LIVE: MN Timberwolves postgame interviews: Game 5

LIVE: MN Timberwolves postgame interviews: Game 5

it it just gets to another level another level of of execution another level of Fitness another level of Readiness another level of like you know you know closing quarters clo like everything becomes a little more heightened every series that you go through um so I think that’s the biggest thing uh for us and how can you guys as a group use this as as kind of a a building block to you know create a new standard for yourselves yeah I mean we for that you know certainly one look at the season long performance uh as well um as anything that happened in the playoffs certainly like take from what we learned here and the lessons that we uh were taught but um you know try to figure out some things you know that might uh you know kind of be red flags moving forward but yeah it’s you got to start back at square one when the season starts you can’t skip any steps you know the West is going to be a monster next year as it continues to be every year so but you know there was a lot things we did well this year super proud of our guys um in just building another layer of foundation to get where we’re trying to go Chris did they take away what you were trying to do on offense or did you kind of give it away to some extent I mean their physicality really bothered us you know thought their physicality kind of just busted us out of everything we tried to do so and do you think that’s been part of a kind of a season long I mean there’s been a number of things that have plagued the offense but yeah um I mean it doesn’t feel like it’s been a season long thing it’s been sure certainly here and there over a hundred games that you play it’s happened but yeah that surpris you most that their physicality is what got you guys out of it it’s been the opposite for you guys all year yeah yeah I mean I don’t know if it surprised me I mean their defense has been you know top defense since since the trade deadline they’ve done an incredible job of remaking their roster um two Elite Rim protectors you know everybody’s Garden at a high level good schemes um but yeah I mean we were you know we weren’t able to apply the pressure at the point of attack with their you know with their two guys as we’ve have been and you know that we feels like we spent the whole series um on their hip or them getting by us a little too easily um and you know that’s a tribute to their great skill as much as anything else so yeah I was going to ask like I think lot of people be like oh the Wolves didn’t play like the Wolves but how much do you think Dallas did have to do with that and and especially the play of those two kind of Tak guys out of what you mean they you know they they shot over 50% again you know we’ve been defensive L all year we didn’t get our defense consistently into this series the way it needed to be um you know our most physical effort was last game four um when we looked a lot more like ourselves on the ball and and and you know at the rim and everything else like that so for for an at 22 it’s rare in NBA history 22y old leads a team in scoring and then leads his team to the finals is the next kind of growth here for him and what did he maybe learn in this series that can that can Propel him forward in the offseason when he goes to work on his game or yeah I think for sure I mean you continue to got to get better at the things that you see in the playoffs which get heightened um you know I think picking up some of the decisionmaking you know I thought he did a much better job of that as the year went on as the playoffs went on um you know he saw probably more bodies in this series than he had in the previous two so that was one you know but uh you’re right he’s you know for a number one pick I think he’s he’s he’s had more playoff success and most most of his colleagues that have been selected in that spot in recent years the real challeng is like again starting over at day one you know you can’t get bored with the process of being great and it takes you know the summer it takes 82 games and it takes you know sharpening your resolve in the playoffs and um you know just got to keep putting work in Chris you said in your first answer you felt like you busted out of structure by being by going a little isolation heavy in this game what’s the key when ant and Cat are isolation heavy players to kind of stitch that together the combination of isolation and structure I mean it’s I mean being you know being able to go in isolation is everybody does it at some point in the game no matter how much structure you have out there but you got still got to get set you got to get to your right spacing a lot of it has is spacing related you know so um we were able a never really able to kind of get I don’t think into anything um that gave us great you know shape Chris just in this moment I mean obviously super disappointing with the way it ended are you able to take a step back and just look at the season as a whole and what you accomplished or is it too fresh here no I mean of course we we’re very disappointed um you know I thought like I said that you know when I look back in Summer Long going to be a lot of regrets about early parts of the series um but uh you know it’s been a it’s been a great year very proud of the guys you know it’s the the way the city has gotten behind the team and the fans um you know it’s been special and uh we’ve always said from the time we got here we just want to put out a team that people are proud to root for and play the right way and you know we feel like we do that now we just got to keep fine-tuning everything so um you know that’s thing you know as the Summers go on of course you’re going to reflect on the good and you’re going to um also reflect on things where you need to get better so thanks guys two two two two CH the man said for for e e for it e and uh you guys clearly had a lot of confidence coming into the game and believe you get back in what did you see happen so early there that just brought a knockout punch and made it tough to come back Luka just that simple uh he had like three shots from the from the logo so pretty much nothing we can do about it how what’s your emotions as the season now comes to an end about what you accomplished and where it fell short uh I just said we’ll be back next year do you think this is something that you just have to go through experience to kind of build on um