Kevin Ollie on Cam Johnson, giving a more consistent effort

Kevin Ollie on Cam Johnson, giving a more consistent effort

Kevin how has it been just with this one day stop over with the unpacked a pack how would you just describe how unusual it really is kind of in a stretch of the Season like this yeah it is unusual uh to break up a road trip like this but I

Think uh we got with our players early on in the season and they prefer to do it like this so we going to we going to obey their wishes on this one uh um and uh it was just probably good for them to get home and spend some time with their

Families or spend some time with their pets whatever they do on the off just to get away from basketball a little bit and enjoy that um back home in Brooklyn how needed was this P how needed was just this practice and just how good was

It to kind of get here to not get a pra just a practice ass in but also some time to see cam Johnson yeah it was great to see cam here I miss him a lot um he had a good workout with capes um the day before and then he had a good

Workout today um and then we get with our our medical staff and see if his availability is right for tomorrow so he want to make the trip or we still be be determined he’ll make the trip yeah but it’s still determined if if you’re a

Play or not did you say earlier it was a players decision to come back to Brooklyn that’s what I heard I wasn’t in those meetings I wasn’t previous to those meetings but that’s what I heard but it could not be it could be false too so don’t write

That speaking of Cam how do you evaluate his season up to this point because he’s had all these not minor injuries but injuries that have kept him out for bits and pieces of the Season yeah I mean it’s unfortunate but I think he’s handling it very very well and you know

I know he w wants to be out on the court and help us win and help our team keep building this culture that we’re starting to establish and um I think he wants to be out there so um just him understanding injuries a part of it and

How he bounce back how he respond is is about being a pro and I think he’s doing that um to his best of his abilities following his U regimen his rehab regimen and I think he’s ready to go hopefully he’ll be able to play what

Many we got 17 was 17 left hopefully he can play all 17 and more and more than more after that so when you look back from Cleveland obviously you mentioned the effort was there the the um attention to detail was there how does that now carry over to these next gam

Especially Orlando considering that was another kind of turning point for you guys where they kind of as Nick said kind of punked you guys I guess is what he said not M did I say that Nick said those words oh okay okay yeah but they

Did punch us um and we didn’t we didn’t counter punch that game but um I think our guys are resilient um they’ll bounce back they did bounce back but now we have to be more consistent with our effort and that can’t be waving from game to game I’m not talking about wins

And losses I’m talking about the process of it um and I thought our process was right even in Cleveland when they made some shots our rotations was right we didn’t hang our head when they did make shots and that’s that’s what I want them to do is fall in love with the process

Of getting better each and every day not worrying about a playoff spot or nothing like that we worrying about getting better every day and I thought they did that in Cleveland now the big challenge is carrying it over and I think we’ll have the mindset of carrying it over

We’ll see um but I really believe in this group that they’ll have that mindset of getting better each and every day and we’ll bring that on on a road trip and then with Nick too obviously offensively he’s been kind of on the rooll I think last four games he’s had a

Double double but it seems like he’s getting more and more comfortable on the offensive end what are you seeing from him that’s able to unlock that a little bit more these last few games I love that word you know that’s one of my favorite words unlock um I want us to be

Unlocked on the offensive end unlocked on the defensive end I mean we was in film today and he just speaking up like the leader he supposed to be um telling the guys what he wants on defense and challenging the guys Even in our film session so I just see him growing um and

This is only the tip of the iceberg of his leadership and what he can be as a man first and foremost and as a basketball player do you see anything different with him offensively is he demanding the ball more just get in position see it he ducking in two feet

In the paint I said he got two feet in the paint and he established paint a paint um um paint um a place in the paint and he’s and he’s right there you got to throw it to him and he has that position and we getting it to him but I

Do like show like Court mapping like understanding the court mapping knowing where players are using us as like chess pieces and manipulating the defense um he had a one play where he rescreen and made cam be in a single tag cam was hot so they wasn’t going to come off the

Single tag got pick and roll got got um Nick to the rim so just him being able to court map is really good and kind of understand and pattern recognition as well and we talked about that today kind of knowing what Cleveland’s going to do paning on defense and having that

Recognition I thinking our guys are is starting to get that so we can play more unliked basketball don’t steal my word what are you what are you seeing from uh Dennis you know Schroeder it’s I think it’s 14 games now he’s been here what have you seen from him just in

