San Antonio Spurs vs. Minnesota Timberwolves — Game 6 Postgame Media Availability

[2:19] states he's got the best step council performance he was he's pretty damn good but his temperament [2:34] and disposition led to him having the right approach and playing the right way and we have [2:42] a few guys on our team that are just that talented that when they do that over at times the talent [2:51] pops they get to just have fun and it's pretty rewarding as a coach just to watch that's not [3:02] coaching but when they have the right approach and play with the fundamentals needed at this level [3:09] to execute things their talent can take it to another level and he had a few moments tonight [3:17] where he did that darren was pretty good too did he have an injury there uh right at the end of the [3:22] first half when he went into the locker room just the same ankle he's one of the toughest guys in [3:27] league he doesn't miss any games he's one of the guys he doesn't talk about it much doesn't show [3:32] much and he had again moments in this game that we needed just to settle us and a lot of times [3:41] probably the casual observer wouldn't understand when you're up 16 points hypothetically you don't [3:48] need to be settled in it feels like you got a big lead in the playoffs on the road against this team [3:53] that's not the case and he made multiple plays all night long whether they showed up in the box score [3:59] or not that just settled us and was a catalyst on both ends in the first and the third quarter [4:05] specifically and um he doesn't get enough credit for that yes yeah mitch when you hear people say [4:18] that you guys are ahead of schedule does it does any part of this experience not necessarily tonight [4:23] but this whole experience does it feel that way to you yeah i'm not facetious but like ahead of schedule [4:32] what right like i yeah i understand the general expectations of what we were supposed to in october [4:41] aren't necessarily aligned with where we're at right now so if that's your question i would guess [4:46] by general consensus then ahead of that schedule but we never talked about what we were going to be [4:52] or what we were going to do we just knew that we had a lot of potential and we were going to try [4:56] to be the best team we can be and those guys in that locker room have given themselves to the team [5:01] and each other and it's been pretty fun when you see a group of guys that are willing to give [5:09] themselves to the team the process regardless of what that means for themselves harrison barnes tonight [5:15] didn't play to the fourth quarter had monster plays again i know the score was what it was but [5:21] you need every single possession you need every single thing you can in this league at this moment [5:26] during the playoffs that's one thing we've learned in the 11 games that we've played [5:30] and when we have guys doing that it's a powerful thing is your voice going to make it through another [5:36] series no idea uh coach did you see on the flight up here after game five did you see a performance [5:50] like this coming i got a group of guys that was this locked in this hungry uh to a wire to wire [5:55] domination could could you sense this was coming in any in any way you don't sense anything in terms [6:05] of what the game is going to be there's too many variables that you don't control um we felt our [6:16] guys were ready and that's all you can ask for we felt we were prepared they looked like they felt [6:25] like they were prepared i don't want to speak for them but looking at their disposition the way they [6:28] were operating from last game to travel to shoot around and in preparation for the game and again when [6:39] there's a team that's together like they are and are committing to being prepared and put themselves [6:45] in positions to be successful that's a good starting spot and then the game happens there's [6:49] a lot of things that go into that you can run your 10 best plays the right way and miss 10 shots [6:57] so i'm not going to get into sensing this or that but we felt like we were ready and i think the guys [7:02] have done a great job again in these two series we've seen a lot of different circumstances [7:07] and i've really enjoyed the way that they've responded and reacted and fought through all of [7:13] them you've preached defense since day one and getting stops you've got guys picking up full [7:18] court for all four quarters even when you guys are up 20 plus does is there conditioning in any way does [7:23] it does it impress you still this late in the season yeah there was a time late in january we talked [7:27] about everybody in october wants to play fast and we started off the year pushing the envelope in that [7:37] regard and it felt like at a time in january it fell off and that's when the season starts to get [7:43] to you whether it's physically emotionally or mentally and we made a concerted effort at the [7:47] end of that month to kind of ramp that back up and i think we've done a really good job and we've [7:51] continued to commit to doing the things that we need to do whether that's fitness whether that's [7:56] playing enough guys or whatever it may be but we're not going to sacrifice that coach you mentioned [8:02] sort of how unsafe that 13 point lead felt at halftime what was the conversation with your guys in the [8:07] locker room well for whatever part of the best two minutes or whatever it was the of our play in the [8:17] whole game you could flip that and say it was just as bad those first those last two minutes excuse me [8:22] in terms of just some really undisciplined things that we can control um and so that was really [8:30] frustrating at the time because again you can have 22 minutes of really high level execution and well [8:39] fought together and when you give away seven points in that little of time that's how delicate it can be [8:48] what do you think uh steph and dear in the course of the season how do you see that paying off as we get [8:58] to honestly i don't know i don't know what those guys learn they're they just go i'm sure i'm being [9:08] serious they're as coachable as anybody we have they listen when we tell them stuff and they get on the [9:15] court and they're just like attack dogs and they just go and so i think the one thing i can give [9:22] them both credit on and and praise them to your question at least is they don't make a lot of [9:29] repeatable mistakes and when they're given direction they typically are very fast processors and pick up [9:34] things very quickly but i don't know what the hell they they look to or for because they just are always [9:40] relentless and going forward and i know i love it about them and i just try to help channel the energy [9:47] at times but obviously i think dearon's poise and composure combined with his competitiveness i [9:56] hope is something that they would continue to look at with him and take away not to fast forward too [10:03] quickly but that next series is coming up pretty fast you have any early thoughts on the matchup [10:06] with the thunder and they are the only team he played five times this year so i imagine you have [10:10] a pretty good book on them so far yeah i mean they're the defending champs they haven't lost a game in [10:15] the playoffs so we'll have to be at our best to make it competitive chris just what are the emotions [10:34] to see the season end the way that it did like this yeah i mean obviously you know disappointed in [10:41] in the in the results you know the certainly the margin of victories are a little tough to take um [10:47] you know for the most part i thought you know guys fought