Indiana Pacers Postgame Media Availability (vs. Brooklyn Nets) | April 1, 2024

Indiana Pacers Postgame Media Availability (vs. Brooklyn Nets) | April 1, 2024

First half I I don’t know I I thought there were obviously a lot of good things in this game but um you know it’s uh We’ve we’ve got a we’ve got a real Challenge on Wednesday with the way this went um and so we’ll have to be ready um

They’ll be ready um there were some emotions flying and flying around and all that kind of stuff and um it’ll be um it’ll be it’ll be a very good test R Tyrese got going a little bit offensively tonight what’ you think of what he did and how he looked compared

To some of his recent games well you know they played last night so I thought we took advantage of that early we we we we pushed it we got stops uh the ball moved he took advantage of open opportunities which was great you know so um and when we’re playing like that fast

And random um you know it’s you know we can be tough to we can be tough to play against this one with 35 assists and all those things you just said did you think it was something they were doing defensively that allowed you guys to cut

Them up was it playing the way you wanted offensively what stood out about that execution well you know the first quarter you know we held him under 30 we could have had them in the in the low 20s there were some plays at the end you know you know

We just we’re getting nitpicky about defense because you know we know how hard it is and we work very hard and so you know when you see us giving up 34 in the fourth and 30 in the thir you know it’s just um those are those are habits and and we want

To we want to really reinforce the importance of habit so um I don’t remember the question just how you what you thought of your team’s offensive level 35 assist playing the way you wanted yeah no we we look we did a lot of good things offensively we did

Do you know any more about mil finger at this time or if he’ll have any absence going forward um don’t know anything for sure um there was a uh I believe the X-ray is negative for a fracture which is good news he dislocated it um um think they put it back in place

Obviously and um don’t know his status for for Wednesday but I mean you mentioned not being thrilled with the habits in the second half defensively but you held him to 47 in the first what did you like about the habits defensively in the first half what’s stood out to you about

What you guys did the Pres had a lot slippage in the first half yeah and Miles erased a lot of it but you know that’s that’s the truth that’s the truth and I’m not going to make a win feel like a loss or anything like that but you know some nights

You’re up against your standards that you’re that you’re working to establish so um you know we we’ll keep we’ll keep looking at all that stuff and and and showing it making Corrections and reinforcing good things you know so yeah miles just rasing that five blocks in I

Think 14 minutes just what impress you about what he before he got hurt and he’s a great shot blocker but there’s a reason that he’s getting block opportunities I mean people are getting getting bias you know for whatever reason so um in coaching it’s you know it’s it’s tough you’re always you’re

Always playing against your your the standards that you’re trying to establish as a team so I mean you’re smiling like you think this is like a joke but it’s yeah it’s but but really I mean you know six games left um so much going on you know um slippage of

Habits can really affect you in the in the next game so we’ve got to be we’ve got to be mindful you know we got to be mindful and we got to correct a lot of those things and they’ll have some guys back you know they’ll have they’ll have

Johnson back you know we we allowed um we we allowed Lonnie Walker to get going tonight there’s another weapon they have you know so um we’ll have our work cut out for us think according to your your guys’ social media accounts you passed red hour back

On the alltime wins list today um how’s that hit you yeah you know I I don’t have a whole lot to say about it other than I’m really grateful to Red for drafting me um in the third round almost 40 years ago and that when you get drafted into the NBA you you

Know you get a shot you know and um and I was very fortunate to be in the right at the right place at the right time and my playing career you know led to a coaching opportunity and and and and the Celtics uh lineage had a lot to

Do with it you know because Bill Fitch had been the Celtics coach he was the guy that um offered me my first coaching JB off my last playing opportunity in New Jersey you know so but without red I don’t you know none of this probably happens you know I’m not not sure you

Know really hard to say how it all would have gone um but that’s an amazing man an amazing person in the history of the game and uh you know when I was a um an assistant trying to become a first-time head coach I took a sabatical year um 22 2001 did

