Ime Udoka and Rafael Stone End-of-Season Media Availability | Houston Rockets

Ime Udoka and Rafael Stone End-of-Season Media Availability | Houston Rockets

This is for Rafael, but Eay, obviously you can if you have something to add, please feel free. Um, last summer you guys made basically no major changes to the roster and the team still got better. This summer, what do you see as the path to improvement? Continuity or changes? Um, I I I mean I I don’t want to seem hypocritical, so uh so I guess you know, you never know. I if you were to if I will give you an inside betting tip that I think continuity is very very likely. We last summer we didn’t take we didn’t make changes because we were really comfortable with where we were and we’d seen really good things from our team in terms of um kind of a good a good progression and I think we saw more of the same this year. So uh I think the bar to make changes is very high. If you are evaluating potential free agent additions is timeline and age kind of still a priority now or because your team is older and more experienced does that kind of timeline matchup not matter as much? I mean, we’re we’re still a very young team, so yeah, it’s it’s it’s definitely still important. We you know, I mean, it’s more important how good you are and what you can bring, but you know, we we we do want uh you know, we we we want to we want to be very competitive for very for for as long as we possibly can. And it’s for Rafale. How do you weigh the potential of getting a superstar level player with knowing that you probably have to give up a young player to get that star player, but it will accelerate your championship window with wanting to keep your young players and see if they get to that level, but you don’t know for sure if they’re actually going to ever get to the superstar level. Yeah. I mean, we’re we’re in the business of people. They’re unpredictable. um if we trade for a player assuming that that player will be the same player in our environment that they were in the last one, that’s that’s not always the case. Um and so, you know, you just you have to make the best choices you can, but I would say plan A has always been to develop our our current group and and hope that that that we can be good enough within it. And we had a we and on that front, everybody improved and um and we’re and we’re really happy with that level of I’m very happy with that level of improvement. Coach, with so much young talent on your team and Mr. Stone just talked about the continuity. You have so much young talent. How do you develop that talent as far as getting them minutes on the court, especially when you know the rotation is is so tight? Yeah, it’s a good problem to have. um you know this year and and you saw guys that kind of established themselves even last year going into the first year and so we’re not the typical young team where um just get to play through everything. You know, we added the veterans that we added two years ago and then um because we have stockpiled so many great players, it’s tougher to just get those minutes without earning them or being in a certain situation. And so, um, where where Jaylen and Ali and some guys four, three, four or five, three, four years ago had a chance to play through everything, I think we’re at a different stage as far as that. And so, um, the development will come and we have full belief in our young guys and the guys that didn’t get the opportunity to play this much this year. Uh, things change obviously on a year year-to-year basis and we see the growth behind the scenes if if it’s not in the live game action. But when they did get get a chance to play, I think you’ve seen Reed and Cam and some of these guys um obviously take advantage late in the season when they played heavy minutes. And so can kind of project that based on what they’ve done this year and where they’ve grown in certain areas and obviously it’s a long summer and summer league and all those things. We give them a chance to learn, grow, and and obviously have plans to use them much more next year. This is a question for both of you. You have bird rights to potentially bring Steven Adams back. What did you all think of his growth throughout this season and what’s the interest in potentially bringing him back for next year and beyond? I think Steven was the player we and person that we that we thought we were trading for. He he’s he’s been that. Um and he’s really important part of the group. Um and um and kind of the continuity I talked about and value earlier. He’s he’s an important part of that. Um it’s a two-way street and so uh uh he has to want to be here. Um every indication we have is he is he does and so if he wants to be here and we want him back and both those things are true which I I know it’s true from my perspective then then I’m sure we’ll work something out. Yeah. I would say he is who we thought he was going to be. you know, coming off the injury, you never know. But, um, the way he ramped up and we kind of worked him back, it was, you know, the perfect scenario for us to get him his legs back, get him his rhythm back, and, um, get him to the point where he was in the playoffs. Obviously, very cautious about the back to backs and making sure he was good at the right time. And, um, he’s he’s very in tune with his body and and how he feels and you can see it in live