Timberwolves after Game 2 loss to Thunder: ‘We’ve got to be desperate’

Timberwolves after Game 2 loss to Thunder: ‘We’ve got to be desperate’

kind of been an issue uh both games for you guys. Are you seeing anything coming out of the half or seen the first couple minutes that help turnovers? You said uh third quarter has just been kind of been the issue. Have you seen any consistencies between the two of why the game got away both times there? Uh I’ll say probably the turnovers and then just holding them to one shot. They got like bunch of 50/50 balls, offensive rebounds, and they was just getting multiple possessions with the ball, like more possessions than we did. You shot the ball really well tonight. A lot of others didn’t. Is there something with their defense that makes it difficult on these threes? You guys, you think it’s just been a couple poor shooting nights? Uh, I’ll say it’s just poor shooting nights. I’ll say like they kind of short closing a little bit. So, we just got to not think twice and just let it fly really and just be confident in what we do. Jen, from just a big picture standpoint down 02, going homeless, what what’s kind of the mentality after two tough losses here? Uh, we got to be desperate like every possession counts, matters, every game, every everything matters. So, we just got to be super desperate and just play smart while we are on the flagrant with Shay. Was there just a little frustration boiling over or how what what what kind of happened? I just just wanted to foul him for I wasn’t even mad. I just had fouls to use how did in the fourth quarter you guys did start to get back into it a little bit. What did What do you think you found there that you can build on going forward? Um, probably just getting the ball out of Shad’s hands early and then when we did get the rebound, just not waiting, just everybody running and just attacking the gaps that they give us and being aggressive. I feel like we start the game that way. I feel like we can, you know, give our yourself a chance to win the game. Julius has been so good for you guys all playoffs. A little rough night tonight. Like, how do you kind of withstand that when he’s just not having one of his usual nights here? I mean, more of us got to step up. I mean, he’s one of our top players, so he’s not doing well. Other guys, we just got to come in and contribute and uh really just feel the absence, but I mean, I’m not stressing off it. I mean, Drew, I see him work out every day and put the work in. So, them nights happen like last night. I mean, he had a great game, so it just happens. The formula you just described at the end of the fourth quarter tonight is exactly how you guys won that game here earlier this year. Are you guys What are the keys to playing that way when you guys have bigger lineups out there earlier in the game? We just got to run. I mean like and just get out of each other’s way, have a good spacing like uh when we’re running the court like make sure we’re corners are filled or if Rudy’s in the dunker field and we just got to have the right spacing be in the right spaces spots early just in case uh our teammates need outlets. Jane, with the way that they’ve shot it from two, I mean, is it kind of deflating? I mean, you guys are sometimes playing good defense, but I mean, they just start getting to those spots and almost knocking everyone down. Yeah, I mean, that’s kind of like the shots they want. I know like the world or the NBA says mid-range is in the live or it’s like a dead thing, but that’s the shots they like and that’s the shots they’re comfortable with. So, we just got to really keep them out the paint and out the two-point range. How do you keep guys out of that 10 to foot 14 foot range when they run so much pick and roll? Uh, it’s hard. We just got to be on the same page of whether we’re switching or me and Rudy breaking off, but you just got to be in the ball and it’s kind of hard, but you just got to you got to keep fighting, keep pursuing and stuff. You have to mix up coverages to some point go under or sometime how we did at the end kind of high wall like putting two people on them. Yep. Thank y’all. Feeling out there. What’s happening coming out of the break that is allowing them to pull away? Um I don’t know. I got to look at the Phil. Um I don’t want to say I mean we had a stretch there towards the end where I feel like we turned it over too much. Um but uh I got to look. I think they really like got the lead in the end. Um if I’m not mistaken, but I got to look. I’ll figure it out. Cus, what is it about that team that third quarters once they got going downhill, it was just so hard to stop it? Um, I mean, it just seems typically every time we played them this year, that’s usually when they turn up their pressure. So, you know, we got to meet their aggression. Not often that we’ve seen you struggle with your shot here in the platform. Just what were you feeling out there and what what got you out of rhythm? Uh, just a lot of out of rhythm things. cuz I think, you know, I think for the most part, uh, probably just standing, spectating a little bit too much. Uh, you know, I got to get myself into actions, get myself on the move. Um, you know, what