OKC Thunder Full Media Availability | Post Game vs Miami Heat | March 8, 2024

OKC Thunder Full Media Availability | Post Game vs Miami Heat | March 8, 2024

Gallow go ahead Shay uh just wanted to ask you about the the physicality that you guys had to have um it seemed like just point of attack earliness uh what stood out to you in that regard yeah um we played our identity um we played downhill um we played with fourth Force

Um we played decisive um and we made a sharp decisions um we do that offensively we’re really good and then defensively when we play together and played physical um string stops together what was going through your mind when uh you saw Jay will with that big put back

You he just comes back from being out for a few games and he seemed to be in in great Rhythm all night yeah um it’s winning plays um we have guys that that across the board that that do the little things um that add up in the

End of the night and ultimately are the reason why we win um everybody has a role and on this team everyone takes pride and does their role to the best of their ability and that’s what that play was all about say Mark was in here just talking about Miami’s back screens and

Just how how much they got off that in the first half and the back cuts and the post entry just all the things that had you guys maybe scrambling in the first half the the way you guys weren’t come to third um I think of you know the

Block you had in the fourth by then it felt like you guys were beating them to to every spot just what’ you see as the game went on to kind of make that adjustment and and start you know racing to their spots and what not um we just

We tried to communicate and we tried to be more the more physical team um before the actions during the actions after the actions um a team like that with so many guys that are smart and Veterans and guys that have played at such a high level um if you give them

Stuff like that it’s hard to win and we knew we had to turn that off a little bit um in the second half we want to come out here with a W and that was emphasis for us yeah and you’ve hit a ton of tough shots this year Big Shots

Um that just that that that late three you had in the fourth just what was going through your head when when you hit that and just as the those final minutes were unfolding um a little bit of a relief um didn’t really have my three ball tonight um but

It’s a shot that I shot plenty of times comfortable shooting um an opportunity for it opened up and I wanted to be aggressive and shoot it with confidence yes Shay Eric spoler said he thought they lost the game on the backboards you guys got a bunch of key offensive rebounds turned them into

Points how what what kind of an edge does that give you on a night when your shots not going in but you can still score with some offensive rebounds yeah um it it helps you win games um the more possessions the more opportunities to score and then ultimately um you score

More you win that’s something that we we kind of emphasize every 10 games or so we check in on how we’re doing offensive rebinding wise um it’s something that we kind of want to turn up a little bit especially towards the end of the season and when the game slows down um extra

Possessions are very key sh last year you mentioned guys like Jordan and Kobe about it took them a little bit of a while to understand they need to trust their teammates and get everybody involved to really win at a high level you’ve seemingly learned that super super early is that something that just

Like came up Grassroots style or is that something like in college towards NBA that you really had to learn yeah it’s how I was taught to play the game um when you you need all Five Guys to win um at the end of the tonight defensively and

Offensively um and when you build their confidence and their trust when there games when you going to need them and when you need them they they deliver you said you didn’t have your three balls tonight you did take seven you didn’t take seven once last year

You’ve done that a few times this year what is there an emphasis there this season on just diversifying your game or you know where’s like the attempts specifically come from um I don’t know I think it’s something that like when I go out there I try not

To worry about what I’m trying to accomplish or anything I just like play off a f um now I worked on it a lot in the summertime um at the end of last year I knew my attempts were on a lower end and I figured it’ help if I got them

Up a little bit but I think it’s just me out there shooting was comfortable uh and and yeah that I think that’s the result of it it’s not like I I come into the game or I came into the season like I want to shoot more threes it’s just me

Doing what I I’ve done all summer and then you’re like your team camaraderie seems to be really good A lot of that seems to come from Jay dub is that accurate like behind the scenes and then like what specifically does he mean to your team you know more in the locker

And behind the scenes yeah it’s across the board for sure um I could say every guy in the locker room gets along with each other um love being around each other um but yeah jdub is definitely uh one of the bigger Personalities in the locker room

And he uh he’s kind of the glue guy for all that stuff for sure yeah sh what all does it take to become a really tough shot maker like it seems like the degree of difficulty on your shots has risen even throughout this this year and then from last year to

This year is even more like just like is it how do you replicate that when you’re working out um I don’t really to me it’s not really like when it comes to down to it it’s not really a big shot it’s just another shot um and

Most of the times the shots that I’ve shoten millions of times so I’m confident shooting them and when I think about him I just think about him as shots so I either make him or I miss him um and I live with the results so that’s

