Indiana Pacers Postgame Media Availability (at Los Angeles Clippers) | March 25, 2024

Indiana Pacers Postgame Media Availability (at Los Angeles Clippers) | March 25, 2024

The key guy in the in the game was jarus Walker um he came in and just he just played exceptionally well um he made open shots he made the right pass at the right time he defended he rebounded and he was the biggest plus we had on the

Team tonight so congratulations to him he’s really worked um extraordinarily hard to position himself to be ready for an opportunity like this and this is not easy this is a team of Hall of Famers and uh you know a bunch of uh a bunch of hungry guys and and they’re playing for

A lot just just just like we are so um really happy for him further you like about you know after last night in a game that was so physical you know and losing Aaron we we needed physicality um and so you know I had decided he was going to play sometime um

Relatively early in the first half you know got I think got into the end of the first quarter and he just he he flows he flowed well with the game um and defensively he he he watches very closely and when when we have prep sessions and and the coaches quiz our

Guys he he’s very frequently the guy that jumps up with the answer right away I mean he’s uh he’s a sharp kid and uh so this was um this was terrific there were a couple of passes that he made that show you how special you know he’s

Going to be in this league Ben Sheard obviously you know comes in starts with a tough assignment seemed like obviously he really rebounded you know basically when he came back in the second half after getting some know trouble early what did you like about his response he

Was as well yeah well you know here son here’s your first NBA start your guarding Paul George you know on the road in in a game that’s you know super meaningful I I that’s tough and you know Paul got it going at the beginning of our last game and you know Shep Shep

Stayed in front of him but he just he just hit he just shot over him to start the game um he didn’t play much in the first half second half we needed him he came in there and Shep’s experience you know the fact he’s a four-year guy all

That kind of stuff you know it it just it’s a lot easier to bounce back when you’ve been through some of the highs and lows in college too so um you know look our entire roster played well you know I thought Miles Turner was spectacular in

This game you know hit the hit the three to start second half went from three to six um you know had a lot of big plays around the rim he protected it he rebounded you know so and then you know Tyrese and Pascal were you know haming

Egging it back and forth you know and that was that was really key so um a lot of good things um you know we got to get our bearings and uh you know get ready to get back on the plane tomorrow and you know one more stop on the

Trip just mentioned P Pascal miles what um I guess how helpful was it for you guys to play in the same place two nights in a row Tai hit a couple big ones at the end last night to get what do you think that did for him to get

Started five five yeah I’m not worried about Tai scoring you know um people got to quit talking about that the guy’s a great point guard maybe the best point guard in the world and so you know the important thing is that he’s he’s doing the things that are necessary to help

Our team win and then you know he’s going to have some big scoring nights and then sometimes Pascal’s going to have big scoring nights and then you know sometimes miles is going to have 30 points you you just don’t know we’ve got to we’ve got to get off the whole

Narrative that you know this any any of this is about tie scoring it’s it’s about our team and it’s about you know what his job is to do which is which is to lead and to score if necessary um but to always keep Pace in the game and

Always keep his teammates involved which he always does what was that you know it’s just you know your comp compete level and your Competitive Edge is a muscle really that you have to exercise and you have to learn to keep it all the time it’s hard you know it’s

Hard especially with a young team I mean they have the probably the most experienced team in the league and we have one of the youngest teams in the league so we had to keep energy in the game tonight um and we’ve learned from a lot of the ups and downs and so look

With nine or 10 games left whatever it is there will be more um but this was a really good um good test tonight you know answering answering the challenge you know of a a tough back toback after after what happened last night that wasn’t any fun um and so you know we get

Out of here with the split and um and that’s that’s okay that’s good phally what’s the train R back well we get as much rest as we can we have a meeting at the hotel we walk through a few things we talk about the game plan

And we get ready to go I know you didn’t want to talk about last night defensively but to come back tonight put in the effort that you guys put in on that end I it goes beyond just not found how happy were were the way guys on

That yeah it was you I I didn’t look at the quarter scores um you know 34 in the first not great then 28 27 27 I mean those are those are are winning numbers you know so um look our guys are they’re they’re understanding how hard it is on

The road um and look we played the Clippers last time they embarrassed us you know in our own building and you know it was it wasn’t any fun and that game kind of signaled you know us making a real change um with our emphasis on defense

You know the next day we had a late practice ice we had a contact practice and we started the Journey of becoming a better team and and and really um began the you know the long road and so you know we’ve shown signs of real progress um the game last night

