Indiana Pacers NBA Finals Media Availability | June 7, 2025
on the right Jeff jeff Zilate USA Today rick it was alluded to the other night uh about how much the game has changed in your time as a head coach but you’ve always stayed on top of the offensive evolution and I wanted to know what do you enjoy about the way the game is played today that appeals to your offensive sensibilities uh speed skill um I I think the skill aspect is the thing that’s the most compelling part of the game and we’re getting to a point now where um everybody on the floor um not 100% all the five men but all the all the guys one through four can make threes drive it make plays and we’re getting to a point now where more more of the five men can do that than than not and so it’s just uh it’s made the game a lot more difficult to defend obviously but the skill aspect of it is to me always going to be the most compelling part about the beauty of watching the game and the challenge and the beauty of teaching the game rick Bob Kravitz from Indie Monthly to your right right what what sets Drew apart as a defensive player he doesn’t have jump out of the gym athleticism but he’s got great functional athleticism what What sets him apart makes him good at what he does well he loves the challenge he has a a great intellectual curiosity about defense and the challenge of you know trying to I mean you just you don’t stop players today you know you you try to make it hard um and you know he he played with Shay on the Olympic team and so they have familiarity they’re both from Canada they probably have played a lot with and against each other over the years um but this is you know this is the ultimate challenge um a guy like him who’s the MVP and he’s just so skilled so quick bigger than you think um everybody talks about the lethal mid-range but he makes threes easily too and you know he lives at the free throw line so you there’s no um there’s no breaks there’s no breaks but you know Drew Drew just he’s just one of these guys that he he has an equal focus on the defensive end um as the offensive end and that’s it’s a bit rare with today’s players again on your right Fred uh Rick I’m I’m curious to get your take um the Thunder foul a lot for a very good defense historically normally really high ranked defenses don’t foul a ton we’re starting to see more in the league now like you guys have fouled a lot during the playoffs but have been successful defensively um Orlando fouled a lot during the regular season really good defense are are you seeing anything different in the way the game is played today that kind of allows teams to be higher foul but still super successful and bake that into the strategy differently than how it used to be i mean you’re making it sound like we plan on fouling a lot we’re not we’re trying we’re trying to defend well without fouling and to avoid unnecessary unnecessary fouls but um the game’s gotten more physical in the la last year and half whatever as as changes were made to interpretations and um I’m you know I’m a I’m a believer that that’s the right way to go um nobody wants to come to an NBA game and watch a free throw shooting contest and have a game last for three hours um and so I don’t know the game’s more physical as far as the fouls you know it’s not something we want to do a lot of um and there are there are there are a significant number of good defensive teams that don’t foul a lot too and so um you know Boston comes to mind i you know they’re a low foul team um but we’re still working at at becoming better and better and better and certainly one of our challenges is to reduce fouls tim here in the front tim Reynolds AP rick everyone’s written a lot about how you were 10 and 15 and then the turnaround started around the 1 of January paris was right you know a couple weeks into that did that week over there bring this team together in some ways what did that experience coming out of it did you notice something new about your group well it was it was the middle latter stages of January which was our turnaround month um I think we only lost two games that month one of the games was in Paris and so you know we lost the first game in Paris i mean and we’re playing against Victor and we’ve got all the Paris fans there it’s a lot coming at us you know it was literally us against you know the entire world um we didn’t play well that first game we had a pretty quick turnaround um without really the benefit of a practice day because of how the schedule had gone and so we had to we had to turn things around pretty quickly if we were going to have a chance to win the second game so you know we had a couple of of very productive meetings and there was there was a lot of conversation you know I I like to open up um our meetings to to conversations and sometimes listen to the players first you know after a game like that i mean it was embarrassing we lost by 30 something you know and Victor went crazy and all their guys were you know played great and so we talked through it and and it was an important moment um going into the second game i mean this is a massive place is 20ome thousand and um just all these other challenges and you know we we were able to um galvanize for that second game and it was big and then you know we we stayed over came home the next day and then I think we had two days and then we had a really difficult game with Detroit at home who had kicked our ass you know three two or three weeks earlier in one of the cup games and um you know and they were they were still like on the come they were getting better and better and better and so we really had to be tough for that and then we had another tough game and you know we finished the month pretty well i mean that month was was key i mean the Paris trip certainly probably part of it we talked a lot about the Paris trip even before the season started and the challenges it was going to present um but also the opportunity that it would present and you know we had to manage you know it’s two games in nine days so you know you got the front end we had to get over there and do three days of media similar to this and and then you know we had to have an off day as far as being on the court between days and so you know we had to figure some things out but um it certainly was a part of it last two questions Joe and then Dan on the right rick Joarden from The Athletic um not only watching you guys play for more than a month now but also listening and talking to you guys after these games and practices i know how much of a focus rebounding can be and how occasionally it’s a challenge for you you won the rebounding battle on Thursday 56 to to 39 what how are you able to do that and how much of a factor was it in in the win yeah I mean I think I mentioned this after the game we had turned it over so much and gotten they had gotten 20 more shots than we got and so um there weren’t as many chances for them to get rebounds because we were just you know throwing the ball away or they were stealing it or whatever so um look the possession stats are always going to be massively important um ball security rebounding the offensive glass all that kind of stuff i we’re too I don’t I don’t think we’re far enough into it yet to do a total analysis of everything but you like if we didn’t win the rebounding ba battle and turned it over 25 times I mean there’s no way we could have hung in and had a chance dan last one on the right uh Dan Devanyahu Sports rick it was one of Sha’s highest usage games of the season um lower pass out rate for him as well we’ve seen something similar from you guys against Donovan Mitchell in Cleveland against Jaylen Brunson in the New York series um what did you think about the defensive process on that number one option in the first game and is that something that it may be counterintuitive but something that you guys look to play to like let’s get the number one usage guy going have everybody else maybe keep their rhythm out of it yeah we’re we’re not looking to get Shay going that doesn’t that doesn’t make any sense i mean coming into the series um I have it in my briefcase but you know their wins losses in the playoffs you know he was in the 30s and wins and he was in the the mid low to mid20s in losses and so what you’re saying doesn’t really make sense you know what I mean it’s just I mean we want to we want to make it hard um and look each game each game in this series is going to is going to have is going to look different i mean every game and every other series we’ve played is just you know a playoff series is is a series of seven chapters you know and and each one takes on a different personality um we you know we don’t want Shay getting 38 points you know if we can avoid it uh we don’t want him living on the free throw line we don’t want him getting easy threes you know we don’t want him making that three at the end of the third quarter that was a tough shot but he banged that in on us you know it um we got to make it hard on him and and look everybody’s pattern after a loss is to come more aggressively so you know he’s going to be more aggressive williams going to be more aggressive chad’s going to be more aggressive the whole team’s going to even be even more aggressive defensively and you know the the challenge for us is to be able to match that um and so you know that’s kind of it thank you coach Pascal will be right up fabio Malavazi NBA Brazil um well just for my point of view I was in 2011 on BW basketball camp with Masai um late BJ B Johnson and all those cats and to see that kid to achieve what you did so far uh it’s pretty amazing you know like you know this is your second finals three times all star you know MVP of the you know conference finals and I just want to see because the way I see it’s amazing man you know see that kid come to to be where you are now how do you reflect on that transition um well first of all thank you appreciate that that’s very nice of you um but I mean I think it’s it’s pretty hard to reflect you know when when you’re still in the journey um obviously I’m I’m super I’m super blessed like you said um that little kid that was basketball without borders would really I mean I had dreams but um nothing near what’s happening to me in my life you know like and what I’ve been able to accomplish so I’m I’m grateful um and and for me it’s amazing and and and I’m I’m I’ll forever be grateful you know to everyone that helped me throughout my journey um and and it’s it’s great but but like but it’s hard for me to reflect on it because I’m still in it and I’m like um I’m still chasing every single day um and um but but I I definitely I am um super grateful next question here on the left i can boost the confidence [Music] mark Spears on the far right uh yes Pascal um kind of going on the first question in in 19 what were your fondest memories of bring bringing the trophy home what was my memories you said your fondest memories of that bringing that home um like in Cameroon um yeah no it was crazy it was it was pretty cool i mean I think um getting to go back home where you from um I I just for me I mostly think about like the inspiration that gives to all the other kids out there just to know that like I’m from where they are like and and I’m able to do um these amazing things