type of defense they are, they’re going to swarm me. So, you know, I got to get myself in action, setting screens on the move. Um, you know, I think I was just like stay at them. They taking a little bit too much today. Uh, Finchy was saying after game one that he wanted to call more stuff for you in the second half. Um, is it that is is it a matter of kind of him dictating from the sideline or is that you kind of just initiating in that way or Yeah, I mean I think it can be both. Um, but you know, for myself as a player, you know, I got to take responsibility and be like, “All right, I need to, you know, see how the how the flow of the game is going and and like I said, just uh, you know, get myself in some type of action, whether it’s screening, cutting, rebounding, you know, try to get some early seals, uh, running the floor. Um, you know what I mean? But I’ll figure it out and I’m not too worried about it.” Uh, was a was more aggressive with his with his shot in this game, too. I guess you’re playing through the post with him a little bit more. What did you like about his sort of offensive process in this game? Yeah, it seemed like, you know, he he was able to really get in rhythm um uh attack the paint a little bit more and get downhill. Um I don’t know how many threes he shot today, but um you know, I mean, I feel like all of them were good looks, but I felt like he was really aggressive getting downhill, which was good. Uh next game, man. the next game mentality. Uh we got a game on Saturday, a chance to, you know, get, you know, in the win column in the series at home. So, uh we know what’s at stake in this series and and what we got to do and how we got to be better. So, um you know, good thing is we get to go home and we get another opportunity. Is there anything defensively you feel like needs to change in the first two games? How do you feel on our end defensively? Um I’m not sure. I’m not sure. I mean, I’m sure coach will adjust and, you know, what did give us a sorry, give us a a game plan that, you know, I feel like he maybe found some things today that that work that we can do a little bit more often. So, we’ll figure it out. I’m sorry. What did the Thunder do better than other teams, do you think? Say it again. What do the Thunder do better than other teams? What What particular challenges do they present? What do they do? Yeah. as uh I mean they they force turnovers, they swarm the ball on defense, stuff like that. So, uh I mean they’re they’re they’re extremely physical on that end and it’s a different kind of physicality. Um but um I mean they’re very connected on the defensive end. Um which is great. It’s a great challenge for us. So, you know, a chance for us to uh you know, really test ourselves and you know, see see how we can meet that challenge. when you lose two games in similar fashion in terms of miss shots, third quarter gets away from you and points off turnovers, is there any solace in and and just knowing that you have the recognition going into the next game of like these are the problem areas and if we address it it should be a different um type of outcome. Um yeah, I mean I think we know what the problem is. Um certain things, but I also think um you know, we found some things that were successful today. Um uh some things that work. So um we we know what the game plan is as a team. Um just got to execute it uh at a higher rate and you know for a full 48 minutes. You know, it can’t be 36 and a little spell cuz that’s kind of where they get you. Uh, so we got to execute for 448 minutes. Julius, when you say a different kind of physicality, what do you mean? Uh, I mean, they’re just handsy, man. You know, they a lot of swipes, all that different type of stuff, but it’s fine, right? Yeah. Is that basically what the third quarter stuff with blue was with the two of you going back and forth? Uh, sure. I I don’t even really remember what you’re talking about to be honest with you, man. But, uh, I mean, it’s it’s a little bit of everybody. It’s all over the place, but it’s fine, man. You know, I I accept the challenge. I’ll meet it and, uh, regroup and get ready for the next game. third quarters again. Are you seeing anything similarities between the two of why it got away in most spots? Uh I think it’s a it’s like two three possessions in a row where they, you know, really amp up the pressure a little bit. We get out of our out of source offensively. We don’t really get anything accomplished on offensive end. They get steals or whatever it may be or long rebounds to outlets to pushing the tempo and getting out in transition. Um you know, we got to be able to weather that storm a little bit better. You know, the adversity part of it has been challenging, but you got to find a way to to limit them from turning a one or two possession swing into a three, four, five possession swing where, you know, gets out of hand. Is that a settled offensive possession or what’s the solution there? I think a lot of it is settling in on offense. um finding a set or two that that bodess well for those guys that are on the floor, those five on the floor that can get us into something really good. Something that gets us downhill and not, you know, on the