Was a step back but in the NBA there’s always another game coming you know so you have an opportunity but our attitude is good you know and and so you know this was this was a terrific bounceback tonight open up for you like the pick and pop pick and roll game was working

Out pretty good it’s been aggressive you know I think um I was a little hesitant in the past just my threes over the past couple games but just no conscious tonight I was letting go you know I work on my shot you know too much not to

Trust it and um you know teammates are gassing me up and Coach running plays for me so made my life easier how much did you know you guys have that kind of shooting night open up everything how much did this feel like the way that you

Guys want your offense to run well I mean I know I’m definitely a weapon because you know when even when I’m not shooting you know I can space the floor and open up the lane for my teammates and U help them make uh plays so I mean

It’s um you know just trying to play off everybody and just make the right reads what mean you guys to do that to collectively also I mean not just you but I think 7 to 20 8 three to see everybody start to really find uh you

Know the range from outside I think a lot of it starts with Tai I think he’s really found his confidence over these last couple of games um it’s been it’s been good to see him happy again and just you know back into it one thing I really respect about Tai is that he

Doesn’t really like let a lot of um you know the media or attention like that stuff kind of stuff get to him you know people were trying to make you know graphics and memes and all that crazy stuff of him missing shots but I mean he’s you know happens every player in

The course of the season so he really stayed the course and um you know he uh he’s continu to lead when he was doing when he was struggling to shoot were you in his ear at all absolutely not I you know it’s there was enough people in his ear um

He’s got great people in his corner and I think that he’s was able to work himself out of we talked about jarus a few times how impressive was his performance tonight stepping up when you guys obviously both him and B step up tonight when you guys had Aon out again

I’m not surprised jar is someone who’s really been ready all season when his number was called um again this I think his confidence is just years Beyond you know you know what a rookies is in a sense and I think he comes here he great vision makes good plays defend big body

And um all that what 20 years old so I think this guy’s looking for him high flying guy now congrats hey I’m learning from the best you feel me not me um come on man that’s you what it feel feel like to be in the air like that and just dunk

On somebody what it feel what it feel like come on I need to know I don’t know man territory’s mindset it’s a new territory you know me I’m still trying to figure it out okay okay you can teach me a thing or two you know got

More all right we good come on let’s get it all right yeah obiously going from 36 to 31 you you midrange a little more um yeah just just whatever is open out there um I think obviously like uh taking pride and being a three LEL kind

Of kind of player um and you know they they you know they did some decent jobs just taking taking me out uh kind of go to the room you know just taking the shots that’s there and um you know I’m comfortable with those shots so um it’s

Going to look different every night um and I think for me it’s just just a matter of just having that um energy and um and just just continue to play through you know what we do it’s been well since you guys had it outside three-point shooting like you did

Tonight I just have much to that change everything open thing up and get to play at that PA and get good cuz obviously we’ve been you know like getting into the pain a lot a lot more a lot better um and and I think that today you know

Like we was getting in the pain but also we got some some threes which is always nice tie you know with you know the threes one one is is shooting like that you know like we kind of like really hard to beat so um you know it was good

For us what’s the impact you think your presence has had on tyres um I mean I think just like you know releasing a little bit of pressure off him you know like just knowing that you have somebody out there that can you know get SC the ball every time he wants somebody that

Can get to it you know like get to it for real my bad um and and you know like just we want to get to the paint you know like I’m I’m good at that he’s a great passer so um just continue to you know just

Just help him out and and you know and yeah just just do it my way what do you like about play um I love you know how selfish is plays fast um obviously you know thre like he’s just a smart basketball player um and and I think our

Chemistry is just getting better um learning from each other we always talk um trying to figure out ways to get better and um again it’s it’s going to take time to to form him but um I love what I’m seeing I love playing with him just just you know how you know

Effortless looks out there for him um and he can get everyone you know make everyone better so that’s always what you want from a leader was tonight the closest to what you expected this to look like um no it was good night yeah it was good night it was good night it

Was good night um you know we had some St defensively we play well um against a really good team um and and you know those are going to be the challenges for us you know as we go into the playoff so we just want to continue to learn

Continue to get better um and and I was telling Tai just you know even when he was going through the stretch you know like whatever missing shots you know just just think about April May and June like that’s where we want to be our best

Um and and pick at the right time and and and that’s what we got to focus on what do you think you guys just clicked over defensively you mentioned that end you know that’s those are a lot of tough covers a lot of good individual players

Like um tough covers but I think we got to do it together like not not one player can do it I thought we we you know even on some of the doubles that we had you know we rotated well um you know making the other guys shoot but