Some um broadcasting work with the the sonics and uh when we were in DC I you know had a chance to go to Red’s office and and talk to him privately you know about things to to really focus on you know as I was trying to make that jump

And he had some he had some some very important observations about the game and where it was and um things that he thought would be important and he was and he was dead on I don’t want to get into detail about it but you know he’s a man of of great wisdom

Uh one of the great competitors in the history of the sport obviously and I think he still has more championship rings NBA championship rings in anyone in history if you count his always as a as a coach a GM a president so um this is a a great opportunity to remind

People you know the standards that he set and um and no one should ever should ever never forget um R arback um I felt good um there’s been a lot of talk in our locker room about my athletic ability as of late so I mean buddy left and everybody just felt the

Need to continue on with that so um yeah I felt good today specific leader of those discussions against um it’s mainly jerris and Obie hating but like I said I’m I mean I’m I’m a call Buddy at as soon as we get out of here I mean I

Might call him at the end of this just so y’all can tell him what I did today you guys were by as much as 29 in the first half and uh your offensive level was pretty high in that half what you think was clicking for you guys on that

End and is it something you think you can get to again down the stretch of the Season yeah I just felt like we were playing uh just some good ball the ball was moving it was hot uh we understand that this is a team who has multiple um

Elite Defenders one-on-one and we just thought the best way to kind of attack them is random movement get the ball moving um and not let the ball stick which it did kind of in that third quarter which kind of led to an ugly start to our third quarter um but when the ball’s

Moving like that we’re really hard to hard to defend um against anybody what um you H him to 47 in the first half what did you guys like defensively I think Rick still felt like he saw some slippage uh what did you like and not like about what you guys did on the

Defensive end tonight yeah I just thought we did a good job of finishing possessions like miles did a great job of protecting the rim and kind of anchoring us defensively we gave up um a lot of rejects in the pick and roll and stuff and I thought miles doing a good

Job of kind of cleaning that up and uh finishing possessions with rebounds and getting quick outlets and allowing us to run um but yeah I think you know when he talks about slippage I think it’s just stuff like that and um you know 30 I coach probably doesn’t like to see 30

And 34 quarters in the second half so uh we got be better there but um you know we play them in again in a couple days so got to be prepared for that you mentioned miles mean just what’s that moment like before the second quarter I

Don’t know what you saw or didn’t see in terms of his injury and just what was it like to see him go through through that see him come back shoot the free throw you know like just basically all all that was like to watch for a teammate

Yeah I mean I didn’t look I mean I just I Sor about his reaction so I figured what I figured out what had happened um but yeah hopefully I mean hopefully he’s good he should be should be fine um but yeah I don’t I don’t look at nasty stuff

Like that so everybody’s told me it was nasty so I’ll take their word for it um Rick passed red hour back tonight for most wins um you know what how how cool is that to see and when we’re were talking about a name like that obviously somebody that he played

For when red was an executive and just you’re obviously historian of the game and just how cool is that to see that for your coach and you know stuff he’s done for you basically yeah it’s really cool um you know cool to be a part of something special and um I think that

The contributions that coach has made to the game will always be remembered and I think that um you know when he’s done there’s going to be a lot more wins than than what he’s at right now and I’m just glad that I could be be a part of it and

Be with a brilliant basketball mind like that on a daily basis and um get to pick his brain ask questions do all those things uh that’s something I don’t take for granted being here in the NBA and being um on the Pacers so I mean I’m really thankful for him and happy for

Him but you know hopefully I’m part of many more moving forward uh Tyrese you’re I think 19 assists away from breaking the record for most assists in a regular season what does that mean to you and uh uh you know you broke uh don Buy’s uh record tonight for the second

Most assist in the season so what does that mean to you to kind of just grow up that ladder for the Pacers yeah no it’s pretty cool um you know I mean I I want to leave a lasting impact on this game and this organization specifically um

