the boards, I think, with both teams in that first game. But tonight we just tried to go out there and do what we did in that first game. We did a lot of things right but we just didn't make shots down the stretch in that first one. Tonight we did that."

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