OKC Thunder Full Media Availability | Post Game at Los Angeles Clippers | January 16, 2024

OKC Thunder Full Media Availability | Post Game at Los Angeles Clippers | January 16, 2024

Shay uh fifth game in seven nights but you guys gave yourselves a chance there uh in crunch time um really high level game what was this like out there on the floor going Toe to Toe um it was good um obviously it’s one of better one of the better teams in the league

Um it’s what you play the game for to play at the highest level um he gave us a really good game and um they earned tonight for sure it seemed like you guys were able to leverage Gravity from you and ched and and dub to generate good

Stuff for Isaiah and Lou and um you continue to trust that as a team what what was that like for you all as a kind of continuation of what you guys do out there um yeah it’s just how we play basketball um trust all five um offensively and defensively and play from

There say part of the team success obviously has been your almost like robotic constant U you know performances 35 and 5 almost every game and now tonight it felt like the Clippers slowed you down in ways that you know some other teams have it this year I just

Wonder what you saw from that in terms of you know what they did this SL down um they uh they were um physical and disciplined at the same time um they have guys that have been very high level Defenders for a long time um and hats out to them

Tonight they did a good job defensively me talk about them being physical and disciplined um earlier in the season you said that when guys are getting physical with you you just keep trying Stay Stay playing your game when guys are being disciplined along with being physical

What are some things that you feel like that you can do to offset um I feel like uh I feel like I got to to to where I wanted to get to tonight um didn’t make as many shots as I like but um just how it goes

Sh you guys give you guys a lot of credit for just being able to hang around throughout the night just to give your a chance down the St just what went into that for you guys do that the first three quarters when it it just felt like they just kept throwing punches

Throughout the game yeah um we’ve been there before um you expect that coming into a highle teams building um obviously they’re super talented they’re going to make shots and go on runs and have energy behind them um we know what it’s like to play on the road and we expected that

Got Jo right here you’re here and then here go ahead say when Mark was in here he was just talking about you know passing by the C the locker room and and hearing and and feeling a general sense of excitement for being you guys I just I just wonder

What that feels like for you as a guy that’s being here through the rebuild through you know from the beginning um to to now feel teams if you feel it at all you know get excited beting you guys um I don’t know I’ve never like I

Don’t know I don’t care for a team’s reaction I don’t care like I I never worried about I never noticed it I never pay attention to it I really don’t I really don’t know or care about any of that um hey sh um just you know kind of

Going back to you know when I first met you now I starting to talk to a lot more high school kids you know some of the top players in the nation every player seems like that’s a guard brings the you up as a person they watch and look up to

Same with Stefon Castle he talks about the shoulder bump talk a little bit about you know your growth in terms of that and then also playing through with physicality because every coach is starting to mention you and your physicality but I feel like you’ve had the shoulder bump since I mean when I

First met you in 2018 talk about that move and then you know just the building of being physical and you know just still being young and still being able to play physical and using that move yeah um it’s something that I I’ve kind of just figured

Out just with me playing game um I was undersized for most of my my like my youth career um so I had to figure out different ways to to score and and and stay on the floor um and that was just one of the ways that helped me um and

Then in terms of the kids it’s just a it’s an honor um obviously you’ve been in that position before and looking up to guys that you play now and the roles reversing is dream come true do you think the Lakers and Clippers threw their best punch because

You guys are the Thunder and you’re so high in the standings and they wanted to beat you guys um yeah um I think both those teams are are chasing something um as well as ourselves um so at the end of the night it’s going to be very

Competitive um but yeah to answer your cushion we are a much better um opponent than we were a couple years ago Joe you said you have one more yeah this is the last one Shay it feels like the common denominator in here for the guys that are coming through here is just

Mentioning physicality you know it felt that way with the Lakers I just wonder if you feel this team has you know responded to physicality generally the the way you would have liked throughout this year yeah um we play a lot of small ball um we uh um don’t have the most size