Contesting really hard um so that’s kind of like how you got to play those guys CU they’re so talented you only had 24 hours to put behind you giving up 150 in regulation how how did you guys do that so quickly and then how happy are you

With the way I mean we had no choice uh we had a game the next day so um just got to get to it um I think obviously we watch film uh things that we knew that we could get better on we watched like you know 20 30 points that we felt like

We kind of gave gave them um the game before so um just coming into this game we wanted to just take those away communicate better which I thought we did can you talk obviously these guys a lot of tough covers out there uh between George and Harden and Kawai and

Everything like that obviously you had to go and take a bunch of those what did you feel like you did just well defensively was just got to get thrown in there after not playing last night and you know have to take on some of those I feel like the main thing was

Just kind of staying in front staying solid not trying to reach too much or gamble just trying to keep a good distance between me and them and stay between them and the basket what the obviously offensively I think seven assist obviously that’s a big part of

Your game you do just how please with this way we able to move the ball and find some guys tonight um I mean they make it easier especially when they’re making shots like that so espe when we play with a good team that can score the

Ball um they’re ready for the passes and we just play together so playing with guys like that makes it easy and fun too Rick started the pressor saying the key to the game was jarus Walker how do that make you feel oh man I appreciate that

But I feel like just being able to continue to work and gain his confidence to me is is Big so for him to say that definitely means a lot but in a way you had what this team needed tonight without Aaron the link that you could provide but also the playmaking then you

Start the third quarter what what was said there at halftime when he said he wanted you to be in that starting group at third um I mean exact what you just say so you wanted me to be in starting a group so um just always being ready um

Like you said you never know which night will be your night so always staying ready maintaining your your abilities and just keeping that confidence of you when you’re not playing offense is one thing but to be Garden Paul one one possession Kawai the next I mean is that

Kind of all you’ve ever dreamt about I mean I was going to say like it it was fun just being able to be in that position cuz I mean as a kid especially hooping like those are the type of players you watch the Paul georgees the kawwai especially James Harden you know

Just people like that such talented basketball players so just being able to to guard them and have fun with it was just made just made a lot of fun out there want to ask you about each of the buckets you made too obviously the two threes in the the dunk you know just

What how do each of those sort of work plays plays work out in your mind I guess and what did it you know how did much did each kind of build you know confidence for you as you got going and you know got into your yeah for sure I

Mean my jump shot is something that I’ve been working on so much since I’ve got here so when the defense goes on screens on the first one I I try to step back KN it down and then tied to a great pass in the corner then just running the floor

PJ found me wide open and done so just being able to run the floor always stay ready with those guys cuz they’ll find you they find you early they find you late so just always keep your hands ready and just be ready to knock down

Shots you guys go I think 17 to 28 from three tonight and there have been some struggles shooting the three ball what did it what do you think it just meant for you guys how much did it you know how much did you guys operate the way

You want to based on the fact that the shots were going in and everything else opens up yeah I mean it was big especially when we’re hitting shots we hard to defend so with our movement the way we just play the pace game just get up and down the floor and then we’re

Making shots we we’re 10 times more dangerous so I mean you guys seen that tonight your offensive game you feel like people slept on your game early on like especially in college cuz like I noticed right away what your offens ability brought yeah you feel like you

Got slept on and I feel like now people really starting to recognize right now I mean it’s not their fault I feel like I didn’t fully showcase what I could do at the college level so being able to play this game and be open floor especially with high level talented players you

Just you really have to play your game to stand out so I feel like that’s kind of what I did and that’s kind of what I’m continuing to do just what how much did that open up everything else and how much did it feel like everything was

Operating the way you wanted it to tonight yeah I think just coming into tonight we knew you know with how how much these guys switch that we get a lot of good good looks um you know causing confusions and just running um they beat

Us pretty bad as a crib so uh you know we understood that and wanted to come out and be prepared tonight obviously you start five of five I guess for one thing was it helpful to have been here last night I mean were

You able to get kind of a rhythm in in a sense of this place and I guess were you’re able to kind of continue some momentum for that and how good it it feel to knock down five in a row I mean I would just say I was getting good

Looks and they were just falling you know a lot of averages are going to start it’s going to start balancing out shots going to start falling like it always has so I’m not really concerned about that I love playing in this Arena you know obviously the history behind it

But um it’s just one of my favorite Arenas to play in so uh it was a good game for us is the way teams are defending you now versus the start of the year there’s mixing coverages but I feel like it’s more me versus me to be honest like I

