“[Ant] Is Not Afraid Of Anything” | Chris Finch Postgame Sound | 01.18.24

“[Ant] Is Not Afraid Of Anything” | Chris Finch Postgame Sound | 01.18.24

It all got started I think you know Mike um Mike Rudy pick and roll and then um n Rudy pick and roll just making the right play and putting a lot of pressure on them um you know one time it was you know the downhill one time it was the

Roller one time it was the kick out you know they just really really made the right play every time um you know and and the defense was strong too finally found a a defensive Rhythm you know what were you kind of witnessing through the first three quarters it just seemed like

You couldn’t get your handle on game another game we started you know and I think I look up and they’re shooting 70 plus per to start the game um you know not a typical on back to back sometimes um you know they they were they were running their stuff really hard

Obviously Jackson was a handful tonight we just kept losing the shooters at the inappropriate time um and it was one of those games where like they were making a lot of shots you know making some easy ones and making some of the tough ones too there weren’t enough that we

Challenged and made hard enough enough um but it felt to me like as long as we just keep it close we could find a run it just kind of felt like one of those games and and that’s what ended up happening so Mike’s assist numbers are

Kind of soaring of late is that a product of him just being put in more playmaking type positions uh yeah absolutely I think so you know just uh once we finally find something that’s working and try to go to it I mean early I mean in the third we needed to get

Anthony in the game so it was a lot of Anthony but you know um you know obviously always like the ball in Mike’s hands coming down the stretch too you know so um some games give it that’s more of the thing to do some some games it’s somewhere else so what’s the

What’s the value of having a really good offensive player like that who you never have to get going yeah it’s tremendous I mean it’s you know he also made a couple big shots off the ball too when he’s you know ready uh ready to knock down open

Threes whenever you know whenever cat or Aunt or those guys are able to create some uh Distortion um you know this is not unusual Mike has been doing this his entire career like his clutch numbers have always been huge I mean they called him Captain clutch when he was in

Memphis for a reason uh he’s outstanding um and he’s not the type of guy like you know he’s a point guard he feels the game so well like he knows you know when to step up and you know I don’t ever really have to get him going to your point

So Nas was huge tonight just kind of consistently providing you that offensive spark Off the Bench what what does that bring in for you guys I mean it’s came at the right time you know like the first um first part of that first quarter just everything was a

Little bit flat and we started with four turnovers I think in the first you know six or seven possessions um and then you know Nas coming in hit a couple threes and then energy picks up and uh you know he brings so much energy to the building

You know like crowd loves him he responds to it we respond to them um and you know uh defensively we’re able to convert a lot of stuff off of our defense too to close the quarter down so Rudy’s ability to sustain his Focus regardless of the caliber of the

Competition almost seems like an outlier sometimes to you guys how important is it yeah he’s like a heavyweight boxer you know like um you’re going to take your punches you know and and uh you just got to be mentally tough against great players you just you know you and

You got to win enough of them when they matter and he’s got that Knack you know really does um and then to be able to play Jackson and uh and then fight him and and then at the last moment shift over to be there on the help and alter that

Shot too um you know it’s it’s special talent it really is a special talent and self lob off the glass to himself is that one of those moments where it just makes you go oh my gosh this guy’s special yeah I mean for sure you know I mean I you

I you could kind of see it coming I didn’t think he would do it I thought he was going to try to draw the foul um but I’ve seen him do it in practice you know uh once or twice um but yeah you know unbelievable play and you he just has

That you know he’s not afraid of anything he’s not afraid to try anything so Mike has a reputation of being one of the nicest guys in the NBA but he’ll tell us that you know there’s a real competitor in there as well what have you learned about him Mike connley kind

Of the competitor since you you’ve had him here last year yeah he wants to win yeah I mean it’s you know being a nice guy and being a being a killer on the core when it comes winning time um you’re not you know mutually exclusive

So uh from the get-go you know when we came here or when he came here rather like I think one of the things he was most excited about was saw the potential in the team and he knew we were trying to win um and you know he’s done a lot

Of winning I’ve I think about this often times I wonder how many days uh Mike has spent a top the Western Conference in his career right uh it’s probably been quite a number you know Utah for a long time Memphis I’m sure was up there when

He was there uh and that that’s not a coincidence you know this guy is a huge quotient huge winning quotient you speaking of being the top of the Western Conference 30 wins at the halfway point of the season is 60 wins something you guys are maybe targeting as a goal for

This team or we’re targeting as many wins as we can put in the bank right now so McDaniels kind of uh McDaniels kind of kind just seemed uh to be getting his head back in the game so to speak uh what’s your view on that process yeah I

Mean I don’t think Jaden was feeling 100% tonight um he he was you know locked in defensively like he always was battling um you know made a huge huge Corner three that’s you know uh you know he didn’t he’s been playing at a high level offensively tonight you know um I

Thought he kind of just waited patiently you know for his opportunities um you know it was a game where we decided we were going to go heavy pick and roll whether it be ant in the middle of the floor or Mike on the side of the floor

And for those guys you know not in that action they just got to wait you know wait for the ball to come to him and you know ant made found him in a great pass uh in the right corner so yeah it takes a lot of uh you know

Focus to to do that but um you know I thought he played a really really solid game so thanks

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