unfortunately is going through a would a loss but I guess so what do you think of it about and what do you think about this Mavs group and and their potential of what they could accomplish in in the finals and what do you think you can take from what they did to stop you personally in this series and apply it to next year and Beyond nothing when you kind of look back on on this series maybe early in the series what do you think this team could have done better especially on the offensive end of the floor to try and and counteract some of what Dallas was throwing at you uh we never clicked all together as a team in this series not you not even one game I think that was the main thing like no like um the last two series we was all clicking at one time making shots and stuff we wasn’t clicking at one time there kind of along those lines you’ve talked about all season through the playoffs the offensive talent that that you guys have on this team there was times through the regular season where the defense was there and and the offense wasn’t consistent what when you reflect on the series or on the season what what do you think is missing to make the offense more consistent um I think it’s all about just making shots yeah I mean this series alone I don’t think we shot the ball particularly well from the three-point line and I think they H us they was able to sit in the gaps all series um make it tough on me and um their game plan worked because um we Wen making shots but we’ll be back next year man is there anything with with them saying as much as they can is there anything you can think of that you could have done better within that to take to find different ways to kind of get the offense going um no not at all I feel like I was getting to the teeth of the defense um creating good shots um and well creating the same shots that we was getting versus the other two teams that we played previously and um they just wasn’t falling for us and um you know it’s a lot of our guys first time being in this in this in this light so especially me it’s my first time um so we’ll be ready man we’ll be all right first time took a loss um congratulations to the Mavericks um and we’ll be back we’ll be all right the the this the last time we’re going to get to talk to you before the off season here so as you kind of maybe reflect on your season this year where did you make the biggest growth do you feel like in in your game over the course of the Season uh just being able to read the floor um um not get as mad when teams double me and put two on me because I know my guys out there gonna knock it down um and just trusting my teammates and obviously disappointing loss in this series but what do you take away from the successful postseason run that you guys had especially the momentum after the first two series um it’s a lot of things to take away um I think the main thing is our identity and um we hung our hats on defense I think we got a little uh away from that a little bit this series and um it showed um because we’re not the best offensive team we always um depend on our defense so um I think that’s the main thing we we we take away from this playoff run is that we’re a defensive team and we got to start there every night and your first real deep playoff run um how much did you enjoy um just what playoff basketball has to bring ah it’s fun man I love it I wish we could still play um I wish we was going back to Dallas for game six um but those guys came out and they competed at a high level um and like I said man big shout out to them but it’s super fun and I’m looking forward to being back right in the situation next year and you start the season against Dallas in Abu Dhabi when when you were at that point what did you envision for this season to look like versus what played out for reality um it’s crazy because uh slow-mo said when we was in Abu Dhabi that he felt like we was gonna play this team in the Western Conference lers like yeah he told me that in Abu Dhabi so it’s kind of crazy that we’ve seen him and um but um they made some changes to their roster big time and um it helped them a lot and um and some of the young guys Miller and uh we didn’t see some of those players what do you got coming behind you with the younger guys we got a a lot I mean um our our uh coaching staff and organization um weight room guys they do a great job of preparing those guys so um this summer is going to be big for our young our young group I mean including me I’m still young um because we we got some players that’s that’s um haven’t been able to Showcase their talent we got a lot of players hey and what did you learn through this playoffs and and what do you think it will do for you this summer as you prepare to come back next year and go even further I mean you just know how you got to train because um like I said I’ve never played this deep into a basketball season um so now I know like okay in order for me to be able to be dumin it in in the third round and if we get past the wor com final and go to the finals I got to train like I’m I’m G to go to the playoffs so I can’t be um missing training days I can’t take days off I can’t you know what I mean I got to be ready so now I know what it takes I’ll be ready and I know it’s a quick uh pivot here but what do you look looking forward to from the Olympics experience coming up um I don’t even want to talk I don’t know K C I mean as a leader of this team what do you say to the other players on your team about workouts this summer is it specific things you want them to work on or do you think they just improve on their own and you guys all come back for training camp uh I mean yeah they got their own trainers their own guys um yeah they just work on their game but I just told them like y’all know that we we we’re going to be right back in the same position next year so y’all know how y’all need to train to get ready and um including myself like um you know cuz we trained this year as if we was going to just play 82 games maybe one one round of the playoffs we didn’t know we was going to go this far so we didn’t train like it this summer I know nobody did um especially myself so um I think this summer is going to be huge for for all of us because we know what type of team we got and we know what we capable of so we need to train like we know what we going to do what goes into training to play deep into the playoffs like you’re talking about right now um just a lot of things I