HEAT Head Coach Stan Van Gundy

Opening Statement:
"I obviously thought the Pistons played extremely well, particularly in the second quarter.
I was very, very disappointed in our defense, particularly in the first half, just gave up too much going to the basket. We were undisciplined, and for most of the might, their four main guys that they looked to offensively, we didn't do a decent job on any of them. That was disappointing. I thought they did a great job taking advantage of Shaq and Zo both being on the bench with fouls in the first half. About the only defensive stretch we had in the first half was when Zo was blocking shots. When he went to the bench, they really took advantage, got a big halftime lead. I thought our guys fought hard to get back into the game, but you know, we got it to four but every time we did, they had an answer.
Just a great, great game by them. I thought their four main guys played well offensively. Ben Wallace was a monster on the boards. I thought they defended us well for most of the game. Just a complete effort on their part. They played extremely well."

Can you talk about the impact it had on your team, only eight minutes from Shaquille in the first half:
"Well, obviously you want your best players on the floor and we didn't get that. He was in foul trouble and, you know, that's not good for us, obviously. But you know you have to deal with things like that, and we dealt with it and we had a big halftime deficit and we're able to come back and close it in the second half. We were close enough to have a chance, we just couldn't get the job done when it counted."

For much of the game you only had like 12 assists, did you feel like you didn't share the ball enough or what was the problem?:
"Well, I don't know, I just think their defense in general was very, very good. You know, they played Shaq one on one in the post, so you're not going to get a lot out of that. We had trouble getting the ball in Dwyane's hand; he had six assists. Our ball movement wasn't great. I think their pressure had a lot to do with it.
I know you're not supposed to say that, that the other team had anything to do with it, I noticed that in the series. But I will say that they did have a lot to do with it tonight. I thought they played extremely well, and we didn't execute real well against it."

HEAT Center Alonzo Mourning

Did the early foul trouble play a big role in Detroit's momentum in the first half?:
"Yeah, I think the early foul trouble did play a big role. I do think the early foul trouble affected our play overall, our approach to the game, and when you are in foul trouble and you see that the referees are calling the game close like that, you tend to be a little bit more passive defensively.
Detroit was more of the aggressor, and when they started calling the game the way they called it, I admit, to tell you the truth, I was a little bit more passionate defensively because I didn't want to pick up another foul because I was just afraid to touch somebody from that standpoint because of the way they were calling it. I mean, I think that did set the tone early, the fouls, the way they were called in the game set the tone of the game, and also set the tone of how we played defensively. But that's no excuse at all. I don't think there's any excuse. We still had an opportunity to get it done and we just didn't get it done."

You guys obviously were in foul trouble, but where was this game lost?:
"Defensively. You know, I don't know what they shot from the field but I'm sure they shot a pretty high percentage because they were getting layups. Our goal is to try to keep them under 40 percent. They shot high 40s, which is I think that might have been the best for the whole series for them so far, it might be the high shooting percentage for the whole series. That's where it got us, it really did, and I think our lack of aggressiveness defensively kind of fueled their play even more, and I attribute I attribute some of our lack of aggressive defensive play because of the way the game was called."

HEAT Guard Damon Jones

You didn't come out with the focused energy that you needed, is it maybe that you guys are happy to get a split here?:
"No, that wasn't the case. Before the game started we were very intense. It just didn't happen. Just didn't transfer. Like you said, we did get a split here, it's 2 2 and we're going back home."

Looked like Dwyane Wade got frustrated out there, he also had some problems with the fouls. What were they doing differently?:
"They just made a concerted effort to try to take the basketball out of his hands. I don't think he got frustrated. You know, when you're going to the basket very aggressive, you know, the whistle is not going your way, you may react once or twice, but I think he kept his poise and he came back and we still had a great game."

What do they have to do to get you the open shots?:
"You know, it's not good giving me more open looks. It's about our team just playing better basketball. I only scored eight points the last game and we still won. It's not about me, it's not about any one individual, it's about us as a team playing collectively, better than we did tonight."

