“I Think We Have Three All-Star Level Players For Sure.” | Chris Finch Postgame Sound | 01.31.24

“I Think We Have Three All-Star Level Players For Sure.” | Chris Finch Postgame Sound | 01.31.24

Chris what was your thoughts on how your team approached this one um leading with their defense and holding Dallas under 100 um defense was really good in the second half first half was not so much you know we kind looked like we’re like stuck in the mud a little bit out there

Like little heavy leged you know kind of a typical game when you get back from a long road trip um you know guys were just trying to find it Rhythm offense Rhythm defense so um they did a really good job of kind of dig it in and and

Find it in the second half so was it kind of an approach of anyone but Hardway tonight for you guys yeah I mean we just we wanted to make sure that you know we took their Shooters out as best we could you know like we we experienced

The last time we played them how how that they you know we got up big and they came back getting hot from the three-point line so um you know guys did a good job of battling through screens and The Bigs were up to challenge the the shooting shooting uh players coming

Off the the action so I thought that was you know key for us a lot of games obviously in the regular season how much time and effort goes into having pretty detailed defensive game plans on a nightly basis a lot you know um especially with the way that we’re built you know every

Day we have to kind of think about how we’re going to approach this with matchups and coverages and stuff like that um you know our staff does an amazing job of like really kind of coming to the meeting in the morning being super creative when they need to

Be but also not straying too far away from our foundation which is also important um but yeah there’s a lot that goes into it um you know we you know a lot of teams maybe are kind of roll out the same defense every night but we’re

Not kind of built that way so we got to we got to really kind of pick out certain points of emphasis that we have to kind of focus on so is it nice to have the chest pieces you guys have as well you know yeah I mean it’s great to

Have multiple Defenders that can guard these you know these guys you have guys that are really good guard and Chase guys you have guys really good Garden penetrating guys you have guys that are guard good at guarden pick and roll um you know then you have really good off

Ball Defenders so we do have a lot of like flexibility with that so it is a luxury for us CH you had real trouble making shots in the first half cat’s efficiency really kind of keep you afloat there while you’re looking for yeah absolutely you know then the two

Big threes I think before the halftime gave just enough breathing room to kind of catch your breath um then you know he continued with a big third but uh for sure yeah no doubt about it so then to see Nas knock a few down even in if it

The it was already in doubt is it just yeah you have to kind of see that happen to kind of get on the rooll again absolutely you know we need him to get back playing with uh the way he had been has been playing most of the season I

Kind why I left him out there was so he can see the ball go in a couple times so Chris you talked back in training camp about how big of a point of emphasis transition defense was and and keeping teams out of transition offense yeah one of the lowest frequencies in transition

Offense against you what’s kind of gone into being able to be a good transition team or keeping teams out of transition I mean it starts with effort first and foremost I mean we just have you know we have to make more effort being a little bit more on balance

Um when you know when the shot goes up better spacing uh understanding where our transition threats are coming from we actually you know sometimes send guys back more often than not um but I also think it’s really important when you have guys like Rudy and Cat and you know

Jaden now we want these guys to go to the offensive glass Nas and that Forces teams to stay in and try to box us out too um when Rudy goes goes to the glass often times they’ll put two guys on them and that you know that that creates an

Advantage for us so even if we don’t get the ball um so that’s been a big point of emphasis you know we we don’t feel like you got to choose whether you go to the glass or get back we we want to be able to do both and I think way the way

We are built um it helps us immensely to go to the glass and tonight only only nine points we’ve seen some of these games previously this season where you know kind of if things are are going well for other guys teams on a roll you know in the second half he’s not really

Trying to force anything for to look for his own shot I guess for him is is this a Is this different for him this year do do you feel like in on nights like this when he’s not trying to really Force his points I was trying to get him the ball

Get him going you know I know they were you know uh trying to put two on him as much as they possibly could and he did a good job of getting off of it making good plays for his teammates I thought he did it right in the beginning we got

A lot of really good looks in the beginning of the game um and yeah for sure you know but he has to also continue to stay aggressive and find different you know different opportunities within the flow of the game um you know maybe some in transition maybe cut you know more

Catching shoots kind of that kind of stuff um but yeah I know he did a really good job and not forcing anything into the teeth of their defense Allstar announcements are tomorrow uh team has been kind of promoting ant cat Rudy uh do you feel like you three Allstars on

This team and yeah we definitely there I feel with uh you know Rudy’s um defense you know anchoring the number one defense in the league playing at a high level uh has had a major offensive impact too you know cat’s uh you know 4050 90 and you know ant’s

Playing at all definitely playing at All-Star level I think we have three All-Star level players for sure you know um hope that we were we able to be recognized for the work that they’ve done um but we’ll see you coach how did you feel about uh Mike in his return

Tonight and kind of you know meshing with the team getting more comfortable as the night went on especially on the offensive end yeah I mean this looked like a a very typical Mike Connelly game um did a great job of running the show communicating with all the guys uh

Keeping us well organized and then hitting big shots in the fourth you know to put some separation in the game um it was good to see you know good to see him back out there and you know we’ve been in this situation up 13 to start the

Fourth number of times in the last few games a few weeks rather and you know we’ve we’ve we’ve not been able to manage our way through it and you know having Mike back is key to that so um all right uh Dallas obviously didn’t play with you know two of their bigger

Guy better guys this game how important is it to uh try to get the little things right in games like this and uh against you know lowlier opponents you know so to say you know one thing one thing you got to preach when you’re you know coach

You got to play your standard regardless of who the opponent is um you know defensively we didn’t do that much in the first half I thought we were just a little slow but we picked it up in the second half just enough um to be able to

Impose ourselves on the game um and um yeah so all credit to those guys but yeah you know you want you can’t pick up sloppy habits when when um you know the game feels or seems like it’s going to come easy those are the things where where we’ve been trying to avoid you

Know some of the immaturity at times that we’ve had um so it was a good test to keep building a lead once we got a lead today question to me the past couple weeks cat’s been really decisive off the catch how do you evaluate how he’s playing off

The catch and how is that impacting his success yeah I think it’s key key for everything the holding is down um The Catch and shoots are up which is what we really need uh more of I think that sets up you know a cleaner drive for him a

Lot of times um and U yeah and even in the post I think he’s is his decision- making down there has been pretty decisive and pretty quick you know just goes quickly gets to a simple shot um and uh yeah I think it’s it’s made all the difference for us coach how

Important would it be for you to be the allstar West coach yeah it’ be heck of an honor for sure uh for myself for the organization um you know but uh you know it also be just like any other individual uh Accolade it’s a reflection of the success the team’s having which

Is the most important thing right now um you know we got a couple more games to go before that’s all decided I believe um and that’s what’s most important in a really tight race is that we win those games and everything that comes at with

That is is a bonus so thanks thank you

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