1-8-24 Phoenix Suns Postgame Media Availability: Frank Vogel and Kevin Durant.

1-8-24 Phoenix Suns Postgame Media Availability: Frank Vogel and Kevin Durant.

Kev coach just talked about the Clippers and just the challenges of defending them what was the the main thing tonight you feel like you guys just weren’t able to to do to slow them down yeah I mean they got they got some great scores over there great penetrators guys that can create for

Others as well um then they got a good bench you know you got Russ coming off playing well Norman power playing good ball so and it make shots you know it’s a make or mis lead they they’ve been shooting the ball well from the three uh we finally got more three-point attempts

Up than our team more three-point attempts up than our opponent but they just made more tonight they had it clicking curious just you know at one point I think it was in the fourth quarter I think it was four straight turnover I think you guys were down

Seven how huge was that stretch there where you guys could have got it could have got it even closer yeah man it’s huge you can’t you can’t it’s tough to overcome those and especially on the road their home crowd gets into it guys get out and fast F

Break get easy points they get more confident um and that usually turns the game for you CU is obviously it’s just six games and coach said you know the Clippers are further along with their cohesion than than you guys but how are you feeling just about the whole idea of

That part of this team right now trying to find that cohesion yeah we just keep grinding man that’s all I’m about come back to work the next day keep figuring it out Kevin uh I know Logistics probably played a role and how the fourth quarter

Went how how the game went at the end but I know the fourth quarters have been a real challenge for this team even though first three quarters you guys can overwhelm teams like what was a challenge tonight specifically and in general what do you feel like has been

An issue for this team late in games yeah I think we started off the quarter well and then they went on a SP a little flurry there to just kind of we was already down going into the fourth so we cut it to seven and they got momentum

And they went on a flurry and went up 15 16 it’s hard to over overcome that so I think that’s what’s been happening we just have a bad two-minute stretch of basketball and that’ll turn the game sometimes for us we’ll be playing well and then you know a couple turnovers

Here and there miss shots and then just the problems compound themselves and just make for a bigger lead um and you know you try to take some positives from every game negatives from every game to watch it get better from and we’ll continue to keep watching and keep

Getting better keep putting in that work you know every day for us to be a better team moving forward what I i’ I’ve watched a lot of your games this year and uh you mentioned turnovers tonight like is there’s something in the fourth quarter where the ball just doesn’t move

The same um the game gets harder for you specifically in those fourth quarters yeah I feel like sometimes we can simplify our attack a little bit more you um and you know just play to our strengths as individuals and you know I think our game has been um when we had

Some solid fourth quarters it was us driving close outs coming down making quick decisions uh getting into our offense a little earlier in the shot clock stuff like that so we got to lean on that type of stuff we play a little bit faster but under controling the

Fourth um you know it start to turn forward and like like I said we have some spurts a solid play in the fourth but we definitely have to be better hav you said that before about starting the offense um earlier is that a matter of just having that mindset the whole time

Cuz sometime maybe you the team may fall into the laps where okay we just bring it up and and then just get into something yeah I mean you got to get the other teams credit to a lot of this times they scheming for us um coming into the games

And a lot of pressure a lot of denials a lot of top block stuff that you know trying not to let us catch the ball cuz they know if they let us play freely then we can go off and score a lot of points so um we getting almost playoff

Like physicality and coverages sometimes when we play um and that’s something just got to work through and keep grinding through and trying to figure out I think we watch a lot of film try to figure out the space in and we guys would be effective at um and quite

Frankly we just haven’t put it all together but I feel like we moving in the right direction Kevin you’ve you keep talking about grinding your experience in this league about how long the seasons are do you talk to your teammates about that nah we’re all Pros

In here we got multiple guys that been in the league for five plus years so if I got to tell them what’s coming next then um I don’t think I should have to tell them what’s coming or what The Season’s about I think everybody here experienced enough to know what a flow

Of a season looks like and um you know we trust guys just come to work no matter how you feel no matter what happens what’s on your mind you still got to get up and go to work that that holds true for everybody in here so I