time when the increase of minutes happened um, how much more effective he became. So, um, huge part of what we did this year and echo his sentiments. This one’s for Rafel. Uh, Fred expressed his hope to return next season. Eay expressed the same kind of thing. How do you expect to handle his contract situation? Is the club option most likely? Do you hope to reach a new longerterm contract? Could you speak about that situation? Yeah, I definitely don’t speak about contractual situations. So, no, I won’t. But I will echo that I think Fred’s been great. kind of similar to Stephen but with a but with a much longer time frame. He’s been the the person and the player that we we hoped we were getting and I think uh I I’m very optimistic that he’ll be with us for the foreseeable future. Either one of you guys can answer this question, but um where do you feel like you are on your tra trajectory as far as like are you on schedule ahead where you want to be? I mean, I think we’re on a I think we’re on a very solid trajectory. We’re we, you know, well, obviously we are, right? 20 22 41 52. So, I I think that speaks for itself. Um, but just because you’ve done it in the past doesn’t mean that you’re guaranteed to do it in the future. So, we we have to continue to put in the work, which kind of starts on an individual basis. and and you know, not just our players, myself, my staff, we have to, you know, we have to figure out around the edges are there things we can do uh including doing nothing. We you know, it’s it’s like we have to do our job. Eay and his staff, they have to do theirs. We we all have to come back a little bit better the next year. Um but but yeah, to date, I’m very comfortable with our progression. I would say we’ve become more consistent. Um and that was a big goal of ours going into the season. So, um, yeah, we’ve we’ve taken steps and obviously that’s showed and not only our record, but guys growth and understanding. Um, you know, we always want more and selfish, greedy, whatever you want to call it as coaching staff and as a team. And so, um, not happy with how it ended, of course, and and felt like we should still be playing, but um, a lot of lot of learning experiences there that’ll help us going forward. And uh yeah, I would say, you know, it’s it’s all everybody’s goal to be better and and come back better. And that was the main message that we went away with is the things we’ve done that got us to this point, but uh we all have to come back better and this is a huge offseason for everybody. This is for both of you guys. I’m starting with um you coach. When we talked to Fred the other night, he reminded us, he said, “When I came in for my free agent visit, we talked about this being a long-term project, right?” And so kind of reminding people of that as you talk as you think about that and you you feel good about who you have. What is the plan? Like last year you guys had somebody work with um Alpie. You guys have a plan in place and can you just talk about that that piece of the long-term project in building how you build? Yeah, I mean Fred knew what he signed up for at the time. Uh knew what he was coming into as as did I. And so that those were the discussions we had. It’s going to have some patience, going to have some teaching and um growing pains that we’re all going to have to go through. But um to to answer your question as far as the offseason, yeah, that’s that’s a huge thing for me and my coaching staff is spending the time and and getting guys to another level. And so we’ll do the same thing like we always do and spending a lot of time in different places with the guys. Um you know, they’ll be here as well. And so we’ll try to get some group gettogethers here and u have guys working out and obviously taking steps there as well. But um yeah, we’ll we’ll we’ll delegate coaches with guys in their cities and their countries or wherever it may be. And um this offseason there’s not a ton of international stuff. So we’ll get to spend a little bit more time with our guys than we did last year with the national team stuff. And so that’s the plan as always. And um you know it doesn’t stop for us. It’s it’s more of the same. And I think uh you saw the growth with Alpie in a lot of ways. and look for him to take another step and we’ll have specific coaches with him again. And so that’s the plan for all our young guys, spend as much time as possible. You guys obviously have extra draft capital in the form of Phoenix’s picks. Um, do you view that as an option to potentially upgrade this roster? Um, and also, um, do you view any players as as untouchable to any players currently on the roster in trying to upgrade the the roster? No, I mean, you can’t. I yeah, I think that would be the the the untouchable like the the business we’re in. Nobody, myself included, nobody’s untouchable, you know, and so um you know, I I I wouldn’t I I wouldn’t want to say that. Um but but everybody on our roster we deeply value and um and so um so so you know, I think I I think you have to be careful with your words there. Um, I have to be careful with my words. You can do whatever you want with yours. Um, uh, in terms of, yeah, like we we have those picks. Um, we accumulated them, um, so that we could either draft guys in the future or upgrade our current roster. Um, you know, it time will tell what we what we do with it or or or