but we just couldn't complete place on both [10:52] ends of the floor at times what kind of allowed them to get on top of you as quickly as they did and [10:58] well you know i think i mean i'll take the blame for the start of the game we flipped the matchups [11:02] around um and you know we tried to do some things there to maybe slow down their start um but you [11:11] know it allowed the castle to get hot early um you know that certainly wasn't the plan even though that [11:18] we knew we would be giving up some some clean looks to them um but you know that's on me was the [11:26] original idea on the matchup was to put uh julius moore on wemby for that for that reason yeah [11:32] absolutely a little bit more yeah like i mean we you know for for that part of the result was was good [11:39] he wasn't really uh an early factor he'd been getting off to hot starts um so we wanted to try [11:45] to take those away um but we knew when we do that we were we were going to be giving up some other things [11:50] so but in in all that we lost a bit of our aggression i think we needed to probably come out with more [11:55] aggressive uh aggressive mindset they played in extremely well the entire series it seems i mean [12:03] even when he was getting buckets he it was a rough road for him could you see a way to make that work [12:12] better as you worked along yeah i mean this you know they did a good job i mean they were really [12:18] physical they held them off ball they they chucked them on the ball um you know uh you know with their [12:26] with their bigs particularly women yama it's not really a pick and roll game uh you know they [12:31] stayed home on our driving kick on him in particular i thought you know i thought tonight he uh found [12:39] something with like downhill momentum drives and staying with it and playing with force um you know [12:46] i think that you know was uh something that hadn't been there early on in the series as he was kind of [12:51] working himself back but like you know i don't know i mean anthony's uh certainly wasn't a hundred [12:58] percent and it was a credit to him just to be out there and playing the way that he did so i i've got [13:05] nothing but great things to say about ant's performance in this in this series because uh you [13:10] know he uh wasn't supposed to even be there until the middle of the series so how would you assess uh go [13:18] bears series and his struggles the last two games yeah i think um you know with with the rudy piece [13:26] around uh wemby it's you know a lot of it had to do with just kind of coverage mistakes like where he [13:34] needs to help we have to execute certain coverages around that you know they move them all over the [13:38] floor um you know they treat him like a guard a lot of times uh that's you know not always easy for [13:44] rudy to navigate so when we weren't helping he got a little bit exposed um but uh you know and [13:51] offensively uh you know was we wasn't a series where we were going to be able to find him easily [13:57] and the pick and roll we just talked about so um you know but the gravity when he was down in the in [14:03] the dunk around along the baseline uh did open up some opportunities to drive and kick and when we did [14:08] that uh we we didn't really find that rhythm until several games into the series but when we once we [14:14] found it we didn't make shots you know some you know some points you gotta make you gotta make those [14:18] shots you gotta you know gotta keep creating them and you gotta make them so um but you know rudy [14:22] you know rudy fought so um you know it just felt like some guys not just rudy but you know just as [14:30] the series went along along the kind of things dried up for him and and tonight was just kind of the [14:35] pinnacle of that but you know chris guys have talked throughout the series about game plan mistakes [14:41] stuff like that is that an example you think of why they may have to put a higher emphasis [14:47] on that stuff during the regular season so things can become a little more robotic this time of year [14:51] yeah i mean i think you know i think so i think you're also when you get to this level like all you [14:58] know you've got you're forced to look at your flaws and some of them are you know correctable and [15:02] some of them are more fatal and um you know we just have to have a better percentage of making the [15:08] those those uh those the game plan executions and um you know i think during the season like we do a [15:15] pretty good job of executing but like at this point in time like you pay for every breakdown that you [15:19] have uh and some of the times you just pay uh by you know great players or a physical mismatch or [15:26] something like that so you can't like have both things going on at the same time what do you think [15:31] how do you explain the defensive transition seemed like one of you guys would make buckets in the third [15:35] it was just yeah clear runways coming down that kind of seemed to stunt any momentum yeah i was [15:39] you know obviously um it was quicker than us you know quicker than us up and down the floor and we [15:46] we knew it was a after game one it was the same thing that they leaned into the most was just trying [15:51] to beat us down the floor as much as they possibly could and they all credit to them they did obviously [15:57] wimby a lot of other young stars in western conference what do you think it'll take to [16:00] consistently close the gap uh in the western conference in the years ahead well you know you either gotta [16:07] you know be a problem or have a solution you gotta either be built in a way that troubles your [16:12] opponents that's something they don't have you know or you gotta have a counter to what they do have [16:18] you know so i'm sure gms across the league uh these are things that they wrestle with all the time so [16:24] um you know uh you know i think you're gonna have to have you certainly got to make shots from the [16:31] perimeter on him because you know the the way that they uh sink him to the paint it's pretty tough you [16:39] talked about some of rudy's struggles in this series being unique to when beniyama being out [16:43] there did you feel that some of julius's struggles were in the series were unique to of course when [16:48] i'm being out there yeah i mean they have physical uh perimeter players that were able to kind of stand [16:53] up a lot of julius's momentum drives um and then when he would get to his spots they just bring so much [17:00] size and help you know i think um it really kind of took away his ability to play where he likes to play the [17:06] the best and most you know i've said it all series long for the most part julius when he got to the [17:11] paint was doing a good job of finding people um you know we just didn't connect on a lot of those [17:16] opportunities that he created for his teammates so chris do you see you talk about the gap and and [17:23] within when you got shannon and clarick and baron gear possibly are they high-end potential guys when [17:28] you look at how young uh san antonio is are they guys that could really emerge or take a big step based [17:34] on what you're seeing well i mean we believe in our young guys you know um there's evolution and [17:39] development that has to take place but you know that team that team that we just played their young [17:44] guys were all top lottery picks so there's a there's a difference right there there's a gap that [17:49] you got to make up right there so um but uh you know we have a young still have a young core around [17:55] anthony jaden oz those guys so um you know we're not we're not