Kind of how I go about it so like I don’t ever shoot a shot like all right this one has a little bit more weight on it so I hope it goes in N I just shoot the ball I’ve shot it my whole life then 47 30o games that now ties Kevin Durant

For the most in Thunder history um approaching history with when you hit 50 um in a few games more than likely do you ever do you ever get the time to even just think about how special of a season you’re having or do you not even

Think that far ahead or you just like cuz it truly is a special season yeah I don’t think that far ahead at all um season so far from being done uh so much more work to do so much more getting better that I can do personally

And my team can do um we have super high goals um and yeah we just know that there’s so much more left um we don’t feel like we’ve really accomplished anything so I I don’t even think that far ahead to answer your question thank you I think they can hear me Nick ALC

Thunder uh Jaylen just want to ask you about the physicality tonight that you guys demonstrated and that’s obviously a team that’s known for uh that style of play for a long time now uh why do you think that you guys were able to kind of win that aspect of the battle what

Helped you win the game I think we’re able to match it um it was just kind of like one of our key points you know like you said that’s a team that’s been in the finals um so they kind of know how to be physical and I think this is kind

Of the part of the Season where they’re letting a little more physicality go so understand that we just tried to match that and then I think once we kind of got even with them we tried to exceed it and I thought we did a good job with

That Aon you we’ve talked about the the three-point shooting this year your finishing you know the the layup package have you noticed you got the great Baseline uh dunk tonight have you noticed teams starting to play you a little bit differently um over the you know maybe this year compared to to past

Years’s uh I don’t think so I don’t know uh just read and react to however whatever coverages or Closeouts I’m seeing um but I haven’t seen any major difference I don’t think Jaylen just speaking of physicality a little bit of a two-party here but um people have just kind of

Mentioned this year you and Shay getting into similar spots even Shay has kind of you know mentioned that you guys work on similar things you guys have been around each other long enough to get to some of those spots like that that late bucket you had the puss dribble before you

Finished with contact like that that push dribble that that seems to be like one of your favorite your signature moves at this point right now just walk me through the the evolution of that getting getting to that and then the also just your Evolution as a finisher through contact

Um actually I watch his highlights from college and he does it a lot so that’s where I got it from and then it’s just like a it’s like a reaction to the loads I think a lot of times the way teams play us you know they try and shut up a

Lot so it was something that during the summer I had seen so I tried to get to that and I think it’s an easier way to get to my spots you know when it’s kind of clogged up or when teams play good defense it’s not really something that

People expect I don’t want to jinx it but just kind of the way teams were playing us last year and the start of this year was something that I continue kind of worked on in the summer to be able to kind of get to different spots

And that was like one of the ways that I thought was really really effective especially cuz I go left and you know going right as well being able to do it so uh yeah just understanding that how teams were playing us and I think just

Make it easier to not be as easy to guard what was the second just finishing through contact cuz at this point I mean you’ve had I I think back to Denver the the the you had over like three Defenders um four that same bucket with the p dribble

Tonight is one of the pivotal sequences down the stretch just you finishing through contact at this point maybe you might be the best finisher through contact on the team I don’t know um I think just in the summer I was able to like get stronger it was something that I harped

On uh I think I was only shooting like you know like a little over maybe like two free throws a game so a lot of it was you know you don’t want to leave it in the officials hands um because you know they’re human too so they might

Miss stuff so a lot of it was just predicated on being able to finish do contact and not even have to rely on getting a foul um I think it kind of helped out just in that that sense especially for how much you know we go to the basket

And we kind of attack the paint I wanted to make sure that I was going in there to actually finish and not you know look around for a foul go go ahead Barry bar yeah Aaron you got I think you had you guys had nine offensive rebounds they had seven

And you out scored them 235 on Second Chance points how much of a boost does that give you when rebounding is not one of your strengths but when you dominate like that how much of a boost is that towards victory yeah I mean it creates offensive possessions and uh you know

The more offensive possessions you can get the more you can score so uh we emphasize uh trying to get offensive rebounds and you know sending certain guys uh to crash and and grab those to create opportunities and it leads to open threes and and easy layups so uh we

Did a good job of it in the second half especially tonight just kind of creating those opportunities Ain you’ve been praised for staying ready uh by this entire team including Mark what what goes into what are some of the qualities of a player who just stays ready even whenever you

