““I Feel Like We Did A Good Job This Year.”” | Jaden McDaniels Exit Interview | 05.31.24

““I Feel Like We Did A Good Job This Year.”” | Jaden McDaniels Exit Interview | 05.31.24

Jaden just uh uh the day after just how how do you reflect on this season as a whole and and how it went and and maybe how it ended uh I think we had a great season just I mean we didn’t win the championship or go to the finals but I mean we went further than we did the year before I mean that’s kind of like the goal of just uh getting better each year and then we kind of did that I mean no one likes to lose but you know there only can be one winner I feel like we did a good job this year this is clear your first deep run into the playoffs what did you learn about what it takes and what the experience is like and how do you think it will affect you going forward as you try to to to do it again I would say something that I recognize just playing so long like in so long into may I feel like that was just like a little different for me cuz we never played this long and then just uh through the playoffs just learning how like to um just like in the game just staying staying as a team staying as a whole like going through adversity like on the road and stuff so just those are the kind of things I learned talked about having to wanting to train moving forward to play later into the year did you feel that too physically just the wear and tear of like every other day in May um and how do you like go about making sure that you can be your best self into June uh me personally I wasn’t really like that torn down really so I was kind of I was okay but uh I’ll say just probably just the work we put in in the season I mean like the conditioning before and all that stuff kind of sets us up for that and I think javar Scot them do a good job of that so I mean I was all right so yeah I don’t know what was the biggest growth you saw on this team this season um I would say like our maturity I would say like last year we had a couple hiccups like I hit the wall slow and Rudy got into it just like little little childish things I feel like went away this year and then if we did have problems we was able like to talk through stuff with each other Jaden how do you kind of balance growing your offensive game individually with kind of the role that you have on this team which is to you know be not the first or second option out there A lot of times and and how do you kind of view that challenge for your for yourself as you head into the offseason um just overall everywhere like every aspect of my game just mid-range layups threes just try to work on everything thing and then just when I get back here just uh having the confidence just to go out there on the court and do it I mean like you said uh I’m not the first or second guy but when I get opportunity just try to make the best of it Jaden you a few years into the league now you’re getting paid you’re going to be a parent how are those things affecting you in terms of your approach to the league and the game versus when you came in um it really not to be honest like I’m kind of kind of the same way I was when I first got here I mean things do happen around that you kind of like think about but uh I kind of think like having a child is kind of a blessing for me and then I got to grow up now I can’t be a little kid no more act like a kid so I mean I’ll say that and just I don’t know being myself staying humble I feel like that’s should help me out this whole series this year Jaden what does um what does this team need to do offensively to to hit another level last year like I think about defensively what you guys did from last year to this year was that cuz you were like super locked on like we’re doing defense is is that what it needs offensively or what what has to go into kind of leveling up I don’t know I would say like we’re for sure like mostly defensive team like that’s what coach always talks about the most and like that’s what he wants our identity to be but offensively I feel like everyone’s so versatile to like where we all should know the play is all like in different spots and stuff so like just say I could bring the ball at one time we could still run the same set so just like everyone knowing like what they need to do and where they need to be at jayen why do you think your shooting numbers dip this year uh I don’t know I don’t know to be honest I don’t know I mean shot selection I mean everything as you look back at this year I mean happy with the shots you got and yeah I mean like I was happy with them I just continue to work on my shot and if they go in they don’t go in that’s how I just think about it jayen do you have kind of any feel for what exactly got in the way in in the series against Dallas that you know you guys had such momentum coming out of Denver and it seemed like you in a really good place and then did hit that wall what what led to that uh I’ll probably say just them probably them first two games is what kind of like let us down the series like uh you never want to be down like 2 or 3 0 so like I feel like those were two winnable games we could have won and we kind of let it slip away and we put oursel in a hole you’ve always kind of spent a lot of time here in the summer working on your game and stuff is that kind of the same plan going forward yeah I’ll be here this summer for what I know right now yeah I’ll be [Music] around Jane it feels like every year we talk about like what’s next for you offensively um it did seem like pretty similar roles from last year to this year but do you see your role kind of continuing to evolve with this team especially maybe like more perimeter playmaking is needed yeah I mean uh I hope so that’s just like the goal that’s what I’m going to work at every year I mean just continue to work on my game and whatever coach wants I mean that’s what I got to do so jayen you make all defensive team this season obviously you have a physical skill set to be an elite Defender what is like the the mental part that makes you a great defender I’ll probably say like I’m not really scared of no one or going up against like the superstars and stuff and then I would say just the mentality is just like not wanting a person to score score AR you but it’s hard cuz players are so good they make crazy shots and stuff so I had to learn to just uh be patient with myself when they do like go on their little runs making three in a row and stuff so just uh just staying hungry and just liking to guard the best players what like what was that process like of controlling some emotions you’ve talked about that before but seemed you mentioned the punch the wall but like that stuff didn’t happen this year you got frustrated on the floor but seemed to remain calm what what that uh a lot of talking with Adam uh he helped me out a lot this year just before after game just uh like just like for me it was like things like people trying to trick me into fouling them or just try to get me off my game so he would always just be like just you already know they’re going to do it just be aware of the things you’re going into so he helped me out a lot this year it kind of plays in what I was ask is you did start off with a lot of fouls early in the season you cut it dramatically some of it was the way the refs changed it but what what habits did you take on that really helped that process uh I tried to challenge myself and then Dell as well of just saying like no first quarter fouls and even like tried to end the the half with at least two fouls or less so I feel like when I did that I was able to play as many minutes as I could questions thank you guys

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