📅 Published on: 2024-12-15 08:07:54

⏱ Duration: 00:18:01 (1081 seconds)

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Hear from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, and Head Coach Mark Daigneault following the Thunder’s 111 – 96 win over the Houston Rockets in the NBA Cup Semifinals in Las Vegas.

0:00 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
6:01 Jalen Williams
12:22 Coach Daigneault

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🕵️‍♂️ Transcript:

first question right here in the front Joe on one right in the middle Shay such a physical first half and you guys struggled to shoot how did you find the Rhythm that you were able to get to in the second half yeah we just at the end of the day trusted our work um we had the right intentions um offensively in the first half just didn’t make enough shots um they went into half with a little bit of a lead but but uh yeah we trusted our own work and we knew that if we kept getting stops we would be able to give ourselves a chance um and we did so over here on the right side again third row no okay right up here in the front on one uh Shay yesterday um you know you mentioned that when you and Dylan go at each other you know you always try to take each other’s heads off um obviously you know got pretty tense between you two guys um you know what’s it like going up against somebody like that that’s uh so intensive defensively it’s fun it makes you better um that’s what this league is about competing against the best in the world um and defensively he is that for sure um and I like to think that of myself offensively um so he gives myself he gives me a chance to really see where I’m at a good test um i’ say I handled it pretty well on your left second row hey Shane uh today Las Vegas I mean the atmosphere can you talk about the MVP Chance The Innovation at the end of the game like just your thoughts on NBA in Las Vegas yeah um it was pretty sweet um obviously I haven’t you know we don’t play here every year um but yeah the environment was dope the fans were into it um a basketball City it was really fun playing out there all the way in the back and the left Jay what do you think uh from a players perspective what do you think about Las Vegas as a basketball town and if this city does get an NBA team what do you think players will think about coming through to play yeah I think it’d be great um we’ve like the cups here summer leagues here that we can feel the basketball culture in Vegas as players when we come um yeah I think it’s only a matter of time I think like the city the city really Embraces basketball um I think they deserve it for sure over here on the right third row uh Shay you already have some single elimination games experience in your career right like national team and NCAA and what does it look more like like fber basketball or NCAA when you play the NBA cup sorry what was you one more time sorry all right uh could you compare uh NBA cup experience with your uh single game elimination experience that you had in your career okay yeah um yeah it does have a little bit this this had a little bit of like a uh a March Madness feel just because it was like neutral neutral grounds nobody’s home um you’re on the road like you said it’s single game elimination um was a little bit of nerves and once the ball tips it’s just basketball at the end of the day um and you do whatever it takes to win uh and obviously a little bit more is at stake with if you lose you go home but uh games and experiences like that are good for us um especially for where we want to end up he laid his body on the line and then he went four for four from three in the second half what’s your reaction is he’s just you know being the gamer that he is in this one yeah he uh it’s a special player um he gives everything he has defensively every night um does the dirty work some nights he gets Two Shots some nights he gets 10 shots some nights he makes five threes some nights he doesn’t get a three um and he doesn’t let it waver uh like my especially myself I don’t take it for granted um the role he plays for this team uh so many guys on the team do that role but Lou Lou is very special at it um and he has his imprint all over this group with how hard he plays how physical he plays how tenacious he is um but with that being said it just tonight was a l a lud D night U nothing we haven’t seen before third row on the right here you’re facing the buck uh previous NBA champion what’s your mindset as a player facing Yannis and the Bucks yeah uh obviously some really good players over there um it’s the same every night we got to try to make sure that they play in their weaknesses instead of their strengths um it’s a lot a lot easier said than done um but if we want to win we have to get it done and that will be our main focus last question back left Jay you envision uh jaylen’s sealing or his capacity as a player like how how good can he be in your mind what do you see for him yeah um uh he can be like very special um as good as he wants to be he uh he has a really good feel for the game and it’s so so hard to like pick up or teach um this far in your career like he just understands how to play basketball when and where to make reads um and then he works hard and his skill sets on going to continue to grow um because of those things um but he has special talent for sure um obviously for a little bit there he was playing the five for us at 65 um to speak to his versatility so like there’s so many things he does on the basketball court for us that um that that that are on a very high level um it would be stupid for me to give him a ceiling I think he can go as far as he wants to as far as he takes it thank you uh Nick in the front jayen that first half was just a defensive Showdown and then second half you guys score 70 points I think you go nine of 12 from three what were some of the differences that you felt on the floor offensively in the second half uh we were getting the same looks I think we slowed down a little bit uh there’s so much going on in these games kind of had to settle in first half but our defense was great so that carried over the whole game and you know