planning on going anywhere but we know we [18:01] need to keep uh keep building this thing out chris is the third year in a row that you know the game [18:07] that ends your season was pretty lopsided is there any any theme to that or any any reason that you can [18:13] pinpoint for that i don't know you know not not exactly sure i haven't had the chance to kind of [18:19] digest it all so chris you've coached a lot of playoff basketball where does the turbulence and [18:28] adversity from this season rank in your coaching career in the for the playoffs um you know [18:36] it's certainly up there we we had to battle through a lot of different things um you know [18:40] coming into the playoffs and also throughout the playoffs seeming like a lot of a lot of drama um [18:47] or adversity so yeah it's it's up there i was obviously extremely pleased of the guys [18:52] with the guys and the way they fought through that stayed together uh particularly the denver series [18:57] you know super focused coming in here and just felt like we kind of ran out of you know bullets [19:03] as this series went on so but um really proud of the guys and you know the way they kind of rallied [19:11] and and guys stepped up you know tj certainly um so yeah chris uh naz played pretty well especially [19:20] in the first half when you looked at the way that rudy and julius are struggling did you think about [19:25] starting the second half with him or like how did you kind of see it not really i mean we went to [19:29] him two minutes in so you know thanks just your your thoughts on pulling that off here in your [19:46] third season going to the western conference finals and winning in the fashion that you guys did tonight [19:51] just just dominating start to finish all right it's great shows that we already gained a little bit [19:58] of experience from uh our short playoff uh time feel like we put ourselves in the best conditions [20:08] simple as that where do you think you guys kind of uh established yourself or made a statement tonight [20:14] pull the way relentlessness trusting the game plan and staying strong through their runs it's called [20:31] dylan and steph attack dogs out there kind of made it seem like his job is to almost channel their [20:36] energy in the right direction a lot of it kind of revolves around you so looking at the way that [20:41] steph and dylan and dieran played tonight how have you figured out your role of how to center the [20:47] gravity of the court to allow them to run free and take over games i feel like we have a lot of confidence [21:00] in me having this role i have a lot of confidence in it and they knew it and they tried to take me [21:04] away from being able to center the different the defense and that was the hardest part you know but [21:11] this is this is what they do their only chance was trying to the way their team is built like they [21:17] were trying to take me away from from the rim and just just grab me and uh that's why i was talking [21:24] about relentlessness as well because there's no other way to fight that than just fight it with physicality [21:31] i think there was a time when uh teams would leave steph alone outside what does it do now [21:42] with him hitting threes like that for the offense and just the team in general i mean [21:49] we already knew but now it's even more obvious why they didn't do that the first five games [21:57] nick i think it was as early as the games in austin when you were asked about this team's lack of [22:04] postseason experience and uh you said something like there was no way to know until you're through it [22:09] now that you're through two series how much do you think that matters and do you think just the [22:13] experience that you've gained through these two series mean mean something moving forward yes of [22:19] course they mean something now the nature of the playoffs makes it that we're going to play against [22:27] better and better teams and there was already a leap between the first and second round and it's going [22:34] to be probably even bigger leap between second and third but we you know we got good guidance we got good [22:40] coaching staff the best actually so we can trust them i just said that um he could tell that you [22:51] guys were ready for tonight and he could tell that you guys felt prepared and ready what does that look [22:58] like with this team when you feel ready you feel like you you know what needs to be done and like the [23:06] confidence like is it looseness is it like what is it what is it feels like it's connection between each [23:11] other uh in the first minutes of the game you know i feel like this team whatever we've hit first and [23:19] taking an early lead we've beat them and really whenever we beat them it was almost by like 30 every [23:27] time and the way they play also makes it that they get tired because they play so physical and we try [23:36] to beat them with pace so i would say to answer your question when we start game a certain way that's when [23:44] we know we're ready back to step considering the stakes was that as good as you've seen him play [23:55] just that start with the threes and just overall play oh yeah no i mean he was amazing the composure [24:02] you know there was one pass that i haven't seen again on the film by the way but one late pass [24:08] sometimes he does some some things just amazing and yeah just the composure you know to make the late [24:16] choice and to push the defense into as far as they can go to to to take care of all our strength [24:25] you know he he was great he shot the ball when he should have shot it and made the shots and he passed [24:30] the ball when he should have passed it that's pretty high up there you mentioned how the um caliber of [24:39] opponents goes up each round and so next round you got oklahoma city coming up defending champions best [24:45] record in the league um but you guys played them five times this year and beat them four times what [24:50] kind of confidence level do you guys have heading into that series and just what are your thoughts [24:56] on how that series might look of course we're confident uh but we need to keep the right confidence [25:01] level right now i'm not even thinking about it i'm just thinking about recovering i'm thinking about [25:06] getting this press conference over with and and we're gonna see we're gonna see about it in the next [25:13] couple days but it's really it's going to be the same as usual prepare take care everybody scout watch [25:21] the film practice you said that you were excited to get back to playing meaningful games this was [25:27] probably the most meaningful so far your pro career now you're about to play in the western conference [25:32] finals for the first time what's your excitement level how are you feeling it's great uh my mind is [25:40] excited my body is tired after this this game but uh yeah i was i said it on the broadcast earlier like [25:50] just the words conference finals is crazy it's like something i heard you know my whole life and [25:59] now being in it is just special it's uh hopefully many more conference finals to come next years [26:07] thank you appreciate it guys step castle be right in stuff it seemed like you started that night with [26:27] your three ball falling and when that happens do you kind of does that open up so much more for you [26:31] you have a sense you're gonna have a pretty good night when those first three balls go down yeah um [26:36] i wouldn't say it guaranteed it guarantees me to have a good night but it definitely opens up a lot [26:41] for me uh especially getting downhill and making reads just um forcing guys to have to go