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NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: PISTONS v CELTICS

May 26, 2008

Flip Saunders

DETROIT, MICHIGAN: Game Four

Q. Obviously there were a lot of foul calls and some I would assume you didn't agree with. Just talk about your guys keeping their composure and never giving up the lead in the fourth quarter as that was going on.
COACH FLIP SAUNDERS: First of all, tonight was supposed to be like the other night where both the Red Wings win and we win, so that's good for Detroit. So let's get that out of the way.
The number one thing, there's always so much talk about your team at times that when things get a little bit off edge in a big game that we lose our composure, and I thought tonight more than anything, the only guy that got a T, I think, was me.
Our guys kept their composure through things, and I think we were in a situation -- yeah, there were some questionable calls, but I told our guys no matter what we had to keep our aggressiveness. That's how we play. I thought the game was called a lot differently tonight than the previous -- how many games have we played in the playoffs, the previous 15 games or whatever it was. I thought tonight there was a lot more ticky-tack stuff called, both areas, than there was in the previous games we had played.

Q. Could you talk a little bit about McDyess tonight seeing as he was the guy that got you going when you needed it.
COACH FLIP SAUNDERS: I am so proud of him, just how he's been, his leadership, happy for him. You know, yesterday we had a film session. After the film session he was there talking with Chauncey and with Juan, and Juan was very emphatic, almost like a preacher, that we're okay, we're going to be okay, everything is all right. Dyess said, hey, we've been talking that everything is all right. We've got to make it happen. We can't talk about it, we've got to make it happen.
You people have seen him from the years he's been here. I've never seen him with the emotion he has. He's making shots and pump fisting. It's like he's got a new personality. He's definitely hungry, I know that. He has just been huge for us and basically carrying us.

Q. Following up on McDyess, you guys are 3-0 when he shoots at least 12 times from the floor. Just kind of talk about him, as you don't think of him as a primary offensive option but when he shoots a lot you do well.
COACH FLIP SAUNDERS: That means we're moving the ball and finding him. Our offense is playing strong side to weak side. His guy might be leaving to help out a lot. If his guy leaves to help out, he's open and our guys are making the extra pass. So when he's getting a lot of shots and he's scoring, that means as an offense what we're doing as a team that offensively we're in pretty good rhythm.

Q. Can you talk about the opening couple minutes there, you guys got off to that great big lead, 10-0, and how that helped you.
COACH FLIP SAUNDERS: Well, what I told our players, I think our previous three games we were outscored 31-4 in the first three-minutes of each game. 8-0, 12-0 and 11-4, and we can't afford to have that type of situation. We have to set the tone early. If you set the tone early, how you're going to play, a lot of times that's how you finish in games. We set the tone early and I think we finished with that same type of energy.
We needed to do that also to get our crowd into it. Our crowd, we never gave them an opportunity last game. They were on their hands the whole game. We made a little bit of a run after we were down. Tonight we took a hold of the game and we had them playing catch-up for most of the game.

Q. What were the things that you were successful with defensively, especially against their All-Star trio?
COACH FLIP SAUNDERS: I think we just played with a great amount of energy. I think that our guys were locked in, some of the guys talked that we thought in Game 3 that we weren't talking too much together out on the floor. I thought we communicated. I told the guys before the game that we couldn't be mediocre in any aspect of the game tonight, whether it was communication, trusting each other, execution, moving the basketball, and we weren't mediocre. I think it was more of we had the proper mindset tonight.

Q. You guys now are 5-0 after every loss in the postseason. Just talk about the makeup of a team to be able to come back and not lose two in a row.
COACH FLIP SAUNDERS: Well, one, we do bounce back. We give you guys a lot to write about (laughter). When we lose a game and kind of throw one away, then we also have the same thing, well, you know what to expect as far as tonight. No one likes it the way our personality of our team is, and what we've got to do now is we've got to go and win two games in a row. Usually whoever wins two games in a row really takes control of a series usually. Neither us nor Boston has been able to win two, so hopefully we're going to go in there on Wednesday and do what we need to do.

Q. Could you just talk about, Chauncey didn't shoot the ball particularly well tonight, but the three he hit, talk about how important that was for you guys.
COACH FLIP SAUNDERS: I thought in the second half he got a lot more aggressive, trying to create more. He had some messed up situations where maybe he got knocked off balance a little bit or whatever. He was trying to be aggressive in what he's trying to do. I thought Tay made a great play on that. Tay had the shot, and you're kind of in the wing corner a little bit, and he could have shot it and made the extra pass. That's usually where Chauncey is at his best on those threes, on those swings.

Q. You talked about McDyess's offense, but with Rasheed in foul trouble he had to play Garnett a lot, and this is probably Garnett's worst game of this series anyway. He still had a double-double.
COACH FLIP SAUNDERS: I thought we bodied him, he got into him, didn't give him anything easy. Most of his easy shots came off a pick-and-roll situation where they maybe trapped Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, and he threw it back and had some openings. You know, Dyess, he did everything. Defensive rebound, offensive rebound, shot the ball well, set good screens, defended, he did everything. He just said, we were going to play Garnett head-up tonight most of the time, not give any help -- put on the floor anytime, we were going to play him head-up and let our bigs accept that challenge.

Q. After Jason Maxiell went back to the bench, it seemed like he kind of struggled for five games, yet today he did a lot of things. What's the difference in him now? And did he have to adjust going back to the bench?
COACH FLIP SAUNDERS: No, I think that he's had -- his biggest thing, he's had a couple games he's played well for us. It's his energy level. Sometimes when he plays a lot, he uses so much energy that he almost needs a little bit of a rest. He played well last game coming off the bench. Played well as far as tonight, and we had a good rotation, but I think when -- he was laboring, running the other games, and when he's not laboring and he's got that bop into his legs, he's going to be effective, and that's how he was tonight.

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