flip them into the future, which we’ve done a couple of times. And um you know we’ll just we’ll we’ll see what makes the most sense at the time. For both of you, start with Rafel. When you’re watching that playoff series and you’re evaluating the players and what you guys have, can you see something that that’s missing that you need and watching that series saying like, I wish I had this. And then for Eay, kind of the same thing. as you’re coaching, as you’re going through rotations and you’re getting to the late game situations, is there something that you wish you had that you didn’t have as you’re setting the lineups? Yeah, I mean, for me, no. I I think we had, you know, I’m I’m disappointed. I I you know, I thought I obviously it was a very competitive series. Um I I kind of felt the whole series like we were going to win it and so I’m disappointed we didn’t, but I don’t think I don’t think we didn’t because we didn’t have enough. I think I think, you know, we didn’t get a break. Uh the ball bounced the wrong way. Somebody hit shots. We didn’t hit shots. But no, I I have faith in our guys that uh that that we have plenty. I would say the key word that we always talk about is consistency. And I think that was a case in the series when we played really good basketball. We had some blowout wins and we played average or below. We still had close losses. And so the more consistent you can be across the board and avoid some of the situations that even got it to a game seven would be one. But other than that, I’d say 90% free throw shooters and 50% three-point shooters. That’s what we’re missing. Coach, what what do you see as the biggest way in which your team grew throughout this year? And what do you think needs to happen for you guys to reach that next level? Consistency. And you know that’s like I said we we talked about that in depth going into the season. Um the first year was laying the foundation effort and what it takes to be competitive on a nightly basis and then this year was sacrifice and consistency. We have so much depth that it’s not going to be everybody’s night every night. Some guys are not going to play for certain games. And then how consistent can we be? And um you know getting with the team yesterday and looking at you know our winning and losing streaks that really stood out. We had seven three-game losing streaks the prior year. A fivegame losing streak. a lot of red with a few greens and obviously the 11 winning streak last year. But this year, one three-game losing streak and then the six where we struggle with the injuries in the middle. And so that was the only real red on our thing. We didn’t lose two games in a row until midFebruary. And so our our goals were to be consistent. I think guys grew in those areas individually and which obviously showed in our record. and then um late game three-game losing streak where we sat everybody that doesn’t really count but um I think that was our goal for this year and and the growth you saw across the board and so we weren’t as reliant on veterans to do what they did. I think when Fred did go down Jaylen and and grew as facilitators, initiators and it helped us overall and so uh just a consistent growth and I’ll be becoming an all-star Jaylen being leading scorer and much more consistent across the board. You saw it in every facet for our guys. Uh, this is for both of you guys. There’s a decent amount of lineup data that suggests this team has performed better without Jaylen Green on the court this season. How do you how much do you incorporate that kind of data into your decision-making process moving forward? Be it roster construction, coaching decisions, that kind of thing. Yeah, you’re that’s a really flawed question. So, like we have there’s there’s there there’s there’s great data that we have and we use. Um, but and I can uh one of my f you may would know one of my favorite things and I tell them when when when when we have a new when we have new coaches join my my one of my favorite things to tell them is I can make data say whatever I want it to say. Um and uh and so you know I think um you know we we heavily use it but but we’re very careful um to try and really parse it out. And I would say that um um I I would say that that that that some of our very best lineups include him. And so uh so so that that that piece by itself, I just think that’s just Yeah, that’s just that’s just not correct. Uh knowing what you know now, um what would you have done differently or what would your approach have been differently this season? Um, just knowing what you know now about how it played out about how it played out. Yeah. Uh, the season, how the season played out, like what would you have done differently knowing what you know now, coach and GM? Um, you know, for me, I think it went pretty appropriately to the way we wanted it to as far as, you know, like I said, us being consistent and avoiding losing streaks and, uh, growing guys at the right pace and and so, um, you know, the injuries happen and you you get these different lineups out there and obviously a men starts to start when Jabari goes down for a while and and so, um, you know, I wouldn’t say many things differently. uh we have versatility and depth to kind of withstand everything and we showed that the like I said the rough stretch was Fred going down until guys kind of grew up and grew into that