perimeter just just trying to, you know, pass the ball back and forth and get late to the shot clock. Mike, you guys are you guys are shooting not well at all from threes. Is it mostly kind of just a little funk here or you know the way they are closing out on you, is that affecting kind of the shots? Um, yeah, give them a lot of credit. You know, they’re making it tough on us for sure. Um, we’re getting some some good looks here and there, but, you know, even when you’ve had, you know, guys flying at you nine times out of 10, when you get the 10th one to finally get a good one, you know, you can rush it, you can um feel like you need to move a little bit quicker sometimes, so give them a lot of credit. Um, we just got to be better. Like the old saying says the series doesn’t start until somebody loses at home. Is that kind of what you have to hang on to as you head back home to Minnesota? Uh, it is. You know, they took care of business. They they did what they came out to do. Uh take care of home court and now we have to do the same. You know, game three’s three is the most important one. We got to be locked in and um give oursel a chance to turn this series around. Mike, obviously so much of your guys offense is like a concept based offense. You play it through through the flow. Is the answer for the offense getting more into that or is it because of the way they guard having more defensive structure or offensive structure? Yeah, offensive structure. Yeah. Um, we need some we need to have a little bit better structure when times get tougher. I think we still need to play with pace, play with speed. I think that group that was in the game, you know, end of the third, early fourth, late fourth was was playing with a little bit more pace, playing with a little more downhill tempo. Um, we can play that way and not turn it over. I think it just allows us to play it at a at a a more comfortable pace. But um when things do, you know, don’t go our way, that’s when we have to revert back to, you know, two or three things that we know we can handle offensively and everybody can can run um you know, correctly. Defensively, what else has to change to keep their guys from getting in that 10 to 14 foot range that they are so comfortable? Um we have to do just a better job of of of contesting that. You know, I think we we’re trying to take away a lot of things. I think they do a great job of getting into those, you know, spots that, you know, Shay is one of the best in the world to get to his spot and rise up. But, um, our bigs got to be up. Our guards got to be ready to switch stuff to to where you take away the midi. Um, you know, it’s no longer one of those we’ll we’ll settle for a mid-range shot type series. You can’t give that up to these guys. These guys make that shot. So, you know, Rudy’s Rudy’s got to contest it. Nas, myself, whoever’s in that position to to be in that position to contest, we have to do Jaden talked about a formula in the fourth that was successful and obviously had that comeback win earlier this year of getting the ball out of Shay’s hands, getting stops, getting out transition. How do you guys play that style of brand if that’s the most effective way with bigger lineups? Um, it’s just got to be it’s almost like a mindset like you know that the groups that do that are just more urgent at that time. You know, we’re playing you know like our backs against the wall. We got to come back. We’re doing everything we can to to get back in the game. That’s what the that unit, you know, with the bigger bigger lineups have to do. They have to come with that same mindset um and and not worry so much about schemes, not worry so much about being in the right spot or wrong spot. You got to work for it. We got to work for it right now. We got to find ways uh to push oursel through it. Are the corner threes more open than the other break threes? I mean, that’s been their tradition. Do you feel like that, you know, working for corner threes is the best way to go in that respect? Yeah, they give that up. Um you know, that’s one thing they do give up is a corner three. Uh we just have to find it. We have to find it and make it and make it. We get our opportunities. We got to be ready to shoot it. Uh all of us obviously we’ve had a rough couple games shooting. Um you know, but guys got to stay confident. You know, we’re right there. Is a better way to do it. Skip pass or to drive to the hoop? I like to drive. I think if driving we can get to, you know, get a body in the paint. It forces them to have to help. Forces them to put bodies in the paint and then it allows us to whether we want to skip it or same side strong corner. sometimes help off of that too. So just finding them when you when you can. Seems like you were getting a lot of that. Um when you guys are playing to the post, it seems like you just played to the post more in this game. Not just Julius and N, but Ant, too. Do you feel like that helped? Was it a positive? Yeah. I thought we did a great job with that. I thought Julius did a good job. Um Ant was playing quicker, you know, in the in that post situation. He was getting downhill. Um you know, right when he catches the ball, trying to make a move and then