so it’s it was it was just like a super humbling moment just to go back and seeing the reception and and just thinking about the next generation for sure fourth row on the left uh Pascal from ESPN Brazil uh when you look back on those playoffs and what happened so far so such a a great moments a clutch moments do you believe there’s something different about those Pacers um what do you mean like like a a champion a championship aura like Oh I I don’t know i don’t know i mean I think for me uh for us we just focus on us to be honest um we try not to look ahead it’s it’s all about us the moment and um and yeah like I don’t I don’t really think about those things i just think about us and and for us is game two which is the most important thing right now front right you uh you spent a lot of time working with Jenny obviously I know she’s got a big impact on the staff i was curious what your experience has been like working with her over the past couple years and what you think her of her impact on your guys’ group as a whole yeah nah Jenny’s been awesome um just uh for me personally just like you know like being able to talk to her um get insights on the games um and and I think for me like when I came in um I was used to a lot of different things like I mean she’s mostly does like defense and stuff but I was used to a lot of things from like Toronto or like all my like the the stuff that we used to do and and coming back you know to to Indie and like having a different system and different things so I had to really adapt to a lot of things and she’s been really helpful for me in that in that matter we talk a lot about those things and um she gives me you know super great insights on on on on what we want to do and what we want to accomplish as a team um she’s been great that way she’s a great communicator um and also just I like I just like her her positive you know just energy about everything um I think it’s it’s mostly needed you know like and and even in in these moments where sometimes like it felt like we didn’t do well or or whatever she’s always bring that that positivity which is which is needed for coaching and um yeah she’s she’s done amazing for us and and she’s a big help not only for me but but for the whole team tim here on this side Tim Reynolds with the AP pass right in front of you you’ve been in the league long enough to know that when a team starts 10 and 15 or when it starts poorly the first couple months doesn’t always get right sometimes team and things start bad and just stay that way what was it about this group that allowed the opportunity to turn things around yeah no it was I think um when you look at those those games I mean it was a lot of people in and out of the lineups we had injuries we had um we we lost a lot of games you know like just on some mistakes you know so I think when you look at the overall record you know it looks the same way but for us um we just continue to chip away like we just continue to work hard continue to improve as a team and um and then when we got everyone back together mostly like it was everyone healthy it just you know started to to get better like for us and um and I think it’s just you know we’re resilient like we we’re not going to give up no matter what and um and and that’s that’s kind of like what helped us to just continue to chip away chip away chip away get better um and and for me I always told the guys come April May and June we want to be our best like that’s that’s the that’s the goal as an NBA team like obviously you want to be in the mix but um you just want to play your best basketball at the right moment fourth row towards the center let’s go here uh Tensson China uh let’s talk about the last play you guys make a lot of tons of corner threes actually you made a right corner straight last game um but the last uh I mean the last play Alex Crossro was guarding you and you made a cut to the basket instead of staying at the corner so what was the decision- making process back then um well I mean I think what it was like the end of the clock i mean I thought I I knew Tai was going to shoot it so I just try to get a rebound to be honest tim Front Right tim McMahon ESPN uh well the first time last time you were in the finals obviously you’re a young kid third-year guy what’s kind of the difference of the feeling of you know being a veteran now who’s been here before versus you know being a thirdyear guy who there was a lot on your shoulders at that time as well um yeah yeah no I mean I think it’s a difference just because again at that time like I’ve really I would want to say naive but you just going into it thinking like okay like this is just you know I’m I’m it’s year three for me like we we always had good teams we always won like so everything just felt normal it was just like all right like this is this is how it’s supposed to be you know like so that’s how it felt for me at that time and I think for me now coming back um I I have a little bit more appreciation for it just because of the journey and like um understanding like how hard it is and and um how difficult like it is to to get to this level and to this point um so I I think just in terms of just maturity and just knowing all the experience that I’ve been through to get me back here um I have another level of appreciation for it and um I I think the level of grind and play and and and and just grit is the same cuz I I I always had that but but I just think the level of appreciation probably a little bit different second row on the right Pascal jamal Collier ESPN uh Rick gives you guys a lot of freedom on offense to sort of just do it and figure it out on the court just kind of wondering what kind of advantage um do you think that guys gives you or just why do you think that that works so well for you guys as a team um well I think it’s it’s it’s cool obviously we we we have you know like a a point guard that um you know obviously runs the show for us and get us in position and and also is not just looking to you know get his he’s moving the ball he’s um like he’s he’s doing everything for the team so he starts the engine for us and we have TJ coming off the bench doing the same thing um obviously we have a lot of guards we So the personnel just is like people that just go out there and play and and um and for me I like that type of play you know fast i’m running and and we just we just being us and um playing free basketball i I always love that and um so yeah it’s good that we we have that freedom but I think it’s it’s still organized in a way where you know like we have you know point guards and we have like guards that that that get us into whatever we want to get into thank you Pascal tyrese will be right up thank you first question here on the left tyrese Robert Okonnell Wall Street Journal uh you talked about hearing some of the doubt over the last summer it kind of continues a pattern of your career right where you’ve talked about being I think your phrase was no star recruit you know 12th in the draft sacramento traded you all these things taking the broad view what do you think it is about your game specifically the way you play that has made people underrated at times even though even as you’ve continued to climb levels like what about the your approach to the game makes it easy to miss what you’re doing at times yeah I I think um it’s a good question i I I think it’s unorthodox you know that’s how that’s a a word that can be easily used i my my jumper the way it looks that’s always been criticized coming into the NBA um I think that was honestly a big part of it and I think sometimes I have an effect on the game that isn’t necessarily the gaudy box score numbers and so the way our game is now the way the game is uh digested by fans sometimes I think uh it’s a lot of box score watchers and so if my box score doesn’t look the way that it’s supposed to I think that that can be a part of it as well so uh I don’t necessarily know the answer but um I know that it’s probably not going to stop anytime soon so u yeah it’s just part of it again Joe second row hey Ty like the crew neck better appreciate it appreciate it appreciate it uh so you guys um won the first two games in Cleveland won the first two games in New York just did it you know one game won the other night how hard is it to do that is there a commonality between all these these road victories you guys are picking up and then for the other side it it’s really hard if you’re a home team in a playoff series to lose the first two and come back and win the series so are you aware of all that in addition to speaking of how difficult it is to do what you’ve done so far yeah um yeah definitely aware right um but I I think winning on the road is hard winning an NBA game is hard in general and especially a playoff game and let alone a finals game right it’s not easy um but I I think you’re just trying to be as present as you can like that’s that’s the biggest thing and that’s the biggest thing we’ve talked about as a group is this journey is going to be whatever it is 18 19 days until you know there was if there was a game seven so you’re just trying to take it one day at a time and that’s how we’ve approached every playoff series that we’ve been in as a group is how can we take it a day at a time so um today it’s about you know getting through the the media stuff and getting to practice and locking in on what we got to do better uh for tomorrow but we want to have a good practice day today and I think that’s just the way we are approaching it um because if we try to look too far in advance I think that that’s where you know you have moments in today or or yesterday that don’t go the way that they should so you’re just trying to take it a day at a time and that’s the biggest thing that coaches preach to us and we preach to each other as a group is how can we just have a good day today to prepare us um you know for tomorrow but you know the journey to get here all year hasn’t been about you know when we get to the final no it’s just been about taking it a day at a time especially the start we had to the year so u we’re aware of and it’s hard not to be you know we’re human beings we have social media we have friends and family you know tell us all the numbers of you know if you can win the two games at home what it will you know whatever it’ll look like or on the road or whatever the case is um but again you just try not to pay attention to it as as as best as you can and don’t let human nature creep in just try to take it a day at a time mark Spears on the far right yeah Mark Spears ESPN two things one you mentioned the social media stuff but some of your stuff is pretty funny is is there anything that you saw that kind of tickled you and then uh two I did did want to ask you if you could reflect back on um your courtship of Pascal and kind of like hey you you going to be here kind of mentality with it yeah um first question yeah I see a fair share of the uh the the abs absurd things that are on social media get a good laugh out of uh certain things uh you know I think that’s just a part of NBA Twitter in general it’s pretty pretty funny stuff um and then as far as stuff with Pascal yeah I I I can recall everything about getting him here um we had a we were in Atlanta had a