Live Postgame Press Conference 5/19/24

Live Postgame Press Conference 5/19/24

after you reach that point I’ll have to go back and watch the film what how hard is it just to absorb a loss like this after after going ahead by 20 next question man the season’s over that’s what’s hard being up 20 season’s over you don’t understand that the season’s over it’s hard stupid ass questions Nicole and Jamal coach uh carried a lot of the burden offense ly for you guys uh what did you like what what sort of broke down between them within the second half just within those actions well I think so much was being placed on their shoulders I mean it was uh we’re expecting Nia and uh Jamal to to continue to pull rabbits out of their hat man and somebody else got to give some help I mean you know Joker 34 Jamal 35 and uh you know we just struggle to make shots you know they’re really good defense uh I thought our guys played extremely hard tonight to hold that team to 98 points 39 from the field 29 from three um but as I said all series long um are we going to be able to score enough in this series and once again in the four losses we couldn’t score uh I think now after the four losses we probably averag around 85 points a game and 115 in the three wins um so we had a going Jamal had a going in the first half we scored and uh obviously at halftime you know they picked up their aggression ran off our misses they became aggressive and then the second half they totally dominated the glass we dominated in the first half and the second half they had rebounded US 29 to 15 coach were you were you satisfied with the the quality of the offense in terms of the the process of getting shots or you know was it you know one of those things where you thought you thought that Miss shots kind of affected what you guys did on that end and on the other end as well uh no I mean I I don’t think our Miss shots affected anything except the scoreboard and again they they shot 39 from the field Anthony Edwards was six to 24 so the Miss shots didn’t affect anything other than us not scoring but to give up 98 points in a game seven on those percentages I’ll take that all day long um was our offense where it needed to be in that second half I think uh it could definitely have been better we could have gotten probably better looks um you know but again for 82 games they’re the number one defense for a reason and uh we just weren’t able to make enough shots and create enough good shots in that second half coach after a great first series with uh Michael Porter Jr shooting the ball what do you think happened in this series to his game offensively they guarded him yeah they guarded him really well and obviously against the Lakers he was able to get off you know I don’t know what the percentages are but now four losses is you know I know Michael didn’t shoot the ball well and he wasn’t the only one but you know he was three of 12 tonight one of six from three last two games they doubled Nia I felt a lot of those were were good looks just didn’t go down and I know you know sometimes you you it’s an over simplification of the NBA being a make or Miss league but um we just did not make enough shots in this series Michael included but it wasn’t the only one we as a team did not make enough shots and I didn’t help generate enough good looks maybe to uh to help ourselves but um every series is a learning opportunity and this feeling sucks as I told our players uh that you go from training camp all the way through and then it comes to an abrupt Halt and that hurts so use that feeling as motivation to come back a better player we won it last year teams in the west they they regrouped they retooled how are we going to beat the Champs and teams got better and um you got to tip your cap to to Minnesota obviously Chris Finch um their team Anthony Edwards all their players um that was a hell of a series and they gave us all we could handle and uh you know they wind up winning game seven on our court which is a tough one to swallow but uh we’ll be back we just got to find ways to look inside look outside and find ways to continue to get better Coach have to fight for in top three seed and then to ultimately lose three home games in this series how you know you mentioned them winning on your home court here in the holler and in the in the locker room how how tough is that to swallow that you guys did lose the three home games well of course you know um we have one of the best home records in the n NBA this year and to lose one and two and then to lose seven is uh I don’t think anyone could have predicted that happening I think most people had the series going seven but not the way it went seven it was kind of a strange Series in that regard um but yeah that’s um to let them come in here three times and beat us in our home court that’s something that we’re not accustomed to and uh if you’re going to try to win a championship if you’re going to try to get to Western Conference Finals obviously you got to protect your home court Michael you touched on it briefly I think in the previous answer but the the devastation you saw from your players walking off the floor down the hallway what kind of a message do you try to give to them um I obviously tough tough words and you can see from from their faces that everything they gave and and now it’s over yeah it’s uh it’s hard uh and and I think you know as I’ve gone through my NBA career as a head coach you know I used to meet with players right after the season ended and talk I don’t do that anymore it’s it’s too emotional you know the the sting of it is still too raw so I I think it’s good for everybody to get away for me to get away and kind of reflect on the season in totality because right now all I’m thinking of is that we are done and uh that that that for me hurts uh for our players it hurts get back to work you know I mean we all have to dig deep look inside come come back better individually and then as a team as a group we’ll get with Calvin uh we’ll get with Josh and uh you’re always looking at ways to get better and uh that’s what we’re going to do coach I think Kevin Harlem said on the TV broadcast said this is the sixth straight year the defending