finding guys. So, uh, if we can get our spacing right with that, it’s another way we can just kind of make make our make our life a little bit easier. Mike, what was the message from Beni here immediately after the game just try to ask you guys to just turn the page to game through? Um, you know, basically they they took care of, you know, their home court. You know, we have to we have to, you know, tonight was a game where we we might have found a couple things later in the game that that that can work. you’re always searching for something that can work um against these guys and and and maybe we can, you know, take that momentum into game three and uh be ready to go. One where third quarter they seem to pull away. Just what do you feel is happening coming out of the the break that’s allowing them to kind of get control of things? Sense of urgency. I think whatever adjustments they’re looking at in that first half, like when everyone goes back, I’m sure every team watches film, they say, “This is what we’re doing well. This is what we need to touch up on.” I think they have that sense of urgency to make those changes. And they’re playing 12 minutes at a time. They’re playing all four quarters throughout this postseason. And I would say throughout the season, we have been able to wear teams down to where we put them away at times. This is a team, and you can see by their record, where you’re not going to put them away, and you kind of got to play four rounds at a time. If it’s a knockout, it’s going to be a TKO. Um, and so I think that’s the main difference. Are the the three-point shooting struggles for the team as a whole, is that more what they are doing defensively to make you guys uncomfortable? Is it just missing shots you normally make? What do you see there? These are open shots. They’re open shots. We got to make open shots. And I have faith that we will. Whether that’s more repetition, I know we have workers on the team, so they’re going to work to making sure that they’re prepared. Last game, I may miss miss shots. So, for me, it was a focus on really owning in on my principles, my base, all the stuff that I I tell myself, good risk, and so forth. And so, I think the main thing out of all of this and the big takeaway was that fourth quarter. And we made shots. Yes. But I think because we played with pace though, that’s the reason why. Nah, in that, you know, in the first game, you guys did a really good job of running them off the three-point line and, you know, I believe it led to a season low and three-point attempts for them. Um, and the same thing kind of in this game a little bit more, but um, you guys have, you know, held them to shoot, you know, below 50% from the three-point line in this series. Uh, but it seems like, you know, their two-pointers is where they’re really starting to get, you know, going towards the basket. How do you, you know, kind of balance that? Um, kind of fun into the rim, but it seems like, you know, they’re not missing any mid-ranges. How, how do you kind of balance that, you know, finishing up possessions defensively, making sure that once we run them off the line, staying in the drive, passing over to the next guy, low man rotation being there, we had some fouls that had led to free throws or ones because we weren’t there early. The job like it’s not gonna we won’t get stops if we’re playing defense 90%. Like if we’re not making that last rotation, if we don’t box out to get the rebound. Like I mentioned earlier, because they’re so disciplined in the small details, like we have to match that. I think in the fourth quarter, we matched that. We flew around. The rotations were there. We forced some shot clock violations. They missed the mid-range shots that they were making in that first half. And I think that just boils down to matching that intensity and and bringing another level like like they do in the third quarter. This is really the first game all postseason that Julius has struggled. What do you make of his night and um you know what does it make you recognize like how consistent he has been prior to tonight? for sure. And I’m not bothered. I’m not going to bat an eye at it. I know Julius. I know he’s going to come in and work. I know that as a competitor, his blood’s boiling. And he’s going to come back the next game ready to go. We’re going to be at home. We’re going to have the comfort of sleeping in our own beds and having an opportunity to play in front of our home crowd, have them behind us, and just another chance to compete. I’m not worried about Julius. I know that he’s a great player and I know right now he’s telling himself he’s going to be ready for the next game. Nil, you say you were talking about playing with pace. One of the ways you were doing that is taking the ball and just going right to the cup as much as you could and other players were kind of doing that too. Is that one of the things either getting postups early down in the paint or either, you know, just kind of avoiding that swing swing while you’re surveying the defense in the first five or six seconds of the half court defense? I mean, offense, is that what you need to do is put the pace into getting to the paint and then kicking to the