over and [26:48] um eventually have to start running me off the line i feel like it just opens up the world for [26:52] everybody i seem to remember when you were drafted people had questions about your outside shot what [26:57] have you done to sort of get to the point where you're doing this in a playoff game and it wasn't [27:00] just tonight it's been it's been several months now yeah uh i mean just work uh a lot of reps um [27:08] a lot like not live reps but you know game speed reps with with a hand i mean just uh just staying [27:14] in the gym i've been working with jimmy for uh really the past two years so i mean he's been great [27:20] and i think the biggest thing for me is just staying consistent with my footwork uh making every [27:25] shot feel the same so uh i mean it's been feeling good you're the youngest player in mba history to [27:31] have your stat line 10 rebounds how does that feel to hear that you have an mba record uh i mean it [27:40] feels good uh it's definitely a blessing um i feel like there's somebody on our team that that breaks [27:48] some type of record like every every couple games so uh i mean yeah just to just to be a part of that [27:55] is definitely definitely a good feeling though you're not supposed to be able to say that about a team [27:58] you're not supposed to break records every few days so you feel like there's something special [28:01] about this team and it's confident you guys can go all the way after what you just did now [28:05] yeah uh i think we're i think we're a really talented group that you know plays together and [28:11] plays very selfless and we're all young so uh i mean playing like that like it just i mean that's [28:18] where most of the record breaking comes from you know being the youngest guy we have a lot of young [28:23] guys that are you know very talented on our team so uh i think it could be anybody's night on any [28:29] given night so i mean us just being very selfless and the way we move the balls it's it's just fun [28:34] to play as mitch called you an attack dog just now and his job is to kind of channel your energy in the [28:40] right direction do you feel like you're in attack dog when you get out there and how has the game [28:44] slowed down for you over the course of this year that it's less about raw energy and more about control [28:50] um i think just the confidence that our coaches have to put the ball in my hands and let me go through [28:58] mistakes and uh see see different coverages you know have reps with the ball in my hand i think [29:04] over time it's just it's helped me and um i mean just staying aggressive throughout that is [29:10] it's very tough to guard with the guys that you know are spacing the floor um i mean me getting off [29:14] the ball giving the ball to fox you know they're putting the best defender on fox you know ball comes [29:19] back to me you know we have vix in the pick and roll you have julian or dev in the corner so [29:24] uh i mean there's somebody that can you know make a play with the ball you know all over the court so [29:29] i feel like it just makes it so much easier for me to be able to do that and make reads speaking of [29:35] vick setting the screen there were like two plays in that first quarter where you were dribbling he [29:40] said a screen looked like the defense just sort of forgot about you what did you see on those plays and [29:44] how much does playing with victor unlock everything that you do on both ends of the field yeah i think his [29:49] gravity and uh how good he's got at setting up his angles for screens and forcing guys to have to [29:57] either let let the ball handler get downhill or or get off his body um with with how good he is for him [30:04] to be able to set screens like that it just opens up the court for everybody so um any defense is just [30:10] super worried about him especially when he's when he's in the paint so uh you know for us guards to [30:16] have that as a screener it's definitely a luxury for us how good uh step was gearon considering [30:22] he played the last two games on pretty bad uh he was great um i mean very poised uh i mean played [30:30] under control the whole game um didn't really force any shots i mean he took he took the shots that he [30:35] wanted to got to his spots when he wanted to and uh i mean to have you know a lead guard a veteran guard [30:43] like that on our team that can get to any spot on the court whenever he wants is is definitely cool [30:49] to to be alongside him what did you think about uh and coming to your huddle to congratulate everybody [30:56] i've never seen that before yeah uh but i mean it was cool i mean um i mean we were competing all [31:03] all series so uh to for him to come over there and show that kind of respect is definitely cool [31:08] what do you think about the next series i guess the thunder you played them five times this year [31:12] yeah uh i think it's gonna be a a hard fought series you know very physical uh you know two [31:17] teams with high aspirations they're they're playing really well right now we're playing really well [31:21] right now and uh i mean we're in each other's way of you know going to the final so i think it'd be a [31:26] good series thank you the tile free and uh can i get a towel and just what's kind of the emotions [31:49] coming out of a game where it got away from you the way that it did here i mean i just tip my hat [31:56] to them it was just a better team i think you went down to the to the spurs bench with eight [32:01] minutes to go in the game like what was kind of the thought process to do it in the middle of the [32:06] game there rather than kind of waiting for the end i mean at that point you know you ain't going [32:11] back in so you're just trying to get them respect they deserve so yeah with how they handled you guys [32:19] like how much work do you guys have to do going forward here to catch up in the western conference and [32:24] to catch up and to contend again uh i don't know man i think that that i don't think that's a [32:32] question for me and last year in the west the west finals you said okc was kind of like on a string [32:39] defensively um san antonio looked like they had a lot of that look in this series as well what do [32:43] you guys have to do or whatever in the regular season to make it where you guys can be like that on [32:49] the defensive end and get some of this top we just got to listen to the coaches yeah we got a hard time [32:55] of like processing stuff and going out there and doing it um we try to do stuff on our own i think [33:01] that's our problem do you feel like the regular season's the time to start to build yeah i feel [33:06] like it's you're supposed to build championship habits or playoff habits in the regular season [33:10] yeah great question i think so yeah just a follow-up to that do you not feel like you'd have [33:16] do i feel like what that you have built the habits during the regular season no we didn't build [33:20] the habits during the regular season though um you are constantly referred to as an ethical hooper [33:26] like this is a big thing with you and the timberwolves how do you stick to that and play that [33:31] game when the league is often rewarding more flopping and dirty plays and things like that [33:38] i don't really pay attention to it um they don't really bother me i just go out there and play my [33:43] game and you mentioned building championship habits in the regular season does that start with [33:49] you does that start with coaches is it a collective thing like where does that really start it's collective [33:54] yeah it's um it's a collective effort but it definitely starts with