offense comes and goes but when you can play defense and kind of shut certain things down I think we did a good job of that and offense came late uh next question right here in the front on one hey Jaylen uh I just wanted to get your sort of reaction to that play where uh you know Shay lost Dylan Brooks on that crossover and then you hit the three and you kind of threw up a shrug and you were smiling yeah that was not supposed to go in and it did and that was the story of the second half but um yeah he’s been great uh finding us late trusting us to make shots like that um so happy to knock it down it was just kind of Big Shot big moment uh momentum was kind of Shifting um like I said we were generating a lot of good looks in the second half that we were getting in the first half and we were making them so that makes it more fun second row when you’re left hey um obviously this is a newer competition for the NBA and it’s in a neutral site which makes it a little different but seemed like it got a little chippy there for a second like do you feel that kind of playoff atmosphere happening or or what would you attribute that to I guess that it got kind of heated uh our playoff atmosphere for people who are not familiar is very hard to replicate in Oklahoma so I wouldn’t say it’s that but it does have a certain energy to it that makes it very competitive it’s probably because of the money but it is there is like a a very competitive aspect to it you know obviously everybody wants free money so Marcus next question in the back left Jayla what have you learned about life playing next to a superstar and what it demands of you uh it has nothing to do with actually being on the court um I think the way that he approaches basketball in his life outside of the court is something that nobody else gets to really see except us and uh you know us being as close as we are too like I get to like learn just how he carries himself on and off the floor and I think that’s helped my development and then I think just on the floor when you’re the guy on the team you’re responsible for for playing good or bad and I think he does a good job of carrying that and trusting us and you know he just does a good job of staying within the team and not letting a lot of the outside noise affect him and you know he’s been the perfect role model for me and the rest of the guys to you know kind of one day try and reach that level and obviously just be able to help him uh during the season as as a guy who defends scores passes plays defense plays center that’s a lot huh I know how do you you know I’m sure you heard of the saying jack of all trades master of none how do you know what to master as you develop in your career um I don’t know if that really applies to my thing I think every year I just try and master one thing so when I get to certain points I know that this year I master one thing and then I can go into next year and I can Master multiple things and I think that’s what makes it unique to be very good at a lot of things uh so every year I can just kind of focus on one thing or two things at once and and uh do that but you know I try and take one thing at a time and not rush it um my dad’s big on just every one year at a time you’re not playing this for one year you know I’m trying to be in the NBA for 15 plus and and do that so over the course of my work I would like to master multiple things a year and see where I pan out in the center um you already talked about the money a little a little bit but what would winning the NBA Cup mean to you and the team I think it’s a very good test for us later on to kind of like understand the playoffs and um just kind of simulate that I think that’s the biggest thing like obviously aside from the money I think just having like you know the amount of media that we have here and how much more intense the games are it’s kind of like a good simulation to like focus when we’re not on the court to be able to come in here and play and get the job done so aside from that we’re trying to replicate a playoff kind of feel and uh go from there there Nick on the left want to ask you about two different guys Lou goes four for four from three in the second half and then Shay gets fouled twice on threes and I just wonder about um your reaction to to the gamer that Lou is and then also um maybe the way that Shay’s gravity is changing a little bit offensively that that teams are um really honoring that three and respecting it uh Shay I I’ll do Shay first uh Shay is not afraid to take shots that he works on so that’s one of those things where it forces the other team to respect it because he’s such a good scorer um and then he also understands that’s opening up driving lanes for us to be able to shoot and obviously uh for Lou you know we call him big game Lou obviously for a reason um he just does a good job of staying at the moment he understands his role and he’s always ready to make the play um and like you said you know he didn’t shoot it par well in the first half I don’t think but just being able to stick with it and play defense and then still be ready in those big moments when we need them to hit shots is a big and you know his confidence is never shaken so definitely one of the key guys and he knows it last question in the back Center yeah here J uh so looking forward you guys will play against the Bucks uh which could be a team with totally different style and you guys haven’t played in this season so far how would you guys you know get prepared to play a team that have both jannis and then Daman um I think from an ex and no standpoint we’ll leave it to the coaches but basketball is about who can make the other team play on their terms so we’re going to go out there and play how we usually do and I’m sure the coaches will have a good game plan for us to be able to go back out there and and do our thing up front on two uh fourth seat in nick mark the first half was a a slog for both teams but you score 70 points 58% shooting in the second half what did you do at a higher level from an execution standpoint offensively in the second half yeah I thought our defense in the first half kept us in the game for us to shoot that poorly