Isaiah Roby | Exit Interview
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00:00You obviously had a lot of minutes and opportunities towards the end of the season, just how much
00:07do you feel like that kind of gave you some momentum heading into the off season?
00:11Yeah, that was definitely, you know, a big confidence builder, you know, especially,
00:15you know, at the beginning of the year, my minutes were a little bit more sporadic.
00:20So you know, obviously at the end of the year, we had some guys that were injured and whatnot.
00:23So being able to finish the year strong was definitely, you know, a confidence builder
00:26going into the summer.
00:27Coach has given you a lot of, you know, credit for your professionalism in a lot of different
00:31situations throughout the year.
00:32Just how did, you know, your teammates or even the coaching staff kind of support you
00:35through all the different situations here in the season?
00:38Yeah, I mean, we have a, I mean, it's easy with this team, you know, we have a really
00:41good group of guys.
00:42We have a young group of guys who, you know, we're all still trying to find our footing
00:47in the league and we're trying to establish ourselves as in our different roles.
00:51So you know, I think for me, being the versatile player I am, that's, you know, that's just
00:56another, another, you know, bonus to my game.
00:59You talk about being versatile.
01:00I think you might have been the player in the plunder that had experience with the most
01:05different lineups in this entire year.
01:08Just what does it mean to be inserted into so many lineups and to kind of take on the
01:12role of being the most consistent player on the floor?
01:14You know, that's huge.
01:15I mean, I think that was one thing for me coming into this season was to be more consistent
01:21as well as, you know, other goals like, you know, shooting the ball more, shooting the
01:23ball better.
01:25But overall, just being a more efficient player, more consistent player.
01:28So, you know, the fact that I was able to do that in so many different lineups is definitely
01:31encouraging and especially in a team where, you know, we don't have, you know, a lot of
01:36teams who are established playoff teams or whatnot.
01:38They might have their established five, six, seven guy rotation.
01:41And you know, obviously with the young team, we're trying to figure that out still.
01:44So I think being able to play with different guys was, you know, that was a huge bonus.
01:48How much has your game grown in a couple of years since Nebraska days, Maverick days,
01:53now here?
01:54How much has your overall game grown?
01:55Man, it's grown a lot.
01:56I mean, like you said, since I'm even talking to Sam just a little bit ago, you know, from
02:01the day I got here, when I got traded from the Mavericks, you know, I think my game is
02:05just, I mean, I mean, it's done a, I don't even know the right word for it.
02:10It's grown a lot.
02:11I'll say that.
02:12I think even from last season, you know, statistically, it's grown a lot.
02:16Physically, I've grown a lot, being able to guard multiple positions and being able to
02:21be confident in that.
02:24But the thing is, this year being my second year really playing, you know, I think I have
02:27a lot of room to still grow.
02:29So I'm excited for that.
02:30Did you think you'd have this in you or was it a surprise to you?
02:36I mean, my time at Nebraska, you know, I really, I didn't end up going, I didn't pick Nebraska
02:41to make it to the NBA.
02:42Even my freshman year, I wasn't starting at Nebraska.
02:45So, you know, the NBA was never really on my radar until I started doing things that
02:49NBA players do.
02:50And I was doing them consistently in college.
02:52And, you know, I think that my skill has exceeded where I thought I could be when I was in college.
02:59But I think now, you know, going up against, you know, MVP caliber players and playing
03:04really well against them and just seeing what I can do in the NBA, you know, I think my
03:07confidence is just growing and growing.
03:08So I'm excited.
03:09I don't know what my ceiling is.
03:10I'm excited to find it though.
03:11Is there something specific that you want to work on in offseason?
03:16I wouldn't say specific.
03:18I would say that just, I would say that I've learned a lot in these first three years in
03:24the league.
03:25And I think that just taking those experiences into the summertime is going to allow me to
03:30come back an even better player.
03:31You know, I think that I've always had a really good work ethic.