think this summer I’m going go back to how I trained um the year that I was um going to college I think that was the that was the I was in the best shape of My Life um in my freshman year of college um a lot of air D the bike stuff yeah a lot of stuff like that man that make me uncomfortable and at uh 22 years old your Olympics coming up getting this far in the playoffs the story of legendary company is on the course of being ridden when you get into this off season the Olympics what’s your biggest motivation inspiration what keeps your fuel your drive to be in moments like this and to be as good as you have been um I think my brother man my brother just sent him he uh he works every day he he stay He makes music to about 5 six o’clock in the morning when I wake up he still be up making music so him just you know working to to to get his out there and be the best that he can be it makes me get up every morning and want to be the best that I want to be um um and you know just showcasing to the world what I can do I think that’s that’s another thing that drives me awesome thanks n you guys have kind of hung your hat on the defense specifically the perimeter defense and the ball pressure you guys are able to apply All Season what about Kyrie and luk made that so tough uh to be able to kind of impress your defensive will on the game they’re tremendously skilled they pretty much can do everything um three level scores Playmakers so uh I think one of the toughest things is they’re going to make tough shots as well so it’s kind of hard to say I’ll live with that because they’re comfortable taking it um just got to show up every possession try to find a way to throw them off as much as you can take them out of the Rhythm they see so many coverages every night um they’ve been here for a while they’ve had success and failure in the playoffs so they know what’s going to come they’ve seen it all you know this is my first year um second if you count it uh just really having that opportunity U my first year playing all E2 and then coming into the playoffs and then getting that chance to like really learn um just about the moment and for me it was just a growing process and getting better and each game just trying my best and just trying to impact winning that I could for the team Ry as you kind of think about how this series played out for you guys what’s maybe the the one takeaway that you have of why you guys weren’t able to to get past this team I mean lot lot of it but definitely those first two games you know just being up the whole game both games toose I don’t believe in the what I think everything happens for a reason but it’s a totally different scenario if we win one of those two games both you know so lots of great things you know obviously uh not how not where we wanted to end but a lot of positives you know and uh a lot of things to be excited about you know and uh we’ll be right back we’ll be right back and even better brudy uh you guys got when you remember the Jazz made to the West Conference Finals I think never never second round second round second round okay I apologize uh but you made some steps in the playoffs and didn’t reach your ultimate goal what about that process have will you take with you to help this group reach its full potential I just keep going keep believing uh you know I’m happy that we got you know second year for me in with this organization with this group um you know obviously we we the only thing in our mind was the championship but um championships are hard you know it doesn’t happen like that and uh getting to the Western Conference Final um second year you know with this young group um I’m excited you know I’m excited of what we can be as a team and uh you know and and the growth you know the the the potential that we still have you know we we haven’t tapped into our full potential or even close to it yet so it’s uh obviously frustrated but it’s really exciting exciting too and uh you know and I don’t plan on you know quit believing or anything like that I believe that uh we’re going to get right back and we’ll be better and and more prepared Rudy you’re a defensive tactician you had five shots at this team in terms of their ability to either finish off the bounce throw a lobber hit the three in the corner what does this team need to do whether it’s Personnel or habits to be able to defend that at that level to to meet those guys and take at least two of those away fairly consistently um it’s a good question I think I think we got a I think we had a lot of good really good defensive stretches a lot good defensive games um you know this this this this team I mean obviously Luca and Carrie are two unique players you know and uh they they able to to a lot of times figure things out uh you know and then I feel like the the we put oursel in a position to win I mean three of those games you know three of those five games we just uh yeah we we we we fell short and uh doesn’t mean that we were playing terrible defense doesn’t mean that you know um yeah they were playing Amazing offense just that we we fell short and there’s a lot of factors that come into that um and you know we we we truly believe that you know it’s all attention to details that it’s going to make the difference for us and uh and um mental toughness you know we I think we um they got the best of us a lot of times when we we lost that you know and uh Everyone likes to talk about game plan and all of that but I think truly believe that you know our mental toughness uh at times uh and emotional you know uh stability you know in the tough moments I think that’s why we we really have to to to we will you know uh learn and get better at throughout the whole 48 minutes and the whole series nille for you this this offseason is it more fine-tuning or adding things to your game and if it is adding what does that look like um definitely adding uh I think there’s more I could have brought to the team I think uh could have helped Mike in our playmaking uh I want to become a better Defender um like I mentioned before those as a great player is what motivated me uh to want to take pride in that stuff um reach my full potential try to be better add value to the team uh I think as a player um and to my young self of who I wanted to be I think I’m very far from that and for me it’s just adding in every facet becoming a high IQ guy uh being able to make plays is not not so much as relying on Ant to do everything or