me yeah and what and this [34:06] is last time we're gonna get to talk to you before kind of your off season begins uh this season you had [34:11] the ball in your hands a lot you were basically the point guard of the team do you envision that role [34:16] for yourself going forward when you when you talk to the coaches in front office do you want to play [34:20] off ball more or kind of how do you envision your role here kind of when you when you drill down into [34:27] the the nitty-gritty of how they they utilize you here i just want to be uh i don't i don't really [34:33] care if it's on the ball or off the ball just whatever position i'm i'm put in i want to be able [34:37] to you know create for my teammates and create for myself so it don't really matter if it's on the ball [34:41] off the ball whatever they need from me i'm willing to do it when it comes to you know this was the most [34:46] injured you've been in your career so far so i don't know if you've if you've thought about what your [34:51] office is going to look like from a physical perspective body-wise just kind of what's your what's your plan [34:56] going into the off season in terms of getting your body back right uh yeah just a bunch of body [35:01] maintenance um with javar and d hans i think that's the main thing um uh i feel like the basketball [35:08] stuff is i'm gonna put it it's not last but when it comes to like me being injured a lot this year i [35:13] gotta really focus on like you know my knees my ankles my hips so i gotta get with uh yeah javar and [35:19] d hans and work on that and do you think this team as it is assembled now could compete with the san [35:25] antonio's and oklahoma city's of the world or do you think you need another star you said what do [35:30] you think this team as it is right now can compete with the san antonio spurs and oklahoma city thunder [35:35] do you feel like you need another star next to you yeah i feel like we're good yeah and at this time [35:42] last year you were talking about what you were going to add in the the off season and you talked [35:47] about the mid-range and you did do that um have you thought about what that looks like for you this [35:52] summer of what element what element you want to add to your game to take another step next season [36:00] um great question no not yet i wasn't expecting to expecting to be going home this early so no i [36:07] haven't thought about what i'm what i'm adding to my game what about collectively uh as a team what what [36:15] is what is it that you feel like you guys need to to get over the hump yeah uh we just need everything [36:22] to be clicking at the right time i think that's the main thing like i think missing dante is big for [36:27] us man like um he spreads the floor like no other um yeah like a series like this where they just [36:34] double teaming like i would love to have dante in my slot and just throwing it to him the entire time [36:39] and he shoot 23s but he got hurt last series so you know we tried to figure it out but like i said [36:45] they were just a better team this series so i tip my hat to those guys and with your d's did you have [36:51] any more spring by the end of the series than you did to start did it start to loosen up yeah yeah [36:57] for sure yeah it got better over the course of the series but i mean that's that's really no excuse [37:03] like if i was out there playing i was 100 that's how i look at it so i was good man we just we just [37:08] came up short and we obviously didn't see the explosiveness normally from you because of your knees [37:14] how hard was it to come back so quickly and then have to compete at such a high level against a [37:19] excellent spurs team um uh i don't think it was hard i think it was like i was up for it like i [37:25] was ready to come back and compete at a high level um i knew that team was really good uh well coached [37:32] sound on on the defensive end uh we knew what they was going to do but um yeah i was just ready to [37:36] come back man i was eager to get out there and play with my brother so i'm happy i was able to come [37:39] back yeah and i know you've played against victor before but again after six straight games against him [37:45] was there anything that after the series like really stood out to you that maybe about vic yeah [37:50] uh yeah just his um defensively man he's incredible yeah um he changes every shot at the rim [37:58] uh he goes to the rim every time after every block whether it's goaltending or not he's going to go [38:02] up and challenge it and yeah i mean yeah it's tough it's kind of tough to uh go to the rim against [38:09] a guy who's like seven six and he he's got great uh he's pretty good and as you as you kind of move [38:16] on in your career as you kind of move on in your career you gain more of a leadership role and things [38:23] like that just after year six now how did how did that go for you this year what what is it like [38:29] trying to be like the main voice when when times are tough and when you know maybe guys are upset or [38:34] what what have you in the locker room just trying to be the the leader of a team in that way it's fun [38:40] man um because i mean you get to know guys on different levels you know so just getting to know [38:45] everybody individually i think that's the main thing that's part of leadership like learning how [38:49] to talk to people so yeah it was fun and what did it require to deal with the doubles as two series [38:55] straight of just everywhere you go being trapped was that more of a mental struggle or like game [38:59] feeling no struggle yeah good question no struggle at all man just trusting in my teammates um [39:05] trusting in the next action uh we're gonna make something happen and um i feel like we did man [39:09] we just couldn't make enough shots to win the game i think that's what it came down to do you see [39:14] anything consistent ant across you know two years ago the west finals last year's west finals this [39:18] year's west finals like the biggest west semis the biggest thing that's maybe causing you guys to come [39:23] up short in these series or like one thing that you're seeing again and again that's making it tough [39:27] um good question uh no comment io um i mean you were obviously picked up right before the trade deadline [39:57] and i'm sure a lot of minnesota fans are happy you came here when you look at your performance obviously [40:01] you know it didn't end the way you wanted it to how excited are you for just you know your future [40:06] on this team and the things that you can do at every position i'm i'm very excited i'm very excited [40:13] because um i think this season it meant a lot to me because you know personally it was it was a season [40:20] where i had to um face a lot of adversity you know last year my season ended short um coming to this season [40:27] due to um having um shoulder surgery so just just being out here competing i never took that for [40:34] granted you know when i when a game was taken away from me for five six six months you know not knowing [40:39] what the future the future may hold um that just gave me a sense of gratefulness so um i look forward [40:47] you know to next season but also i want to you know be appreciative of the lord for allowing me to have [40:53] a healthy season this season because that's that's something that we take for granted um as humans [40:57] just the ability to be healthy the ability to you know walk breathe so um i'm just excited that i was [41:05] able to finish the season off healthy and then um i'm also excited you know for my future i kind of [41:12] going off of that obviously it's a big summer