role and so um I think it just made us better going into the playoffs and down the stretch of the season uh by some of the things happening unintentionally made us a more well-rounded team that’s not as reliant. So, um, yeah, you know, we still have some games we felt we gave away. And you win 52 and shut it down toward the end of the season, that’s a good problem to have, but um, with the little more, um, whatever it is, shooting, finishing games, endgame situations, I think you can get in the 60 range. And so, uh, played out decently to me. Obviously, the end of the season is a sour taste that we’re going to fuel us the rest of the offseason. Uh Cam express for both of y’all from each perspective. Cam expressed a couple times just like his unsuredness of what his role was on this team. Did you have any special conversations with him? Do you have to this offseason? What was his role? What does it what does he have to do to change his role? Yeah, I was a little caught off guard by that as well because we’ve had in-depth conversations with Cam probably more than anybody. And so, you know, I’m pretty clear with what is going to get you on the court and what’s going to help you sustain a role. And so, um, yeah, I’ll leave it at that as far as that, but plenty of conversations very clear with what’s needed. And, um, you know, opportunities are there and not always taken advantage of or, you know, other guys step up and and play a little better at times and you’re looking for that consistency there. And so, um, we’ll we’ll have our exit meetings. He had about five or six yesterday and we’ll catch the other guys before they leave town and reiterate a lot of points but um ton of potential there. Just the consistency is the main thing and um he knows that. And this is for the both of you. Um how important is the theme of continuity in this project that you’ve built over the last two years and and moving forward. I mean I think all things being equal, continuity is great, you know. um sometimes they’re not equal and um like we like we made a big addition to our team this year and Stephen Adams like we obviously we acquired him at the trade deadline last year but he wasn’t playing um and and I think I think we all believe that that was a really really helpful addition um and so I think continuity for continuity sake isn’t isn’t uh isn’t what we’re trying to achieve but I do think like especially given we have so many young players that we think are internally improving moving. Um I I think you know I think it’s easier it’s easier for players it’s easier for people to improve and to feel good in situations that they’re comfortable in. So continuity helps with that. Um, and uh, I think from a coaching perspective, like you don’t, you know, you’re not you’re not trying to bring somebody in up up to speed. And obviously there are guys who are just so high IQ that they’re just it’s all really quick. But but there’s lots of effective players who it takes time. And so the more the the more continuity you have, the less you have to do some of that. So again, all things being equal, continuity is great, but you know, the goal ultimately is to build a championship team. And if we think that uh there there’s a move or a series of moves that make it more likely we will be that then then we would ignore continuity and we do those moves. Yeah. I would say for for me anyway, it’s um you know, we talked about going into year two and the goals and um understood that everybody was going to be much better in the second year and so we kind of hit the ground running as far as that to his point only addition of Steven was there and I think it really was a big part of us jumping out the way we did this year, you know, and so um that continuity is good, no doubt, but you’ve seen teams make a lot of moves and and they feel like they need to get over the hump and Donets is at it or Butler players at it and sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t, but uh we always felt comfortable about what we had here and that we take this step this year. For both of you, is there anything that you learned about individual players or just the roster in total by playing the Warriors seven straight games and just kind of seeing the ways that they attacked you when you had their full attention for two and a half weeks? You know, I don’t I think we learned a lot about our I I think it’s it’s less what we learned and more it’s a learning opportunity. It that’s how I think about it, which is like the the grind of a series is different from the regular season. And uh the intensity like like what like just this is a compliment to Eay. The my favorite thing about this team is I felt from the beginning of the year to the end of the year, we were the hardest playing team in basketball and that’s that’s really a testament to him and his staff and obviously to our players as well. Um but but that’ll get you over in the regular season in a way it won’t get you over in the playoffs because everybody plays hard in the playoffs. And so getting our guys to to realize that, like not getting them to realize that, h them having the opportunity to feel what that’s like, I just think it’s a tremendous learning opportunity. Um, and some of it we picked up on the fly. We we for sure improve through the course of those seven games, but I think the bulk of that opportunity is is