relying on cat to get me open shots or mik um and vice versa like helping them get open shots getting them easy looks just becoming a more complete player and that’s about it Rudy you have that book all the time the obstacle is the way at at your locker is that apply here all the time man every day you know I mean it’s it’s part of the it’s part of the journey you know each individual I think has their own um challenges their own goals their own dreams uh and nothing comes easy you know um one thing I know like coming from where I come from and be able to it’s already a a miracle being able to you know living my dream in you know in this situation Western Conference Finals um you know being where I saw myself uh when I was 12 years old and nobody else saw me you know so it’s uh already came a long way but you know and it’s only through adversity it’s only through um perseverance you know not not giving up just keep putting the work keep learning uh and uh and obviously when you want to win uh when you want to win really bad uh it hurts but um being able to feed from that pain and tur it into something positive and keep growing and keep you know at the same time keep appreciating every single moment uh it’s really uh yeah it’s really the mindset that I’m trying to embody and I think our team are also embodi that mindset and uh you know we’ve been through a lot of adversity as a group the last two years individually collectively uh and uh we that never broke us that kept us that made us better and uh and I don’t plan on I don’t think we plan on you know uh giving up now you know there’s been some amazing progress and uh we’re going to keep going through that really you take any scars from this I mean all that you’ve accomplished in your career and there’s some media people that were pretty critical of you uh specifically in this series any cards not ready not ready I mean I’m aware of you know the noise and people have different opinions people sometimes uh say things that they don’t even believe themselves you know uh it’s a it’s a it’s an interesting world you know the world of you know of uh what’s around you know the game uh you know so it’s uh I really don’t try to put my energy into that you know I just try to focus on just being the best version of myself that I can be and uh and let people have their opinions you know I think the most important thing for me is who I am as as a teammate who I am as a as a human being first and uh and the work that I put in and the things that I try to do for the world you know I think uh there’s already a lot of work putting my energy into that so um people’s opinion you know uh eventually they’re going to respect uh and eventually they’re going to be inspired at some point but until then you know I’m going keep being the best version of myself every day n uh this team made a big leap from last year to this year do you think an equally big leap is required to get the final step and and get to the finals and what do you think that what do you think it will take as a group to make it that way 100% uh winning is not easy um looking back on each game and knowing that it comes down to H if we had this possession back it looks like a different series um if we did this differently here and there so I think it is a it’s a huge adjustment because that’s a lot of the mental things that goes into it and like Rudy mentioned emotional control mental toughness high IQ plays I think just ultimately for us to want to win like we were seven games away and to win seven more games that are high intensity high pressure always coming down to the wire um it’s going to start with habits consistency from when I leave here till God will in next next season and uh next postseason and hopefully making a run again but I think it’s always about continuously making the most out of every day and trying to make that big jump like you’re saying and it’s going to take a big jump and it’s going to take constant failure and um a mental battle uh to tune out he say she say to tune out the media um to humble yourself to the team to do whatever it takes to win and this Playoffs series definitely this playoffs postseason as a whole definitely taught me more about what it means to win and not just really believing but applying that belief applying that trust in your work and everything so forth um but Al also only that moment um I think all those things are going to play into how we grow next year and making that Jump N you talked about wanting to grow as a playmaker and shot Creator this off season how as a team can you guys level up take take the next step offensively so that when when you do run into an opponent with shot makers you can go a little bit more toe-to-toe on the offensive end to answer back putting the work yeah putting in the work um I feel like everybody this season also came back a lot better as a player and that’s why we were able to make this jump and I have confidence that if we do the same thing next season guys will be in the right place and where they need to be and I trust that we can do this again thank you Mike as you think back on the series uh maybe what’s one or two things that you wish this team could have done a little differently to to get over the hump and get past these guys um I think in those first first few games just being able to close out quarters better especially the fourth um we really had a a great opportunity in front of us um had a lot of leads uh throughout the games this series and um when you give teams opportunities to to stick around and um make it a possession game they have two of the best in the game at closing game so that kind of bit us uh when it came down to it when you think about kind of this offense and some of the struggles you guys had in this series what what do you what do you think needs to happen to to improve that end of the floor and what can you do better you know to maybe contend with a team like this um I think it it’ll start uh you know training camp um off season like watching film what um style of pace we want to play you know the energy energy that we put in defensively we have to put that same energy offensively um passing cutting making extra plays just being on time with stuff and um it has to become you know habits for us um those those small things on offense can be a big thing when it comes down to um execution and and in big moments so um I think that’ll be something we’ll continue to work at and uh look you