Clearly um we know that going to every night um but I think our record reflects how we’ve been able to play through it um and and kind of the fight we’ve had throughout the first part of the season um and making making up for some of that lack of size and

Physicality thanks sh all righty uh Jaylen high level basketball game tonight uh what it feel like out on the Flor you know possession after possession going at those guys and then going at you um yeah exactly at high level uh those are always games that um are

Really fun obviously those are games you want to win to but it’s good to be in those on a consistent basis and we you know we’re lucky enough to be in two of them back to back here so um definitely learn a lot from it and um yeah those

Are those are always fun to be be a part of you guys went up one late and then PG kind of does his thing um as you guys are kind of accumulating more and more of these experiences uh what’s that like to kind of experience a wave like that

And and maybe be able to start to um pick up more of those things that like in those situations in the future uh you guys can do at a different different level yeah um I mean outside looking in you know people that probably aren’t

In the NBA um guys are very good at the sport and you know some sometimes times there’s nights like that I mean you know like Shay I feel like other teams probably think the exact same way when it’s us so um you know we’ve been on the

Other end of it a couple times and you kind of just got to tip your hat to some of those plays but um he had a good run but basketball is about a lot of other plays other than however many minutes you can dissect so you know throughout

The 48 minutes there’s a lot of other stuff that we probably could have picked up um usually guys like that when they’re able to kind of get in that zone they were comfortable early on so probably take away a little bit of his comfortability to start the game I think

Would have helped but you know he’s a good player um you know he made a lot of tough shots especially down the stretch so some of those you just got to kind of tip your hat he had one in the wing that Luke contested and just just went in

That’s something that he probably works on and made the shot the common denominator for everybody who stepped in here tonight like they they just mentioned physicality in it I think that was the case for for a lot of yesterday I just wondered um if you feel like throughout

This year you guys have responded to physicality the way you like yeah we’re bumping we’re battling down there I don’t think there’s any night where guys aren’t competing or being physical um teams going to try and do that cuz we’re young we understand that and I thought we’ve combed it pretty

Well over the the season I think our record shows for that too K you hit the three to give you guys a lead with three minutes left what did you feel during that that ear for fourth qu stretch to kind of close the gap there just playing

Hard um they made a couple big runs and we kind of looked for that score and it was still like nine um you know the average Point swing in the NBA is like 12 so we definitely understand runs come in waves um you know it’s usually about who can make the

Run the last so um just sticking with it uh we thought we got a couple good looks that didn’t go had a I had I had an untimely turnover and we were still down by like four so we got good stops at the end like I said PG and you know they hit

They hit some tough ones down the stretch so some of those just kind to kind of tip your hat yeah and Mark was just mentioning and you brought it up there you guys were just hanging around the entire game like it never really got out of hand at any point what did it

Take for you guys through the first three quarters just to keep this game within Arms Reach uh just playing hard um we have a pretty mature team and understanding you know what it takes to kind of just stay in the game and I think you have a

Pretty good feel for uh what’s going on in the game our huddles are getting tighter where we’re kind of talking through what guys are feeling in the In the Heat of the game and understanding leads don’t look as bad or as good as you know they may

Seem in the moment and um like I said you know uh 12 points for any team is not really as big you know as it looks you know especially early on in the game you know you can get kind of down if it’s like 21 to n just because of the

Look of the disparity but you know uh leads are not as close or as far as they seem anybody else go we got two last two right here yep I was curious um pretty loaded top tal they have CU what you’re impress are you’ve played

Them twice now what have you me how they looked especially with James now kind ofing that point guard position for um yeah they’re figuring it out um you know they have a lot of future Hall of Famers on that team so it’s definitely fun to compete against them on a consistent

Basis and you know get those reps but um they’re starting to figure out they share the ball really well um definitely puts teams in a dilemma when Paul George is sitting on the wing just kind of waiting so or kawh or whoever it is so

