Sabonis, Fox and Coach Brown | Postgame Pressers 12.31.23
All right well get started just what was the mindset when it came to rebounding for you guys tonight uh you know um it’s a team team effort always you know I feel like uh we did a good job um contesting their shots you know and then um I just got to fight
Down there with bibo you know really strong guy and um today was my night and just how how important was it to I guess take the crowd out of it early seemed like you guys took firm control oh it’s big you know we know they’re um very um
How do you say they’re a strong team they get going with energy they’re an energy team and um if we let the the the fans get them going you know it would have been a long night for us so you know we just kept uh pushing and playing playing
Again how what was the mindset to keep them out of the paint they were way well beyond their Beyond under their regular um you know we just kept uh switching the coverage you know uh we were blitzing their main guys uh that’s all coach talked about is no points in the
Paint That’s where we’ve been struggling all year you know so um to do that was a big for us tonight what did you make of just DTE being in the starting lineup and um sort of what what Kevin has to go through now that you know um you know he
Was great he took advantage of his opportunity you know um he goes out there and he was guarding job most of the night you know and um I feel like he did a great job and you know um I don’t know what’s going to happen moving forward you know this was for tonight
You know but um all the guys are Pros they stay ready you know and everyone’s going to take advantage of their opportunity you’ve seen Malik score lots of points in bunches before like like that tonight just what what did his spark mean to you um it’s big you know
Um every time they try to come try and come back in in the game Malik had a big three or a dime or just you know a tough a tough one-on-one move you know so um he really kept us going I don’t know if you had a chance
To Sol but coach was pretty animated on the sidelines as you guys were playing defense uh he was just kind of sliding being I know you got a chance to see that or not but um we see it every night offense or defense he’s some kind of animated for sure anything
Else all right started points in the paint rebounding um defense it was the the type of stuff that I’m sure Mike harps on all the time just what what’s it what’s it mean for you guys to get a win doing those things in particular uh it was definitely great
Obviously knowing um JN and Desmond are two of the best transition players in the league I think they’re both top 10 um and points in transition so um one us not turning the ball over giving them easy baskets uh we only had 12 and then
Uh just being able to keep them out of the paint of course is uh it’s a big thing playing against this team and that that gets them going and um we we were able to limit that and um I think we we had a great game especially defensively
Knowing Malik the way you do what what do you think it means to him to to have a game like that in front of so many people that are close to him a it’s definitely great I mean anytime you come back and you’re and you’re close to home
You definitely want to have a great game and um I mean he 10 for 13 five assists uh five rebounds like you couldn’t ask for for much more with zero turnovers um I think he was excellent for us tonight what was the game plan to
Keep them out of the paint they have a lot of success in the paint with those two players what was the game plan I mean you just want to be physical you want to show bodies um you know you’re not going to stop either one of those
Guys with just one having one person in front of him and then obviously with the way Desmond shoots the ball you want to try to run him off the line but also not let him get into the paint those are difficult things to do at this level um
But I think we did a great job in just being able to show them bodies and staying and uh staying active today whether it’s Chaw or any other of the the elite point guards in the league do you do you take those matchups a little bit personally is there a little bit
More juice in matchups with those guys uh no because we every night you’re playing an elite guard there aren’t many there aren’t many games where you’re not playing against another Elite guard so um you have to be able to bring it every night and I mean even with me personally
I don’t think I had a really good game tonight but um as a team we were able to limit him and um obviously he’s a head of the snake for that team and um that that helped us uh that helped us get that big lead and then we just kind of
Kept our foot on the gas you mentioned the fact that J you didn’t have a good game but what does it say about this team that y’all can still you know dominate a team like Memphis after you not having a great night I mean we have
To be able to do what we did defensively we have to be able to do that as much as you can obviously you’re not to hold a team every game to 36 30 like that’s not possible to do but um if we’re able to do what we did defensively then that
Kind of I don’t want to say gives us leeway but um with me not having a big game but Malik having a big game I mean those are things that as a team that we’ve done in the past as well we’ve have guys we had multiple guys last year
That scored 30 in a game so um as a team we know that we could put the ball in the basket but if we do that defensively um I think it’s going to be extremely hard to beat us Chris was kind of bouncing off the walls before the game
In the locker room just what did you make of just the energy that he had before the game and the way he the way he played particularly defending J I mean he was he was ready um obvious there there have been times where he hasn’t been in the rotation times where
He comes off the bench and tonight he gets a start and then you get the start with the matchup like that um I mean that’s as difficult have match up as as anyone in the league and uh I think he was excellent I think he guard him
Without foul him trying to keep him in front of him um and he just gave us a boost on that end of the court so uh just just like I said with this team we have multiple guys who can do multiple things and he came in he was ready to
Play Man uh heck a game by our guys um I tell you what uh it’s probably the best defense of performance that we’ve had since I’ve been here from start to finish um guys followed the game plan they did a lot of stuff out on the floor it was
Uh really really fun to watch uh Memphis is a good team and I know they miss some shots which it takes sometimes defensively but uh for them at the end of the day to score 92 points on 36 37% from the floor um only one offensive rebound uh
And two second chance points they’re a really good paint scoring team they had 32 points in the paint I think J averages almost 20 points a game in the paint himself uh for us to to play the way we did on that end of the
Floor uh it was it was a lot of fun lot of fun to watch and uh he got a lot lot of Great Performances you know start out with domas he’s just a triple double machine he’s getting triple double after triple double after triple double he’s