know look at uh going through uh offseason Mike this fan base has embraced you so much and truly loves you calling you Minnesota Mike what does that mean to you to have the timber wolves in the state of Minnesota love you this much and embrace you uh truthfully you know since I’ve been here day one of last year from the trade deadline uh everybody here has been so gracious and accepting my family family and I and um it means the world to me you know I could um you I could be in a lot of different places and a lot of different circumstances and situations and they’ve made this feel like a second home um which makes my job easy going into work every day uh you know trying to be the best me I can be for um our team and our situation so uh Truth for truthfully grateful for them and um you know all all the support they’ve given me throughout this whole you know U ordeal Mike there’s a saying that experience is Life’s greatest teacher and obviously this group some of your teammates are are really young in this game did you see them pick up the magnitude of the moment as the you know the playoff run went on and was there anything that about that kind of experience that you saw them go through encourages you about what this group can can do in its future uh yeah I think in each series we had moments um where we had individual guys the group of guys who had to uh either make sacrifices or um you know change the way they play Just for uh the sake of our team uh you look at ant uh his playmaking ability throughout the playoffs just kept improving um cat his ability to to you know not be onedimensional for us he’s spacing he’s inside out he’s he’s sacrificed himself on defense in certain series he’s guarding yage and next series he’s guarding k and he’s just having to be versatile in that aspect Rudy um things he does for us on both ends that people don’t look at his magnitude that he you know the gravity that he brings every night um jayen I mean he’s he’s a guy that that you know doesn’t get any credit you know for for actually what he does and brings to our team um on a nightly basis and see him just continually grow as a offensive player um I mean every you can go down a list of guys that have that have really shown up and uh allowed us to even have this opportunity in the first place so um we can take something from that and I think those guys will be um you know itching to get back to this position again Mike both nille and Rudy searching for things areas of growth both mentioned mental toughness how do you develop mental toughness sometimes uh you know like you said experience is is our best teacher um you know you have to go through it you know you have to learn from your mistakes you have to feel what we feel right now uh you know it’s something that these guys will never forget and you know hopefully push and motivate them um to work on themselves you know work on themselves in every moment that we get um you know opportunity to be like you know be where we’re at right now and um and I think the guys just you know we all want to be better and mental toughness is something that um it’s not easy to just attain and and and uh get overnight but I said those lessons will help you Mike is it harder to be this close and not quite get there or is is it tougher like last year when you’re you know when you’re out early how do you handle it no this is this is way tougher way tougher um because you know I feel like we were right there I feel like you know um early in the series that we had had a couple games that we let slip that could have really turned uh this series and we could be looking at things a lot different right now so um it’s really frustrating and um but you know this these things don’t happen by chance it’s part of the journey for a lot of us and um you know we’re meant to be here and we have to learn from it you said before the season or before the playoffs started about not taking for granted that progress will just come linear linearly um what do you think when’s the most important thing that this team has to happen this this offseason to make sure that you can build on this and that this wasn’t the end of the road that way um I think a lot of it is our our mentality for this this situation you know we have to once again believe that this isn’t um this isn’t our ceiling you know this is steps towards our goal um ultimate goal is to be a championship team and uh we made strides we did we really did we had opportunities um and the West isn’t going to get easier next year it’ll be a much tougher um road but um we have now felt as a group um playing against a team like Dallas what you know a championship level team is playing and how high level you have to play at um sense of urgy you have to have and um you know hopefully that’s something that we hang on to going into the offseason to get us prepared for you know the long run back here it seemed Mike like all year this team’s offense was kind of reliant on the defense to get it going um how do you guys make another step on that end of the Court um so if you do run into a team that’s hitting shots you can kind of go blow for blow for them with your offense uh you just you got to try to find a way to improve on that you know whether that’s you know schematically or um how we play our personnel and units that we have that we run out there together um you know experiment with small ball lineups or whatever you know it is to make us um attack differently uh you know in different cases and different teams so I mean we just have to like I said continually just just grow from the experience of this and try to figure out um you know how we can be effective or how we can put just as much energy as we do on the defensive end um and put that on the offensive end at times to you know match the team’s aggressiveness or uh you know try to figure out how you know ways to to get over that hump so we’re not relying on you know one end of the floor like kind of along those lines offensively I think when we zoom out and look at the season look back at the regular season and the offense was below average does it feel that way or does it how many things need to happen to get to that to that level where you are a top 10 top five offensive team yeah um there’s a lot of room to improve and and I think a lot of it has to do with just you know us being able to make um simple basketball you know plays as a group uh not just one or two guys or three guys out there but