pretty great conversation with him while I was I was at a dinner i stepped aside we talked on the phone for like an hour um you know I just wanted to have a conversation with them hey you know is this something that you actually want to do you know is do you want to be here um because I think that the guys who have been a part of the nucleus of this group you know this is we cherish this we cherish this organization and what we’ve been able to build here um and you know when you think every team to to ultimately get to you know win a championship or play at a high level right there’s there’s going to be a a trade that that happens or you bring in somebody from the outside to come and be a part of it and you you don’t want to make the wrong move right and you know if you go in for Pascal you want to be you want to be about the right things and I didn’t really know Pascal too well other than our small conversations when we would be at like Rico runs or something um so we had a great conversation and I think we just very much so aligned on wanting to win and that being the emphasis um obviously I told him that hey I think that you know I we could really play well together i think I can get you the ball in space and allow you to do what you do and um you know he appreciate there’s many things that he could do to help me succeed and uh we had you know many conversations about it um but I I mean that being said that after that conversation you still don’t know if it’s going to happen because a trade has to be made and that all that stuff has to be aligned but this was just a conversation that I initiated because I knew the rumors and I wanted to talk to him about it i’m very thankful I did and we aligned on those things and um you know I think it’s a big part of why we are where we are and uh that relationship that we have we uh like we don’t spend a lot of time together off the floor like he lives downtown India i live more up north so it’s not like we spend a ton of time together off the floor but uh we we talk very often and it’s a lot of basketball talk and you know I think the biggest thing that I can respect about him is just his work ethic he comes in the gym i know he’s going to be there every day i know the exact hoop he’s going to be on so I try not to take his hoop uh I let him get his one-on-one work in and um you know I think that’s seeing him work that hard makes me want to work harder and I think that that goes through our group so you know love having him as a teammate right here on the left Hi Mahake Jr nba correspondent my question to you is um obviously you guys the Pacers and OKC are both very young teams do you feel like if this is a moment that is kind of a changing of the guard where you guys are carrying the torch for the league and onto the future yeah I mean uh I think that’s definitely a conversation that is more so for uh you know media talk and and those things i think um you know the changing of the guard really isn’t necessarily fair because like guys like Braun Steph they’re still playing at such a high level um so I don’t look at it that way i I I try not to think of the outside narratives that go into the result of them winning or us winning just try to approach it with you know we want to win and whatever the conversation is after you know whatever that is then it’ll be what it is you can’t you don’t really have control of that as as you know um so uh yeah I I think it’s cool to see young teams having success and uh maybe what we’re doing or they’re doing could be a blueprint for for other young teams in this league but as far as those conversations those are for the media we just want to win chris on the far right Tyrese Chris Hagen Fox 59 Indianapolis you know how much people love basketball in Indiana you’ve been reminded a 100 times that it’s been 25 years since they’ve been here what’s the sense of urgency to realize like you said it’s hard to win a playoff series it’s hard to get here to seize this moment now when it’s just so close yeah I I I think I mean obviously the sense of urgency for Indiana fans and and for everybody should be heightened uh because you know we always talk about you never know when you’ll get this moment again or if you’ll get this moment again um I had a great conversation with Steve Nash a couple days ago and he said “Hey you’re in rare error i’ve never been there.” And I thought I was damn Steve Ash never been a fun like that’s that’s pretty crazy you know and some guys don’t get uh the chance to to to do that and um so I’m trying to live in the moment every day and I think we talked about it um as this season went on especially early in the year when we weren’t having success i thought more and more about how I took last year for granted the chance to go to the Eastern Conference Finals and I felt like wow like I didn’t know what it would what this year would be especially the way we started the year are we going to be a playing team you know could we be a first round exit could we not make the playoffs all those things were on the table especially the way the year started so um I think you’re just looking at it and uh trying to just live in the moment every day and this isn’t that’s not even just a finals thing that’s a life thing right like we take every day for granted as human beings that you know we go to sleep and we wake up and you know we take that for granted we take for granted that you know that my legs work and that I’m breathing and I’m healthy you know all those things so yeah you can always look at it from a bigger p picture perspective and that’s important but I think yeah that’s why I’m just cherishing uh this moment and just really enjoying what I’m doing right now why would you say that is and what that communicates about you guys um it’s overall collective will you know we have as a team and um you know elite role player you want to call it you know we we have you know two allstars on our team but at the same time they’ll be the first to tell you that it can be anybody’s night at any given time so we just really um I really fall into that philosophy miles what has been different about you know I know you’ve obviously been with this team your whole career going on two years i’m sure this question has been asked but truly after you seeing the performance of game one and how you guys out what what is it that makes this team so resilient to not in the past but you know what what is really separated from your perspective we’re battle testing man and um I think we do well with adversity i think we thrive in adversity you know I think that uh this team hasn’t been like a cupcake run for us you know we over the past really four years we’ve really built you know towards this moment so I think that more than anything you know the last two months of the season or so we were in a position quite a bit where we had to fight from behind to come back and when you have that mock test coming into you know the final test being here you know it’s um does nothing to help you it’s all about being ahead again uh but what do you take away from from this game this first game I mean only being ahead 12.3 seconds what do you guys need to change for game two um I don’t I don’t see it that way you know I think that you know at this final stage you know you’re not always going to be up by 10 20 points you know it’s um you spend so much time studying the other team and scouting that you know sometimes it’ll come down to one or two plays or one or two possessions so um we know obviously the biggest glaring thing was our turnovers you know once we cut those down you know we’ll be put ourselves in better positions but you know you can’t view the I guess game by game as like we got to go up by you know such and such points you know it’s a possession by possession battle and it’s a chess match all the time talk about the finals next move next move what do you expect is going to be different for game two um I haven’t even looked forward you know to that expectation brother i think my my biggest thing is just figuring out what we can change you know as a collective unit you know we we study our film you know we study the unit and um you know we uh I can’t tell you what our chess moves going to be but you know we make our moves what’s what’s been the biggest thing that’s led to success on road games this postseason it’s it’s impressive um you know again just overall belief in oursel and then just um I think allowing ourselves to lose ourselves in the moment you know I think you know when you’re on the road you know just the the adversity you know people blowing you people saying all sorts of I got to give respect you know OKC fans are a lot different than New York fans but um you know just the the different things that get you going on the road is a little bit different part about this run for you to get to this point maybe Yeah um bro just it’s just the moment itself man just every single day you know just how how painful it is after a game you know just um you know how much you don’t sleep um how how much better the food tastes like all the little things like you know I’m taking it all i’m not taking for granted you know just finally being here and just finally being able to you know just soak my feet in a moment like you know I’m just um taking it day by day so I think the best part about it is just uh the process of it all you know it’s been a lot of fun who would you say is the from your teammates would be the best head coach in the future oh TJ McConnell for sure he’s gonna hate that but TJ McConnell for sure and who would be the worst businessman businessman worst businessman um well I came out of left field let me think um the worst businessman on our team would probably be Ben Shepard i’ll just say that just because it’s a easy cop and I just saw him walk by miles car gives you a lot of uh freedom on offense why does that work so well for this team man that’s what this is about man that’s that’s where the roots of this game comes from you know i think just when you go out and play pickup basketball or play street ball whatever you’re just going out there creating and um you know we’re all Sant out there and I think he allows us just to be ourselves and um I think the the days of you know calling a play every single you know time up and down like it’s the playoffs man people scout for that people scout your you know your next move so you got to be able to think and create on the fly go go right ahead bill what’s good um you know it’s part of a formula you know what I mean and I think that when you get to this time of the year you don’t switch up you know what you do so we know this is a younger team you know it’s a team that kind of has the same philosophy as us but you know it’s just in the fourth quarter when you you get picked up full court or you know you get word on a bit like those shots those shots are a lot harder to hit you know I mean those the threes that you’ve been hitting all all game are a little bit different the last three minutes of the game when you’re a little more tired so you know I think that it’s overall philosophy thing but you know at the end of the day you know you got to continue to keep grinding it out obviously yeah I mean you have two small market teams here you know two communities that