is to come where they get a chance to reflect on it and incorporate it and work through the summer and work through next year. So that’s that’s more how I think about it. An experience for me is is a big thing for our young guys going through it for the first time and you know how fast can we adapt to it and and next time we’re in the playoffs since it’s hit the ground running from game one not you know take a step back and I think we kind of found our footing you know midway through the series but u let go of some opportunities early that I think um with a with a series under your belt a hard fought series you can kind of reflect on and uh go back on those lessons that you’ve learned and So, um, I think our guys will be better for it. No doubt. In regards to a men, just being in the gym with him every day, how would you quantify his growth, uh, particularly on the offensive end and what’s possible for him on that end? Rafale, what was it like for you seeing the guy that you were really high on but into this rising star throughout the year? Yeah, I mean, he’s a extremely hard worker, a grinder like all of our guys are. You never had a complaint about that of guys not putting in the work. And so, um, he views himself as one of the best, if not the best at what he’s trying to be, and there’s no real ceiling for him. He’s going to continue to ascend like that. Um, but the the understanding he he catches on very quickly and once he does some things, he applies it and kind of puts it in his memory bank and um, just his versatility as, you know, he’s much different. We use him in much different ways than what he did his whole career and he’s adapted to all those things very well. So ultimate um Swiss Army knife. You put him in any any position. One through five he guards. One through five he has played and um gives us a ton of luxury and versatility to have a guy like that. But um yeah, sky’s the limit, no ceiling on what he wants to be and and the work he puts in showed that. This is for both of you guys. What did y’all like about the identity of the team this year? Yeah, I mean, um I think uh um one of one of the lessons I’ve learned um in my current role is that um there there’s a lot there’s a lot of ways to win in the NBA and there’s there’s there’s different organizations have been successful doing different things and one of the best ways to win in the NBA is just getting obscenely ly lucky and lucking into player X who elevates everyone around him or something like that. Um, but when you’re when you’re trying to build something, I guess the biggest lesson I’ve learned is that having a clear direction that fits the organization’s personality is really important. And I guess for our organization that 100% starts with Tilman. Um, and then and then it’s and then it’s me and then it’s our coach and then it’s our players and um and it’s but it’s not it’s not like four play four people or 15 people or whatever. It’s really there’s like I don’t know hundred of us or 90 of us or something that interact on a daily basis. So, taking that back to the team and everything, what I would say is that like there’s different ways you can win and there’s different ways you can lose. You can you can win a game by making every three-pointer um and playing horrific defense and never getting a rebound. You can win a game never making a three-pointer and and playing the world’s best defense and rebounding. I I am I’m my personality, just me. I’m way more comfortable trying to win in version two of that than version one. And um and if I I can I personally I’m okay if I feel like we left it all on the table. I can I can lose and be okay. I struggle I struggle if I if I feel like we’re we’re soft or not or getting outworked. Um, going all the way back to the first time we met and spent time together for me and Eay, that was um, that was something I felt like we kind of bonded over and it was for sure something I thought was going to end up being important to him. And obviously it has it is important to him. Um, and so the way this team kind of in year two has taken that on is something I really like. Um, and I think we have an identity and I think it fits Tilman’s identity and it fits mine and it fits Eay’s and it fits our players. Um, and I think that’s that’s a good that’s a good basis a good building block from which we can build. What do you like? I mean it it is a lot of what he said. Um and that was from day one where um the competitiveness and effort and um you know all those things were there from day one and especially for a young team and a team that had lost a lot and so um that’s where you start with and um we’ve built it from there and so I think guys have gotten tougher and guys have pulled each other up and you know all rubbed off on each other as far as that edge and toughness and and you start with that and then you get to the skills, you get to the IQ, you get to all the other areas where we need to and continue to build and learn. But the foundation is set and we knew we get we know we give oursel a really good chance on a nightly basis because of that. And so message was you come in with this effort and this competitiveness you’ll win three out of four games. That was our goal. We said you know 75% of your games 70 75% is doing that on a nightly basis. And we’ve done that from day one. And so you saw the competitiveness scuffle