all five um being able to to be multip multip uh have multiple you know facets to their game as far as driving kicking uh pushing the ball you know making good decisions when you have the ball you know I think that turnovers have been a real problem for us in in the past and you know um tonight I don’t think we did much better but you know we’ve had a lot of games where offense would be really good if we just got a shot up you know so um I think all that has has something you know at some point uh some part to play in it and um something that we can all get better at Carl just kind of what’s the what’s your emotions right now as you sit here you kind of disappointed or to take pride in how far you guys came this season or kind of what what are you feeling at the moment um disappointed for sure uh I think it’s simple uh got to the Western Conference Finals you know couldn’t get the job done um it hurts you know um this team has worked tremendously hard um improving ourselves as players but as a team collectively just playing together trusting the process through the ABS and flows of the seasons and all the adversity we found uh a way to always stick together and move forward together so um disappointed uh for us you know um you know we worked hard you know obviously didn’t get the result we want Mike and some of the other guys were saying you know series maybe wasn’t lost entirely tonight but those first two games for sure that hurt that 18-point lead in the second game hurt I think that’s the the turning point was it tough to come back mentally from from those two games even though it was still just a two hole at that point was it was it tough to uh feel like you let those slip away I mean nothing’s easy nothing’s easy when in the playoffs let alone NBA basketball um I think that uh I mean I said it early in the playoffs you know we’ve always done it the Minnesota way the the toughest way possible and uh I don’t think mentally we were out or checked out or anything like that you know we’ve been used to having adversity we we always finded ourselves putting ourselves in a bad position and finding a way to get out of it so just it didn’t work out you know uh Played with Fire maybe a little too many times and um played a great team who played amazing and and hit shots when they had the hit shots so um I’m not going to come out here at all and and say you know just it was just all us against ourselves that cost us you know they they had to make shots and play well and they did that that team is well coached they got great players you know gotta give credit what credits do call you’re the longest tenured member of this team um how does this playoff run kind of changed the context of your entire experience um you know seeing the come alive seeing what it’s like to progress this far um and seeing what it’s like to to play you know on a legitimate Contender I’m just happy to see the like you said I’ve been here nine years hope next year you know I would love for the tenure to keep going so um I’m just happy after you know all the years I’ve been here and all the ups and downs uh to see the the city come together so much for this team uh it’s heartwarming you know for someone who’s been here who’s seen both sides you know uh um to to see the how much love these fans have given us and how much excitement we’ve given them in this playoff run as well in this season um you know it brings joy to me because uh like I said I’ve seen the other side of it so um I think that’s what makes this so disappointing these fans deserve uh a chance to uh see the finals I think this team as of course you know we feel that we deserve that we put the work in but these fans you know after all these years they’ve given us so much this playoff run this season um you know it hurts when you feel you let him down so uh you know it’s a tough one cat uh your first Deep Run yourself individually what did you learn about what it takes to have success this way and what more you need to do or as individually and as a group to get to the final um never let your foot off the pedal you know uh you know it’s going to be good for us to take this experience you know just one the execution that is required at every level it gets higher and higher you know um to understand the discipline that we’re going to need if we want to make a Deep Run and then want to get to that next level which is the finals and um also the conditioning that comes with it and everything I think that we’ve done a great job all year of working hard on our bodies and our game so uh you know it’s going to I think this will be a great motivating factor for all of us to even find another level in training in this offse season and um you know attention to detail too and that goes with the execution so there’s a lot you know uh again I I I’m got to give credit to you know played a great team that made shots and they executed at a high level especially in the fourth quarter when they really needed to make shots so uh I’d be remissed not to give them you know the credit that they deserve you also said you just said that you hope to come back for year 10 do you have any expectations on how this offseason is going to go and what what’s going to happen here going forward for for you and for this team no I don’t know um I don’t know uh I’m confident that I’m going be able to be uh here with my brothers and uh um you know and uh continue to do what I love here at home so um you know that’s the plan nothing’s ever changed on my side and uh you know I love this city I love this organization I love what uh I love uh this city love what it’s given me in my life and uh giv me in my family so um you know uh I mean it’s been about 20 minutes so you know I got a lot to decompress and I got a lot to uh think about but uh you know my thoughts are never changed since day one uh about this about this organization so um you know the plan is to be here Carl getting to this level you know to to the Western Conference F so much of your career has been trying to build to a playoff run and to get to this point sometimes once you’re at this level some of the challenge is about keeping the group together some of the offc court stuff the the noise and those sort of things as a leader of this team and you’re expressing what you’re expressing like H how do you go about doing putting in that work I ain’t going to lie to you I ain’t really what you what are you trying to like are you trying to say like