for you what has your experience here in minnesota [41:17] meant to you and how much do you take that into consideration in terms of your decision in terms of what is next [41:23] for you for sure um the main thing that i i really appreciated uh with minnesota is how they accepted [41:30] me i'm coming in the trade that line they accepted me right away the fans are amazing um the environment [41:36] is amazing um i loved it and you know being my first time being traded i think they really took me in with [41:42] open arms so i'm excited of course i'm excited also for free agency because you know being this been in [41:50] the league for five years this is my my first time being able to actually go through a free agency [41:54] um unrestricted so i'm looking forward to that but at the same time i think my time here um these two [42:02] two three months i was here with minnesota has been great so um i'm excited for the future i know you [42:08] played in the played in the playoffs once before um really had a heavy dose of it this this postseason [42:15] just kind of what did you learn about yourself in the postseason and and maybe what it's like to to try [42:20] and level up and really compete this this time of year for sure um you know i'm grateful for the [42:26] opportunity to be in the postseason and i said that since the first the first game and um i'm grateful [42:32] to learn each and every season i try to get better and add something to my game so now i actually had [42:37] to take you know of the of the postseason you know going against yokich one of the greatest bigs [42:42] of all time and then going against this first team that's going to be one of the top teams in this [42:46] league for you know many years to come it definitely gives me an assessment of how i can get better [42:51] you know i have some some some pretty good moments but at the same time i want to continue to grow i [42:54] want to take that that next step as a player and the only way you can do that is by going through [42:58] these playoff series so um i'm looking forward to this summer i'm looking forward to just getting [43:03] better getting the weight room getting stronger um of course you know um allowing my body to heal but at [43:09] the same time i have a pretty good off season where i know you know how the playoffs is you know going [43:14] six with denver and then going six also with san antonio so i'm looking forward to taking that next [43:19] step and um each and every off season of my career always was able to take that next step but now i [43:25] have a better cheat sheet because i actually have some meaningful playoff games um under my belt so i'm [43:30] i'm excited i'm excited for this off season um i'm gonna do everything i can to you know uh recover [43:37] and do whatever it takes to you know help us get over that hump next year rudy ant said he didn't think [43:43] you guys built enough of the right habits during the regular season this year would you echo that [43:47] and if so what has to be done differently next year so you don't end up in that spot again yeah we can [43:55] definitely say that i think just our focus on our foundation who we really are and the things that [44:04] we need to do no matter what i think that's uh probably what it means by that and it's true that [44:13] you know we have an amazing group of resilient and very talented guys but we we had a lot of ups and [44:22] downs and a lot of that i think was in our control rudy you said repeatedly throughout this season that [44:30] the the goal was a championship uh what are the emotions right now not having met that goal i mean [44:39] as a competitor it's always frustrating obviously falling short on your goal um it's uh always you know [44:50] it's time to process that and reflect and then um you know i'm going to do that the next few days next [44:58] few weeks or maybe next few months um but you always gotta yeah look at the what are the lessons and [45:05] also what is like you said you know uh also be very grateful no matter what i'm grateful for for health [45:15] or being able to um play at the highest level you know give people a lot of great memories great moments [45:25] uh and and then you gotta take what you want to work on and what you want to get better and [45:31] and the the goal is still the same you know year after year uh i know it's a team sport but full of [45:40] individuals and then i know personally my goal my goal is still the same and it's not going to change [45:47] until i'm until i'm breathing and i'm i step on the court it's not going to change so just gotta take [45:54] time to reflect and and have a great summer rudy after um this series where they've had they got [46:02] some decisive victories against you do you feel like this group is far away from being in that [46:07] contender status or like closer how does it feel coming out of it i think it might be too early for [46:15] me to to really talk about that like i said i need time to really analyze reflect but i think they were [46:23] i think they were the better team i mean we we felt like we had a chance to beat these guys but [46:33] when it came down to you know the court they they all played us clearly all played us in three games [46:39] you know now it's about looking at why and understanding why and then we also had everything [46:48] we needed to to potentially beat these guys but we didn't so they deserve to to to be where they are [46:54] right now and uh and i think this group definitely has you know has shown that it can win at the highest [47:03] level now um were you healthy in this series or how how did it feel how did you try to find your way [47:10] through it while you were dealing with what you were dealing with yeah um was i healthy yes i was i was [47:18] healthy because i was able to play but i definitely you know had to you know fight through nagging um nagging [47:25] injuries with my calf and then um after my calf it was you know my heel so um towards the end of the [47:32] series the most thing was my was my heel so i was trying to put some um some cushions on my heel to [47:38] you know take the pain away because every time i was trying to go off my foot when i hit the back of [47:42] my shoe i had a lot of pain but um i'm grateful you know my teammates and you know the training staff [47:50] they were able to you know instill confidence in me and and let me know that you know um i was fine [47:55] um and i was able to push through it i want to be out there for my teammates um you know i'm a [48:00] competitor um i never want to you know sit out and you know watch my team compete um so but you [48:07] know having these you know some time off to to heal uh will be great but it is what it is you know [48:15] anytime you're going late in the playoffs you always you know get those nagging injuries but i'm just [48:21] healthy that i was able to make it through rudy what was it like to play against wemby in a six [48:27] game series and and did was he the reason you struggled the last couple games or did you feel [48:32] like there's something more you could have done it was a great battle you know it was it was a great [48:43] challenge you know for for me and for us as a team uh i think he is shown that he he took another step [48:56] you know it was uh i think he was a big step a big test for him and uh and uh he passed it showed that [49:07] you know we were very physical with him and then uh it affected him but he still was able to impact [49:15] the game like he can impact the game uh on both ends on the floor of the on the floor uh and um yeah [49:25] he was you know like i said it might be too early for me to to speak on everything because