Mark Daigneault | Exit Interview
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00:00 Um, I just want to acknowledge a couple groups of people. First one, just
00:04 our players want to just publicly thank our players for, um, their effort
00:09 this season, their commitment level to our program, professionalism and just
00:14 the mindset they brought to the gym and to the court every single day. It was
00:18 very impressive. They continue to raise the bar despite being a group of
00:22 relatively young professionals. I want to thank our staff, especially the ones
00:27 that are have their hands on the players every day. Talk to our players
00:30 about attacking the program. Um, but in order for that to work, the staff has
00:35 to put a good program on in a program where if the players attack it, um,
00:39 they'll improve. And I think we've done that for the last couple of years as
00:43 well. I want to thank our front office, Sam, Mr Bennett, uh, the people that
00:49 move with the team and our players have every resource we need, uh, to achieve
00:53 at a high level and be successful. And that doesn't happen by accident. And so
00:58 we're incredibly grateful for the opportunities that we get from everybody
01:01 that's an arm's length away from the team, not only Mr Ben and Sam, but our
01:05 front office and all our extended staff that have a great impact on our team. I
01:10 want to thank our fans for being in the fight with us. It was great having our
01:13 fans back in the arena this year only made us more excited as we continue to
01:18 move forward. Uh, and I want to thank you guys for being a conduit to the
01:22 fans and your professionalism and fairness over my time here. So, and
01:27 with that, I'll take whatever you guys have.
01:28 Coach, you mentioned that this is obviously been a young team and there
01:32 have been a lot of ups and downs, a lot of setbacks. But what did you think of
01:36 the way that just came together this season, considering that there were a
01:40 lot of new faces and it was a young group. Um, as a baseline, we want to be
01:45 a team that from an identity standpoint, you watch us play and you say that team
01:48 competes together, you know, and that's who we want to be. And that's just
01:54 gonna be an unbelievably important quality and ingredient for our team as
01:58 we continue to move forward. Uh, and this particular group of guys, not
02:02 only this season, but last season has established a baseline of competitiveness
02:06 and connectedness that we think can scale forward and that is critically
02:10 important for us scaling forward. And then just on a from a basketball
02:14 standpoint, you started the season at the old practice facility, wanted to
02:17 set that foundation of identity. What do you think in terms of, you know,
02:21 offensive defensive identity you guys were able to accomplish in kind of
02:25 setting that this year? Uh, well, the purpose of that was to kind of tap into
02:29 the tradition of the organization, you know, which is tricky. We're proud of,
02:32 um, you know, the organization's origins and the teams and players that
02:37 have been here before. And we think tapping into that, uh, is an advantage
02:40 for us. But we're also, um, a new iteration and a new, um, cycle of the
02:45 team and we need to charter on course. And there's a blank slate that we're
02:50 staring at and continue to be staring at. I think this season was another
02:55 positive step in the right direction, environmentally, stylistically,
02:59 programmatically and with the development of individual players. I
03:03 would say this season was a huge developmental season for every player
03:06 on the roster. But who, like if you had to give the most improved award, like
03:11 who would you give it to? Uh, it's tough. I mean, I think, um, the overall
03:16 development of the environment, you know, like having an environment where
03:22 people come in and can operate close to their potential every day. The
03:26 development of our program, you know, continuing to make sure that the
03:30 program we're putting on is one that is best practice in every way possible.
03:34 Um, and the development of our system, you know, are huge, huge kind of
03:39 pillars of what we're trying to get done here. And that allows our players
03:43 to grow and thrive in their individual development. And I think that happened.
03:47 I also think that the individual development of one player can be
03:50 contagious to the other players. And I think that's where you really get
03:53 cooking in a developmental environment where momentum is gained through me
03:59 watching you develop and you watching me develop. And I thought, you know,
04:02 we established that with this particular group this season. When you
04:05 were hired two years ago, you certainly knew it was going to be a
04:09 rebuild to two years into that. Like what's been the biggest challenge for
04:13 you as a coach through this process? Um, I mean, just the challenges of,
04:18 you know, an NBA season, you know, I mean, nothing more than that. I mean,
04:22 biggest challenge for me this year was we had our first baby in November, you
04:26 know, and that that was challenging in terms of wanting to make sure that I
04:31 was doing the right stuff there and also doing right by the job. But, um,
04:35 the level of clarity that Sam's, you know, put forth with this whole thing,
04:39 I think makes it very easy to be committed to it. And so I think you see
04:43 kind of a united front all the way across the board from our staff to our
04:48 extended staff, um, to our players and to a large extent our fans. Um, and I
04:53 think part of that is born out of the clarity of what we're doing. We're not
04:56 hiding what we're doing. It's been very clear what we're doing, why we're
04:59 doing it, and we're aiming high. You know, that's the other thing is, you
05:03 know, there's certainly rough nights for every single team and every single
05:07 player and coach. Um, but it's in pursuit of aiming high, and that makes
05:11 it very easy to put that in perspective and make that part of kind of our rise.