you know really put everything behind their teams so yeah like um so much more passion that comes with it you know what I mean as opposed to you know your bigger market teams if you will like this some people this is all they have you know they put they pour everything they have into their team so it’s a lot louder in these type of environments you know we definitely realize that game one you know when you’re in a huddle you can’t hear or you got to give hand signals i mean that type of stuff is real you know this type of the year and then when we get back to Indiana it’s going to be the same exact thing so it’s just a ultimate competitor’s environment man it’s fun first half been not your greatest how somebody step up we have time in the locker room send a message like go up stuff like that I think it was a collective collective messaging you know it wasn’t just one person that said we have to do this this and that I think we all realized what the moment was you know and um again I think our team thrives in adversity you know we had all been there plenty of times before and um we kept our messaging pretty simple you know we the obvious thing was the turnovers and outside of that was just a collective will to get it done sets Drew apart defensively what makes him such a great defensive player Drew’s a lot stronger than he looks I think the whole thing that’s people don’t realize that you know he’s a he’s a very balanced player he’s a very smart player and um I think his anticipation is um is huge as well and um someone that just has just a natural uh feel for the game what is the most important most important what i’m sorry the value oh value man it’s just the fact that you know I’m here you know I may not ever get this opportunity again so while I’m here I’m just going to take full advantage of it so that’s the biggest value is the fact that you work so hard to get here and just never know when the opportunity will present itself again I just I literally was just talking to one of our rookies Johnny Fury about it it was just like you know you’re spoiled man the fact you get to you know get this you know as a baby is just is huge man but you know whether you get here again or not like you know just you have to be where your feet are man like really enjoy you know what this moment and opportunity presented itself to be even if you’re not playing man just uh look at the cadences you know look at look at the crowd look at everything that comes with this because you know this this is the final stage we’re the only team playing like what they said Euro League’s done and like all the bigger bigger basketball leagues are done except for us so it was fun man I didn’t I didn’t know what to expect you know cuz you know I got spoiled a little bit myself you know my first year I went to a game seven you know in the first round and got to see a competitive environment and you do just start thinking that you know it’s going to come year by year by year and then you miss the playoffs three or four years and it’s like oh wow like you just that itch starts to come again the turnovers is it something that OKC was doing like watch it’s combination you I think that um they’ve really they’ve built their brand they built their you know um um just really overall the way they play off of their defense way they swarm the ball the way they got guys selling out you know so you know a little bit was that a little bit was us being a little careless with the ball so it’s a combination so the the media um not necessarily because I just know that this is um this is this is the stage right everybody wants to be here including you know including y’all you know this is what y’all do this for you know to cover the biggest moments the biggest athletes you know so not necessarily and I think it’s just a great opportunity for everybody what was the process like uh could have been a lot better let’s be honest you know we realized he you know he missed a few shots but at the same time you know for us collectively to get where we need to be you know it has to be a a better overall effort on him i’m not going to say who but someone from your team said you would be a great head coach in the future i say you you wouldn’t like that um I’m I’m not sure my wife would like that um but I’m appreciative of the compliment um I don’t know if that’s what I’m going to do when I’m done playing but obviously appreciative and who would you say would be from the roster a great head coach head coach in the future tyrese for sure and who would be the worst businessman this year worst businessman um I know my answer but I’m not gonna say it i’m not gonna say it i’m sorry tj I know you’re obviously one of the longer team bases i’m sure this question has been asked but obviously after game one what can you just say about this team and why are you guys so resilient responding to pressure you know what does that say about kind of the veteran presence that you guys have you know that come in the game or like you as well what what are those factors that kind of led to that success yeah I mean you got to have guys that have kind of been in this league for a long time um to help steady the you know the negative parts of the game and but I got to give credit to Rick and his staff they’ve really instilled in us that no game is over until it’s over and and fight to the final buzzer no matter the score and I feel like we’ve done a good job of that um to kind of keep playing no matter the score or the time and give ourselves a chance speaking of coach Carile um he gives you guys a lot of freedom on the offensive end how does that work so well for your team um I feel like just the empowerment that he gives us um and the freedom really he just kind of lets us play our game and as a player when you have that type of freedom you feel like you can go out there and and kind of play your game so I just got to give him so much you know credit and respect um you know for giving us that kind of freedom to go out there and do that how are you able to reduce the city against a Yeah I mean I think we just got to make things as difficult as possible they’re a great offensive team led by the MVP of the league um so you’re not going to shut a team like that down it’s just about making things as difficult as possible and then Bradley what makes Andrew such an effective defensive player on ball but even more so hot ball i mean I just he’s our Swiss Army knife honestly um anything we ask him to do he does it at a high level both offensively and defensively and he just continues to answer the bell you know every time so obviously we’re thankful he’s on our side and um you got to give him so much credit he’s been remarkable on the road again this is another series that you guys just how big to steal game one you guys have stolen game one and two yeah I mean I think winning in the playoffs is really hard but winning in the playoffs on the road is even harder um so to get a win on the road um in a in a game like that obviously very important but we’ve got to move past it and just focus on game two and that starts with today on fixing the things that we didn’t do so well time like you guys settled in throughout the game more often when you came in for the first time how different would you describe the emotion of coming into a finals game versus any other experience you had yeah well I’ve never checked into a finals game before so it was a first for me and I think in the beginning you know we kind of had that deer in headlights look um you know all of us except for Pascal have never played in the finals so um like you said once we settled in and looked more comfortable um we started to play our game a little bit more shay goes for 38 shots pass out what did you guys think about the defensive process i mean like I said he’s the MVP of our league so you’re not going to shut a guy like that that down he’s a special talent um it’s just about making things as difficult as possible and try to tire him out and wear him down and um credit to everyone that guarded him um you know they played a part in in trying to do that obviously he had a phenomenal game but it’s a collective effort i I Yeah I mean I think that’s that’s what we’re trying to do um you know just make him work on both ends i mean he’s a he’s a great player um Um you know when great players play a lot of minutes it it can you can you know kind of get into their legs obviously I’m not sure we saw a lot of that he had 38 points but um it’s a process thing you guys are obviously a really close-knit team what’s your favorite thing about playing with Pascal um I mean he just makes things so easy for everyone around him um not only is he a great player he’s a great teammate great person um it’s just like I said when you when you play with him you give him the ball and let him go to work and he’ll get you an open shot or he’s getting a bucket so like I said it just makes things easier for the rest of us obviously more wings like this the more they’re talking about you guys what do you hope they learn about this group um yeah we’re not really focused about the external noise but um we just got to be a team that plays incredibly hard on both ends and plays together um and that’s what we try to do um you know that’s not really something you know I’m really focused on i I you know we’re just trying to go out there and whatever lineup they put out there just go out there and play our game um and that’s kind of been the message to me stretch and unusual for you yeah I mean when he has the ball in his hands at the end of the game we’re very confident um and he continues to show how great of a player he is so when it went in um we were all just very excited um and happy to come out with a win but you know like I said we got to move on and focus on game two what do you expect for tomorrow’s game it’s going to be a great atmosphere and I expect we’re going to get their best punch um coming out for game two where did that trust in just take us by I mean he’s our franchise guy um he has showed up in in the biggest moments for us since he’s gotten here and you know I think it’s just more magnified now that’s on the biggest stage but you know we’ve seen him do this a lot in practice and in games and um you know he’s made big play after big play and obviously very proud of him for the growth that he’s made tj family means so much to him take me through wearing that jersey and then also what it means to you to have me where she is while you’re on this one yeah um I’m I I love my sister dearly um so proud of everything she’s accomplished so when she made the team I was at a loss for words you know almost cried and um so I tried to get that jersey as quickly as I could so I could wear it and and honor her and show her how proud of her I am and um I’m grateful for the Mercury organization sending that over as quickly as they did and um and doing that is something very special for me and my family thanks all thanks DJ i enjoy it you know I’ve I embrace it fully you know being able to help this team try and get a win especially against a great OKC team and it felt good to you know get out there and uh get a bucket get a bucket out there you know uh there was a little nerves out there but of course you know you let the game go as soon