You know they have a lot of guys that can go and um you know like Russell Westbrook comes off the bench so I feel like that probably says enough about that team so um you know they’re a tough matchup and you know we’re we’re still

In the game with them and competing at a high level so it’s fun that we get those reps with them last one right here yeah um I feel like uh first off your new nickname is Trend Setter for me first off it’s Swag and then two it

Seems like every time I talk to a NBA Scout or coach there’s a new player coming out of Santa CLA and I think that is largely because of you um Brandon for jimsky now we have two more prospects coming out talk about Trend setting and creating your own lane especially in the

College rank showing that you can you know be drafted top 12 out of any school and then what did were were you surprised that time when you got drafted by OKC at 12 to as well cuz honestly it was a surprise for me even though you

Know I did some breakdowns at you game but just talk about those two elements too um yeah I don’t want to take too much credit for the Santa Clara thing just cuz you know guys are still going in there and and playing really well in

The in the school uh I think it’s cool to be one of the first people to do it like I know it was a long time before uh Nash I think was the last one so um just kind of trying to figure out my my own

My own path in that regard and um you know we had I think even last year we brought it up in the same interview is just go where you’re wanted and you know I think a lot of guys are figuring out which is why the transfer portal always

Looks the way it does at the end of the year but um doesn’t matter where you go to make an impact and I think a lot of people are are starting to figure that out and basketball is spreading throughout you know the nation and kind

Of rest of the world to where you know Talent will get found so I think people are starting to catch on to that and then um what same question about you know going you going 12 were you a little shocked by that like not at all

No okay and then you know just going into that like I know you don’t want credit but a lot of players are coming from Santa Clair right after you like does that like make you feel good in a way like even seeing Brandon psky you

Know go you know get drafted as high as he did like just seeing that Trend and giving a platform for guys you know coming out of schools like Santa CLA too as well yeah yeah no I’m I’m extremely proud of them um it does f me like a

Sense of Pride that somebody else is coming from my school and being able to do it um I don’t even think for my school I just think a lot of like mid Majors that go on the radar I think whenever you can get somebody in the

League from them it kind of it’s kind of a big deal for me so um yeah I’m super grateful that I got to go there and have that experience for sure basketball game high level shop making uh what did it feel like out on the floor tonight is uh

You two teams just went went at each other the way you did yeah I mean it was uh two really good teams going back and forth um we expected a really hard fight from them um you know we gave it our best shot came up short on some game

Plan stuff um but you know the energy was there the intent was there um like I said just two really good teams going back and forth uh you said when you say you know fell short on some game plan stuff could you elaborate on that yeah

You know some of the key players just you know being comfortable for the majority of the night U you know most of their shots so you know we just got to eliminate that um um from the jump and give our a better chance you you mentioned talk about the

Game plan just guys getting comfortable P PG had 18 in the fourth I just wonder what your point of view was there as that sequence unfolded and what you saw maybe went wrong with him specifically yeah I think u i mean it started off just letting him get comfortable with

The game early on um you know he he made some really tough shots not saying you know everything was easy but um if we just you know key in a little bit more focused from the jump um maybe slow slow a guy like that down can’t let get

Comfortable yeah Mark was just in here talking about you know when he passed by the Clipper locker room he he felt a genuine sense of excitement from them for for beating you guys which I imagine hasn’t been the case in in recent years just how how long have you felt that

Sensation if you felt that sensation at all from other teams as you you know played them and maybe lost a few times yeah I know we definitely are um feel like we’re gaining respect you know from every team in the league um where we got

A really good squad and I think they in and day out we show we show the League what we’re capable of so um just a you know a veteran team like that going up against us which we won the last time we played them um you know I think it’s

Just us gaining respect throughout the league you had six boards tonight and then last night like or seven just how big of a focus has that been for you uh trying to find those opportunities around the glass uh just being active and you know um helping our Big Fellas