05:17 And I'm excited to be a part of that. What do you learn most about shade this
05:20 year? Um, well, I continue to be impressed with shades, um, ability to
05:27 be in the moment, um, and also see the big picture. I think that's like a very
05:31 unique combination for anybody, never mind a very young professional, um,
05:37 with obviously high ambitions and a lot of steak like him. Um, and yet he does
05:42 that and brings unbelievable positivity to Jim every day and is lost in every
05:47 single day, but also is able to connect that to a larger picture. And I just
05:50 think that's incredibly unique on the court. Um, I think, you know, there's
05:56 there's game plans for players like him, you know, and I think the kitchen
06:01 sink has been thrown at him and his ability to remain highly impactful
06:08 despite all the game plans that are coming his way is the sign of a great
06:12 player. You know, it's one thing when you establish yourself and you're kind
06:16 of emerging once the books out on you and teams are throwing everything they
06:19 can to try to stop you, um, from throwing your fastball and you're still
06:24 throwing it. That's how you know you get a real one. And, you know, he did
06:26 that. I mean, I think we assume on the outside, he's not only your leader as a
06:33 performer, but as in the locker room and that sort of thing. Is that the
06:37 case? And have you seen that part of this game develop? I think he
06:41 definitely has incredible leadership qualities, especially, like I said, with
06:45 the, um, the spirit he brings to the gym every day and to the team. It's a
06:49 very, very light and joyful spirit, which is important over the course of
06:53 the rigors of an 82 game season. But the other thing I'll say about him and
06:57 speaks to his humility is I always talk about the leaders, the person doing the
07:01 right thing, and we try to do that to empower everyone to lead. And for
07:06 someone like him, that is as established as he is relative to his
07:10 peer group, he creates a lot of space for other people to lead as well. And I
07:14 think that's a really, you know, again, another mark of his humility and his
07:18 ability to see the bigger picture. He understands that, um, it doesn't all
07:22 have to come from him. And he even at a young age, when he's trying to really
07:26 establish himself, he's he creates room for his teammates both on and off the
07:29 court. Talk about stuff being thrown at shade him being able to just do it.
07:33 Okay, he's a fourth year guy. But Josh, as a rookie, one of the key players on
07:38 your team, obviously things start being thrown at him once there's a book on
07:41 it. How did he handle that? And how did he grow over the course of the year? Um,
07:46 I think, you know, his growth over the course of the year was impressive. Um,
07:50 I think the biggest thing that I wasn't sure about, you know, I didn't
07:55 question it. I just, you never know when a guy you start coaching a guy's when
07:59 they start to hit adversity, what that looks like. And, um, his level of
08:04 fearlessness and aggressiveness in the face of failure is really impressive
08:08 for a young player again that's trying to establish himself. He leans into
08:12 competition. Um, there's a lot of times where you see young players, they
08:16 become timid, they become afraid to fail when they have setbacks and he
08:20 just leans right into the competition. He's willing to fail. Um, and I think
08:24 that bodes well for him moving forward because there's wind at your face and
08:28 competition, you know, no matter who you are, but certainly when you're the
08:31 youngest team in the league, um, there's gonna be wind at your face. We
08:35 embrace that. We think it makes us stronger. We think that's the path we
08:38 have to take in order to become our best selves. And when you've got a
08:42 young player like him, that's squarely in the middle of what we're doing, um,
08:46 that's kind of like leading, you know, by doing that, that right thing. It's
08:49 a impressive quality. A lot of optimism among fan base just about the future of
08:55 the team. In addition to kind of some of the things that you've talked about so
08:58 far, what are, what are the things that give you the most optimism for the
09:02 future of this group? Um, I think the level of organizational alignment I
09:09 think is powerful and a competitive advantage from Mr Bennett to our front
09:15 office, to our coaching staff, to our players, our extended staff, our fans.