Feel like I’m just missing shots versus making shots I feel like it’s more on me like kudos to all the defenders in the league and all the genius Minds there are and coverages and stuff but I think it’s more just on me right now so I mean

I feel like I’m getting the shots I want um that’s our falling on top of that though I mean you’re playing with Pas now SC so your game’s going to change a little bit like how do you know when you have turned the corner back in the direction you want to go

I really don’t like I don’t know if there’s like a specific shot or a specific moment that could tell me that um I think just you know for me it’s just being as aggressive as I can opens up everything because once I’m scoring and team’s got to be honest there and

That allows me to really facilitate and do what I do best so um you know just keeping defenses honest I think is the biggest thing so where do you think the team’s resiliency comes from I think we got a young group we just got a young group who understands the importance of

These games and um obviously coming off a bad loss yesterday uh wanted to respond right right way here tonight and I think that’s the biggest thing for us we just have a good understanding of what’s happened in the past and approaching those games the right way so

I thought we did a great job with that to mean playoff time huh what do you think that can mean come playoff uh just responding the right way I mean obviously the way playoff series are you know they’re up and down you could have

A big win or a big loss at the home at home or you know at their crib and then you just got to figure it out to respond the right way so um yeah I’m excited about that pregame I thing I stuck about stuck out about you at Team USA you smil

All the time where did that come from uh I just have fun playing basketball just have fun playing basketball I think I’m at my best when it’s that way when gets bad like I just got to stay stay there cuz when I’m having fun enjoying

What I do like I feel like I’m at my best and our team’s at our best so uh I really I think just comes from my pops and just if you know my Dad it’s it’s no surprise why I’m like this when you go through you know some shooting struggles

Where do you find that George it’s still there are you still trying to find it in that yeah I mean just I mean that’s a good question I’m asking myself the same thing uh I think at the end day it’s just like self-re section and just understand like where I am all the

Things that I’ve done and like you know I look around and look at just the basic thing of like my house like I grew up in a house barely a th square feet you know what I mean like I I’m like blessed to be in this position so uh just you know

Having good use of that speaking of Joy I think some of the biggest smiles were when you were watching the early fourth quarter with Pascal and two rookies and Jaylen TJ I don’t think they played a minute together what stood out about that stretch uh they just it was

Exciting I thought they did a good job of making them run uh you know controlling the pace there I thought we did a really good job with that TJ obviously getting up and down the floor and uh Pascal dunked it so he told me he couldn’t dunk anymore so that’s why I

Was excited yeah Pascal and miles in particular seemed like they were doing exactly what you you know you have them out there to do obviously miles hitting the pick in pop threes and Pascal doing sort of everything there just what impress you about each of those guys and

How much did they open up everything else yeah I just thought we did a good job of keeping the defense honest like uh zubas was in kind of a drop throughout the night and we did a good job we got him in foul trouble early so

I think that made him think twice about the way he was defending and um you know allowed me to get space and and pick and roll and then once I you know hit a couple shots now they got to be honest there and leaves miles open and leaves

Pascal open for cuts and all those things so um I thought we just did a good job of you know keeping the defense honest and attacking them getting downhill um that was really the biggest thing but there now you guys needed a lot from the rookies jarus in particular

Just what impressed you about those guys and what impressed you about jarus in terms of just how he’s handled his role his season not knowing when there when he’s going to play when yeah I just am excited that he’s handling it the right way I think the biggest thing for our

Young guys and really just our our team as a whole is just staying ready whenever that whenever that happens so I think you saw with Isaiah you know in Detroit coming off games where he’s not really playing gets thrown in the Detroit Game responds the right way you

Know I think that that’s a that’s a perfect example on how to be a pro and I think we got a lot of guys following that and I think jarus is our latest example in the world that when you’re a first round pick they expect you to you

Know have all the success play a bunch early um I think that he’s really blocked out the noise he’s went to the g- league paid his dues played the right way um and just ask a ton of questions gets better every day same as Chef like I what I can really appreciate those

Guys is their willingness to learn and not letting this world that demands you know immediate success really get to them they’re just doing a good job and staying true to them

Rick Carlisle, Myles Turner, Pascal Siakam, Jarace Walker and Tyrese Haliburton speak to media following the win against the Clippers on Monday night.

0:00 – Rick Carlisle
7:00 – Myles Turner
8:52 – Pascal Siakam
12:50 – Jarace Walker
16:01 – Tyrese Haliburton