03:35So I think that, you know, my work ethic is never a question, but I think just learning
03:38what to work on, you know, not, not wasting time in the summertime, working on things
03:42I'm not going to use, you know, I think I have a really good idea of what my role is
03:45on this team, especially, and what I can do to help this team win.
03:50This is going to be your first legit full offseason, how much are you looking forward
03:54to that?
03:55Yeah, I'm really excited.
03:56I'm really excited to be able to, you know, have my home base, you know, and just consistently
04:02work.
04:03You know, I think one thing that, like you said, it's my first real full offseason, my
04:07rookie year, you know, I had, I had surgery and last year was kind of sporadic as far
04:12as where I was at, who I was working out with.
04:14I think this year is going to be really big to, you know, just be consistent in what I'm
04:17doing.
04:18And, you know, I have my plan already set out.
04:19So I'm looking forward to that.
04:20Jose, you talked about your personal development, I'm assuming other guys would have maybe similar
04:25stories of how they feel like they've developed.
04:28Lou was in here a second ago talking about how you guys committed to the team to compete
04:32all year.
04:33Does that individual development, the excitement that creates within each of you, does that
04:37dovetail into why we were, why we saw this team still competing and playing hard throughout
04:42the whole year?
04:44Yeah, for sure.
04:45I mean, I think the competition comes from, I think the group of guys we have, you know,
04:50although we're really young and really inexperienced, you know, just the fact that coming back from,
04:57I think we led the league in double digit, double digit comeback wins.
05:02You know, that's just a, that's just a testament to our resilience and our competitiveness.
05:06And, you know, I think that in many cases, a team full of young guys who might not be
05:12as competitive, you know, they might have folded a lot, a lot easier and they might
05:15have, you know, it could have been really easy for a young team to use that as an excuse.
05:19Like, you know, we don't, we don't have the experiences in coming back or we might not
05:22have the physicality to come back.
05:24But, you know, I think that that was one thing I loved about this team is just the amount
05:27of fight we have and, you know, the competitiveness we have and, you know, just the fight.
05:32Do you think that's something that is learned, can be learned, can competitiveness be learned
05:38or is it more guys bringing it on an individual basis?
05:42I think it definitely could be learned and worked on.
05:44It's definitely a skill.
05:45You know, I think that sometimes, you know, anybody can be discouraged but I think it's
05:50definitely a skill to have that fight in you and that competitiveness.
05:54And I think the coaches did a really good job of instilling that in that team or in
05:58our team this year.
05:59You mentioned that one of the goals is to be a playoff team maybe next year in the upcoming
06:04future.
06:05When you look back on this season and you see that you guys have come back from double
06:08digit losses, how much do you think this season like this is going to actually propel
06:13you and maybe the next season when you could be making a playoff contending type of season
06:17and you have those comebacks to fall back from and know you have experience in winning
06:20those games?
06:21Yeah, I mean, obviously the comebacks are really encouraging.
06:25I think something that's even more encouraging is just the experiences that we all gained
06:28from this year and, you know, hopefully not having to come back from as many games, you
06:32know, that that would be an even better and even better situation for us.
06:37I think that we all learned a lot about ourselves.
06:40And I think going into next season, you know, I'm not sure exactly what, you know, obviously
06:46everybody wants to make the playoffs.
06:47And that's a goal.
06:48That's something that we all want to experience.
06:49You know, Coach Dagnall talks about that a lot and how he's been a lot of he's been a
06:52part of a lot of playoff series, you know, as an assistant.
06:56And, you know, every time he speaks about it, you know, you can tell it's just it's
06:59just more special.
07:00You know, it means a lot.
07:01And, you know, that's something that we all want to experience.
07:02So I would say that's that's the ultimate goal.
07:06And that's something that we're all working towards.
07:07But, you know, it's not going to it's not going to come easy.
07:10And we know that.
07:11And so I think I think, you know, that's more of that's the goal.
07:14But I think the process is what excites me the most.
07:18You had an interesting last week, like three guys just got called up from your combined
07:27games all time.
