“It’s Going To Be A Whole Different Animal With Dallas” | Chris Finch Practice Sound | 05.21.24

“It’s Going To Be A Whole Different Animal With Dallas” | Chris Finch Practice Sound | 05.21.24

I think it’s number one since like March 1st or so I mean it’s it it starts with the rim protection they got two long active uh athletic bigs that really swallow Up the Rim um they do a really good job of generating turnovers like kind of shut the lane down in and around the paint they’re very tight uh and they got good length and athleticism to fly around and contest so you guys had a week off before each the last two series there’s two days here and you’re just coming out like a 7-Day battle like what what is the challenge here of turning the page quickly and kind of refocus well I mean you got the emotional piece you got to put the last series behind you quickly um you know then obviously you got to try to you know load up on all the new information um you know you don’t have a whole week to prepare so um but that’s just the nature of how these things go uh you know fortunately uh you know like I said we’ve been pretty good in pick and roll um and just have to get you know kind of get back to doing that Chris you were really complimentary of of ant and his commitment to the offensive game plan in both series what what do you want to see him like abide by offensively in in this series well we have you know we have a feeling we we know how they’re going to guard him um we’ll have to see once the game start um but yeah I just got to continue to make the right play sometimes the right play is you know when they put two on you getting off it at the right time to the right person um you know sometimes uh it’s aoid plating in the crowd you know getting out of it a little bit earlier um you know sometimes it’s it’s shooting when you’re open so yeah I mean he’s been doing it all all playoffs um no matter what the looks have been um so we just have to be ready to to kind of read and React to what happens but um you know I have every confidence that I’ll continue to do it how much is a series like Denver though I me I can’t imagine a better series to help you when you got to come back and all the emotions you went through what do that do to tough on the team well I mean you know obviously had great resolve through that series um you know but that’s how we feel about ourselves all the time great confidence no matter what the circumstances are um you know but all that all that series means to us now is that if we get down we have you know we have faith in ourselves to come back um but it’s going to be a whole different animal with Dallas for sure we were talking to Jaden earlier this year he said Luka kind of mastered the game way how how has Luka mastered the game well you know it’s one of those guys that’s when the ball’s in his hands you know everybody’s playing at his Pace the whole game kind of slows down he can make every pass on the floor Plus score for himself um does a great job of being able to manipulate the defense with his passing just you know whether he’s making the pass or freezing the defender with a look off or something like that um you know and just just got to be able to kind of affect them as any way you possibly can um but yeah it’s just you know very few guys in the league that with the balls in their hands like the entire Arena just slows down to his pace and he’s one of with how sharp the es and flows were in that last Series against ever do you go into this one kind of expecting some of the same I mean I I expected you know probably be a long series like most of more these days at this point in the season um you know every series its own personality so I’m not sure I can predict the ups and the Downs right now um you know we got to be be be ready for a hot start um you know we we’ve been good getting off to this these starts in the series so um that’s served us well so that’s what we’re focused on right now one of the things that ant does on and off the court in the regular season but what are some of the things you would only learn about him in a run to like the Western confence Finals that you would see with this kind of experience yeah I think you know a lot of it has to do with his his engagement goes up I mean he’s definitely locked in at a higher level uh I think he’s really enjoying like the cerebral parts of of the game right now um you know being demanding of his teammates his leadership is that you know all these things are just kind of they were there and they were growing but they’ve gone to another level and they’re they’re like omnipresent right now so we’ve seen an he always get shouts out and ow his teammate we also heard him you know get on towns about not committing silly fouls yeah what allows a 22y old to be able to kind of have that conversation with veteran players uh just you know confidence like being a leader is obviously have you know having a confidence to to know what to say and and when to say it um and having obviously the confidence to go out and do it yourself you know you don’t have to be perfect you know a makes a lot of mistakes he’ll be first to tell you that he does so um um but when you leave you have that kind of genuine approach and your teammates like you um you know and when you building your teammates up and always giving credit to them when they do good things then you can you know call on them when they need to do things better so he has uh really kind of established that relationship with his player with his teammates and he has gained their trust um you know just like you would hope you would what’s the pain is it a pain tolerance thing for