as the game gets going you know you just fall in the basketball [Music] well it’s a good good position to get a good road win but we know that’s behind us right now you know all we have to focus on is game two and making the improvements to try and get a win in game two which is going to be a very tough one like it was for game one i got a question um obviously you know we were teammates during our tenure at the Heat um I know you’re a big coffee drinker during that time so what changed from coffee to now matcha what What made that change well what made the change was my girlfriend my girlfriend Kyla she got into she got into matcha and she kept trying to get me into matcha for like two months until I finally tried it and now now I’m down i’m like a little bit of a matcha guy you’re hooked now yeah I’m a little hooked hooked as am I all right appreciate you Thomas i got Thomas oh man what I remember about Caruso is that he was the hardest working guy he always kept the team in line man like the one thing about Caruso is that he always gave it his all offensively defensively defensively he was always a terror out there so you know going against him in this in this platform man it’s it’s special it’s amazing man and you know I’m glad I get to go against them you know I wish we were still teammates but hey it’s funny it’s it’s fun to go against them man thomas you guys had so much success out of that left corner knocking down eight or 10 you had one of those was that a read you guys saw was that something coming in you know was going to be available well we knew that we knew that our jump shooter was going to be a key source for us and you know against this team you have to take what you can get you know you know they’re a great defensive team you know and they cover their they cover their grounds really well so when we have those openings we try to have we kind of have to try and take those as soon as we get them you know uh you know we’re not going to get too much out of this going against this defense too much so when we get those openings we got to take them when we can you came in mid-season at what point did you feel comfortable confident in what we were doing and being part of this entire uh it took me a little bit it took me a little bit you know sometimes even now I still feel a little you know feel still feel a little sideways sometimes because you know again get them going with a team that has success throughout the years and you know when you’re one of the new guys coming in you just want to try and gain success keep keep the success going and not be detrimental in any way you know and uh you know there’s still you know it’s not going to be perfect out there we’re still going out there getting make making sure that we run the game plan but also run what we want to what we want to do out there with our guys tendencies out there you know and uh you know we try to do that to the best of our abilities the last two series including this one and so I guess three won the first game on the road how big is that just mention that a steel won at least one on the road it was I think it’s a really really big mental standpoint out there because you know going against going playing on the road is very tough you know especially in the playoffs is it’s 10 times tougher than any than anything else so when you when you can still win on the road man it it means it means a lot for us you know mentally psychologically and going into you know the other games going in with a full head good circle around us and you know the confidence that we have to go in those games so it feels good tell us having you’ve been with this team for a while what has stood out to you about Rick and how he operates managing this process i believe Rick is a great fabulous coach man and the thing about it is that Rick has been here multiple times he’s he’s felt this he’s knows it you know as a player and as a coach too so you know you get the you get the best of both worlds right there from a coach and uh for him he always puts us in a great position to succeed man and he and he leans on his bench and you know he loves his starters but he also loves his too and that’s where I you know I really love that about him as well that he gives us the opportunity to go out there and play any similarities at all uh I would say same but different you know the similarities is about the top top conditioned wanting to get out and run fast run our pace and um you know ball moving on the offensive end and defensively you know being a terror out there getting some stops that way we can run in transition i would say the similarities were there thomas what was the vibe like playing in this arena with the crowd oh my god it was amazing it was at one point where we couldn’t even hear each other out there offensively and defensively for about a good I would say 3 4 minutes straight and I’ve never in my years of being in the league I’ve never had that long of attention of not being able to hear even even when the Warriors were having their thing right there man but you know it was a great crowd a great atmosphere man and those are the those are the atmospheres and crowds that we thrive and we love to play against and we love to play in Thomas you have a player like Shane tax drive it shows a lot of his resilience and his fight that just that I I feel like people just don’t talk about enough man because to be able to do that on a nightly basis especially on a platform like this in the finals and a great player like Shay against a great OKC team and we ask him to do a lot out there in the defensive end and also go out there on the offensive end and produce for us too man that’s a lot you know I don’t think people understand of how much Drew really means to us for this team and and how not even well it’s great that he’s doing out there to go out there go against Shay the MVP and go against other guys and and we ask him to do a lot out there on the on the defensive end for us and he gets it done for us day in and day out man and that’s amazing to see you know i’m just happy that he’s getting that he’s getting some real good glorification for it thomas you you’ve been in a championship team before what similarities do you find between that roster and this program well the similarities I would say that the the camaraderie that we have and togetherness that we have you know one thing about it was that that Denver Nuggets team that we were that we were that I was a was very close you know we hung out on and off the court and I see the same similarities with this team you know and this and it was throughout the season as well that we were hanging out gaining chemistry talking to each other about this and that and we could always say something to each other and not hold it like we could hold each other accountable nobody gets offended by it and that’s one thing that you that it might be a small thing but those go a long way especially in the playoffs who would you say would be from the current roster the best head coach in the league of this year oh that’s tough man because there’s a lot of great coaches out there man uh to be honest I can’t put one finger on it and um you know the the c the the Phoenix coach that just the Phoenix that just got their main coach man he was one of my coaches in LA and I always wanted to see him be a coach so it’s great to see him get that possibility so you know it’s a great there’s a lot of great coaches out there and I just hope they get their opportunities when they can from the face of this face who will be in the future a head coach I all of them actually Jenny LP so those are the two off back that I would say for sure can you take us through the last two possessions the miss shot and then go late basket how did you experience it did it go slow did it go super fast how did you No it was uh I was in the middle of the game it was just it just it wouldn’t say it happened too fast but it was just like kind of like reality if like if you weren’t paying attention it probably you probably wouldn’t see it so I was glad I was paying attention at that point and you know those are we fought to the end right there and then luckily we got a stop and we got and Tyrese made a hellacious shot to make to give us the win times at the locker room oh the locker room the afterwards it seemed like there was a shock going through the building how was the goal it was good you know we was we were happy about it but our immediate our immediate response was “Let’s get ready for game two.” You know uh we you know we were happy that we got the win we happy we happy that Tyrese got the shot off but everybody’s mindset as soon as we got into the locker room was great congratulations but let’s focus on game two now okay go ahead yeah well we feel confident you know uh you know he’s motivated we’re motivated as well uh it should be a great game i pick one player and I tell you some news and you have to guess who I’m talking about okay okay let’s see yes uh he was born in 1997 1997 that’s how much is 28 27 years oh he’s 27 27 he was drafted in 2017 2017 years ago miles Turner dropped him in 2017 2017 he played for one two three four teams nba teams before the Oh uh Tony Bradley tony Bryan brian no thomas Bryant who who who is it oh Tommy yeah tv tv yeah it’s TV for sure then this morning hello hey how you doing good how are you then this morning actually I did an interview with your sister Jen and then she talked about when you were 9 years old that you actually quit hockey to play basketball because you wanted to just be like so what what’s the relationship between you and your sister and now she’s not only your sister but she’s also represent you all the time just describe the relationship between you and then the decision you made me it’s a great question i mean me and my sister we obviously pretty pretty close you know she’s like a she’s very like a second mom you know for me we used to uh you know ride a bus to to her practices you know every like every day you know so that’s pretty much when I picked up on basketball and um the reason why I also quit hockey i love I love hockey i was super good but I think basketball um was holding a special place into my heart and all my friends was playing basketball so like it was a no-brainer for me to keep playing if you can just pick another time or choose another time you’re still going to quit hockey and playing basketball for sure i think uh like I said basketball always had a special place you know but hockey hockey is a great sport i love hockey and if I could have kept going with hockey I probably would have you know cuz it has also its benefits but you know I just think that basketball was a sport for me ben you weren’t able to play in the playoffs last year and you talked about before this run how you’re going to take it and enjoy it but to to be in your first playoff run and to be in the NBA finals is that something you have to realize hey this doesn’t happen all the time and you need to make the most of it while you can for sure that’s a great question i just feel like uh as much as I would love to to live and hold a camera you know what I’m saying i just I can’t but I’m trying to take it all in you know and live the experience um you know this is a this is a dream come true and and