i need [49:30] time to to really process and reflect but um yeah i mean i'm excited for him you know he's put a lot [49:40] of work to to be in that position and even though he's only 22 this is his first playoffs so it's a big [49:50] big test for him and and every series i think it's gonna teach him a lot and and he's gonna get [49:58] better you know from from going through these experiences rudy i know you know you've known [50:05] victor for a long time but are you still surprised i guess he's become this good this quickly at this [50:13] level i wouldn't say surprised uh i say um uh as a competitor obviously uh i hate to lose but it's also [50:34] watching him being able to do what he's doing in these moments uh and overcoming adversity like he did [50:41] this series um yeah it's it's it's it's credit to his work and all the all the sacrifices that [50:52] he made and all the time that he puts on his body on his mind all the dedication um i'm aware of that [51:00] you know and uh you know it sooner or later you get rewarded when you when you have that kind of [51:07] mindset and he once again as a competitor i was trying to i was trying to beat him up and and i thought [51:15] we had what it what it took to to to beat them but he he led his team he led his team and and um now [51:24] it's going to be interesting to see how he's how he's ready to face that next challenge you know and [51:32] and see if he if he takes his team to the to the promised land this year io uh this team is has point [51:45] guard play more by like committee right it's it's not one one person just bringing it up every time and [51:50] getting you into into your offense what what was that what has that been like uh coming here and [51:56] sometimes it's maybe you run in it maybe it's aunt maybe it's julius maybe it's dante um what what did [52:02] that sort of point guard uh situation feel like to you here in minnesota i mean pretty much how you um [52:07] explained it um it was by committee and then of course you got aunt you know one of the best you know [52:13] guards in the league and he's you know heavily on ball so just you know figuring out you know how [52:20] to you know play off of him um while also you know trying to get him in easier actions as the [52:25] series went on the more i watched the more i i was trying to tell him um it's better to you know get [52:30] you in situations where you can just catch it a lot of delay action and catch it and score rather than [52:35] having to bring the ball up and score you know that that gets tiring sometime and um him going through you [52:41] know injury um i just wanted to try to make it um easier for him and um that's something that um i [52:47] will continue to get better at and that's something i know i'm capable of doing um you know from from [52:53] the bulls to you know getting traded here if you look at my whole season the the role that i was in [52:58] has always changed and i was always able to adapt and um try to find ways to to help the team but i think [53:08] that um i could do you know a better job of that and i think that's something i'm very capable of of [53:14] getting us in actions and you know making his life easier and that's something that i definitely you [53:19] know will address this offseason so i could have more of a clear you know um understanding of next [53:24] year how it will look because you know coming off of soda surgery um this this this last offseason i [53:32] didn't know you know what position i would be in either so um just adapting to that i think we have a [53:37] you know a pretty good team like rudy said but just came down to the little things but to answer [53:43] your question we did about community this year but i think you know next year that's something i [53:46] definitely could you know take a role in ready you talked about ups and downs um and these last two [53:52] years you guys have made some nice playoff runs from the sixth seed but to contend at the level you [53:56] want to in this conference do you feel like that's going to require more than 49 wins in the regular [53:59] season i just think that the the habits that we build uh from day one training camp we carry over [54:10] until the last day of the playoffs so i think if we i think when we decide who we want to be uh and we [54:21] apply that every day um we get rewarded and you know we put ourselves in a in a the playoffs gonna show [54:31] you who you are so i think i think for sure we we when you when you'll be when you're able to be [54:40] consistent in the regular season um it carries over usually in the playoffs [54:45] the feeling like for you first nba season you're headed to the western kind of great i think this is [55:05] like the standard after the season's over but i think just being in the position i'm in like the [55:14] all year it was like that he gets wrapped to the wrong spot this and the third and it was like [55:18] i never like thought about that because just i kind of knew how good we were and i knew the impact that [55:24] everyone brought to the table and i knew that we can do things like this so i mean it's great [55:28] a lot of talk this season about how you guys lacked experience now you've got two playoff series under [55:37] your belt 11 games closeout game at home closeout game on the road uh how how experienced are you [55:44] feeling right now i mean i i feel pretty experienced i feel kind of comfortable and confident out there but [55:51] i think what we'll be walking into on monday i think that's a different animal so i mean [55:57] the experience is great for all of us but just going out there the mindset you know we just got [56:01] to keep on keeping our foot on the gas no matter what how much has it helped having these experiences [56:07] on the way to to get you to this point how much how much readier i guess i mean it's it's helped a lot [56:13] just with the kind of the mentality going into games and what to focus on i think is a big thing and just [56:19] for me kind of just when i'm on the bench and the game starts i kind of have a feel what the team [56:24] needs and what what's going on and what the game needs for me so i mean these past two series i [56:29] think just helped me kind of find my groove in a sense probably saw that clip of you going coast [56:36] to coast and manu going coast to coast and like you can't even tell which one is which maybe by the [56:40] hair yeah probably how how is sitting down with him throughout this year helped you adapt to being a [56:47] six man and how have you embraced being a six man like are you enjoying this i mean i don't think i i mean [56:53] i think killed him the six man i think i'm just another guy on bench but i mean me a six man a six [56:58] man i mean but i think me me just him kind of guiding me i think early on he would ask me questions [57:06] just to pick just to pick my brain to see what kind of i was thinking about just the team and the [57:12] lineup and i think everything he's told me has been straight on point fault straight on i think he's [57:17] just kind of installed little just little things in my head that would just help me in the future [57:24] and i think that he's he's done a great job of just kind of calming me down and telling me like [57:30] just play your game out there be you uh mitch referred to you and steph as attack dogs out there [57:36] and his job is to kind of channel you know just talk about it uh-huh i mean yeah i think that's [57:42] me says best quality i think being relentless i think we try to put our imprint in the game right [57:48] right out the gate he does a great job doing that and i think when i come in the game i kind of [57:53] i kind