Media Availability: Coach Unseld, Kyle Kuzma, Deni Avdija, Mike Muscala | 12/29/23

Media Availability: Coach Unseld, Kyle Kuzma, Deni Avdija, Mike Muscala | 12/29/23

What was your approach to the rotations in the second half um I just found you know that group got going and you just ride it you know and they had really good momentum good Tempo I thought they were defending at a high rate and you go

To a group and they respond a certain way you just go with it keep it and they did a terrific job and what was key to overcoming you know the free throw disparity the rebounding the second chance points um how were you guys able to overcome that uh it helps make make

Some shots but um I thought we were locked in defensively uh we were able to get stops you know when we needed them and we made big big plays offensively you know certain certain points um not just individual plays but team plays where where uh we executed well and got

Open looks and stepped up and made them Wes you talked about um Mike pregame he was really good landre was really good D was really good could you kind of speak to the the second and sometimes third unit kind of stepping up tonight for sure um you know Mike um hasn’t played a

Ton he played 21 straight minutes and to his credit that’s a guy who stays ready um that’s a tall ask of anybody um and then you know not just to be able to compete you know at that level but to make impactful plays you know he he’s

Around the rim and using the rule of verticality and trying to put himself in position to uh you know impact the play and you’re throwing in a couple threes tonight and it does change the complexion of the game and um Denny was active kind of in a lot of different

Elements but you like from him I thought Denny played a complete Game you know I think uh slow to start a little bit on the defensive end picked up for sure but offensively his his thrust and Pace um you know downhill um with his catch and go um his cutting uh pushing in

Transition um and he was also able to just kind of find and create action once we kind of stagnated a little bit um he as well as Cory did a terrific job of doing that which opened up you know the floor once again for us to uh uh get

Downhill and and find a three you guys deplored a couple of different looks defensively in the fourth you went two three and then you box and one Mel with balow uh what do those two you can’t give everything away well what do those looks do for you and then how much how

Does that speak to the trust that you all have in bow at this point in his career well I think you know we he he’s seen enough at I think at this point 31 games in um and we’ve seen enough in him so um he had a big play in Portland

Where end of the game we put him on Grant you know a guard one-onone um he’s going to find himself in those situations game after game after game um and whe whether it goes well or not those are learning experiences and he’s going to be better for it you know the

Next time um thus far he’s performed remarkably so I have more than enough comfort in putting him in those situations and it’s it’s tough um cuz he’s you know we’re asking him to do a lot but um he tends to do the right thing and be in the right spot so to his

Credit you know he’s perform performed well one of the better Friday night atmospheres here that we’ve had this season how did that help the guys in that fourth quarter with the stretches defensively that you guys had I think it’s uh you know we saw it a little bit

I think uh a few games ago and this that home crowd that momentum you can feel the the energy you know it’s palatable and I think the guys feed off that and you know it it it does feel like you have a homecourt Advantage you know so

Uh that’s encouraging to see that you know the fans are still engaged and connected um and of course we want to continue to you know try and you know put some wins on the board to you know keep them going with about five and a half minutes

Left C checked in and at that point in the game it was still pretty back and forth um he scored nine minutes in a two-minute stretch what did you see from him all game and then specifically in those closing minutes what did you like from him well I’ll give him Credit in in

The closing stretch there um we tried to you know match up HT a little bit um and he was able to take advantage of it so I thought I thought we were discipline with the execution and our spacing which allowed him to play um and obviously he

Stepped up made big plays for us um but I think just you know all game you know he didn’t score you know necessarily that in that rate throughout the game but he he played the right way I thought he tried to find the right shots get his

Teammates involved um and they had some really good possessions defensively coach is there an update on Daniel gafford’s status um as far as as far as just because he he was out there for or he was he went to the locker room briefly in the end of the first half and then

Came back to the bench yeah I just U um I think the foul trouble and I think he just wanted to take a breath and come back what does it say about this team that they were able to gut out a win by six points despite only taking I think a

Single- digit number of free throws compared to in the 20s for Brooklyn yeah I think um you know you’re going to have some nights like that where whether you get the benefit of the whistle or you know there there’s a disparity um you can do other things and I think we can

You know ank ourselves in the defense a little bit uh even the second chance points you know was an issue a little bit tonight so uh wasn’t a perfect game but you know I think you know when we had to get plays and make plays we

Did um tonight CZ was awarded the um NBA Cares sorry not the full name but you know the award yeah NBA assist award how does it feel to have you know another this is the second um person that you’ve coached that has received that award so yeah I think um

You know it’s an honor to coach guys like that you know it’s High character guys who uh understand this is bigger than basketball you know you can impact lives by you know playing a game and entertaining people that’s part of it but um they understand the the nature

And the platform they have and the importance of their voice um you know lending their voice to certain causes I think is important things that they’re passionate about and they care about um and they want to impact the communities not only that they work in but live in

And he’s done it time and time again as as have others um and a lot of those things kind of fly under the radar so it’s it’s nice that he gets acknowledged um on this scale but you know that’s that’s certainly not why he

Does it so it’s a credit to him and who he is as a man but also um as a professional hey CZ what do you think was the difference tonight in the win um I think we did a good job of holding them you know not get to the fre

Throw line as much um outside of the last you know Ticky Tac cause um that we had at the end and um you know we just closed the game out so want to ask you about two players and what you thought of their performances tonight Denny and

Mike muscala uh I mean Mike was huge uh Mike did a phenomenal job um he’s such a he’s just a per a professional doesn’t complain about minutes doesn’t complain about really much you know he’s just here for a good time he works hard and uh got an opportunity tonight made the