I want the dream to end well which means you know to win a championship i’m very blessed to be in this position you know very fortunate but might as well uh you know end it the right way i apologize if you didn’t ask didn’t ask but the relationship with you know you and Lou how cool is it to share experience with two guys that came from South Neighborhood played against each other as kids went to both went to Arizona like similar paths in the NBA yeah yeah I think I think before I answer this question I want to I want to make sure I shout out my boy James Johnson man you know we wouldn’t be here if if it wasn’t for James Johnson the best teammate on this team you know the OG on the team he kind of old now but he’s a real one but uh to answer your question uh Ludor Ludor is my boy you know we we in friends right now cuz we you know I’m trying to win but uh it’s a great thing to have you know two Asians um playing in the NBA finals we don’t we don’t really get that you know and that’s the first time and um to be honest you know I’m looking forward to to have more Haitians play in the finals but it’s a very very rare occasion and I think it’s a great thing for the city in Montro if you had message to say to the kids the main message for me would uh tell them that you know everything’s possible you know you just got to stay working cuz uh of course I’m blessed but I think the work you know God rewarded me because I work extremely hard and um you know if you put yourself you know you can’t really cheat the work you can’t you can’t cheat the game um if you put the work in then the vers can take care of itself i think the the work that you and William put in as kids I mean where did that I guess not come from but what was the guiding force in for you guys or paths um like I said it’s it’s extreme work uh extreme work there’s no you know growing up I didn’t I didn’t go to parties i didn’t you know all my friends I had friends who go to parties you know there’s nothing wrong with that but it’s not what I wanted in life um I remember exactly my conditions where I I grew up in and you know what I used to not have and stuff like that so I told myself that um you know I was I was old enough to tell myself that my future is in my hands just to be able to to do the right things with it and do what I want to do and with you know with all being said it’s just straight work straight work and dedication have a lot of times in Mexico for sure i mean it was great um the experience at the academy was was very very fun you know um school was good as well it was a very very good environment over there um plus you know a lot of sun a lot of sun love the weather out there the food the people you know it was a very very good experience and that that’s kind of that’s kind of what you know allowed me to be myself today to learn Spanish as well you called Miles I’m sorry you called James OG on the team but Miles is somebody who’s been around for a decade as well i’ve seen it all with the Pacers here with the franchise what’s it like um you know having somebody like that in the locker room and what impact does he have not only in the locker room but on the court like James or Miles miles oh um it’s great it’s great you know um he’s like you said he’s been here for a decade he’s been here for a long time he came in the league it was super super young so I think you’ve seen it all um but it’s great to have someone like him on the team you know who’s who’s been in Indiana for you know 10 plus years and um you know it’s great to have him on the team as well you know he’s been through a lot and us being in the finals means uh as much you know for me but for him and you know I’m just very very blessed to have him on my team when did you play basketball in Mexico in high school you was playing basketball in Mexico when you was in the high school yeah yeah yeah and how is your Spanish it’s decent pretty good it’s pretty good yeah latinola uh tell me something tell me something put me to the test man tacos uh and you know everything yeah that was great what was the vibe like uh in this arena with this crowd on game one it was fun it was a good experience um you know my first time being in the finals first of many so um it was very very good especially winning the first game you know we’re just trying to go out there and win win win game two and what was that like mentally to uh be doing to win game one at you know away from from home uh what is that like in the mental game to be honest it’s the same thing for me just to go out there and you know doing the best I can to perform to help my team win and um you know I’m just just living living in the moment can can you describe the last two possessions the miss shot and then the made shot did that go super slow or super fast for you it goes super fast you know um you know the NBA finals go super fast but I think uh you know we got to we got a good stop we got a good stop and you know Tyrus has been doing it you know I I don’t think it’s a surprise people was have been expecting you know him to to to make a big shot and I knew as soon as he took the ball and shot the ball that it was going to be good okay great how you say that again [Music] question TJ thank you looked back on film uh obviously the turnovers um and then what you said being able to limit their points off turnovers or rebounding I thought was really good for a team that crashes as much as they did or do so I think those three takeaways are really good for us this team has obviously been known for its comebacks over the course of the playoffs but the Thunder on the other hand have been known for really coming back after a loss and hitting the opponent’s heart so how do you guys mentally be clear for them in that aspect uh I think you know even though we were able to win the game um I think none of us really happy with our performance and so I think that’s really good for us going into game two and keeping that kind of approach um and not being caught off guard aggressiveness what kind of adds to that Aaron but you guys haven’t lost back to that game since March 2010 what is the key to not yeah I think it’s a mindset thing you know just like you said knowing what we did well and knowing what we didn’t do well in the game and kind of just coming into game two with a chip on our shoulder like we did win the game but you know we did a lot of things that you know really put us in a position to lose it what’s up Obie how you doing um Miles has been around for a decade what impact does someone like that you’ve seen in all that’s been around for that long you know pass uh you know he’s one of our leaders he’s one of the headless snakes uh snake on our team so you know he helps helps keep us composed help uh help us keep the maintain the main thing how do you keep yourself composed when you get a game like this i mean there still went on the road um like I said man like we just we put ourselves in a position we didn’t want to be in and just understanding that and understand how much better we could be uh I think we’re just looking forward to the opportunity to show them that we’re in a full minute game the way we did it tonight sometimes it’s hard to fall asleep I guess after a loss is the same with a win like this i wouldn’t say so just because of the fashion the way the game went it’s simplistic but just how much of a security blanket is three-point shooting at the level you guys can do it the number of guys who can hit them the way you can spread the floor that in a game like that you know even with some mistakes even facing a deficit you have the ability to kind of eat up a lot of ground yeah we just talk about letting it fly and shoot with confidence trusting the process um and you know whenever we’re down like that and the game calls you to just let them go we just have a lot of guys that are able to shoot the ball and shoot the ball with confidence you know and fly what about your defense who was able to reduce um you know just film preparation you know making them a little bit uncomfortable but yeah I’m not going to say chances how uh confident the experience of your guys coaching staff I think a lot of people have been talking about from game how important and vital is that to this group just having guys who have been here I mean yeah our coaching staff is we have a phenomenal staff we have guys who’ve been around for so long just seen so much know so much about the game and I think they’ve just done a really good job of you know kind of letting everybody know what their strengths are weaknesses are and just you know kind of catering to each individual player to the best of our abilities those last two possessions the miss shot and then your basket how fast or slow did that go for you i mean you realize slow yeah yeah super slow you know I never throughout these comeback throughout these comebacks I never realize what we do in the moment i only realize after the game’s over so you know we’re just playing basketball always trying to win the ball game and you know we just let the cards fall wanted to get your reaction back yeah no the mayor told me about that i think it’s super cool a city like that nobody really watches hoops but they they kind of uh gather around me and my success right now and it’s it’s it’s just cool to see it’s really nice to It’s humbling sure awesome and I was just wondering what it was like to be out there in game one of the finals and playing you know with Shay um you guys played together you know for so long that must have been a surreal experience no definitely i think playing in the finals was a crazy experience walking on the court was um something you you live for and um the the crowd here was amazing the noise was the most I ever felt in a game so uh kind of all just came together and was the nerve settled in and it was a fun game andrew can you tell me about your relationship with coach Jenny and how much you know her impact on the game our our relationship is great i love Jenny um she’s done a lot for me since I’ve gotten here on and off the court just talking intricate parts of the game and how to deal with a lot of things mentally um and I know she’s she’s she’s someone who’s always going to be by my side going forward and um got a lot of love for her and her knowledge of the game is been one of the best I’ve been around andrew you’ve uh you know part of your job is always kind of picking up the other team’s best player and all that but what was it like just physically uh after whatever number of minutes guarding Shay in that environment you know he’s going to be in the in the paint you know he’s going to try and get you in column you know he’s going to if you don’t he’s like just the mental physical tag no it’s it’s definitely a job that that has no breaks it’s it’s consistent 48 minute job um from our whole team and uh I think also starting these series we’ve gotten lucky enough to kind of win our first series a little earlier so we’ve had the week off or so and it’s kind of taking you out of shape a little bit so um first game was kind of getting back into shape and really feeling that that that um feeling that that pace again and like afterwards how did you feel it felt good i mean I’m only 25 so I’m popping back pretty quick um getting the right stuff in my