Rebound you know they can’t do it on their own so um just trying to do every little thing to win a game um whatever it takes uh but you know just being active being Scrappy you know fighting for those loose Sports you’re out there when you guys go

Really small and they go other teams go pretty big what’s the the mindset for you not just you your the whole team to try to stay competitive in those lineups yeah you know you know just be real Scrappy on defense um once we get the

Board let’s try to run them you know if we’re smaller we can be we can be faster than them down the court um but I think you know it just starts on the defensive end being able to secure the ball and if we can do that that we can get out and

You know create some advantage in transition when a team like this and have so many guys that can get going at any point what makes what makes it tougher for you guys to defend them like is it what’s the thing I guess what’s the thing that makes it tougher for

Because obviously you P it was PG tonight um Hardon had a few threes in the first half or second quarter it seemed like they came at you guys in phases um just the fact that um you know they’re all they’re all great players and they all can you know create with

The ball in their hands which you you know it forces you to you have to guard with all five but you also have to be able to guard your matchup I you have to trust each other you know when it comes to helps side and rotations and things

Of that nature so you know it just you know makes us have to focus in a little bit more else couple more go ahead hey Isaiah um just wanted to ask you I mean a 2020 class um there’s probably only three guards still in in in that second

Round still you know still playing and you’re one of those um talk about you know coming like you know you know how it is like being the second round pick but you know having to go through the adversity and then getting here and staying consistent having guys like

Meich you know a lot of Talent on this team but still being able to stick with your role and then being able to play Big minutes and getting that opportunity and what it takes to get to that point yeah you know first and foremost I think

Um it starts with your work ethic you know you have to be you have to be in the gym every night doing the stuff that um not everybody else is willing to do when you’re you know com out the second round you have a really short leash and

You have to be able to make an impact as soon as you step on the floor so um I realized that as soon when I when I got here um after doing my first two years of Philly I realized you know as soon as

I step on this floor you know I got to make I got to make impact um but you know all that started before getting on the court you know with everybody else that started in the lab and then with Arkansas you see how now that program

Starting to come on the rise do you feel like you were a part of that you know building that that program up we see Nick Smith we see a lot of guards starting to come there a lot more commitments how how is it seeing Arkansas starting to build up because of

Guys like yourself you know building that Foundation yeah man not just me but we got a lot of a lot of guys I mean another one on our team you know Jaylen Williams but it’s it’s a it’s a lot of talent in Arkansas um and I think just

Making you know putting putting Arkansas on the map you know putting the world on notice just you know helps in that aspect um but it’s always been a lot of talent in Arkansas um I’m glad that a lot of guys are starting to stay home and you know we build up the

Organization coach M doing a great job over there I’m just hope to keep seeing a rise anybody else thanks is thank you Mark uh you guys took that onepoint lead and I think they outscored you 14-2 the rest of the way what did you see as the the big Difference Maker down the

Stretch besides shot maker yeah they made some plays credit them they went and got that uh at the point that we took the lead uh and close the game well I thought they outplayed us for the majority of the 48 minutes uh tonight but we did a great job of uh hanging

Around the game and making a couple pushes at it uh to take a lead uh in that spot was was positive you know we gave ourselves every chance to win that game and then they outplayed us uh in the last three minutes so credit them they they got that

Game Mark ch’s had a good enough season to this point where I think we been comfortably call these past tonights I guess relative off nights I I wonder what or how You’ assess these past two days and um just how you the team’s ability to maybe supplement his

Deficiencies on a night like tonight um I don’t overreact to I mean you really can’t overreact to a week in an NBA season you know just because of the the length of the year no team or player uh you know is is you know perpetually consistent during that stretch um the

Thing I’ll say is like these games are highly informative for us I mean we’re taking I think that’s their best punch you know like they’re almost fully healthy um they had a game plan that was specific to us um um and that’s how you learn you know kind of about yourselves

You know it’s a good barometer of where we are as a team it also teaches us the way that other teams see us uh and where we need to improve I thought the Laker game was similar to that we’ve had a couple of games like that recently uh