You know I like I said I hope when I retire I’m like I have the record for like one to 15 or something like that um that that would be pretty cool but just trying to leave my mark and um you know all that stuff doesn’t happen without

Coach trusting me with the ball in my hands and my teammates making shots so um that’s a big part of it yeah Ty Isaiah Wong officially made his NBA de debut tonight scored his first points what was it like to see that and what’s he been like as a teammate this

Year yeah cool to see cool to see I’m happy for him um it’s a special moment I think everybody remembers their first point so uh really cool to see he’s just been great at just being a sponge asking me questions the guys you know that are playing in front of him asking questions

And um he’s doing a good job of just paying his dues and um you know attacking every every game the right way in the G League as well so um I’m really happy for him um hopefully there’s many more to come for him we got a playoff

Game tomorrow so um you know hope you take I know him and the guys will take care of business there but uh really happy for him are you done I am let me call Buddy real quick bud yeah CA you join you on the hate train with

Him with the hair no he ain’t going answer chill chill come back now you got to I thought I mean how many you have today relax the iump for sure for sure not close you’re 6’2 65 he answered go tell them what did you see my dun hey

Hold on hold up hold on hold up he did not he did not dunk that one that he was supposed to though you dunk that there you go yeah yeah you did get up on the one you made obviously OB who started this uh anti- Tyrese athleticism campaign I think Buddy did honestly

Speaking they always like try to figure out who was the the best dunker out of those two um I think Tai is now for sure yeah what do you think of your team’s offensive level in this game particularly in the first half as you guys say that again what do you think of

Your team’s offensive level in this game especially in that first half as you guys expanded your L out to like 29 uh I felt like we did really good like um Everybody sharing the ball uh playing our our type of uh our brand of basketball

Um when when you move the ball how we did uh today like it’s just it’s fun playing that way so um we going to continue doing that April and you’ve been in the playoffs before this team you know rounding in to the end of the season do you feel like you guys are

Playing the way you need to going into this postseason should you I feel like today was a big step uh in the right direction uh as a team um like it’s still a lot of lot of things we can we can clean up but I feel like we’re get

We’re definitely uh heading in the right track um felt like the coaches is doing a great job uh helping us lock into everything that we need to do defensively and offensively um but we know that defensively we got to pick things up uh because those are going to

Win us a lot more games so Rick obviously talked about that a lot defense what like what he liked and didn’t like I me what did you like and not like about how you guys operated defensively held him to 47 in the first half he still felt like you could have H

Him to lower I mean what did you feel like you guys did well and where did you kind of feel like man we should have been better there yeah uh we just can’t get satisfied like uh we had we had a big lead but um we just got to work on

Like I said our brand of basketball um it’s not about them when we have that type of lead like we want to get better as a team work on good habits cuz everybody’s going to have a chance to to play in these playoffs coming up and um

And we just want to play the right way uh we want to have good habits going into the going into the playoffs and I feel like we going to we going to work on that uh these next couple games so I think with this when uh Rick passed red

Hour back on that all time wi how how cool is that to see just what’s it like to you know just be a part of something like that when you’re passing that kind of name yeah it’s amazing um obviously congrats to coach um like it’s well

Deserved uh he’s a he’s an amazing coach obviously players coach um I’m I’m I’m blessed to be able to play under under him and be a part of obviously history for him so it’s a lot more wins that’s going to come under his belt but uh glad

I’m here today with him for sure yeah you know we had a couple days off there so and we knew they played last night so we just wanted to run them we want to be super physical defensively and try to hold them to one possession and and run

And that’s what we did starters did a great job of getting us off to a hot start there and then bench kind of just came in and did their job from there defensively your perspective is a little different because you came in a little bit later in the year but this team has

Seemingly made some strides what stands out to you about the way that you guys are defending in generally right now yeah we’re just really locking in you know I think uh we’re doing a great job J of uh you know game plan just knowing guys Tendencies and obviously the

