OKC Thunder Full Media Availability | Post Game vs Brooklyn Nets | December 31, 2023

OKC Thunder Full Media Availability | Post Game vs Brooklyn Nets | December 31, 2023

Chad um Mark said there was a nice tone change for you guys defensively to start that second quarter uh what do you feel like you guys did uh on the defensive side of the ball to to change the script there uh I think we picked up our energy

Um early in the game they were making shots from the outside uh and some of that was uh them coming out ready to play and some of that was uh us just being a little late on some rotations and Closeouts um and once we picked that up

We really made shots tough on them and uh started to get some stops Shay calendar year 2023 you guys have won at about a 50 win Pace I just wanted to uh see your thoughts on the growth that you’ve witnessed from this group and experienced together uh over the course

Of this last year he we’ve done a lot better we put in a lot of work um I expect this to get better I’m not surprised um yeah we got to keep going keep getting better Shane um we we saw a few weeks ago teams started to pretty dramatically

Play off of Josh they guard him with some centers uh and he talked he told Mark that he had not really been played that way and kind of threw him off he seems to have adjusted to that I just wonder what you’ve seen from him in the

Last couple weeks and what you’ve seen maybe the change in his confidence being guarded that way yeah he’s doing exactly what I expected um I said this before every young player gets thrown different looks and has to adjust um especially early in their careers I’ve had to go

Through it um teams are going to try to scheme and take you out of your comfort zone and that’s what we saw um and Josh did exactly what he supposed to learn from it get better and attack it and he was killing it tonight for sure CH same

Thing have you have you noticed a change just in the way he’s adjusted to that yeah 100% um you know he’s coming out extremely confident and aggressive and that’s what we expect from him uh you know he works extremely hard at his Craft um you know going back to shoot at

Night um and really putting the effort to um be able to play his game and um those are good shots for him and us as a team and uh you know he’s knocking them down now and uh he’s going to continue to do that I obviously didn’t play last year but

For for both of you obviously earlier this year you’re you’re barreling toward the plan you end this year not having lost 10 games just could either of you just reflect on on this past year as a whole um I think it’s just like any year

Uh lots of UPS lots of downs um lots of lessons to learn and I feel like we’ve done a good job of of learning from those lessons and uh we’re going to carry that into the new year New Year’s Eve crowd always a special crowd in open the city and the tradition

Of playing on New Year’s Eve can both guys speak to the crowd and like the energy that they were there tonight and then tell us what you guys are doing for New Year’s Eve and bring it in4 yeah they uh they bring it every single night New Year’s are not um and

And tonight was another night where they brought the energy and it really picked us up as the game got going um you know we really fed off the crowd after that first quarter um and uh we’re always appreciative to have them um um you know holding it

Down just for both of you uh when you got the balance scoring like you had tonight especially the starters how do you feed off of that in terms of the assist I mean the assist numbers up I meanes that really kind of just make you

Want to look for the open man more even more so I guess uh yeah go ahead yeah we just try to put it right way um whatever is going on who’s scoring who’s not scoring we don’t we don’t notice we just try to all be aggressive play our strengths and

Then play the right way and put our teammates in the best advantage to score um I think that’s how we go about it y 100% um seems like you been a little bit more fysical over the last few weeks is that more so you getting more comfortable learning the NBA as you go

Along um no I feel like I got to turn up the physicality uh I haven’t been perfect or completely terrible in any games but you know I feel like I got to be better in those areas um so yeah for chat a lot of your offensive influence people talk about KD and other

Players like that but defensively who have been the biggest influences on your career and just how you play defense Um part of it just I guess instincts part of it uh coaching part of it teammates um just trusting me to have their back um on C plays especially at The Rim um and then uh I guess it’s more like film than specific people when you’re watching for

Uh you know defensive stuff um so a lot of combinations of of things and then for Shay last week after the next game you talked a lot about their identity as a team under tip that they’re going to play really physical they’re going to play a lot of Defense overall what’s the

Identity of this team so far as we go into 2024 and how much can you just I I guess decide this is what the identity is versus just playing it out yeah um you play Fast um you play physical we get into the ball um we like

Uh we pride ourselves on defense um and then offensively we play uh very free flowing like uh everyone can handle everyone can pass shoot dribble um I play off each other yeah you guys um you didn’t do it tonight but you’ve been turning people over a lot what makes you such a good