how do I put in the work with all the noise outside type thing to to be in the Western Conference go further yeah there’s be a step of you know keeping the group together yeah okay okay okay you know what I’m saying and kind of moving forward in that way when it there is trades and there are free agency and there are those sort of things what what is what is the challenge as a leader to keep the group focused on moving forward uh you know just I’m G try my best to answer that I think for me with all the noise and stuff you know uh I’m g go into the gym every day and work tremendously hard so I could be the best version of myself and you know the strongest most fittest most skilled most sharp I’ve been in my career every year um I think that I took a step in my career this year and my overall game um the work I put in you know I I I feel show itself this season is and uh taking another step so I expect nothing less this offseason to take even another step with the experience now that I’ve garnered in this playoff run and um just seeing the game differently you know with with experience and uh time you know just in my prime of my career so um stepping into it so uh the other part to your question I I I can’t solve those problem those equations because you know that’s not my part of my it’s not my job so I can only take care of what I can control and that’s you know stepping on that Court every day in in the summer stepping into the weight room every summer and you know attacking attacking it just as aggressively as I attack my rehab to come back from my knee injury just um you know doing everything with purpose doing everything with a mindset a motivation and um you know doing what I do best you know which is put the work in I put the hours in I put the time in so just continuing to do that trust the work I put in believe in the work I put in uh it’s done me well in my career cat there’s a battle between the ownership and what’s going to be decided whatever happens do you think whoever gets control will see that they should stick with where this team is and let it grow or do you see something else I don’t know I I I I can’t uh that’s that’s not for me to worry about my job is to go out there like I said every every day the in the summer in offseason and um continue to take steps forward and my game and my mentality as a as a not only as a player but as a person too keep growing as a person keep growing as a player um I know we all get caught up in what you know on the court how you know the game is play but I also have to you know grow as a man as well so I’m excited for to see you know next season I walk in here for training camp for our first you know interviews and stuff to not only see the growth as for me as a player that I will get to Showcase to Y throughout the season but the growth of me as a man so um you know uh I can’t speak on that I I I can’t control that like I said I I were I’ve you know I’ve definitely learned a lot in my nine years here and nine years of being pro basketball player is and the best advice I got is to control what you could control and I’m going continue to do that Carl um with this being such a overwhelmingly successful season for this franchise what are you most individually proud of whether that be for the team or yourself I mean one of the things I’m most happy about is the man to my right you know to see the love that Nas Reed has gotten from this city to see the love that he’s gotten from the NBA from the media to the votes to everything the Sixth Man of the Year was an honor that was rightfully earned by him um I remember I remember seeing this man when he was young over in Jersey and to see where he’s come now you know one of the best players in the NBA in my opinion and one of the most skilled and one of the most valuable assets you can have on any team uh definitely one of the things I’m most proud of um on the also side just to see everyone you know to see a team buy into you know the the the the greater good of the team and you know we talk a lot about you know oh people do this do that they they hunt for stats the Ws and to see this team buy into each other buy into the greater good of the team putting wins up uh it doesn’t matter about the numbers just caring about each other loving each other every single day caring for each other not only on the court but off the court with families being as all of us growing as men um I think what I’m most proud of is that everyone bought into that ideology and and then to see everyone still get the awards Rudy defensive player of the year now Sixth Man of the Year uh showcasing again the Val the the how valuable Mike Conley is to any team with teammate of the year how he brings our team together and taking a you know a huge step forward and and being second Team all NBA uh I think that’s what’s makes me proud too you know I we go talk about the success on the court but just to see everyone Buy in and and and sacrifice for each other but at the end of the day come out with even more success because they sacrific for each other is what made me proud of this team you know it’s it’s tough to sell that let alone the college players now you’re talking to NBA players you know who are grown men and have families and um you know kids and and everything that comes with you know being an adult and for them to uh come to work every day with that mentality that mindset uh it made it really fun to play basketball with these guys and to just see them achieve goals goals and aspirations and dreams of theirs uh as a teammate yo n it’s just can you what are your emotions right now coming off of a disint poting end to what was a terrific season um I just wish it didn’t end like that um it just played better than us um we beat ourselves a lot of times um yeah mean I think uh had a great season um like he said cat said but yeah I just wish we didn’t go out like that does I think a lot of people say you when you’re young and you’re experienced the first time you got to take your lumps to learn does it feel like that was what was happening maybe tonight with Luka and Kyrie more experience and been there before 100% I mean uh this is my first time a lot of lot of guys first time even being in the playoffs but let alone the Western Conference Final so I definitely got to take your lumps and you know uh and grow through those situations I think you know hopefully in the next few years so we’ll be in the same situation when we’re you