scuffles and scratch you know all the things from last year. And I think we’ve only increased that as guys have grown and we’ll continue to when they get more confident, more physically uh stronger and all those things and um bodess well for us going forward that that’s laid and now we got to work on everything else the skill the skill sets IQ and just continue to grow as a group. Question for both of you as you look back on the series. What is your assessment of what Jaylen did in that series? How do you balance that with what you saw over the course of a long season and perhaps what are the next steps for him to take as a player to become the player that I’m sure you would like him to become? You know, um Jaylen didn’t have the series that he wanted to have or we didn’t. But, uh, I think, you know, it’s it’s a little bit of a double-edged sword in terms of trying to evaluate it because they their goal going into the series was to take him out. Um, and that was obvious. And um, and I think I think they talked about it. I I I didn’t actually listen to what they said afterwards, but people told me what they said, so like, who knows? I think they talked about it. Um, we’re not a team built around any one player offensively, whether it’s Jaylen or Alin or Amen or Fred. And so, um, if your if your goal is to take out one of our players, in theory, what should happen is that our other players should just punish it. And Eay frequently talks to the guys about inviting double teams. Hit the guy like and and you’re the sacrificial lamb. And so, um, you know, in some games we punished it, in some games we didn’t. Um, you know, and one of in one of the games we ended up with great spacing and we able to like punish it with him. That’s maybe unsustainable. But, um, but yeah, I I would just say that like uh we for all of our guys like we want them to learn and everything else, but it’s not, you know, one playoff series doesn’t define a player. Um but also I think um in particular with him and that yeah like if if a team’s going after you like that they’re going after you like that and then then it’s it’s a team game for a reason. And um I’m confident that if we want to take any one player out we we can and will um on any team in the NBA. And so it’s just the repercussions of that that that impact the winning or losing. That that’s how I think about it. Yeah. and more of the same where um he really improved as far as that. You know, it’s a compliment to him that teams will go after him to that extent and you saw it throughout the season. He had, you know, some practice at and we got better at it. Um but main thing is obviously getting the ball to the um playmakers behind it and not turning it over and at times he struggled with that early in the season and he’s really improved there. Um to Rafel’s point, we made him pay at times and then at times uh it worked in their favor. vice versa with them when we took Curry out at times and Payton hurts us down the stretch, but a lot of other guys miss wide open shots and we win those going away. And so, um, the more practice and confidence you have with that, um, and him just, you know, being being the decoy at times like I mentioned and so, um, there are opportunities that you still will have with that and the more stops we can get, the more we can play in transition to avoid those is is good for him and good for us. Um, but, um, you know, he went through some growing pains, no doubt. I think physically getting stronger to absorb contact um on some of his drives when he has the advantage or finishing at the rim when he does get the driving lane. All those things are things we talked about with him going into the offseason and able to use him off ball a little bit more and you got to get a little bit stronger as far as that cuz they took him out of some of those actions where they couldn’t trap. And so some areas for him to grow obviously some areas for us to use him a little bit better and but when he does face those we have enough talent behind especially a really good passing big like Alpie that should punish that every night. Tari and Jabari both miss some time with injuries this season but were able to make an impact still. Eay, how do you evaluate their development this season specifically? And Rafel, how likely do you think it is that those two sign extensions? Yeah, for me um obviously Jabari going down, he came back really good and and adapted to the role we brought him back in which was coming off the bench and so um you know he slid in in there and we were a different team but um better in some ways. Obviously, the shooting wasn’t there at the starting unit, but um his versatility and and Amens made that a seamless transition. I think he is the ultimate professional came back and handled it well and even showed, you know, how much we missed him while he was gone. You know, he plugged a lot of those gaps when he came back, whether it was starting at the or playing at the four, starting at the or playing the three or the five at times. And with the double big lineup, he was really good there. Tar’s a little different obviously. um you know, you like the continuity of him playing every night, but you had to be conscious of that and getting him to the end of the season as well. And so there are some things with a young guy that you you want to see growthwise. And I think the fact that