07:29More than their I mean, your games combined, your games were more than all theirs combined.
07:33What was that like playing with new faces, new guys and such an experience?
07:38Um, yeah, it was definitely it was a it was a fun experience.
07:41I mean, you know, obviously, I play with those guys in the G League, you know, so I had had
07:48a small sample size of playing with them already.
07:51And, you know, those guys, they love the opportunity, it was fun to be out there with them.
07:55And, you know, they kind of took on the character of our team, you know, there was no back down,
08:00there was no, you know, they weren't out there playing timid, they were out there attacking
08:04the game.
08:05And, you know, those guys are great players also.
08:07So, you know, it was definitely fun.
08:10It was exciting to see those guys play 40 minutes, you know, I don't think they, they
08:13saw that happening earlier this year.
08:15But, you know, it's always fun to play with those guys.
08:18And, you know, they they earned the opportunity, you know, playing with the G League, how they
08:22how they responded to adversity throughout the whole season, they earned the opportunity.
08:28So it was good to get out there with those guys.
08:30Consensus on Mark is that he's great to play for and he's a players coach, but two years
08:35in specifically for you, how has the experience been?
08:39Yeah, he's been, I mean, I mean, obviously, I've only been a part of two organizations.
08:44But you know, great coach in my eyes, you know, he, he, he is a coach who he lets us
08:52explore our games, you know, especially with such a young team, I think that's really important.
08:56You know, he's not the type of coach that you're going to be out there scared to play
08:59for, you know, he encourages you to make mistakes, he encourages you to, to learn from your mistakes.
09:05And, you know, I think that's a great, great quality of a coach of a young team.
09:10So, you know, I love playing for Mark.
09:12He's a, he's a, he's a great coach.
09:14And he's a, he's a great, great leader for our team.
09:18How are you approaching this offseason knowing that, you know, there's going to be
09:22some sort of roster turnover, more draft pictures going to be coming in, like,
09:26how do you sort of handle that personally, and just using it as motivation going into next year?
09:32Yeah, I mean, that's always, there's always external motivation, you know, for that sense,
09:35you know, the NBA is, you know, one of the most competitive, you know, it's a competitive job,
09:40obviously, you know, there's however many basketball players in the world,
09:44there's only 450 spots.
09:45So, you know, there's always that pressure.
09:47And the one thing I've learned, you know, it never really goes away,
09:51you know, as a rookie, you know, you're trying to catch it, you're trying to,
09:55you know, get your feet wet in the league, and you're trying to try to make your spot.
10:00You know, that pressure is still there in my fourth year now.
10:02And, you know, even guys who are veterans who have been in around the league for,
10:05you know, nine, 10 seasons, like they feel that pressure as well.
10:07So I don't think you can really think about that too much.
10:10You can't really think about what you can't control.
10:13You can only focus on what you control.
10:15And for me, that's getting better this summer.
10:18Anyone else in the room?
10:21Okay, we got one on the Zoom.
10:22Christos Altas.
10:23Go ahead, Christos.
10:25Hey, Ajay.
10:25I hope you're doing well.
10:28What would you like to carry over from this season to next season,
10:32speaking about your game,
10:33speaking about the effort and the approach that you brought to the game this season?
10:47I mean, I don't know.
10:49I think this season I did a really good job of shooting the ball,
10:51you know, shot the ball really well from three.
10:54I think that my attempts could be higher,
10:57but that's the one thing I want to just continue to work on.
11:00That's the one thing that's going to set me apart most at my position,
11:02you know, being a small ball center, having the other teams,
11:06you know, seven footers come out and guard me on the perimeter,
11:09you know, continuing to use my three-point shot as a weapon
11:11and open up the drive for myself.
11:13And, you know, once I'm able to do that,
11:15you know, I think that my offensive game really opens up
11:17and I'm able to help the team out a lot.
11:20All right.
11:20Thanks, Rob.
11:21Sweet.
11:21Thank you, guys.