Have kind of an abnormal rotational pattern um I mean I’m on the bench kind of with the with the gun I’m stretching and I’m just consistently just trying to keep you know my blood flowing and and staying active so that you know when I get in I’m just

You know ready to go not having to like you know stretch or get a flow of the game um also I mean just being engaged you know seeing those guys out there start the game um you know making sure that you know you’re actively supporting them and uh you know even though you’re

Not on the court they they can hear certain things from the bench that you’re talking about and yelling so um just being engaged and kind of understanding that you know when when you step on the floor you got to be able to contribute and you got to be ready to

Go so just kind of having that mindset you know every day then Jada you know you shared the floor a lot with Josh Giddy and this week’s been a really good week for him is there anything specifically you’ve noticed from him this week that’s maybe improved or or

Just fit better um I think teams have been guarding him around the same so I think he’s getting like a steady diet of what he wants to do and you know sticking with the work that he’s putting in you know behind closed doors um so I think when you kind of have that

Combination um with that and his confidence as a player you know his his output is going to constantly go up and uh yeah I think he’s just understanding what the team needs and how he can be effective with you know different looks that teams that throw at him also think

He’s just shooting with more confidence playing with more confidence um you know what I mean he’s not more he’s not hesitant so he’s a really good player so when he when he’s able to do that which he’s been able to do um it makes us all

All tough to guard Mark me for either of you mark mentioned how he prefers you guys to get wins in a bunch of different ways like scoring a lot of points 120 plus or wins like tonight where you only get one 107 um cuz you say you want want

You guys to be more comfortable in in those situations no matter what it is um what’s your assessment of that and like the comfortability of winning any way the game goes okay um I don’t want to do like the win’s a win thing but I think that’s too what

He’s getting at you know as we kind of wind down towards getting closer to playoffs and stuff however you can get a win and scrape by to get a win and kind of go too a nail for a win is is Big um anytime we can get a different win than

How we had the last time it just creates more learning experiences for us um you know I think we get in situations now where we’ve been in those situations that we have earlier in the year so it gives us you know a little more confidence going into those games and

Kind of knowing that we can win you know through different circumstances so so I think that’s probably what he’s getting at you know the more uh like variance we have with different wins I think just kind of down the stretch will kind of help us out Jay

Can you kind of walk us through the timeline of you watching Aaron’s film like was that this year is that typical of you to like is that typical for you to watch your teammates like college fil yeah I watch everybody’s highlights um there’s nobody you can’t learn from so

Um but yeah I mean I probably go home and watch them yeah during the summer BR that’s what she got some good college highlights you guys go check those out got good NBA highlights tough Shay’s talked about what it means to him to hear the MVP chance when he’s at the

Free throw line but what’s it like to be Shay’s teammate and to like hear the crowd chant MVP tough tough sitting on the sideline you know seeing that uh you know this I think that’s something that every player probably you know thinks of you know having the opportunity to just

Be at the free throw line and take a deep breath and you’re hearing MVP chance and you just lock in and hit your free throw so uh a lot of respect and uh I mean his hard work is paying off so uh it’s tough to see it’s awesome it’s like

It’s like 2K there you go almost for real but um it’s cool to have like a city embrace you like that too so um yeah it’s a real to hear it for him you know he those experiences we live through him as well you know so um he’s

Definitely earned it thanks guys yo y’all see him miss a three and then dunk the put back a while ago is that true I seen the Highlight yo it’s going to make you make a lot of efforts uh on multiple possessions throughout the game any that stood out

To you as um you know more important than than others or or turning points in this game uh I thought you know Midway through the second quarter when we kind of stabilized the game and got it back under 10 you know it was at 14 you know

And that can balloon and get out of hand pretty quickly especially with how they were playing um so that was huge and then our response out of halftime I thought was really good and I just thought overall I mean that’s a team that you know you really got to line up

Uh and put your chest on in order to beat them I I liken them to uh the Laker game the other night you know they’re a little slower Pace they try to just play through your chest uh they pick on matchups they make you deal with their

Personnel it’s very similar to Lakers uh and I thought our physicality tonight our earliness with our help um was a huge step forward from that game just like physical progress there after the game Shay said that you know everything in his life is consistent I was asking

Him about the 30-point uh scoring barges that he he has but how do you see that impacting the way that he’s able to score late in games and um maybe the consistent approach uh even in you know high pressure moments yeah I think that you know pressure you need confidence