Uh one of eight players in the history of the the game history of the game to have five or more triple doubles in a month of December uh that’s Allstar all League MVP uh caliber type Talent right there uh obviously foxy did his job you know
He’s a plus 20 in the plus minus game he had 24 points shot the ball well from the three-point line um and then from there sh you go to a lot of different guys uh Malik was phenomenal um right now he’s not it’s not even close he’s
Leading the charge in six man of the year he’s he’s uh this is the fifth time or sixth time this year where he’s had 20 plus points and five assists uh nobody in terms of reserves is even close to that uh so he’s been phenomenal he was phenomenal on both ends of the
Floor I can’t say enough too about uh his communication his leadership uh again we were kind of getting into the officials a little bit starting with myself and the rest of the coaches and everybody else on the team and Malik just basically said hey leave him alone shut up
And uh you know his presence his awareness all that other stuff was fantastic and we all left him alone after after he said that and that’s when we took off uh you know dorte was big coming off the bench excuse me dorte was big starting for us um you know it’s two
Nights in a row that he had a a tough assignment you know one night he had Trey young tonight he has John Morant and you’re not stopping those guys from scoring you just want to make them work as hard as you can and and dorte did a phenomenal job doing it
Uh Davon uh was fantastic Off the Bench you know defensively he was fantastic uh him touching the paint was great too uh a Lyn was fantastic defensively Off the Bench his rebounding offensive rebounding was unbelievable uh Trey I mean is shooting the mess out the ball right now he was
Great on both sides of the floor we just just a total team uh win and we got the win the right way there haven’t been too many wins that you’ve had this type of rebounding advantage and in the paint Advantage um you came here as obviously a defensive
Coach but your team was really good offensively not necessarily known for its defense yeah so what is a win like this against that type of team I know the record isn’t what it normally is but what’s a win like this mean given the way it happened Chris I me it it should
Continue to let our guys know that if we take care of the controllables defensively you know and I always I talk to our guys about the controllables and you know we we we have to communicate defensively we have to play with the physicality uh without fouling defensively and we have to give multiple
Efforts uh on a single possession until we’re able to finish the The Possession and those three things we have 100% control over we can communicate every night we can be physical without sending them to the line too much and we can just fly around no matter what the game
Plan is and and if a team beats us and we’re doing those things then we can hold our head up high and say hey they were just better than us tonight uh but not many teams will if we do those things because we can score and I keep
Telling our guys offensively is not our problem we’re going to miss some threes but those are the nights that you got to be able to have something defensively give yourself a chance and uh I mean it was it was obvious tonight that when we do those things uh Memphis they are a
Better team than that but when we do those things uh we can win a lot of ball games even that Malik had so many friends and family here just what what do you think tonight meant to him um and what do you what does it mean to you to
To watch him play like that in front of his people I mean I I love all our guys I you know I really do and uh Malik personality just as a human being he’s just a great great man great young man and you know you want him as well as
Everybody else to have their flowers and so for him to perform in front of his family like that you know it’s it’s just a testament to how hard he’s working how hard he’s worked since he’s been here and and the support and connectivity of our group you know knowing that uh he’s
Capable of doing what he’s doing often and uh it just I I didn’t know he his his hometown was 30 minutes he said 30 minutes from here that’s that’s amazing because to me I I mean I know geography a little bit but I was like 30 minutes
Whoa that’s that’s pretty good you know you sneak home get a homecook meal from Mom and come back but uh it was great that they were all here and it was great that he played the way he played while getting a win hey Mike uh you mentioned that you
Appreciate the team’s defense and effort today uh sometime in the second half uh it seemed that you was also getting pretty animated you know sliding you know your arms on the sidelines as the guys are playing defense uh the people back home we just want to hear your
Thoughts about that I I was I watched the highlight of Shaka smart up in Marquette and and and I I I wanted to imitate Shaka but I’m not as quick as he is he’s a little lighter than me uh he a little skinny fella uh but a good man
And that’s why he’s able to move his feet a little quicker I I started to slide my feet and I got tired so I just stayed in one spot and just did like this but Shak was all over the place so I’m shock I’m just trying to catch up
With you baby that’s it that’s it that’s all that’s awesome I was glad you seen that clip and another question was you know your thoughts on just dearon Fox on his ability to shoot the ball um you know only three PR you know tonight B har but just you know throughout the
Course of the year he’s coming up close of passing his career high for most you know uh most three-points made so just uh your thoughts are just his effort you know all just all season even now you know I said this about him before his his work ethic his focus on trying to
Get better in the areas that he knows he has a lot of room to grow has been unbelievable and we talked about it this year you know trying to improve on shooting a three and uh he’s done a great job uh putting the work in Luke LS
Has done a good job working with him with uh uh to help him improve it but uh I I tell you what he’s got he’s got a good good good lady behind him uh re she’s unbelievable uh how competitive she is and how focused and locked in she
Is and I say that because you know the way she pushes him uh when you have a partner that supports you the way that she does while trying to push you to be the best or bring the best out of you uh any man and I’m sure any woman
Too uh can flourish and especially in today’s world cuz it just takes uh one or two people that that that are close to you that believe in you and that won’t let you take your foot off the G gas and it starts with with foxy but uh
Luke has something to do with it and and and his wife for say big big big time gal lady woman mother um she has something to do with it too questions thanks thank you guys
0:00 – Domantas Sabonis
2:07 – De’Aaron Fox
5:36 – Mike Brown
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