09:20 Um, it just seems like everybody's kind of pulling in the same direction and
09:25 there's incredible momentum in that. Uh, and that's exciting to be a part of,
09:29 you know, there's nothing, um, you know, worse than feeling like you're
09:32 swimming against the tide and it doesn't feel like that at all here. Uh,
09:36 that gives me a great deal of optimism. And then the players, uh, that we have
09:40 in the program right now, many of which are going to carry forward with us, um,
09:44 the way that they attack the program, the level of professionalism they bring
09:47 at a very young age, the level of optimism that they continue to have
09:52 through the ups and downs of the season and the fact that they are willing to
09:55 buy into an identity of, of being really competitive and doing it together. Um,
10:00 those are, you know, give me a lot of optimism and a lot of excitement
10:04 coaching this particular group of guys going into the season. You all may have
10:08 had, you know, kind of some idea. I think you've mentioned the other day
10:11 that you're better protecting the room than maybe you anticipated you would
10:15 be. Were there any things that you learned about the style of play that
10:19 you want moving forward on either end of the floor that were maybe different
10:23 compared to how you entered the season? Uh, good question. I mean, I think the
10:29 overall style of play and identity is what it is. You know, we want to be the
10:33 whole to be better than some of the parts we want to compete together. We
10:36 want to play through the paint on both ends of the floor. I think where you
10:40 learn is kind of when you go through the season and you see where you're
10:42 falling short and where you're succeeding and the lessons that can be
10:45 gleaned from that. I think there's plenty of stuff we can reflect on as we
10:48 had the off season now. Um, but I think overall the most encouraging thing is
10:53 stylistically on both ends of the floor. We ended the season kind of more
10:57 actualized than we started it. And that's where we need to be right now
11:00 with such a young team and guys that are growing and declaring themselves.
11:05 Assisted two percentage was 16.8% which was third lowest in the 12.9 last year,
11:12 which was the lowest. Is that a number that worries you something that you
11:16 want to see go up? The just repeat the stat for me. This is a two percentage
11:22 with 16.8 which is third lowest. Oh, okay. So like unassisted baskets. I
11:26 mean, I think it's a he leads the league and drives. It's a byproduct of
11:30 the fact that he's got the ball in his hands a good amount. I do think that
11:34 are all of our players ability to continue to play off the catch, create
11:38 space for um multiple playmakers and as a way that we want to play. He's also
11:44 shot the three, you know, over 40% over a three year span. He's at 41.5% on
11:49 catch and shoot threes over the last three years combined, which is a really
11:53 high number. And so obviously um the more we can get him those shots, uh,
11:57 the better
11:59 you're. Do you think how hectic last season was for you guys helped you
12:05 navigate and coach through this? Um, with the covid stuff? Yeah, I think,
12:10 you know, when you've got a group of people like we have, you know, I
12:14 humbly say that I have a high degree of confidence in the group of people that
12:18 we have. And I think when you've got people that are this committed, this
12:22 professional, this optimistic, this aligned, then when you face adversity,
12:27 it actually like is kind of oxygen for you. And I think that was the case with
12:32 the adversity that we faced the last couple of years. And you know, there's
12:35 never an NBA season that you don't go through adversity. And yet, um, that's
12:39 not a bad thing. Like I said, you know, we embrace the wind being in our face.
12:42 We understand that's gonna make us stronger. Um, we're not interested in
12:45 doing average things and the pathway to that is not easy and we're willing to
12:49 lean into that. And so if it's covid, if it's um competitive challenges, you
12:54 know, we're gonna lean into every challenge and use it to generate forward
12:57 momentum. Josh's point guard. She's also a point guard as well. How do you
13:01 balance that out? Moving forward? Josh is a playmaker. She's a playmaker, you
13:05 know, and you need multiple playmakers to be a really good team. Um, that's a
13:10 great challenge for us as we continue to evolve. Um, the team will evolve
13:16 kind of as it does. They're both young players. You know, one thing you got to
13:19 remember is that, you know, september is five months away and a lot of these
13:23 guys will be different, you know, with a NBA off season. Young teams can
13:27 improve a great deal in the off season. And so we're not going to box
13:30 ourselves into an opinion on those two guys or really anybody. Um, with this
13:36 young of a team, we're just going to continue to let things unfold, let the
13:39 team declare itself, solve problems in real time. The best thing about those
13:43 two guys is they're high level competitors, they're high level
13:46 workers and they want to get it right and they're willing to work to get it
13:50 right. And that gives us a lot of optimism with them. The rebuild
13:54 talked about extensively at two years of that next year still be rebuilding.