of try to put that in pit imprint and just be that attack attack dog that miss kind of called [57:58] us so i mean i think me and him fox we do a great job just going out there and i think setting the [58:04] tone for the guards i know a game is never over until it's over but you guys led wire to wire and [58:10] then with eight minutes to go ants in your huddle congratulating you guys is that the kind of moment [58:15] you you knew it was over yeah yeah definitely i mean dabbing us up i think just it was over i don't [58:23] got much to say i think he kind of knew it what it was we kind of knew what it was you know i think [58:28] it was just it was just game towards the end of the game was that kind of where it started to sink [58:32] in we're going to the western conference finals yeah i mean i they fought back we was up big they [58:38] fought back and just coming out the third quarter we just emphasis on just keep going and going and [58:43] going i think that helped us a lot and i think once you kind of came that this up and we kind of [58:47] saw the atmosphere was going on it was more of like all right like we're going we're going to okc on [58:53] monday and then uh yeah and then facing that yes i'm gonna go hey i know y'all want him that's why [59:13] you got tom first bus ain't leave yet just what are your thoughts on finishing off this series the way [59:22] you guys did tonight by the you know the margin you did tonight with the mentality you did tonight [59:27] and now going on to the western conference finals i think it was good for us um like you said before [59:32] you know we we knew what we were you know coming into um we knew what you know some of the adjustments [59:37] that they could make you know that was the first time that um you know they put rudy on staff and [59:42] this is something that we've seen before in the past not with this team but with other teams and [59:45] we were prepared so uh the way that we came out the way that we started the game and the way that we [59:49] started the uh second half i think you know put us in a great position to win and we were able to [59:55] execute i guess it's fair to say putting rudy on stuff did not work because he's 30 points [1:00:00] no i didn't but i said like we're prepared for that we've we've practiced those things whenever [1:00:04] teams invert and like to do because you know you have vic out there so uh teams throw out different [1:00:10] matchups and that was the first time that we saw it in this series and we were prepared [1:00:15] darren how's your ankle feeling i'm all right i mean it hurts a bit it's it's a side not the back [1:00:21] so i felt comfortable i felt comfortable being back out there when this group was put together [1:00:27] people had questions about how you castle harper would all fit and in the first quarter you know [1:00:33] you and steph were setting each other up and just you know trading buckets how much fun has it been to [1:00:39] develop that chemistry and and how dangerous a pairing or a trio i guess do you feel you guys are right [1:00:45] now i mean i think it's great um you know the way our rotations work at all times we have two of us out [1:00:50] there um at all times we have two of us out there and uh we're all able to play off of one another [1:00:59] we can all get to the basket we all make our open shots um we facilitate for each other and other and [1:01:05] other guys on the court like it just adds to the dynamic of our team and then you know being able to [1:01:11] one get stops rebound push it in transition um it makes it easier because you know sometimes you play [1:01:17] a team they have one ball handler and we're able to wear wear that guy down and it makes it hard for that [1:01:21] team so uh with with us having three of them it makes it pretty easy um we can take the pressure [1:01:28] off of each other we can try to take the pressure off of vic as well and you know we're in this [1:01:32] position i haven't spent this year next to uh steph what what is he made of like it seemed like that [1:01:38] dude was ready for whatever oh man he he takes on any matchup uh regardless of if it's a it could be a [1:01:45] big man it could be a a point guard he's able to do pretty much everything on the court and especially [1:01:49] when he's shooting the ball like this um it's it's already hard to stop him you know like you [1:01:55] said before we we see so many different matchups whereas if he has a big on him if he has a guard [1:01:59] if he has a wing on him um he's so unselfish he goes he screens he plays dhos uh he gets downhill [1:02:08] he catches shoots he gets to the free throw line he does so many things on the court that even when [1:02:12] he's not making shots he's still affecting the game in a positive way you kind of knew this would be [1:02:17] like minnesota fights right that's what they do was anybody more ready than him to mix it up no not [1:02:23] at all um but i mean that's that's the way that he is he's quiet but as soon as you know we step out [1:02:28] on the court his game speaks and and he's loud while he's out there so um no one's surprised the way that [1:02:34] steph performed dylan steph really look up to you like besides young jokes like they genuinely seem to [1:02:41] really look up to you what does that meant for you and how how different has this role been on this [1:02:46] team really you are one of the leaders of the team as far as like an on-court star but you also like [1:02:51] you have this responsibility for nurturing these great young talents as well i mean i think it's [1:02:55] i think it's dope and it's something that i don't take for granted um you know having guys who are this [1:03:01] talented you know uh have watched me you know throughout my career and then we get to be in the [1:03:06] same locker room get to be on the court together uh it's something i love uh and i want them to you know [1:03:13] feel that success uh from an early from you know as early as you can get in your career because [1:03:19] you never know when those things can uh come back around and for me it's just you know i talked about [1:03:25] before just give them little tidbits that they can uh get here or there because they're so talented just [1:03:30] just giving them a cheat sheet to kind of maneuver throughout the league and through a long season um [1:03:37] but like i said man it's i try to add what i can to what they can already do and they can already do a lot [1:03:41] of things you guys played oklahoma city five times this season what can you take from those matchups [1:03:47] that will you know lead into the next round and what's the confidence level like for you guys i mean [1:03:52] you could take a bit from it but you know the playoffs is a different story obviously you know [1:03:56] even with this team uh that we just played against uh i would say the regular season games were much [1:04:01] different than they were in the playoffs so um schematically you know you can look at and say [1:04:07] you know we want to do this the same or these things differently but um we'll get there i think we'll [1:04:12] we'll we'll get there tomorrow or the day before the day before so what do you think might be [1:04:16] different about the thunder team you're going to see next week and the one you saw in the regular [1:04:20] season uh well i don't i don't know if we uh besides a lot i think the last one i don't know if we [1:04:28] played them without uh jalen williams but um i mean aj mitchell's playing well shay's being shea that team [1:04:33] is i mean they haven't lost a game in playoffs so um just try to stop the momentum you know who they are [1:04:38] you know what they do