Most out of it and I’m really proud of him and what about Denny’s performance uh Denny uh he did a great job um you know had a you know rough couple weeks but uh he’s done a good job today obviously rebounding and um you really uh was a catalyst in that third quarter

With the second unit what does it mean to you to win the NBA Community assist award for November uh it means a lot um I try to pride myself on being um you know as good as possible and um bringing good to this world um you know obviously it means a lot to

Me and my family so it’s great you had kind of an up and down first three quarters and then you checked in with about five and a half minutes left scored nine points in two minutes um Wes said just a couple just a little bit ago that you were doing some

Math matchup hunting and some mismatch hunting things like that um what’s your mindset when you come into the game like that for closing time uh I mean that’s how I want to play I mean when you think about like top options on every team that’s how they play and um you know um

I don’t really necessarily have the opportunity to do that Mo a lot and um you know I think for the first outside the first and the fourth quarter second and third I was really just out of rhythm um took a bunch of grenade shots and then a shot clock just trying to

Make something happen and um I mean my teammates really just trusted me and um you know gave me the ball and when I demanded it and um you know just it feels good when your teammates trust you so um as you look back over this year as

We getting close to the end of the year what what are some takeaways that you’ve got from this team this season so far uh oh man that’s a tough question I mean it’s been a long season um you know we’re just developing that’s the biggest thing you know it’s not um you know

Sucks to say it’s not about the win or loss you know because of just where we are right now but it’s about just the building the habits to have um you know successful years down the road and um you know we have some positive things

You know Cory is been a bright spot B has been a bright spot you know those guys have really um got better as the season progressed in playing efficient basketball team good basketball um so you know the Gaff Gaff has been um really good as of late uh especially

Rebounding you know since I’ve been his teammate um he’s improved in that category a lot you know just being just more of a dog on the on the glass over the past couple weeks and um know we’re just moving forward you moving forward so Wes said he kind of rolled with the

Hot hand with that lineup in the second half um what was it like being on the court throughout that run it was great I think the atmosphere was great um Friday night uh fans showed out it felt like honestly I asked Cory in locker room if

If it felt like a playoff game to him because it was like the intensity close game good crowd it was really fun to play today and uh I think we got going yeah certain units got going but everybody participated tonight which was the big time for us how about the

Contribution of Mike mcal in particular I love Mike man he’s uh he’s such a hard worker and he always positive he always bring the energy and like I haven’t seen somebody who’s like like keep workking and like his like mentality is so strong like I remember

Like after a game I don’t remember what what game it was like he was struggling a little bit and I told him hey you did the right today but your shots weren going in and today he made all the right plays and and they were going in so I I

Didn’t have a chance to talk to him but um like he had a great game uh he was big time for us um and that’s about it Denny speaking about how fun it was to play tonight the um pull-up three you had at the halftime buzzer yeah we

Haven’t seen you do the my house celebration it’s it’s it’s part like my house part of like it counted it’s like it was like yeah it was like but it was fun I mean uh you know I had I had it going so I felt like it was going in and

Uh you got to show love to Def fence a little bit I guess how much is this a win just with the contributions you got kind of up and down the roster that you guys can really be proud of of how everyone chipped in um we just made the

Right plays everybody like was locked in today did the right stuff uh did their task and what they needed to do and I feel like it clicked for us we were sharing the ball we’re playing defense getting boards um I can’t say anything better than that honestly ask about the second

Chance Point specifically but that’s that’s a big number to overcome what was working in the second half uh specifically yeah I mean they have good you know rebounders you know across many positions and that’s one of their strengths so um you know I think just you know being a

Team a team effort you know sometimes I get you know kind of push on the basket just trying to be more smart about my positioning um but you know I watched the film and I think we can all get better in that like I said let’s talked

About how he really kind of rolled with the hot hand with that rotation in the second half um what was that run while you guys were on the court l oh it was fun yeah and uh you know I thought it was cool that that uh that he went with

That you know and um just uh you know like it was just fun I feel the crowd was into it um guys were making some good shots and uh we were out talking having fun and D made some good defensive plays um so yeah it was fun

Can you walk me through your process personally a little bit about how you can go from maybe having a DMP or five minute stretch here to then being able to play a big load of minutes and how you can stay ready and still impact the game like that I’m I’m so fortunate for

The coaching staff that we have here they do such a good job keep us all ready um you know across the board and um yeah so you know shout out to Drake and Max and and Pete and and and Mike Miller just for me personally you know

Always uh you know giv me great effort and and attention to detail and pre you know pregame workouts um in practice and all that so that all that all adds up help us stay ready ask about tus not necessarily just tonight but the last two weeks he seems like

He’s turned a little bit of a corner um what have you noticed or what do you feel like he’s been able to put together um really since the West Coast trip or a little before yeah he’s been playing great um just uh you know his pace of

Play um he’s so smart out there he makes the right pass all the time he’s been shooting it really well too obviously he’s got that great floater um so you know he’s he’s a great true point guard and uh you know it’s been awesome to watch how well he’s been playing you

Know I’m super happy for him is it just kind of a matter of him like set it’s a good question I mean uh it could be some of that you know just more familiarity um but like I said he’s so smart so I think he just picks up on

Things and um just very skilled and very composed what do you think about Cory Kiser what do I think about him yeah good dude great dude very well dressed um just a great all-around player uh he’s really just it’s been uh it’s been fun watching him play this

Year he surprised me in a lot of things he can do yeah

Coach Unseld, Kyle Kuzma, Deni Avdij and Mike Muscala spoke to the media following a win over the Brooklyn Nets.

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