Under pressure and I think his confidence comes from the the consistency of his work um you he just he works really really hard uh on a very consistent basis uh and that builds his inner belief uh and that’s what you need in those situations especially in the

Spots that he’s in uh and I also think there’s a contagiousness to that because he wasn’t the only guy that played with great confidence down the stretch of that game tonight um and so you know he deserves a lot of credit for um the Swagger he brings to us and the steady

Energy it was the the post entries they were kind of forcing or the the sort of back Cuts plan behind the defense but it felt like um especially in the first half they they kind of had you guys scrambling more than you maybe usually barain for but you know come that third

It felt like you guys were just getting to spots you weren’t just what did you see change there uh I thought you know they set a lot of back screens uh they SP set back screens with guys that have shooting gravity uh they really screen hard and execute incredibly well coached

Uh and put you in a lot of binds and I just thought uh the tightness uh of our communication in the first half was was not great uh and I thought we got that corrected the The Possession where Robinson made the three I actually thought was a great possession he and

Roier uh were dancing together on the wing and really trying to confuse a switch and we did an unbeli we switched it out you know clean like twice and they Robinson had to make uh a really difficult shot uh in order to score on that possession and I thought that was

Even though they scored it was it was a good um you know indicator of of how tight we were and that’s how we want to look you know we’re not going to shut anybody out but that’s what we want the scores against us to look like yeah and

I I know Jay will by now was kind of situational there the his his room for you know where his role thrives is kind of situational but but tonight he he gives some really big minutes um in his in his return just what did you see from

Him especially down the stretch there um in in his minutes yeah I mean he’s done a great job uh this season on point of attack bigs you know teams that have uh big that that you know they play through you know in the poster in the you know

The middle of the floor guys like yic sabonis um and and adab bios like that and so uh he did a great job individually uh on adab bio he was really physical uh and then I thought I I was pretty intrigued by how we looked down the stretch with him and ched out

There we had a lead uh we knew they were going to be slower and ISO and um it allowed us to get Chet you know behind the defense roaming uh and not at the point of attack cuz of how he did on at bio and he allowed us to do that so

Certainly happy to have him back he played great follow on that you guys at times this year um a lot of times this year don’t let teams dictate how you want to play like you went big when they were somewhat small um what does it take

To let allow you guys to dictate how that the game is going to go and not not just like even with the the like physicality like I think things would would have been different if they dictated how physical the game would have gone instead of if you guys

Dictated how physical the game goes yeah I mean with physicality we certainly want to be the aggressor every night uh but so does the other team you know that’s that’s we’re not the only team that’s emphasizing that so um that’s a contest of Wills every time you line up

But um in terms of lineups you know to the first part of your question uh we’re not always trying to dictate you know sometimes you have to be reactive it’s all about cost benefit you know like if the benefit outweighs the cost then you can dictate and in that situation you

Know I thought it did I thought the benefit of going big like that outweighed the cost based on who they had out there and how we thought they were going to play um but you know if a team does that to you you know and forces you to adjust if you know the

Benefit no longer outweighs the cost then you got to adjust to the opponent and I think it takes some humility to do that uh but we just try to stay focused on what’s best you know in the situation we’re in and and whether that’s to be

The aggressor or to be reactive you know we really don’t care we’re just trying to help the team and then you guys have won games where you score 120 plus You’ve Won games where like tonight where didn’t even get 110 and I know you want to win every single game but do you

Have like a preference on how you guys win games or just do not matter like more more so asking like do you have a preference of like how you guys play and how that outcome is I think you know it’s nice to have a diversity of of wins

You know it’s it’s nice to have a diversity of opponents and diversity of games um you know if you win the same way every single night then when you end up in a in a wrestling match like tonight you know it’s unfamiliar you know so I I actually my preference is

That uh we’re put in a range of situations and a range of uh you know Styles because that’s how you grow especially for a team as young as we are that’s still accumulating experience so to be in a game tonight you know against a a slower paced offense uh

You know on a night where we didn’t shoot it particularly well and to have to figure out a way to solve that puzzle I think is good for us and and so I thought I was really that’s a they’re the like competitive standard of the NBA

You know and so we have great respect for them and we know how much you have to earn a win against them so you know we’re really happy with that win mark there’s been a slight decrease in just Isaiah’s frequency from three how do you feel like teams have adjusted him this

Season with him being more of a known commodity as a threat from three um yeah I think you know his he’s his attempts have been down in some games um you know I think it’s a couple things first thing is I think people are aware of him you