he couldn’t play on a nightly basis, you know, that’s that’s a tough one for him, especially as competitive as he is. And so, you know, you didn’t mention Fred as well, you know, being out with the injuries and how that hurt us and affected us, but how it helped the team overall. And so, uh, those two continue to show growth. Um, you know, you I would say overall, um, they have a lot of things to work on like like everybody and they know that and, um, that’s what this big offseason’s for. Sorry, I was going to say, I know you said you wanted me to comment on their free agency status, which is um, they’re extension eligible. We will talk. I’m not gonna comment on any of our negotiations. Um, but they’re very important parts of what we do and we have and they’re they’re just they’re really really both solid solid guys. Like I I they’re they’re I love those guys. Um I actually like it’s probably already come across, but this team as a whole like the group of guys to that you you know to come in every day and work with is is just great. It’s just great. And yeah, I thought I thought both Tari and Jabari in particular had really hard years um with injuries and and just growing up growing pains of various sorts and they just they both handled it so well. I’m I’m I’m yeah, I’m very appreciative of them and their effort and um and very excited about where, you know, the direction I think they’re both headed. Uh this question is for Raphael. do have an opportunity to talk with uh Tilman a lot later on in in the season. I do later on um in the season and during the playoffs and after the playoffs. I know he leaves the basketball stuff up to you, but what is his vision move moving forward going into next season? And how does he currently see the roster constructed? I mean, I think it’s, you know, we’re we’re aligned. It’s the vision’s the vision is the one I’ve I’ve laid out to you, which is we’re where, you know, I don’t know. I think I Like no one believed me, but I think like four years ago I was like we’re going to be really young and I think I used words like excite. I never used words like winning like like you know we we you know we knew what we were in for and he knew what he was in for. And um and you know and we’re we’re not there. Like the goal is to build a championship team and we we clearly were not a championship team this year. So we’re all we’re all still in it. But um but he’s completely bought in. Uh he he you know I I’ll just speak on his behalf. like I I know this is his favorite team he’s ever had. Just again kind of a lot of it is what I just said which is he also has an opportunity to be around our guys day in and day out and they’re good guys and and I think he appreciates them not just for the players they are but for the people they are and um yeah and he’s just very bought in on this group and and seeing and and thinking that this that this group can get us can get us to where we want to go. You’re right. You did say excitement. We tried to give get you to give us a number and you wouldn’t. So I remember that. Um EA, you’ve been around basketball a long time. What do you do in terms of evaluating yourself and your staff is that process to say where are we? What can we work on? What’s that process for you? Yeah, I mean before the season starts, we do a full season recap of obviously our coaches retreat. We get together and look at the previous season and look at areas of growth, improvement across the board. you check the numbers and you see how we use guys, how we develop guys. Everybody has a different role obviously with the coaching staff, but uh reflecting on myself and and looking at areas of growth, it’s always a big thing and that obviously starts much before we get together for a coaches retreat. And so, um yeah, it’s it’s always ways to improve and and that’s what I that was a message to the team yesterday and after the game was I have to come back better. The staff does as well and all of you guys as well. So, it’s not just physically, mentally, all those things. Um, yeah, it’s overall growth. It’s not pointing any fingers at we missed shots. It’s um did we get the right shots? Did we use you guys the right way? And um you know, target areas to be better at and or be number one in and we hit some of those this year. Um we’ve been really good at some, but we can always be a lot better. And so, different ways to to um grow and learn and u kind of lean back on experiences. to your point, I’ve been seeing a lot of things and been around for a long time and anything we can implement to make our team better and things run more smoothly. You mentioned not being at a championship level. Um, what do you believe is the fir or what what is the first step you all will take to to get to that level? What do you what more do you feel like you all need to get there? We’re gonna work hard over the summer and everybody’s gonna be better. Then we’ll see where we’re at. Like that’s that’s the one thing I know will happen. Yeah. The rest we’ll see, but but I know that will happen. And we have the vast bulk of our rotational minutes are being played by players that I believe in my soul will be way better next year than they were this year because that’s the point of their career that they’re at. So, I think we’ll see what, you know, we’ll see what that brings.

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