body and and understanding how to how to pop back in in the right place how was your defense this is for Dominican Republic what do you remember playing alongside Chris Darte um Chris was here when I was a rookie um he was someone who has helped me get into the league and I thought he had a um a lot of kind of things to kind of teach me as being a second year guy and just going through what I went through my first year so a lot of uh good things coming from me in terms of Chris i remember one of your breakthrough moments was three-pointer against the Lakers uh but now it seems like you get as much attention for the defensive work you put in did you dial that up over the years or was it there and you just didn’t pay as much attention yeah I mean I think ever since I’ve gotten into the league I’ve taken on those those responsibilities since my rookie year um my success with them have probably gone up and um that’s what you guys are seeing and I’ve just got more comfortable more experienced understand the game in the NBA and how to kind of work around the foul situation but um that’s always been something I’ve tried to lean on and the thing that tried to put me on the court initially ben was saying there’s not just offensive basketball IQ there’s defensive basketball IQ uh how do you look at that i think it’s a field thing i think it’s understanding tendencies what guys like to do and then what we’re trying to accomplish as a team and being in the right spots early um and then also just figuring out on the fly when when things don’t go well in emergency situations how was your defense able to reduce Oklahoma City’s ball movement in game one and just how important is that for you guys to stay ahead of the series say that one more time how did your defense as a team reduce Oklahoma City’s ball movement in game one and just how important is that for the rest of the series um I’m not sure whether whether it did that or not i think we we we we talk about playing a full 94 ft game and picking guys up and wearing on them being physical being passed out there and I think that was something for them to adjust yeah Andrew had that little moment sorry you and Shay had that moment i guess third quarter fourth quarter kind of shoved each other basically what was that all about um just competition getting a little physical um guys out there trying to win the game and um it’s no friends at this point you’ve had a few moments where you kind of stepped up to guys and corners last year what are people missing about you cuz you don’t come across that many uh I think I’m I’m just out there to compete and I’m willing to do what it takes to get it done and I’m not too worried about making friends out there so uh whatever happens happens in that sense what did you guys tell to each other because of the turnovers in the first half that’s normally something that you do to your opponent now it’s you that had all the turnovers how were you coping with that we knew that was going to be a point of emphasis and uh it was ridiculous how many times we turned the ball over in the first half we felt like we were a little rushed and kind of playing into the nerves of the moment but uh we did a good job of setting that settling that down in the second half and that’s going to be something we focus on going forward for sure what was the biggest difference in turnovers for you guys in a person in the second half just besides the numbers obviously yeah they did a great job with their hands just on rebounds on after you get after you get past a player they’re going to come from behind and keep swiping they got a lot of handsy defenders so just being ball tough strong with it and um not rushing drew did that combo of dribble moves on your late three come to you in the moment is that a prepped thing how did that come together for you no definitely just came in the moment um just trying to definitely not trying to overpredict things in the game i’m just trying to feel it out that’s what I fell into the difference on the fans from OKC and New York Knicks the difference on the intensity in the fans the difference of intensity between New York Knicks and OKC both intense in different ways i think New York is a lot of fans talking on the sidelines trying to egg you on and uh there’s a lot of very famous people in the front row so it’s different field but here was the loudest game I played in front of and the fans were rowdy the fans are into it they love their team so the pressure is low regardless coach Carl has shown so much freedom on the offense how does that bring why do y’all love that it’s great for us cuz we get to we get to learn off of each other feel feel each other out in the process and then he also gives playmakers freedom to do what they feel is right in the moment and um I think that makes us unpredictable and it gives ourselves confidence cuz we’re all playing to our strengths you know Shay as well as anybody how much does the side do you love that you know he’s going to come back and this is what you do like you’re going to get it b uh I’m not really too worried about the the individual battle i’m not focusing on it’s it’s a team job to stop him and we know that we’re going to come out and compete and play hard regardless so I haven’t thought about that you always you’re always playing well against you know they don’t do anything for you I mean there’s a name on every team in this league so you know I’m trying to I’m trying to be do my best to win the game you know there’s always a guy that’s compete out there third string guys in the NBA can give you 25 on any night if if you’re relaxing and not being ready to play so um there’s no dropping pee level from us how did you prevent them from making you guys pay for all those turnovers for 20 turnovers and a half they didn’t let up a bunch of points off i mean I think the way the ball was turned over some of them were just like rebound quick turnovers so it wasn’t really like we had the possession really in the first place um so one more that half figuring out they didn’t have as many points off turn was a good thing but something you don’t want to lean on for sure you had uh 38 for Shay but on 30 shot attempts like high usage kind of lower pass out what did you guys think of the defensive process you had on him when he went to revisit it i think it was it was solid i think we looked at the film and there’s a lot of things we could we could fix and and get better at and um yeah I believe that in a competitive game no you think 41’s the most out of the guys on the table i’m going to ask everyone probably not we’re going to find out probably not appreciate you yep thank you the difference between the intensity in regular game um I’d say just like the energy in the building um stuff like that all the stuff that leads into it the comedia all that type of stuff but us and the guys are just focused on that not letting the stage get too big and um just focusing on us team so was what you thought or was higher the expectation what’ you say the the intensity was what you thought but it was higher i think it was what I thought um I think our team does a good job of not letting the moment too big get too big like I said but um yes the final is the biggest thing like just trying to not think of that and play our game ben you guys are eight of 10 in that left corner was that something you saw a gap where hey let’s take advantage of that or did it just play out that way in your mind yeah coach has been giving us confidence to let it flies um when we get bunch of shots just go into it like we want to in practice and be confident in our games and our shots and we have to make payments so what is the best advice that you can give the young the young athletes about playing on your you know the NBA just keep working um I’d say for a player like myself I didn’t really know that I could make it to this level until like my junior senior year of college so uh just being confident trusting your work and um yeah just doing everything you can to better yourself as a player i know it’s not scientific but does it become contagious you had nine guys that agree four different guys that agree in that fourth quarter does it become contagious in a way like one guy starts seeing a fall that it just sort of spreads definitely um especially in a game like that tensions are high and stuff doesn’t seem to be going our way when you see a bunch of different guys threes it just gives everyone confidence i feel like and that energy that they needed in that point how much does a three-pointer become I don’t want to say like a security blanket but when other things aren’t going well but you know you have that you know that you can weaponize the three-point line just kind of solves a lot of other problems it’s a huge shot uh especially being down like we were uh that whole game just seeing a three-go win was just kind of a breath of fresh air for us and we took advantage of it series that OKC forces a bunch of turnovers right thing you talked about avoiding it yeah you still had 18 or 19 in the first half what do they do that makes it so even when it is a focus still something you have to deal with i feel like they take away the whole paint it seems like they’re flying around everywhere and they play a tight tightnit defense and they’re all connected um I’ve heard people say it’s like five people on a string and that’s what it really looks like out there so uh just being confident with the ball being strong with the ball making good decisions be super important for us a lot of people are talking about obviously like team destiny stuff with you guys with all the comebacks and everything like from the inside where do you like how are you guys able to do this where does that come from um I just say being cool calm and collected in those late moments looking at coach and players like Tyrese and Pascal and Miles who just seem super calm just I feel like it carries over the rest of the team and um yeah just seeing those guys and how they react just definitely has a triple down effect for the rest of the team do you kind of feel like it’s built because it’s happened so many times like once it happens a couple times you guys are kind of like well you know we’re never in a situation where we feel like we’re out of it yeah definitely um I feel like me personally I’ve seen this stuff since my rookie year last year so I know we’re never really truly out of the game so this is for Dominican Republic how can you remember playing alongside Chris Dart how about who chris Dwarte yeah I wasn’t here yet i wasn’t here yet last year was my first year so he was better so how loud you seen in terms of growth and impact from Andrew Neart in your time he’s impressive um just taking on the toughest assignments and being able to do what he does in the offensive side of the ball at a high level is just super super impressive to me and um I’m learning a lot from him on the defensive side but just watching him grow throughout last year and um seeing the impact he has on our team is definitely cool why do you think he’s so effective just the way he moves and his IQ um a lot of people talk about offensive IQ but defensive IQ is definitely a thing and uh he has that so just making the right moves being in the right position and