for him in terms of managing the Achilles I think I mean there’s some there but it’s you know comes and goes some days are probably a little better than others right now so um you know definitely a pain management thing but uh didn’t look to be too bad in game seven so Chris is it way or you mind at all about who might own team not one bit I have a great relationship with all ownership parties um and uh it’s been you know not even been in in my mind at all so certainly since the playoffs started so Chris what’s like navigating the grind of like all of this right now like eight wins down but you’re only at the halfway the ultimate goal is eight more wins yeah 100% And we just talked about that today you know um uh been a been a great season we’ve accomplished a lot um but you know we said we said from the beginning uh and as the season was unfolding like why not us you know the League’s wide open we’re not in a dynastic period um and as proven there’s going to be a new champion this year so everything’s still to play for but a long long way to go how much more immobile are you feeling in and around the bench I’m good yeah pain is pain is way way down um you know but uh still not able to be out front just you know for safety purposes so first I think you talked about this the other day but um that could have been an awkward situation just the you know managing you know mic give instruction or whatever yeah I mean it’s going great I mean listen I you know um we one of the things is he’s really really good at is like game management he helps me a lot with game Flow game management what I refer to as small pieces of the game whether it be rotation special situations like end of quarter management clock management that kind of stuff and that’s what you really need to be on top of too when you’re when you’re in you know when you’re in the position he’s in up up front um after a few games you know I just told him like you got to take you know a little bit more control over certain situations you know you’re not going to be wrong it may not work but you’re not going to be wrong trust your gut you know we can’t have a lag time where you’re looking for me all the time so um but nonetheless I always find a way to get my you know my message across or if I want something so it’s it’s not bad it’s been going well best we could hope for is this the closest thing to like you being an offensive coordinator watching from the up high yeah I mean I do get a slightly different perspective you know just with a step back you’re not in the you know in the in the mix as much so that’s kind of nice um but uh yeah but you know we’re still kind of we got really good staff we’ve got a lot of connectivity there the rim protection like that’s something maybe haven’t seen in a month just so the way the playoffs work and like pick roll something you haven’t seen in two weeks so like what is it like kind of easing back into something when it’s not like you haven’t seen it in two games you haven’t seen it in literally like a month yeah absolutely it’s a great question we spent a lot of time like going through that stuff today in practice um just kind of getting back to those you know that Foundation of those types of um you know options on offense and and you know the different things we going to have to do on on defense so yeah just we’ve done it we’ve said all season long we’ve preached to our guys we’re going to have to be able to do a lot of different things and the reason we want to do it is not just to navigate a season but also to navigate a playoffs um and so we have some experience doing it all so Chris kind of against a little bit different of roster construction that Dallas has kind of anj’s Point what are some key things you’re looking for from cat in this series I think the same you know the the the the same things that he’s been doing all SE like um obviously uh stay out foul trouble defense has been really high level for him um you know I can see you know he’s not going there’s like not a primary matchup that he’s going to have he probably be more in a help situation or um rotations and that kind of stuff uh different pick and roll coverages for him um and then offensively yeah just stay within the flow maintain great spacing his timing offensively has been outstanding you know he’s just kind of waited for the right moments and then he’s been able to kind kind of assert himself over these stretches in the game um and you know he’s in a good Rhythm so I expect him to you know hopefully stay there Chris you you won with balance the last game you won with cat scoring 40 I mean is there a preference or the playoffs just dictated by that night it’s just dictated by that night every game is different you know it’s really as much as you like to think that these games are related they’re not everyone is is very much different um you know adjustments are made some guys play well some guys don’t play so well times teams do things to take guys out of a game so yeah just you know got to kind of be able to separate them and take them as they come what’s your preference like guys like going out a shop blck like off a pick and roll when a guy’s like going out a shop block off a pick and roll do you like them to look for the lot for Rudy do you like them to just throw it off the rim and if it doesn’t go in Rudy’s there like do do you guys have a preference in that thing yeah I like for him to score M yeah if it’s the lob great if it’s the lay layup great if it’s the kick out great that’s you know about making the right play so awesome thanks guys thank you guys appreciate it

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