Was their offensive proficiency an issue of them playing the offense they wanted to play?:
"We didn't fight like we did in Game 3. We fought for maybe 32, 33 minutes and we had a lapse of 14, 15 minutes and against a good basketball them, you have to put a total 48 minute game together to be successful, and we didn't do that tonight."

HEAT Guard Dwyane Wade

It seemed like they tried to face guard you when he didn't have the ball and when you did have the ball they were just swarming you. Can talk about what they tried to do with you tonight?:
"That's exactly what they did. They had Rip face guard me a little bit when I didn't have the ball and when I had it, I guess they tried to apply more pressure on the ball, but the same thing they have been doing every game when I've got the ball. So it wasn't any different to me."

The defensive effort today, they changed obviously, put Hamilton on you, did the fact that he's faster, did that affect your game, as compared to the previous game when Tayshaun was the primary defensive man?:
"No. Not at all.
You know, when I got the ball, I got any shot I wanted. You know, I hit some, I missed some. It wasn't a big thing to me at all."

There were certain times when you seemed to be a little frustrated. Were you frustrated with the lack of cause, defense or just missing shots or what was going on?:
"Just different parts of the game. I mean, as a player, you always when things don't go right, you get mad when you do something wrong, of course, and that's all that was. You know, I came back the next play after that and the next play after that and the next play after that.
It wasn't anything, it wasn't a cause, I'm not crying about cause. It wasn't missing shots. I was getting mad in different situations and bouncing right back."

HEAT Forward Udonis Haslem

Did you feel they had more intensity to start the game?:
"Started out hard but we have nothing to do with their intensity. All we can do is worry about how we come out and how intense we are and that's what we've got to focus on."

The first half and no turnovers, almost perfect it seemed like offensively:
"They are a great defensive team and when they get it going offensively, they are just that much more defense dangerous.
We didn't play team defense and the things that we usually do and the things that we talked about tonight."

Do you feel good about getting a split knowing the next two out of three are at home?:
"We wanted to win both but it's better than going home winning neither game, going home 0 2. We got a split and we go home and move on to the next game."

Detroit Pistons Head Coach Larry Brown

Openining Statement:
"I figured since there was a lockout and there weren't any openings, I would wear this shirt (Detroit Red Wings jersey)."

Can you explain the move you made putting Hamilton as the main defender on Wade rather than Prince in this game?:
"We just wanted to change up. We didn't know if we were going to go the whole game and you know, we were thinking about whether foul trouble would dictate who would play him. You know, Lindsey played him for about 15 minutes, as well. But the kid is a great player. You know, you can't give him the same look. At the end, he almost brought them back by himself."

Two things: 17 assists, no turnovers, have you ever seen that in a game, in the first half? And can you talk about overall the difference, the other night you lost your poise and you talked about that and tonight obviously wasn't an issue. Talk about the difference tonight and the other night, and keeping your poise:
"Well, you know, we've had a couple of games this year, really where we've had very few turnovers. I think this is the second game this year that I can remember we had zero. We went through a period of time where we had an awful lot of assists. I think when we play our best is when we share the ball and it goes from side to side. I just looked at the stat sheet briefly, but we had five guys take double figure shots, and that's always a good thing.
Game 2 and Game 3, I thought we lost our poise. We let a lot of things affect us. And then I think to their credit, they executed great. All three games with five or six minutes to go, the score has been tied. Game 1, we got it done by good execution. Game 2 and Game 3, they were far superior to us. Tonight we just I thought we took care of the ball the whole game and that was the key. We didn't give them any run outs. You know, Ben might have struggled shooting the ball but he was phenomenal on the boards. I think we got many more second chance points, which always helps your shooting percentage, and we got, I think, more fast break situations which, you know, I think really helps us."

Talk a little about the job Elden did tonight, not only for your team but his impact on Shaquille O'Neal:
"I think everybody is aware of the contributions he made in the locker room, which is equally as important. But Joe (Dumars) felt all along that if we were fortunate to get this far and had to play Miami, we needed a post defender, and somebody who is a skilled offensive player, as well, because you need multiple fouls if you're going to have any success against them. Even though we don't try to hack a Shaq and never done that, it seems to me, it just gets us in foul trouble, but we need Elden. You look tonight, Rasheed had two fouls, played 20 minutes and fouled out. Dyess had three fouls in about five minutes. Ben got in foul trouble. So it was vital we had him."