And it’s exciting to know that we’re drawing team’s best punches out of them and um now we need to calibrate and and learn what we can from that and use every game to improve like we always do how do you feel like you guys did matching your physicality

Um I thought offensively we did a pretty good job you know I thought for most of the night offensively we were able to move the floor move the scoreboard uh get to our spots I thought uh you know that’s a team they they shoot a ton of

Jump shots they’re Rhythm team uh they thrive on comfort and they’re able to create their own comfort and then they leverage each other to create comfort and Rhythm and you got to really be physical to break that and I thought you know we had a lot of stretches of the

Game where we just were not physical enough to break their rhythm you know it’s hard to do they’re really good players they’re a really good team but uh to beat them that’s what the recipe is and we did that for pushes of the game but not consistently enough to

Win hey coach I wanted to ask you about J I mean over these last what eight games shooting over 65% 25 points today 10 of 14 really blossoming in his second year whatever You’ seen from him in turning to his growth now I mean now that we’re at the halfway point yeah

He’s cooking right now um he’s doing a great great job of finding a balance between um being aggressive and and hitting the gas but also maintaining his efficiency and maintaining uh kind of a spirit of of team play I mean he still makes the right passes uh regardless of

The circumstances and so uh he’s found a great balance uh really grown as a player to this point um still is competing his ass off defensively in terms of the covers that he has every single night you know he’s guarding like guys like this every night he’s got at

James at different times last night um we put him on one through five he always plays hard even despite his recent offensive success so uh obviously off to a great start excited about how he’s grown to this point um still needs to get better and and learn from all these

Experiences but you know he’s in a good way right now for us uh Paul George didn’t have too much of an impact in the first half but in the second half he sure did how was he able to take over the game against your team way he did yeah I mean the shot

Making was was potent you know they posted him a little bit to come out of halftime you get it going a little bit there um you got to pick him up high and then you know he can drive he can handle and then you got other guys you have to

Account for so there’s times where you know we’re doubling lonard in the post and the ball’s finding him on the weak side of the floor and you know he makes you pay for those plays so obviously great player we know that well um and had a great game obviously Shay is top

Three in the MVP race by many measures um what have you seen from him just in terms of how young he is and how quickly he’s ascended in this league um I mean I’m not surprised just with the way that he works and uh how steadily he’s improved um there’s really

Never been a year in his career that he hasn’t improved and it’s because um he he takes a workmanlike approach to his craft uh he has a great vision for himself uh and he’s done it inside the team and allowed the team to grow around him I think you know Dub’s a great

Example of that a lot of our players are the team success we’ve had to this point is a reflection of that as well so um he’s done a great job and he’s my favorite part about him is how he handles the ups and downs of an NBA

Season you know when we’re going good you know he’s the same guy we lose a couple here in La he’s you know his numbers are not as high as they normally are he’ll be the same guy tonight and tomorrow he’s just got a great temperament for the NBA season Mark you

Have more challenging back to backs come but are you proud of the way this team kind of fought through this game to make it give yourself a chance to win it yeah I mean excited about that but not surprised with the competitive level of our team I’m I’m surprised when we when

We have off nights competitively but not surprised when we have on nights competitively these guys take a lot of pride in competing together um tonight was our fifth and seven nights and and yet you know ran through the finish line of the game gave ourselves every chance

Against a really good team on the road so um this is the standard that they hold themselves to and like I said we’re not perfect but I’m way more surprised when we don’t reach it than when we do coach I want to ask you about Isaiah and

The other game against the Lakers seven boards tonight six two Steals and his shot making was there tonight but what’s the what’s what are you seeing from him just outside of that and kind of the scrappiness and the hustle that he’s showing yeah he’s lightweight fighter

You know he’s he’s Scrappy and uh it’s huge for us because um it allows us to play him in a lot of different lineups it allows us to play him uh in a lot of different game there’s not a game situation that we can’t put them in