champ hasn’t gotten past the second round what do you think that says about just how tough it is to advance as the defending champ well we knew it where it’s hard you know something I talked to our team about in training camp you know I think the last team to do it was the 17 18 Warriors and uh with the rules being what they are now I think it’s going to become even harder and harder to repeat as Champions um but the one thing I keep on going back to right now is that I consider the San Antonio Spurs a dynasty and they never won back to back um so losing the hurt of it the pain of it it it helped us win our first championship can we use this year you know we tied a franchise record 57 wins uh we went 21- six out of the All-Star break we really stepped up um beat the Lakers in the first round and lost to a very talented timber wolves team who held the number one seed most of the year until the very end um so it is hard it is hard it is hard to repeat it’s hard to win and uh we all got to do do whatever it takes to not have this feeling again next year but I’m very proud of the entire Team all 18 players everything they sacrificed since Labor Day I’m very proud and thankful for the coaching staff that I have uh the ownership group that we have and uh you know this is just a momentary delay you know it’s a failure is not fatal we’ll be back coach uh winning the championship you have to have a certain of hunger I can imagine defending a championship is exhausting how exhausting has the totality of this season been yeah I I think it’s a really important point and I’ve never and those that know me I’m I’m not an excuse maker um the better team won so I’m taking nothing away from Minnesota um but when you look at the fact that all the teams that are still playing we played into June last year a lot of basketball and then uh we had to play our guys our main guys unlike last season through game 82 to secure the number two seed whereas last year we we were able to rest down the stretch and I think the the run last season and coming back and you know the the amount of minutes that our our starters had to play I think mentally emotionally physically I think guys are gassed they’re dead tired they gave me everything I could ever ask for and that’s why as as much much as this hurts I will walk out of this building tonight with my head held very high because we competed we fought we gave ourselves a chance and we came up short and that’s going to happen at times no one ever said this was going to be easy trying to repeat and um like I said you know we just got to improve across the board get better and uh and come back even stronger thanks everybody appreciate e e e e e e e e e e Jamal and you hit that you hit the corner three to put you guys up 20 I guess what what changed from there put put us up when your three that put you guys up 20 early in the third what changed from that point forward um I have no clue I don’t even know what what I don’t know when you’re talking about what are you talking about in the third quarter 20 minute into the third quarter I don’t even remember bro I just remember the last five minutes when I had a turnover and I didn’t box out that’s all I remember Jamal I knows there’s been a lot of pressure on you physically a lot of pressure on your mentally throughout this series just looking back at over the course of these seven games just where do you think the team could have been better as a whole I just think I could have been better obviously when you you know I feel like today you know we generated Great Looks but it we all shot below 50% you know every single one of us so it’s tough when you know you you get the looks you want and you don’t make them and they come down and the score you know it’s it’s it’s like one more ke asked for you know what I’m saying so you know I was below 50% Mike was below per K yoke I mean it felt like we got the shots we wanted the opportunities were there and um our defense was there um I just think that run um you know the run that they had uh somewhere in the second half you know we couldn’t recover for that one Jamal coach said that he wasn’t going to make excuses but that the starter specifically he could tell where gas between the Deep Run last year and then having to just play more minutes and play to game 82 could you get that sense a little bit that he just had to rely on you guys a little more than than maybe he would have liked I’m not worried about being tired I’ve been playing in Denver for eight years now so I’m used to the altitude I’m using to find in my second win that’s not I mean that’s not even doesn’t make sense we’re just I’m I’m playing the game it’s I played 42 a played 43 so I mean I don’t know Jamal it looked like they did a better job over the course of the series of posting you guys up and like with Cad and with Nas and and those guys just how difficult was it to switching like doing a defensive SK like switching the entire time like were they getting the looks that they wanted no I mean that’s they got three bigs out there so I mean that’s that’s part of their game plan um feel like we did a good job I feel like we just didn’t make shots you know on top of that um obviously they’re going to score they have great players you know um we had our opportunities tonight and we we didn’t make them and that that that part stings being hard now that you’re on the other side trying I know it just happened are you able to on makes it I say uh just just mentally and physically you know contouring up the energy to to fight like you’re being hunted I think that’s that’s the that’s the emotion um you know I think when you’re the hunter you have so much more uh motivation and you you grasp onto anything to prove everybody wrong and you have a a constant ship on your shoulder I think you know as the winner you know having had one I think um I don’t know I feel like we should have won tonight that’s that’s that’s the tough part you know they beat us but we had so many great opportunities um including myself so um It’s just tough man I’m just excited for next year Jamal sorry to look ahead so quickly but I don’t know if we’ll hear from you again um you okay did the have have the injuries