know giving uh whatever young guys the whiping on the other so uh just uh just stay stick with it keep going it’s not the last time I’ll be in this situation hopefully and um just to keep gr what did you learn most from this longer run that you think will help going into the summer going into next season what stood out about the difference of playing at this level versus what you had before um I think I shape you are I know I know a lot of guys retired today and you you know obviously our play said that as well I mean this it’s a long season Once you get to this point I think we play over a 100 games at this point so being in shape uh you know having that the mental to where you know you can get through anything anything is possible I think um I think everybody pretty much had that mindset it was just we didn’t really break through that barrier where we were all you know uh active and you know ready to go as far as like shapewise I guess like I said everybody was pretty much tired you could see it I mean uh that it showed no it’s reflecting on this season what is what is something that surprised you about it that maybe you guys were excelled in more than than you expected and then also what is something that it felt like you needed more of uh to to be able to win this series keep going [Music] um I think how well everybody jailed together I mean obviously on every team especially it being our second year but I feel like everybody on this team like they knew each other for at least 10 years at least um we kind of grew into a Brotherhood at some at some points and sometimes you would you’d feel that connection um I think I mean not that you don’t see that coming but you know business of basketball you know anything can happen so it’s just like uh you know I know for me uh growing up and you know I used to be like to myself and stuff like that to where now like I kind of like embrac those guys those like my older brothers and stuff like that so then T where Jaden’s like my younger brother so forth and so on so it’s like just having those relationships and um being able to to communicate with guys on and off the court and then um what was your second question what is something that you guys needed more of uh to be able to win this series keep going I think uh more brains I think uh situations where um or experience I would say uh just understanding time and situation um understanding what what was at stake uh what you know um what to bring in the moments n what’s something that you’re going to try to work on this off season to kind of come back and get better going into that next season um really my allaround game I’m trying to expand each and every way like I’ve done in the past uh just I mean from every standpoint shooting dribbling defense definitely defense um being able to guard one through five consistently uh and being comfortable with it um really just being a consistent uh basketball player for sure I mean um yeah like I mean I’m pretty much is going to work on every every every facet of the game like I’ve I’ve done this far so I think each and every year have gotten better any other questions for Nas Nas this year with this team was positionally a puzzle right particularly in the the front Court like sometimes you’re playing the five sometimes you’re playing the three there’s what was like reflecting on that kind of how you guys made all the bigs work together how did that come together over the course of the season um I think just playing off of each other was the biggest thing like understanding situations and being in positions like I know for me like I’ve been in these situations before not in the NBA but in situations before where I had to play the three or four so I kind of knew how to play off rudan cat in ways um I’m sure they’ve you know they’re in the same predicament so it’s really just me uh and understanding you know time and situation who I’m guarding um what play we were running uh where to be um who always like I said who always guarding things like that now as with you and aunt and Cat and Mike you have so much offensive F power at your disposal what did Dallas do to you guys that made it so difficult to kind of get the shots that you wanted and and be more efficient on that end they made us tired they made us work um I think that’s the biggest thing like they were ready um I don’t think we made their their All-Star caliber players work I think that was huge on our end we should have done that uh as players um yeah I think they made us work one through 15 or whoever play and then when you just look back on this year with six Man of the Year beach towels tattoos like everything that happened for you is this going to be a year that just sticks in your memory of% all those experiences and the love you felt and everything yeah 100% I mean that’s that’s something that you dream about uh especially like just for one just to be in NBA and then to have that type of Love especially from the team that you were brought in by I mean it’s it’s super huge super huge and I’m excited to go into next year uh you know just just to just to show everybody how hard I worked and how how hard uh I’m trying to you know bring something special to Minnesota again um I mean it means the world you know just for all the got people got tattoos and like you said the beach towels and then you know how hard I worked to get six man and that goes to all the fans I mean they they brought it and um it was huge definitely needed that and um it’s big confidence boost as well just to you know especially when I check in the game everybody’s going crazy so that’s that’s that’s super super super super uh super love and I appreciate every every last person now as you mentioned playing off of both Carl and Rudy um you and Carl are such Dynamic perimeter and inside players and then Rudy has such gravity to him especially around the rim do you think that’s something going into next year you guys could lean into more the three of you sharing the floor together yeah possibly I think um there’s situations where when we did do it I think it really went really well so uh I want to see why not um again that goes into how much you know work I put in that those situations uh this summer so definitely uh definitely going to be invested in that in this summer so we’ll see e e e

FOX 9 will have live coverage of postgame interviews from the Minnesota Timberwolves after the team’s Game 5 matchup versus the Dallas Mavericks.