Pistons Guard Chauncey Billups

Chauncey, talk about the first half. You guys came out, 17 assists, no turnovers, you seemed to handle the adversity of the 2 1 deficit flawlessly:
"Yeah, we came into this game very focused. You know, we knew that it was a must win, basically, and our backs were against the wall.
Like I said all along, unfortunately, that's when we're at our best, when we're challenged and when our back is against the wall. You saw that tonight."

It's unusual for a guy to play nine minutes and get two standing ovations from his teammates when he comes off the court; would you comment on Elden Campbell's role for that?:
"Well, it's a little tricky because Elden, you know, he knows that this is his time, you know what I mean. That's why we've got so much confidence in him in this series, because he's so big and he's just not a body out there. He can bring us offensive presence.
So we notice him out there working. He's an older veteran, so for him to be coming out, giving it his all and fighting big Shaq like that, we just really appreciate it. When he comes in and gives us those great minutes that he gave us today, you know, when he comes out, we're going to let him know that it's greatly appreciated."

With all of the talk about your coach and Cleveland and all that, what does it say about this team that that didn't seem to be a factor at all tonight?:
"Like I said, y'all are talking about that and whoever else, we've got bigger things at hand. We're worried about the Miami Heat, not what Coach is doing or whatever. That don't mean nothing, you know what I mean. We don't really care about all that right now. We're worried about trying to win a series, you know what I mean, trying to defend our championship, not what's going to go on after the season. We've still got a season to play. That's not been affecting us. They have been talking about different teams all season long with Coach, and who knows what's going to happen, but at this point nobody really cares. We just hope that he gets healthy and right now, we're worried about the Miami Heat and not anything else."

Pistons Forward Tayshaun Prince

What was the difference tonight in the defense against Wade; he got his points but he had to work a lot harder for them?:
"They did a tremendous job tonight. Lindsey did a great job, but we had to switch up something. Rip did a great job just trying to keep him busy a little bit. Obviously it was a different situation tonight where Rip just kind of picked them up a little bit and made him work a little bit coming up the court. Definitely, it was a great defensive job by everybody tonight. I know the score was high, but we did great things limiting turnovers on our part and just got to continue to concentrate more."

Is this another example of you guys coming through with your backs against the wall?:
"It was just a situation of you're down 2 1, the crowd was into it tonight again which helped us out, but we made some shots early. We kind of got into the groove and ran some plays and things worked out well for us. Both teams got in foul trouble. The difference was, you know, Lindsey and Rip putting on defensive pressure, and that's how we've got to play it."

Pistons Center Ben Wallace

Why do you think it takes you guys to be down before you get your real effort?:
"I don't know. We got a good win tonight. We go to Miami and see what they do."

With everything else going on, with Coach Brown, how are you guys able to stay so focused, especially the first half, zero turnovers?:
"I don't know. We got a good win tonight and we're going to take it down to Miami and see what we do down there."

What did you think of the effect of putting Rip on Dwyane did for you guys defensively?:
"I don't know. We got a good win tonight and we're going to take it down to Miami and see what we do. (Laughter)."

Pistons Guard/Forward Richard Hamilton

When did you find out that you were going to be guarding Wade and what was your reaction?:
"No, I wasn't it wasn't something that somebody told me. I wanted to. You know, Coach didn't even know I was going to guard him, at the beginning, I just started with him and see how it goes."

You went to Larry and said "I'm going to take him"?:
"Yeah."

Is that how it works?:
"Yeah, I think Coach has a lot of confidence in us.
When we come out and do scouting reports, he never says, you guard this person or whatever, whatever. He allows us on the floor to make up our own decisions on who wants to guard who."

When did you decide you wanted to guard him?:
"Last game. But I didn't really say nothing until the beginning of the game. I said to Tayshaun, 'I'm going to give you a break, I'll guard him in the beginning and see what happens.'"