uh yeah just being a team leader on defense you talking about Yeah i mean he’s B1 defensive player of the month in February I think and um I think he should be talked about more honestly for what he does but um yeah it’s just super impressive i definitely can as you’re in the moment here and you realize I mean this is a dream come true for players to get to this i’m breaking ch to get to the stage to to be in the moment but also enjoy it and realize this doesn’t come around for everybody every so often like this yeah like uh like you said we just enjoying the moment um we only had one game so far so uh we got we got a lot more to come um but we enjoyed the enjoyed the game but it’s a new day now and uh we going to learn and and get better from that first game and get on to game number two the cliche is treat it like any other game but you have I mean this isn’t like any other game with all these folks out here there’s there’s hype and you guys have to feel that don’t you yeah yeah for sure it’s definitely hype obviously like you said uh it’s a lot of media around right now um but other than that it do feel like a regular game like we we want to approach it that way and and just be ourselves emotions playing Eastern Conference final games in your Knicks your previous team say it again the emotions playing against Yeah yeah uh I mean it was it was fun obviously um I’m from New York i grew up a Knicks fan um and and to have the opportunity to play them and and beat them in the Eastern Conference Finals uh it it was fun and um to have my family there my kids my parents my my fiance uh we definitely enjoyed that moment you guys have been really good at game two so far what’s this team got that’s able to maintain that success when there’s so many adjustments in these two games uh great coaches uh great coaches great leaders um they keep us on track uh obviously Pascal’s been in the finals before uh coach won the or Pascal won the finals as well uh coach been in the finals and won the finals uh we have great leaders around us who who’s been in these moments and and know what it takes to win and we all just follow along follow along and just listen to what they what they got to say and just just keep going what does Pascal had for input on this run how important has that been to have that uh it is it’s been extremely important uh like I said uh he’s done it most recent um with the Raptors uh getting that ring and he’s every single day he’s always uh throwing us throwing us things that that we should we should take in the back of our mind about how it’s going to go and what’s going to happen and we’re we’re all like a sponge we’re all taking in everything they’re saying and and just getting better and in that same vein what’s your favorite thing about playing with Pascal uh man it’s it’s extremely fun playing with Pascal but it’s extremely fun playing with everybody on this team everybody enjoys playing with each other we love each other and and as y’all can see we we have a lot of fun enjoy playing playing this game and uh we’re just going to continue that against Shay and does it mostly fall at least first and foremost to Andrew um nothing nothing falls to just one player uh obviously Shay’s a great player um uh he obviously won MVP but um it’s it’s a team collective thing that we we got to understand and uh I feel like we do understand that we understand the amount of pressure he puts on teams shay um puts on teams and as a team we just got to uh be able to stop that and and stop the other guys as well what has Andrew shown you guys though by frequently taking the scores on Yeah yeah yeah him him uh Andrew and and uh Aaron both are uh great defenders and and it’s not it’s no it’s no surprise now everybody everybody knows them everybody seen what they did last year seen what they did this year and uh they just dogs they go out there and get the job done do their job to the best of the their abilities coach Carile gives y’all a lot of freedom as an offense how does that work so well for y’all yeah yeah uh it’s just trust um and it starts with Tai uh obviously Tai is is an amazing player superstar player and and everybody understands that and we also have other great leaders at in Pascal and Miles as well and being on the court with those guys uh they they’re great leaders like they’re they’re making sure we’re staying along uh within within what we’re supposed to be doing and and everybody on this team listens and that’s why we’re where we’re at talking about uh Oscars yeah we saw you doing some uh soccer uh tricks yeah yeah like that right where do you learn that um I’m an athlete i feel like I could play every sport uh people who know me know I can I can play anything um but my girl’s a soccer player she she used to play soccer at George Mason uh she was pretty good so uh just messing around in the house uh I I picked up on a couple things so And who you got for the club uh World Cup i don’t know i ain’t going to lie you have been changing your gaming style from primary a dunker say it again you have been changing your gaming style from primary a dunker to a a shooter who is I’m a shooter now yeah I like that uh who’s helping you with that uh who’s helping me um feel like myself but obviously all the coaches as well uh uh me feeling the trust that they have uh with my shots um the work that we put in um obviously Mike uh the assistant one of our assistant coach I’ve been working with him the past two years um uh but like just being in the games and and knowing that they have trust in me uh even the players as well um it gives me a lot of confidence um in myself and so just go out there and trust my work and and trust that it’s going to always go in what is the best motivation you have you find best motivation yes the ring um nah uh I mean like everybody keeps saying like there’s a lot of players who who’ve been in the league great players who haven’t been to the finals haven’t won the finals and to have this opportunity to be here uh is a blessing and we we’re not going to take it for granted do you think that winning the game on the last shot gives you guys a boost of energy uh compared to like let’s say winning by 10 and how was the locker room like after after game ones uh winning a game period uh gives us some energy but it’s it’s not about one game uh it’s a seven game series first to four and so uh that game’s over with and and we have a game tomorrow that we have to worry about and so we’re going to just get better and learn and get prepared for tomorrow we got some early turnovers and yet rather than maybe say it’s not right or Rick went back to you for what happened later and he went back to you pretty quickly right was that built on a relationship that you have uh relationship trust um the feel of a game like I I did have those early turnovers but at the same time it’s it’s most of our first times in the playoff uh the game was moving fast but those are no excuses uh like trust uh coach has a lot of trust not only in me but in all the guys on our on our bench and uh when we feel that we feel confident and that’s why when I came out in the second quarter came out in the second half everything was was a lot better what do you attribute to your career year just comfort you got the new contract you got engaged like what what is it special about this season and what has clicked for you uh like you said everything uh this been a great year for me uh uh obviously started off uh beginning of the year having my son Oziah uh being getting engaged in Paris in um uh whatever month that was um I should know that yeah facts it’s just a lot going on right now but uh um the Paris thing and then obviously having the opportunity to be here uh it’s been it’s been an amazing year and we’re not going to take it for granted we going to we’re going to get the job done was it easy to slow down and go to sleep after game one uh yeah um not really no I’m not going to even lie like it it was definitely a fun journey in in game one but like I said once once I went to sleep and woke up it’s a new day and and we got to get prepared for the next game can you talk about what kind of a rotation is played over there yeah now we’re in the finals and both of you play like a very big rotation both teams what does it say about this kind of playing style and how successful this can be else yeah yeah um we’ve been we’ve been doing it for the past 2 years like our our our our team has depth and uh our coach has a lot of trust in not only the starters but everybody on the bench as well and so everybody knows their their job when they get out there on the floor and we’re all going to go 110% every single time and uh the coaches trust that the players trust that and that’s why we we’ve had so much success can you talk about the atmosphere i know it’s great in in the arena in the playoffs but just the experience in here first final game and then this loud noise yeah it was it was an amazing atmosphere in here um uh they was definitely loud uh but but we expected that but can’t wait to get back in Gamebridge and and hear our fans so yes sir how’s everybody good
Rick Carlisle, Pascal Siakam, Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner, T.J. McConnell, Thomas Bryant, Bennedict Mathurin, Aaron Nesmith, Andrew Nembhard, Ben Sheppard and Obi Toppin spoke with the media before practice on Saturday.
0:00 – Rick Carlisle
10:41 – Pascal Siakam
20:27 – Tyrese Haliburton
29:57 – Myles Turner
38:54 – T.J. McConnell
46:25 – Thomas Bryant
55:20 – Bennedict Mathurin
1:04:35 – Aaron Nesmith
1:08:22 – Andrew Nembhard
1:16:23 – Ben Sheppard
1:21:06 – Obi Toppin
27 Comments
AGAIN???? I CAN GET USED TO THESE LETS GO
Pacers in 4
Let's go Pacers!! Nembhard crushing it so far but everyone has to step up to beat the Thunder 4 times
Cmon Pacers ! We got this! Never Give Up! Play hard! All of INDIANA is with you!
Go Pacers!
We win game 2….. trust 💯🙏🏾🫵🏾
3 more to go. PLAY ANGRY GENTLEMEN!!! BOOM BABY!YES'CERS
Hopefully we'll win game 2 as we head to Indy up 2-0 💯
3 more wins! Lets go Pacers
Lets goooo
YESCERS
Keep pushing Pacers! if we see it, we can achieve it.
This team is special !! Let’s GO Pacers !! 👍👏🏀🏆
Wish we could hear some of these questions. What was the question that Turner answered and said TJ McConnell?
We have the ability to win game 2. I believe. Let’s go boys 🙏🏼
We need Hali to find his range. A big shooting game on Sunday would be sweet.
Lets get it 3 more to be crowned champs
3 more 🏁🏁🏁
Team of DESTINY !!! 💯🏀🏁
GO PACERS
The Pacers are undefeated in playoff games where i watched all the preceding media day interviews and 0-4 when I forget.
I love the focus on some of the coaching staff in the questions. They don't always get the shine they deserve. These long media videos are just a blessing in general. Stay hungry Pacers. You proved that you belong here. The next game is just one more step toward the finish line. Go Pacers!!
3 more wins until the 🏆💍
GO DA PACERS….YOU CAN DO IT 🎉🎉🎉
I love being a fan of this team.
Not surprisingly at all, Bob Kravitz only speaks one language.
Dont think game 2 is gonna be 1 of those okc big blowouts after a lost. Dont how you play any better defense then getting 25 turnovers. Shit pacers cut that in half pacers will blow them out.
Most exciting team since MJ with the bulls