What they said after the Hawks’ 115-107 the Pistons Friday night.
“I think the competitiveness of the group for a lot of the game was really good. We got outscored in the third quarter 34-20. We’ll have to go back and look at the film but we can’t give up 34 points in a quarter. I think you have to give Detroit a lot of credit. Different guys stepped up and made plays. Kyle Singler made a couple 3’s late. (Will) Bynum came in and gave them a real floor leader, a real floor presence, late in the game. We weren’t able to get it done but our competitiveness and our activity was significantly better tonight.”
- Hawks coach Mike Budenholzer’s opening statement
“It comes down to our competitiveness and our activity. It’s the only way we are going to have success in this league. If we compete and we are active and we focus on improving and getting better, that will take care of the success that we want to have.”
- Budenholzer on what he told team after eighth straight loss
“It helped us stay in the game. He missed several. I don’t think we scored on the other end every time but it gave us an opportunity. He had a heck of a game. He is a heck of a young player. At that time, we felt it was the best way for us to find a way to win a game.”
- Budenholzer on strategy to foul Andre Drummond in fourth quarter
“Lots of time when we talk about activity, it tends to be defensively. I thought our offensive activity, getting up the court, sprinting into screens, moving the ball, setting screens, coming off screens, all the activity. That leads to better, cleaner looks, better rhythm looks. Obviously, you have to make them. We were playing off our defense a little bit also.”
- Budenholzer on Hawks’ second-quarter success
“We are just hungry for a win. We have a lot of injuries, a lot of guys out, but we feel like we can get a double-digit lead on a team and find a way. We have enough talent to find a way to do it.”
- Elton Brand on Hawks eighth straight loss
“That third quarter, it got away from us. They outscored us by 14. That really set us back. That can’t happen.”
- Brand on difference in the game
“A little bit of both. They definitely stepped up their defense and our offensive execution wasn’t great. We didn’t knock down shots that we normally do.”
- Brand on third-quarter troubles of lack of defense and offense
“It’s not a good feeling. We thought we should have won this one. They had a great third quarter. We just have to try to get one and build off that. Right now, it’s no fun because we are losing.”
- DeMarre Carroll on eighth straight loss
“We couldn’t get any stops. That was the bottom line. They got the 50-50 balls. We pride ourselves on 50-50 balls.”
- Carroll on what went wrong
“My teammates were doing a good job of setting screens for me and getting me open looks.”
- Shelvin Mack on his career-high 21 points
“It’s frustrating. Players have been through this before. We just have to keep competing.”
- Mack on eighth straight loss
“We made two or three hustle plays that winning teams make. If you make those plays, you have a chance to be a winning team.”
- Pistons coach John Loyer