Takeaway team and what was happening tonight where that didn’t really happen um we have really good onall Defenders um we have obviously Chad defens um and they can they they did a I think they did a good job of take careing the ball um they probably made it a point of

Emphasis I don’t know um but uh 82 Game season you’re not going to turn everyone over as much as you like every night um but we’ve done a pretty good job of that so far in this on this particular subject what does Chad do because we we talk a lot about his Rim

Protection I just block shots but so what does he do to to to create well he because he’s so good at The Rim he allows us to pressure the ball um funnel funnel offensive players towards him yeah um and in for a big he has great hands yeah defensively and

Offensively I’d say the way I hope that is um when guards know that I’m going to be there they don’t just get a free run at The Rim um so they kind of slow down and then they’re um that’s given whoever’s behind a chance to to catch up and and deflect

Either the dribble or the pass um after that so just kind of um presentation I guess and making the offense have to think and um you know make the second play J it seems like game to game you’re getting better at setting screens what goes into screening at this level and

Any adjustments you’ve had to make in that category just understanding uh coverages and schemes and what other teams are doing uh that that affects the way I’m screening the Angles and the kind of uh attacks out of that um so kind of learning as I go um to see that

In game in real time and adjust anybody else thanks Guys Gallow casy Thunder uh Isaiah Mark said that the tone that the group had to start the second quarter uh was really impactful what do you remember kind of feeling about that time of the game and and what you guys were able to do to change that defensively yeah we just uh

Picked up the intensity um it started on defense and doing so was able to get our offense going a little bit but we just had the stram together stops you know keep stacking possessions and that’s what we did starting in the second you know it led to the bigger Victory you

Guys have nights like this with just great offensive balance so many different guys in double figures what’s leading to that um how is that being generated um first getting stops and then on the offensive end just uh keeping it moving the ball has energy and when never we whenever we get it

Moving we generate really good shots um and that’s what we did tonight you know we just trusted one another and kept it moving and kept getting good looks a few weeks ago teams really started to Sag off Josh they played him with their Center a lot you haven’t seen

That every game but they did it again tonight he looked a lot more confident guys were finding him from three what what’s it do for you guys when he’s playing that way and and how did how have you seen him kind of come through that stuff yeah well first off Josh is a

He’s a professional you know he took it upon himself to really put in work to be able to knock down the shots whenever they start to do that and I think he’s done a really good job thus far whenever they’ sagged off he’s made them pay the

Majority of the time and so we’re going to keep finding them I mean if they’re going to Sag sag off we we would love for Josh to take all the open threes you know cuz he’s been knocking him down so he’s doing a really good job and I think

Just as a team we just got to keep um you know finding an open man no matter the situation there’s a lineup you guys rolled out there it was you Josh Shay kenri it’s a small lineup basically what I’m trying to get to just I know you guys

Run that a lot just what’s your mindset just going you know basically almost four point guards on the floor at the same time guarding against these bigger guys yeah I mean just be active be physical um obviously when they’re you know the bigger Team U we really got to

Key in on rebounding you know getting stops and finishing our rebounds and then once we get the rebound with that lineup we can run the floor you know I think teams really struggle to get back with us um during those stretches so as long as we’re you know physical on

Defensive end and finishing every possession with a rebound we can get out and run I see I’m curious because in those lineups when you’re with Jay will it felt like when Brooklyn was kind of blowing up some of those actions and you guys are getting ran off the line

Whatever you kind of have to kick out constantly it feels like you and and Jay will always know where the other is just could you describe your connection with him and just what you guys are like together on the floor just chemistry you know I think you’ve been around when

You’re around somebody for you know a you know a portion of your life if you just build a chemistry on and off the court and when we’re on the floor together we just have a net you know for for finding each other finding open spots uh he’s seen my game since we were

Younger I’ve seen his game since we were younger and you know we just build off that and I think going out there um each game with him you know we just compliment each other very well this year or you’ve been uh beneficial of the gravity Shay create the last two years

And this year seems like it’s grown um what goes into that chemistry that you guys have with not not just him but everybody on the floor where you guys know exactly where to be when he drives and just three four guys collapse on him

And he gets it to you right on point and you like I said you guys know exactly where to be what goes into that chemistry uh shoot I mean you just see it so much over the course of time you know that when he drives he’s going to