Coaching staff’s preparing us really well so we just got to continue to trust them uh continue to I mean it all comes down to effort really on defense and I think that’s what we’re doing knowing what we have in front of us not easy to be traded mid-season even more difficult

To then suffer an injury right out of the gates but how do you feel like you’re fitting in here and and stint number two in Indian yeah no it’s been great you know I’m I’m enjoying every day you know got a lot of good guys in the soccer room it’s been it’s been

Amazing and you know I’m just doing what I can whatever they they need need from me um you know I’m going to do it and you know it’s it’s good to few see a few shots go in tonight and just try and build off that and just continue to

Being a great teammate every day Rick’s message post game seem to be some good things today but we can’t be satisfied is that kind of the mindset at this point in the year that you have to move on quickly even on the good nights yeah

For sure I mean you know we play them in two days as you know and they’re going to be ready you know uh it’s not it’s not easy playing guys two two games in a row and you know they’re going to be at home waiting for us and uh we got to be

Ready to come with that same mindset as as we did tonight um no yeah just uh Good Start I feel like we haven’t had like really good starts lately or like you know um we always talk about having good starts so that was probably our best start since I’ve been here so just

Like just jumping in early and just um doing what we’re supposed to do and um yeah that was good you talked about coming here and wanting to immediately improve the defense and it seems like slowly but surely you’re making real strides there what stood out to you

About the progress that you’ve seen um I just I just think that um we doing a better job just communicating um and I think obviously the coaching side is doing amazing on on just um giving assignments and making sure that we we follow that and and the guys are doing

Just a good job of just talking and communicating helping each other um even when there’s breakdowns just um TR to help like help each other and and and just I think think that’s what defense is about you know staying together um and and helping each other what does it

Do for you what does it do for this team when you’ve got Tyrese playing like this um obviously yeah like we know what he can do and to see him you know get going the way he’s he he did in the beginning of the game like that’s who he is so um

I love that you know and I think that you know I told him just to stay focused on everything and April man June man that’s that’s when that’s when it it matters so um and and I just I just love the fact that he attacked the game that

Way and and every night you know he’s got to do that Rick seemed to take post game a we can’t be satisfied mindset this was a good game but we can’t be satisfied is that kind of got to be the Mantra here late in the season hopefully

As you get into the playoffs I mean there’s nothing to be satisfied about you know like at the end of the day like this these games whatever seven six how many games we have left like they important you know we know where the standings are we know yo chill we know what the

Standards are and like at the end of the day like every game matters so we can’t there’s no way to you know like take a different approach to games we got to come in ready cuz every possession matter is like at this point um for the

Goals that we have as a team um I like our Pace I like how you know the ball was moving and and obviously if you’re making shots like obviously the offense always going to look great so it’s it’s one thing but I think the thing that we

Did well is just like moving the ball um continue to attack the mismatches without kind of like stopping the offense you know like just doing the floor of everything and um yeah like that’s when we dangerous um and I think that games are going to be different and

There’s going to be times where it’s going to slow down there going to be times going to be fast and I think if if we our best at every you know when it’s fast and when it’s slow down I think that’s when we get dangerous what would

You like and not like on defense you got obviously help to 47 I think that felt like there was some things that you guys missed what I mean I think a little bit of just simple things that we talked about and um you know they they did it

Kind of like a good job just going against some of the stuff that we wanted to do and um you know those things can happen and and um just because we have we have goals and we know our goals are we got to to get better but at the end

Of the day like every one of these games like we need wins so we take every one of them but we also know that we got to continue to get better get continue to improve um because we got to we got we got goals you know in front of us

Rick Carlisle, Tyrese Haliburton, Obi Toppin, Doug McDermott and Pascal Siakam speak to media following the win against the Nets on Monday night.

0:00 – Rick Carlisle
7:05 – Tyrese Haliburton
12:55 – Obi Toppin
15:30 – Doug McDermott
17:00 – Pascal Siakam