Think that’s the approach we have as individual players is that regardless of what happens we still got to go in there and be the best we can be every day you’ve got a lot of experience playing on teams with multiple Stars though maybe maybe that’s an advantage that you

Have a I mean I’m sure a lot of these guys play with great players too you know you got nerk play with Damen Lillard CJ McCullum like they play with players that can score the basketball and create for themselves as well so I don’t think it’s nothing new um you know

I think you it’s basketball at the end of the day I think a lot of guys here got high IQ for the game and understand the game at a different level so we just like I said we keep putting that work in every day and and as players we got to

Come out there with more of a sense of urgency knowing that all right we just got to be better and I think we will Kevin um go ahead go ahead all kind of talking about like the league in it in its totality you know unfortunately hearing about like John Mor and his

Injury I feel like you handled your injury really well mentally is there any like advice that you would give some stars like that um yeah I don’t give too much advice I’m sure everybody’s giving J advice over the last year or so um and he’s been through injuries before uh and

I’m sure this is probably his first tough one I think that’s a six Monon recovery or but for the most part just keep your mind straight keep your support system tight and like I’ve been saying it’s like regardless of how you feel it’s days I didn’t want to come

Into the gym it’s days where I you was feeling sorry for myself and didn’t believe in myself but you still got to go to work and get the rehab in and get better you know so I think J has a great mentality he’s been working hard his

Whole life to get where he is so he’ll bounce back Kevin I don’t know if you saw with Draymond talked about the comments that you made and basically was like he reflected and said you know he took a positive from he was pissed off about what I said initially and then he

Thought about it and and found find the positive in it well you got to look at it from our perspective like before I had made those comments they saying draymond’s going to therapy and like what I’m supposed to think they say somebody going to therapy I’m hope he

Get better from that and hope he learn from whatever he feel like he needs to learn from going to therapy so that’s all I heard and I’m glad he’s back I’m glad he can move past that Draymond is a incredible teammate he got his times where he lose his temper but everybody

Has those times and I’m sure they all Wonder all happy to have him back but I didn’t mean no ill will by what I said I know sometime some people look at me as this malicious snake passive aggressive like I I know how people feel about me sometimes so

When I say I don’t mean no harm by nobody I don’t mean to disrespect him or his family if he felt that way I’m just glad he’s back on the court I think he reflected on it and saw yeah I just seen the I just seen the headline and I ain’t

Really look at the whole thing I I a wantan to I a’t I mean I’m just glad he’s back I’m glad he’s able to to talk about his situation and move forward from it and get back to playing and and and finishing out his Hall of Fame career

Kevin not sure how you and James’s uh tenure ended relationship ended but you guys still have a good relationship despite kind of how everything ended up with Brooklyn yeah yeah I mean no doubt that I was pissed about the situation I’m sure he was pissed about having to move with teams again

But when the Smoke Clear you realize somebody that you came into the league with somebody I really really love as a brother I want the best for him as an individual I want him to play bad when we play against him but for the most

Part I want them I want what’s best for him and his family going forward as much as it affected our team I just still had to look past that and and just move forward and realize we still had some solid moments together and I was just wish for the best for

Everybody in that situation given the run that you Russ and James had together in OKC a night like tonight special any more special no ain’t no more I always I always I’m been competing against these guys on other teams for the last 10 years it felt like you know so it’s past

That point of being like special seeing these guys again it’s just another opponent we got respect for each other we never going to forget um those moments we share coming into the league because I feel like a lot of teams and a lot of franchises and Sports looked at

That young team and and and that’s something to emulate you know three guys that uh four five guys I’m sorry young players that didn’t care about them being young just went out there and played the hardest that they can and had some success so um it was a special time

For me I don’t know how everybody else feels about that time but it was a special special time that I always pull back from and I always love playing with those guys so it’s good to see them have some success and still being in League

At 16 15 17 in leag that’s always fun to see

Head Coach Frank Vogel and Kevin Durant speak to the media following the Phoenix Suns game on January 8th, 2024.

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