corners? I think so. I think the main theme kind of just leans back to like matching that intensity. They’re a very aggressive team on both ends of the floor. They play very hard and so we can’t rely on just our talent to get us to what we need to in this series. We got to put pace into the game in fourth quarter. I think that’s when we felt more life and you can kind of even hear it in the building. There’s parts in that second quarter as well when we made that run. Putting pace into the game for us and being aggressive with the talent that we have, it helps us now. It opens up so much for an it opens up so much for Julius N Dante. Um Mike was making shots behind screens. Rudy puts pressure on the rim as a roller draws guys in. But just playing with pace and bringing life and energy. It’s hard to do anything slow. It’s It’s easier to guard. You got to get them moving, get them flying around, put them in rotations. Are the Are these third quarter runs, the last two games, are they happening so fast that you almost don’t realize, you know, it’s it’s a six-point game, it’s an eight-point game, and before you even have a chance to make an adjustment, all of a sudden it’s, you know, 1719. Is it just happening that it’s so fast you almost don’t have a chance to make that adjustment? I would say that it doesn’t feel like it’s happening fast because if you look at it, there’s like 30 seconds left. We’re down three to take it to half with a chance to tie or cut it to one. We maybe turn it over and missed. Next thing you know, we’re down eight. So, those are the small things that when you look back at it and you say like, “Oh, the run’s happening fast and they’re up 17.” is because we had a chance to be down three, down one. They maybe don’t score. Maybe we get, if it was a two for one at the time, maybe we do score twice and they don’t. And now you’re looking at us having a lead. So when they do have those third quarter runs, it’s not 8 to 17, it’s three to nine, it’s tie game to seven. And those things are now within reach where when you fight back and you give yourself life and you score, stop, score, you’re down four, you’re down two, it’s a one possession game. Now you’re putting more pressure on them and they can feel that. But when you get to 17 and it’s an 11 point game, they still kind of don’t have that that pressure on them. And so I think it’s just about closing quarters better and weathering their storms a little bit better. it’s going to come back to the details, especially in the Western Conference Finals. You talked about just kind of the the effort that it’s that it requires to beat this team that you know it’s if it’s going to be a knockout, it’s going to be a TKO. Is there anything that you or this team can draw on from this season or last postseason about the amount of energy, effort, focus to reach that level to knock these guys off? I think there’s no other feeling than losing last year, getting so close to lose. I think that’s my biggest memory. And as a competitor, losing has to be something that’s got to motivate you if anything, wanting to to win, to play together, to achieve something that you never achieved before. Like, and this is a great group, and I feel I believe in this group. I feel like we have what it takes. So, it’ll be a huge disappointment if we don’t bring that competitiveness to try to win. Nikil, uh, you guys have won the minutes that Mike Conley has been on the floor by 19 points in this series and lost the minutes. He’s been off the floor by 60. Why do you think that is? Mike’s the glue guy. Very smart. Gets gets us into our sets. He’s not frantic. He’s he’s been here so many times. He understand what it takes and just the lineups and the way Mike’s been making plays off the pick and roll has been a threat that has helped us. Last question, Nikil. Some of the things you guys have done most successfully against the Thunder team really this year. Um getting up and down playing with a lot of pace and you know blitzing Shay at the top of the court to get the ball out of his hands and switch coverages. Are those things you guys can do with your big lineups or how how are you able to play with some of those same aspects with your bigger lineups on the court? All five got to be on a string. Got to be connected against a player like him. He’s going to be aggressive. He’s going to get to his ankles, get to his spots. The more bodies we’re able to throw at him, fly around in rotations, I think that will help us, especially when he gets the angle at bigs, bumps them. Now they’re trying to play in the recovery space, and that’s exactly what he wants. Trying to draw a foul, trying to bump, get to his spot. So shrinking the floor a little bit better, rotating a little bit better, not getting hit by screens, staying connected as much as we can in that drive to kind of east west him more than north south. Enjoy it. Thank you.

Timberwolves players Jaden McDaniels, Julius Randle, Mike Conley Jr. and Nickeil Alexander-Walker spoke with reporters after Thursday’s 118-103 Game 1 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference Finals. The Timberwolves are down 0-2 in the best-of-seven series as it shifts to Target Center Saturday night.