Because of the shooting potency and then also the um the what you’re describing and um we could play small with him which is helpful um you know he’s just got his nose in the fight and always does you know regardless how the game’s going on the other end of the floor it’s

One of the things I respect most about him Coach as far as where you are now and at the start of the season did you see yourself being in this position um I don’t have expectation you know we just try to put one foot in front of the

Other and stack good days and you know we’ll end up where we’re supposed to be and we can rest our head in the pillow and know that we’re maxing out uh our team at any given moment I think we’re doing that right now um I was ex you

Know I I was walking in the hallway after the game and I could hear the Clippers hallway and there was like a genuine excitement for that win um which is exciting to know that you know we’re taking really tough punches from really good teams right now

That’s how you get better and it’s how you get an accurate uh assessment of where you are and so um these ones sting obviously we would have liked to win the game tonight last night but they’re also like I said at the beginning very informative games for us what would you

Classify your team philosophy as compete together we want to be a compete together team you know we want to stick our nose in the fight but do it as a group and the team’s done an incredible job of that not only this season but from from the rip Mark the the corner

Threes were were notable to last time you guys played them and you kind of mentioned it last time that you know some sometimes like you know nor P’s open it’s it’s not my design I just I wonder what you saw tonight in terms of the rate they got those and um because

It felt like they were earned differently tonight like just the way you saw get those yeah they’re not all created equally I mean they’re there’s a reason they’re a really tough team to beat and it’s because you got to take care of the head of the snake they have

Multiple head of the snakes and um you’ve got to commit your resources to that and so uh those guys draw a lot of attention um we if you if you if the game plan is to take away Corner threes then you’re going to Hemorrhage in other

Areas of the game and so um you know you got to prioritize and there’s trade-offs to every decision obviously the better the team is the harder it is to swallow some of the trade-offs and they’re that type of team and with ch because we always talk about just how he never

Steps outside of himself so he might have a night where he shoots eight shots and and makes one or he might have a night where you know the offense is coming to him those 8 for 13 because of the the way he plays his philosophy as a

Player I guess they make him Su susceptible to you know just kind of like a streakiness in terms of his story um I I mean I actually think the opposite I think he’s been you know ruthlessly consistent you know with his game so far I mean everybody’s going to

Have an off night here or there but you know if you stack up you know weeks of the season and you look at how he’s performed it’s been pretty incredible for a player with as few games as he has but you thing I appreciate about him even in tonight’s game he just like

Major motor on the second night of a back toback these back-to-backs are new for him you know it’s only his fourth or fifth back Tob back of his career and yet you know his his motor’s running you know the entire time he’s got a black eye you know he’s getting hit in the

Face you know he’s he’s just he’s in the fight every single night and um you know that’s that’s going to serve him well as as his game blossoms as his skill set blossoms as he learns the pictures more and more you know that that Foundation of competitiveness and motor is is going

To serve him really well I mean that’s that’s his X Factor last thing Mark last question you mentioned the the genuine excitement you felt from the the Clippers Lo room as you passed by I just wonder how long’s been uh you know how long you felt that know sensation or or

Seen that scenery this season I mean we we’ve felt it you know we felt it from our opponents I mean we’re we’re you know draw like I said we’re drawing the best punches out of our opponents and that’s exciting because um again you want to know where you stand you know

That you want you’re not going to be perfect you want to know where you need to improve uh and where you’re at and it’s a great barometer when the best teams are throwing their best punches at you and um you know now we we learn from

That and we grow from it and we take those lessons forward and use them to improve and that’s what we’ve done at this point is what we’ll continue to do thank you thanks guys yep

Hear from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Isaiah Joe, and Head Coach Mark Daigneault following the Thunder’s 117 – 128 loss to the Clippers.

0:00 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
6:07 Jalen Williams
13:37 Isaiah Joe
18:57 Coach Daigneault

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