You know either grab you know grab somebody from the baseline or the person that’s at the top is going to you know try to trap the span or whatever you just know to find Windows and when we find Windows and just play on the catch

Um you know we’re a hard team to beat so every time he drives he’s if they don’t if he doesn’t draw two then he’s getting a bucket you know it’s Shay so uh when he draws too it’s just about us finding cuts and finding the windows so whenever

He does get ready to pass it he has outlet and then from there we just play on The Catch and Mark talks about how he doesn’t want you guys playing One Singular way but no matter the way you guys play the ball can continues to move

What’s been the key for you guys uh continuing to have the ball move uh I mean just don’t let it stick uh just don’t get stagnant out there when we’re not stagnant um like I said we’re we’re a tough team to be because we can play

Fast we can score at multiple levels you know get to the rim we have great mid-range play and we got people that can stretch the floor so when we’re just playing fast and putting teams in rotation it just creates open looks for us all game can you speak on the crowd tonight

Obviously New Year’s Eve crowd it’s a you know it’s a thing tradition here at Oklahoma City where they play on New Year’s Eve and they sound it pretty loud tonight could you hear it and then I mean how are you ringing in 20 24 yeah man our crowd has been amazing All

Season uh you know I want to T tip my hat to them because uh they bring a energy that is needed day in and day out so you know I’m really we’re really blessed to have the OKC crowd out there you know cheering us on every game um

Just uplifting us no matter the circumstances um and just hopefully we can keep that going in uh next next year happy New Year thanks isah thank you have a good one Mark the the defense uh really clamped down after that first quarter uh were there any tactical things that you guys uh did differently uh second through four um or did you guys just do it better basically um I thought the tone to start the second quarter was really

Good by the group uh that started off there uh we we just were a little flat early uh and then amped it up pretty good and then a lot of switching you know we we uh downsized and were able to switch them and it stopped their drive

And kick uh and they just weren’t able to start the blender as much as they were uh against our coverage we didn’t do it exclusively but that was a huge uh key for us defensively you all had a really great balance offensively is a lot of that Downstream from what you

Were talking about defensively just kind of pulling the ball off the rim after so many misses and getting out and and playmaking for each other yeah I thought there were a couple moments where um you know we I wouldn’t call it sticky but I just thought we didn’t make the early

Play uh in transition I thought you know we had a lot of opportunities tonight to do that but when we did we got really really good stuff and uh the game was fun when we did that so uh we did it enough obviously to have a really good

Offensive night but um definitely had to course correct a couple things during the course of the game we talk pregame about how not everybody’s goinging Josh the same way they did it a little bit early with claxon and had him back I just wonder how you thought about the

Way he responded and also the the way he shot the ball seemed pretty confident yeah I thought the guys did a good job of finding him there was that play we were on a a different action and Jaylen just snapped it to him uh in the second

Half early in the third uh so I think it’s powerful when you know your teammate gives you confidence by just throwing you the ball in that situation he obviously stepped into those with confidence I thought we handled it pretty well I mean it’s now uh multiple

Times that we’ve seen that so it’s not unfamiliar to us um and we just continue to grow you know it’s just another attack that we have to have and and what did you think just of his general just his floor game and kind of it seems like

An extension of the way he’s been playing recently yeah he’s played well and I thought his defensive intensity tonight was uh particularly good I thought he was pretty locked in on that end of the floor uh this is a team that requires uh hot Closeouts you got to go

Out and play those guys and I thought he did a good job of that he caught himself on some switches against their primary guys and did a good job you know in terms of those assignments uh so I thought he played a very complete Game think back to the next game earlier in

The week it it seems like there’s something brewing with the way Jaylen is start in fourth quarters I wonder if you’ve seen something here and what’s maybe worked for him um I I mean I just all I can go to is he’s playing with a great deal of confidence um and

Aggression on that end of the floor uh you know he’s I I think when we look at development you know we look we think about like younger players or players that are playing uh lesser roles or rookies but I mean he’s he’s obviously a very impactful player already but he’s

Still developing uh large parts of his game and and uh you know so I think you’re seeing some of that growth and we’ll see some regression at some point too as you know defenses adjust to him or as he goes through the natural ups and downs but uh he’s definitely playing