Terms of running the offense as that kind of steuding presence at point guard and also just a voice on the team yeah I’ve seen his leadership um first and foremost he challenged you know all of us U to be better we challenge him um I just love his intensity on the defensive

End he’s picking up 94 ft I call it being in the frame and it’s contagious through our group U when he picks up like that and keeps his man in front it’s just great for us it gives us a presence out there and teams feel us and

Um I need him to continue to do that and like we just was talking about his court mapping how he’s manipulating the defense is great um and be an extension of me on the court cuz I can’t play and him understanding what I want and him out there transferring is great for our

Offense and defense speaking of uh CLS getting in the pain those post entry passes how have you as a guard kind of seeing the progression of guard skills kind of drop the art I guess of postentry passing because there have been a few plays where he hasn’t gotten

The ball and you know it’s a much talked about skill over the last 20 years that guards don’t practice that as much have you seen that over your career um yeah to a certain extent um it’s became you know more three-pointers and and Big’s not down there demanding the ball they

Picking and popping now so you know it’s that art is not as much as when we was playing when we had big centers and it was prominent that we had centers down there but the game is is changing and I just want Nick to be down there and I I

Have Nick coming out picking rolls and one of our first plays was Nick coming off a pick and row so you know I want him to be unlocked I don’t want him to be in the Box offensively um and I want him to do all kind of things on the

Court because he’s doing everything on the defensive end for us blocking shots rebounding so we need to throw him the ball but he has to demand the ball as well so you know I’m telling our our our guards we got a reward to big fellow cuz

He’s doing a lot of cleanup for us on the defensive end so when he do have two feet in the paint and he’s established that he should be getting the ball and have you been pleased with his overall effort in trying to integrate himself into the offense since know you took

Over you’ve been mentioning that yeah yeah you know you got to transfer it and you know he got to have confidence in himself I’m I call him my Hub uh he’s the Hub when we have our delay game and five out we throw it to him and he and I

Want to have all the players to orbit around him and he’s the Hub and he makes the decision so he’s essentially the point guard so I want him to play like that and have a point guard mentality that’s watching more film that’s watching his players and what they do

Good and what they don’t do good and and our cutting has been very very good and that’s the one thing I wanted to stress our high cutting off the top um off the 45 degree angle where they can’t just load at the nail getting those guys out

Of there and then we are unlocking the empty elbows and that’s kind of where my offense is predicated around our offense is predicated around Kevin I have a non-basketball related question I’ve noticed um the kicks for you they’re always Nice Kicks but today today today stands out would you call yourself a

Sneaker head and how do you think your sneaker collection ranks up to some of the guys name inside sneaker head what is you got you have Louis Vuitton on your feet right now so I think sneaker head should be considered yeah um I like shoes um uh I start my outfits with the

Shoes first so that’s what I always did I got that from my mom so she was pretty snazzy dresser where’s her soul up in heaven right now but um I just got it from her so um if I’m a sneaker head it’s all right but I got a couple back

There but I think Trevor Hendry got us all Trevor on the on the coaching sidey he’ be having the dunks on and Nikes on so you need to check his fo footwork out too so yeah what’s the go-to kicks for you or do you have a favorite I like

Boots though seriously yeah I like boots a lot but um yeah yeah you haven’t seen that um but I like boots and um I do like sneakers um Travis Scots are my are my go-to yeah yeah just real quick Kevin do you believe that cam Thomas deserves to be

Mentioned among the League’s most improved players this year oh I definitely do that um you know seeing his his growth I know he’s been out with some injuries and and stuff like that but hopefully he can continue to have this stretch next 17 games and what he

Did the other day I think that was one of his best games and not just the scoring the rebounding and we watching film in there he’s being back bag he’s touching guys he’s hitting guys he’s he’s not running out the paint on the defensive end talking so it was amazing

To see his growth um since I got here how he’s retaining things that we want him to do and 80% of basketball is not having the ball in your hand so how can you impact the game that 80% when the ball is not in your hand and he’s

Starting to do that and once he starts doing that I mean I think that a lock unlock a lot of things where people talking about him in the higher exra line of not just a score but a complete basketball player

Brooklyn Nets Interim head coach Kevin Ollie meets with the media and discusses today’s practice, Cam Johnson, giving a more consistent effort, Nic Claxton, and so much more. Subscribe for daily sports videos!

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