I think were two for 18 from three and to be down by one was was fortunate uh I thought our force on offense in the second half was much better uh we kind of relied on jump shots in the early part of that game we got a little better in the second quarter but um when you’re rely on jump shots you’re relying on the highest variance uh shot in the game and I didn’t think we tested you know the paint and tested transition enough and in the second half we had a little bit more of that and more shots fell which I think is is correlated so um you obviously a great response against a really good defense to have 70 points Joel on the left Mark those lines just we I think this was a week ago we were just talking about Shay and and how he maybe responded to the Pelicans defense in in that game just what’ you see half to half from him in terms of the way he he read some of the things they were doing and and maybe what he took himself yeah I mean he struggles just like any other player um and he struggled in the first half to find it uh the thing that always impresses me about him is he just has an unwavering confidence you know regardless of what’s going on in the game uh his confidence stays at a at the same level he continues to play and the game usually comes around for him because he keeps his head in it and he’s a great player and that’s what happened in the second half second row on your left Andrew like with the athletic mark it probably comes to no surprise to you that lud Dort would play like he did tonight shoot the ball and then play with the intensity on the defensive end what did you see from him yeah I just was talking to Sam Sam said he thought the play of the game was when he Dove on the floor there it was like a tone Setter uh and the game was just kind of like you know a little muddled before that and it’s never a surprise I mean he always brings his fast ball he brings fastball every night but the bigger the game uh you know doesn’t change that at all you know and I thought his physicality tonight uh his effort tonight obviously made some big shots as well um he’s been in these situations and he always uh sticks his nose in the competition and tonight was no different second row here on the right Mark winning the turnover battle again tonight you know it’s a broken record with this team at this time against another club known for their defense uh just how important is that becoming to this club’s identity especially in these sort of like big games late NBA Cup games yeah it’s never an end game for us we’re just trying to be disruptive and disciplined um and we were disruptive tonight I thought we did a really good job on their main guys um I thought our individual D on those guys was great our shot contesting was great our help was great and usually when you do that you can force tough shots or turnovers and we were able to force both tonight we had a great defensive game Tim Mark obviously you guys have been Elite defensively all year but just what makes you guys so comfortable in in those games when it’s when you’re going up against another pretty good defensive team too yeah it’s you know that’s what defense does for you it keeps you in games um you’re never really out of it the first half uh was a great example of that I don’t think we’ve struggled that much offensively All Season you know combination of their defense they did a great job on us and um our offense our our process wasn’t great and we didn’t shoot it well and so um the defense you know kept that game you know very manageable for us and then once we get some Mojo going on offense the defense stayed at that level and we were able to break break the game open a little bit why do you think things were able to open up the way they did for hartenstein with with the lob finishes and the other feeds for dunks just our you know that’s a physical team te that plays with great intensity they also have great athleticism there’s a reason they’re um as good as they are defensively and I just thought in the first half um we were kind of tipon with the ball and you really can’t do that against that team and expect um to crack them and in the second half we just we had more force and you know the force in the pick and rolls allows him to get out for some of the lobs the force getting into the lane makes the threes higher quality and we shot it better obviously we got filed more um so I I thought that our mentality against their physicality in the second half was much better and it left a lot to be desired in the first half on your left third row um obviously this is all still very new but you guys do now have an opportunity to play for a trophy on Tuesday night uh just personally how much importance are you putting on the championship game and what it would mean to to have that accomplishment this part of the Season yeah I said this yesterday but you know we have a competitive group of guys the NBA is competitive and um if we line up in practice and play five on five the guys are are killing each other to try to win a scrimmage with nobody watching and I would imagine it’s mostly like that in every NBA gym um so when you put anything on the line the guys are going to be amped up for that I think you’ve seen that from every team throughout the whole cup and you know both teams will bring their fast ball on Tuesday left side on the front you talked about the the physicality and the toughness that you guys needed to bring before the game and what you think about the way you guys came into the game especially and continuing especially considering the offense wasn’t going the way you wanted to yeah the defense was there right from the jump you know to hold them to 41 or 40 or whatever in the first half um was a great defensive half you know and we really we forced them away from their strengths and we put them in a crowd and um were able to generate some tough shots and turnovers we really made him earn everything and then like I said the offense wasn’t uh where it needed to be to be like a sustainable source for us um but in the second half we got that going and maintain the defense that was the difference for us

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