With a lot of swagger right now yeah and I don’t have the number on my head uh down to the decimal but I think you guys are five points better in the third quarter than just overall just what’s worked um down the stretch in the third um just from what you’ve

Seen um I mean you guys asked that last year too I don’t really know you know like we’re just we’re trying to be good on every possession just in you know certain quarters or parts of the game so um you know the guys do a good job of

Coming out of halftime ready to go I I think that definitely um is the case but other than that I don’t really know can you speak to the New Year’s Eve crowd and just the tradition that the Oklahoma State Thunder have with playing on New Year’s Eve and how crazy it is

And are you going to be allowed to take a breath and tomorrow off and Allowed by who what is what is your plans for tonight and tomorrow um we Ash and I may make it to midnight we may not uh cuz our kids are not going to adjust you

Know tomorrow morning so uh great crowd you know great crowd and it has been a great crowd here for um you know a good stretch of games now these this string of home games uh we’ve had a home court and uh that buzz was in the building tonight certainly appreciative of that

We wish you know our fans uh that were at the game and back home a happy New Year as well before I forget Mark you didn’t turn them over the way you’ve been turning over most teams why not and how’d you still win going away without that edge that you

Usually have um well I thought the shooting was obviously there’s one of the things I was you know impressed with in Denver was like we made 12 threes they made 10 so it wasn’t like we just shot the ball you know we were hot they weren’t I thought we manufactured a lot

In that game tonight was a shot it was a variance night you know there’s nights where the other team makes shots and and you don’t and tonight was the night we made shots and they didn’t they shot a lot of threes I thought we contest a lot

Of them I thought we did make them uncomfortable with some contests and at our point of attack with the switching like I mentioned but um you know it’s hard to explain that box score other than you know shooting variants on this night because they were really clean

With their turnovers and they shot more free throws and they shot more shots they had a lot more offensive rebounds uh but I you know it was a shot making and I plain and simple but I did think we generated good ones goad you talked about how you uh

Guys don’t want to just play one One Singular way but no matter the no matter what way you guys play it seems like the ball continues to move uh another game with 30 assists what do you like about you guys’ ball movement so far this season well I think it’s it’s about like

I said being willing to move it early in possessions uh it’s about respecting good defense you know if there’s good defense uh you know turning it and getting into a different action but a lot of it’s just creating advantages you know like it’s hard to move the ball if

You can’t create an advantage and um you know we’ve got guys that are on on the gas and that create the initial advantage and they’ve done a great job of moving it out of that advantage and then we have guys that play quickly on the catch and maintain advantages and

Finish plays and um yeah I think that’s where you get you know the the Optics of ball movement but um you know it starts with an advantage and our guys have done a great job of working together to create those the bottom line of you know the the aand passes from Brooklyn you

Know out to the to the corners and on just the wide volume of Threes they’re they’re just constantly driving and kicking how much that did you feel was maybe them and how much of that is maybe chat at The Rim kind of detering some of that stuff that’s their style I mean

They’re sixth in the league I think in three-point attempts so they’re definitely a driving kick team that wants to find jump shots uh they’re very comfortable playing like that uh I do think he deters a lot when he’s down there some plays that maybe they try to

Finish they they you know kick out instead but uh generally you know that’s kind of who they are uh Mark in the first quarter the Nets came out strong male Bridges and K Thomas combined for 25 points the rest of the game they score 17 what sort of adjustments strategy or factors went

Into slowing both those guys down to sort of I don’t know hold down the the fort um I mean some of it I just thought we were like I said a little flat to start the game um we we got L on Thomas a lot in the second quarter I thought

That was impactful uh once Thomas got going uh I thought the switching was important with that um and then I thought you know going back to the first quarter thing you know us being able to like Pace with them while they started like that was important cuz it’s a lot

Different of a game when you know you kind of start flat footed defensively but you’re down by three at the end of the first quarter you’re up by three I don’t know what it was but it was a close game uh you know being able to

Steady that and not be down by 14 points and have to play from behind the whole night is important too so thought there were a lot of factors but um I did think we amped it up starting with that group in the second thank you coach yep thank you

Guys happy New Year yep

Hear from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Joe, and Head Coach Mark Daigneault following the Thunder’s 124 – 108 win over the Nets.

0:00 Shai and Chet
7:43 Isaiah Joe
13:01 Coach Daigneault

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