Tom Thibodeau PostGame Interview | New York Knicks loss to Indiana Pacers 130-109 in Game 7

Tom Thibodeau PostGame Interview | New York Knicks loss to Indiana Pacers 130-109 in Game 7

uh before we we get into that just congratulations to the Pacers uh the organization Rick his staff and all their players they played a great Series so congratulations to them coach obviously you were at a disadvantage short-handed but you were never able to find your defensive footing today what do you attribute that to yeah you know we started slow you know and they’re they’re good offensive team uh we made a run uh I thought the the end of the second we played pretty good we got some activity going uh then we made a run in the third and then we fell short we just you know I thought guys gave everything they had and that’s all you could ask and so it was uh a battle all year and uh there was nothing left to give at the end do you know when um jayen broke his hand I don’t know exactly yeah how tough is it for his season to end like that yeah just you know it’s unfortunate you hate to see all the injuries and you know like know Josh and and OG just to try to give us whatever they had you know it says a lot about them and then you know it was hit after hit that’s part of it and a guys responded all year long so you know it’s I’m disappointed in in the sense that we’re not going to play anymore but I thought they were a great group to be around and they gave everything they had you I mean obviously when you look at the players in her do you look at this as a success even though you guys lost tonight that you not able to fight get this far yeah you know the thing that you as a coach you always measure okay what what does the group have and are we getting everything out of the group and and the only thing you could ask for is everyone puts forth their best effort and we got that all year from these guys so and I think what goes along with that is peace of mind and knowing that you you did your best and so that’s all you could ask for and a lot of teams I think would have f they didn’t like we took the hit with Mitch and then you know then you you add in Julius and uh and OG you’re starting front line and then bogy goes out so that that and it was hit after hit but these guys never folded they kept fighting and so that’s all you could ask for I’m sorry what you see with OG he started the game hit his first two threes and never came back in yeah just the way he was moving I I didn’t want to risk it it’s just you know I thought you know like he just the the lift from him hitting the shots and then I I didn’t feel like he was moving well and you know this you know didn’t make sense yeah get back in yeah you know I don’t I just I didn’t think it was it was worth the risk I don’t want to take a chance I I love OG so if it you know I talk to medical and you know we knew it was going to be we we weren we didn’t know what it was going to be until he got out there and so he gave us everything he had and that’s all you can ask for through some Pacers shot 76 something second the end result just be to just having some Le shot making yeah they made shots that you know they’re very good offensive team um you know you got to challenge their shots and we probably you know didn’t challenge him as well as we should have you know so um but you know we when you’re short-handed like we have we know we have to play with great intensity all the time to give ourselves a chance to win and so I think you know if you fall short of that you know and sometimes they you know the ball goes in and here doesn’t but I thought for the most part we we fought all year and so and then to come back in the third quarter and and make a run again and then you know we fell short and that that’s when you know jail I knew when he went out in the third I knew something you know was a Ry Tom what was the process in getting OG actually cleared and and that’s all medical you know so that he’s got to go through the protocol with them and then uh if they clear him and then he feels you know he like I talked to him at length yesterday and he wanted to give it a shot and so in medical thought he he could you know so and then we we didn’t know what it would look like until he got out there coach um you’ve coached a lot of Seasons season except for one team always ends with a loss yeah what are your thoughts on this year’s team compared to all the other teams you have what’s going to stand out for you yeah just you know like I like I said knowing that they gave best effort all year long you you I could live with the result you know like it’s disappointing in the end there’s going to only be one happy team you know everyone falls short 29 teams will fall short so if you’ve given everything that you have you could live with whatever the result is there’s no regret and so um this team fought like crazy I think in many ways they exceeded everyone’s expectations um except probably our own we wanted to keep going you know so we always had to believe that we had enough whoever was in there so Tom I know it’s hard when a season ends like this but can you talk about just what Jaylen did this year I mean he was the only starter left but by the end of the year from the beginning of the year and what he went through yeah I think you know it’s a testament to who he is too um because when you look at his season last year was remarkable and then his playoff run last year was remarkable and then to take the step this year that he that he’s taken it says you know a lot about who he is and he’s never satisfied he always wants to do better he wants to he always you know and that’s what I love about him I love his mentality and you know and I think it permeates the team it’s you know like when you see someone with that approach and the fact that you know he cares so much about his teammates he’s he’s a great leader uh what Josh gave us you know and it’s in you know it’s hard to measure Josh just because of all the intangibles and I thought Dante had a terrific season just uh and then do the way he stepped up uh in at I think he’s he’s found his footing and he he had a terrific season as well but we had a lot of guys step up Isaiah really had a monster season for us as well uh Jericho gave us really good minutes precious gave us good minutes and so uh you don’t want to see the injuries that we had but that’s part of it but then often times what comes from that is the opportunity for other guys to get in there and and get something done and and that’s what I was proud of is uh there was no excuse making it was let’s just find a way to win coach you talked about cutting the lead to seven in the third quarter you had three straight turnovers what you see in that more pressure yeah you know you know and that’s that’s the thing it’s our margin error is is is really tight you know and so it the defense the rebounding and low turnovers and obviously our defensing our defense wasn’t there the rebounding we fell short the turnovers you know were low but we had we had the costly ones in the third quarter we had a a small window to to maybe you know crawl back into a seven and then you have two bad possessions uh and that that changes things the same thing happened in Indiana and you know it was five in the third quarter and we had you know two loose balls that turned into two threes for them so um you know that’s sometimes that’s the way it goes couple more into the summer and the next season what does this team need to take the next step yeah you know it and it’s it’s hard to say like right now because you like it’s it’s raw and you you you haven’t had a chance to dig into everything and um so we’ll we’ll get a chance to do that and then to sit down and we get we have draft picks you know there’s free agency there’s all that stuff but also to dig into our team and lock into like how we can get better and make another step and so there’s the internal development then there’s the the draft which you you always can add Talent there and and free agency in the trade so we’ll dig in uh deep but usually what we try to do is you know take take a couple weeks just to recharge and then do the Deep dive and then figure out figure the plan out guys would you like to see a chance to see this group come back well I love the group yeah you couldn’t uh as a coach you couldn’t ask for a better group so you know yeah last one you’re uh director entering the last year of your contract next year you could be under conversations for an extension is that something you know that that’s something that the uh you know the my agent will take care of you know the Knicks have been great to me so you know this is where I want to be all V e fore First Blood you have been defeated an enemy has been defeated down double kill fire an ally has been defeated your tower has been destroyed our base is under attack no it’s okay an ally has been defeated nowhere you should feel it you have defeated an enemy an enemy has been defeated [Music] fire an enemy has been defeated hatch poison the ultimate you have defeated an enemy failure you have been defeated shut down e all sometimes wor cut deeper than [Music] [Music] swords [Music] [Music] yes yeah don’t hold back Miss J time first Blood you have been defeated failure is an option surrender is not

Tom Thibodeau PostGame Interview | New York Knicks disappointing loss to Indiana Pacers 130-109 in Game 7