Know cuz obviously he can change a game uh the second thing is um we have to find him you know like we got to when he’s open he’s got to get the ball I have to find him you know I have to have a recognition of when he’s not getting

Attempts try to you know shake him free um but the thing that I respect about him you know I thought an unbelievable play in the Portland game last game was we ran he had one shot he was 0 for one against Portland and we ran an atto late

Uh to get him a shot and two guys jumped out at him and he dumped the ball down to chat and I think he got fouled or he might have finished I don’t even remember the outcome but we scored on the play and you know for a guy that’s 0

For one he’s you know known as a marksman gets the play drawn for him so it’s you know seriously you know obviously a green light for him to just read the game uh and make the right play is is pretty impressive and um that’s why you’ve let him play through the low

Volume or a bad shooting night because he does a ton of invisible things that help the team on both ends of the floor um and I got a lot of respect for his approach and speaking of his gravity how much can you just attest to how much it

Helps even when he’s not taking shots just the spacing he provides yeah it’s huge you know I mean you you just look we run him around and his guy is is glued to him you know and that’s just one less defender in help and when you

Move him around the floor you know you can change who the where the help’s supposed to come from you know and so actually they’re one of the best teams at that you know they’ve done that now for years with Robinson and streu and Vincent and all the guys they’ve had um

Even Ellington back when they had him I mean they they use the shooting gravity and they move the your your help defense and you know it’s really really tough just had a good week of of kind of just production and also just a better overall how have you seen him play this

Week and kind of what has stood out for him he’s had a great week you know he’s really um competing at a high level um I think his floor game has had great balance he’s obviously playing with a lot of aggressiveness and confidence and the thing I’d say you know I was talking

Before the game I think Andrew asked about Lou you know and I was talking about players are in different seasons in their career you know and um he’s having a small little breakthrough right now with just the way he’s playing um and I think you know obviously he’s had

An up and down season uh which is normal for any professional especially one that’s 21 years old and in their third year um and and I think some of the little pop that you’re seeing seeing from him right now is a result of some of the adversity or you know Plateau

That he’s had to overcome uh and I think it’s important to keep that in mind with all of our players is like they’re not going to be on a Perpetual linear Ascent uh it’s the NBA it’s really hard um and he’s the latest example of that but he

Was great tonight Andrew St with the athletic Shay takes and makes a lot of really tough shots I’m just good observation I’m just I’m curious what goes through your mind like as you’re watching him cuz like he he takes some shots that are like there’s some that you like slow down

They look ridiculous and I’m just curious like as the coach you’ve seen all of his shots but what goes through your mind as he’s like taking and making these really difficult shots like during the game I mean I’m not like over there and awe you know I’m just trying to help the

Team um I’m grateful uh for the talent of all of our players you know and um the talent they bring to their roles um I can’t say that in front of him keep him humble um you know the thing I’d say is like he he takes and makes really tough shots

But the thing that he’s improved at the most this year is leveraging that uh for the good of the team and you know as we’ve seen over and over and over again an individual talent in a team game can only take you so far and the guys when

They figure out how to leverage their talent um to to make the team better that’s when you know it’s really tough uh and he’s in that process he’s been in that process now for a while it’s an ongoing process he’s not even where I think he will be one or two years from

Now but um that subtly you know the shop making is great you know he’s he’s had the talent from day one um but what I’m most impressed with is is the restraint he’s showing and the um his ability to see the big picture um to leverage that

Talent you know for the good of the team while he’s still trying to accomplish individual things wasn’t Lou’s most statistically flashy night but it felt like he had a huge impact he led the team in plus minus he played a ton of minutes took on assignments can you just

Kind of speak to his KN all over the court yeah yeah he was on it tonight you know especially with Butler you know great energy I thought uh the energy of the game shifted in the second quarter uh with him out there with Hayward out

There uh when Shay came back in you know like I said that was a subtly that was the most important part of the game and I think uh you it takes a recognition competitively of like hey this is a really important period of the game and

He always seem to to know that you know he knows when he has to amp it up and he amped it up tonight thank you thanks guys

Hear from Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Williams, Aaron Wiggins, and Head Coach Mark Daigneault following the Thunder’s 107 – 100 win over the Heat.

0:00 Shai Gilgeous-Alexander
6:43 Jalen Williams and Aaron Wiggins
15:39 Coach Daigneault

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