you’ve dealt with over the course of this season impacted how you view the Olympics at all or are you fully committed no I mean I got now so Jamal um so it’s going to be kind of long offseason but uh will we see you will we see you representing Team Canada in then Sumer olymp yep Jamal coach said that he thought you guys could use this as motivation that one of the first things he said so I guess how does it fuel your offseason for sure um yeah man it’s back to being the hunter it’s back to being uh you know fighting for something with a different type of edge you know so I think we we know we beat them uh we beat them in the first round I know that’s stuck that stuck for them because they they’re such a good team so I know last year you know being them sucked for them and uh they came in this year with motivation and they showed it um um you know we I feel like we’ve seen a lot of Rudy and Mike Conley over the years um they got us they got us this here I appreciate you e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e for e for e e e e e e we hear a lot about how hard it is to repeat in the NBA I know it just happened for you guys but now that you’ve tried to do it um do you have any on what makes it so difficult to to do it back to back I mean I don’t know uh we didn’t accomplish that so I mean I don’t know it’s hard because the teams are more hungrier U Better talented uh than last year probably everybody get better everybody wants to beat us probably uh that’s my thought process probably Nicole obviously you guys went up pretty early in that third quarter and Lead ultimately dissipated just what happened in in the second half from your perspective I mean they were scoring they they they had a lot of offensive rebounds we we couldn’t make shot even I think we had a lot a lot of open looks uh wide open looks uh but that’s that’s what happens you know sometimes you make shots sometimes you miss shots and uh today I think we didn’t miss shots uh I think we missed a lot of good shots but you know that’s um not just on us they they played some good defense that’s why the number one defense in the NBA some of your teammates were just saying what makes this even more painful is the fact that you know it wasn’t a sweep they felt you were the better team and there’s so much talent on this team that they thought this was the team that could repeat is that what makes it with you perhaps sting more because of the talent on this team you know I don’t believe in that I I believe in that I think the team who is better team so you have a seven game so over best of seven so if someone beats you I think they’re the better team uh congrats to them like we we did we have a chances of course we did but uh in someone beats you I mean they’re just better Nia what will it take for you guys to get back to winning a championship again I mean some teams never been in the championship again so uh I’m just glad that we had opportunity this year and we were we were in the in the horse racing spee we were in the microphone you know they were telling our names uh so we will see you know getting better uh personal wise getting better team wise getting better better coaching wise like you need to be especially right now what how many talent in is league in the league is you just need to you just need to be basically perfect to win a championship Nicole kind of on that note what do you feel like you guys need more of or needed more of in order to win this series I mean we needed to make shots I mean I as eight a3es uh where is the where I am oh I miss eight threes Jamal missed eight Mike missed five we were shooting eight for 24 in today’s air basketball Air B C basketball is going without making any threes basically you canot win win the game um of course it’s a tough it’s a game seven uh you don’t make a lot of shots they didn’t make either one they made they were shooting 39% from the free from the field so but you know I think if you want to win you need to make shots Nicole I know it’s early on in the process but I was just wondering if you had any thoughts on the Serbian national team in the Olympics this summer I really I don’t know my friend we will see I need to think about it uh Nicole you mentioned sort of the rebounding stuff like that that that flipped in the second half of this game you guys had kind of dominated that in some of the hustle stats in the first half does when that flips so dramatically does does fatigue or exhaustion kind of play a part in the way it can go in I mean it didn’t play for them so I don’t think think I don’t think that you know sometimes you don’t box out sometimes it’s a luy bounce sometimes it’s uh they want it more sometimes we wanted more so I think that’s why basketball is great you you never know what’s going to happen ni does it hurt any more that it ended on the home floor and that you guys I don’t know struggled a little bit at home in this series um I mean yes of course I mean you don’t want to lose in front of your fans but uh they were so so good to us so uh we were fighting we gave all our our best our all best so hopefully they’re going to appreciate or not we will see next year Nicola do you look at this temper wolves team as a as as a team that could become a rival of of you guys in the future I mean yes I mean I think they’re built to build to beat us in someone and just look at their roster they have basically two All Stars two uh probably first defensive players in the year Mike onlyy who is the most underrated player in the NBA probably I mean I love the guy he’s so good and he know he always makes the right right even he didn’t he didn’t shoot that well this uh this SE this uh was the name Series this game you know in one moment he was the leading rebounder in in the game for them so you know it’s um and then from the bench they have a six player of the year they have a Kyle and and Walker who who was uh really good for them so one one team that he they can do little little literally everything they can be big small so [Music] else pleasure my friend for

Hear from Coach Malone and select players following Round Two, Game Seven vs. the Timberwolves.

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