14:00 But you anticipate a different level of rebuilding with next year's team. I try
14:06 not to have too many expectations, but I will say, you know, I'm excited about
14:11 seeing what our team looks like when we come in the gym in september. And I
14:14 think training camp in particular, just looking at who's on the team, knowing
14:18 we're gonna be layering in more guys. Um, I'm pretty excited about the level
14:24 of competition and that level of competition inside your roster is a
14:28 indicator of, um, of having an improving team. Uh, and that's a good
14:34 thing. It also is competition that prepares you for the rigors of the NBA
14:39 season. The NBA season is not easy. Uh, and the best way to sharpen your blade
14:43 for that is internally. And I think we're gonna have a really competitive
14:46 roster. We lean into that. That's what good rosters look like. Um, but in
14:51 terms of, you know what the outcomes of that are, you know, we're gonna let
14:54 that kind of declare itself is
14:56 shade. No,
14:58 Ascension
14:59 is that expedite the rebuild? I mean,
15:05 it's hard to be have a real bad record. Shade play 75 games. Yeah, I mean,
15:11 it's he's a really, really, really good player. You know, he's going to be a
15:16 great player. Um, and that's a good thing, you know, and so whatever pace,
15:22 you know, that ends up happening. We're gonna focus on the development of,
15:25 like I said, our environment, our program, our identity and our
15:29 individual players and then let him run, you know, and see where that takes us.
15:33 And, uh, the speed of that or the timeline of that is what we're less
15:37 concerned with. We're more concerned with not skipping steps, and we're
15:40 more concerned with the quality of that and making sure that the soil is
15:44 fertile, you know, moving forward. I mean, that's the best thing we can do
15:47 and that we can control to make sure that as our team continues to get
15:51 better, both internally guys getting better and as we continue to layer more
15:54 talent onto the team, um, that that talent internal and and whoever we add,
16:00 uh, is able to operate closer to their ceiling than their floor. And that's
16:04 what we can control. That's what we're focused on. And then whatever the
16:06 outcomes are as a result of that process, we're gonna be proud of and
16:10 live with
16:11 mentioned creators, guys who can make things happen. Train man emerged
16:16 over the course of the season as well. Playmaker in that regard. What did he
16:20 show you this season in terms of becoming a guy that you basically had
16:23 to get on the floor? Um, well, I mean, the shock creation was something that
16:27 we were aware of how functional that would be, how early we didn't know. Um,
16:32 that was impressive how quickly he was able to kind of calibrate to the NBA
16:36 game, the athleticism, the length, especially with how, uh, not far behind,
16:41 but how much I thought he struggled with that early, you know, in training
16:44 camp, like I just thought his progress was pretty fast. Um, and then the other
16:48 thing is you have to be able to play defense and there's two ends of the
16:52 floor. We lean into having a defensive identity that's been an organizational
16:57 staple for a long time. And, you know, one of the things that we really
17:01 challenged him on early was being a participant on that end of the floor and
17:05 bringing a level of aggression and feistiness to compensate for his lack of
17:09 physicality at this point is lack of strength. Um, and I thought he leaned
17:13 into that pretty impressively. And so he cleared some hurdles this year that
17:17 were pretty impressive. But like all the rest of our guys, huge summer for him,
17:20 huge opportunity with the amount of time we have in the summer and, you know,
17:24 knowing that coming into the gym next year, you know, if we can have a
17:27 healthy team walking in in September, it's gonna be really competitive and
17:31 nothing's gonna get handed to anybody. Uh, and he needs to know that just like
17:34 the rest of our guys,
17:36 defense when you were whole, you were right there around 10 11 12 defensive
17:41 reading. What were the factors that contributed to that? And how do you try
17:45 to build upon that next year? Um, well, we're zero and zero next year, you
17:50 know, so we can't, you know, we can't carry anything over from this year
17:54 other than the lessons that we learned. But, um, you know, I would attribute it
17:59 to competitive players that compete together every night, you know, and they
18:02 they go out there, they try to execute the schemes, they try to execute the
18:05 game plan. But the biggest ingredient you have on the defensive end of the
18:08 floor is the level of competitiveness that your team has. And I thought, um,
18:12 one thing that you can't deny about our team this past season is, um, how
18:17 consistently we competed. That's, I think, the thing that we're most proud
18:20 of.
18:21 I talked a lot about this. She Josh pairing. Um, they only played together
18:27 41 games, so it's a small sample. Um, but you guys didn't shoot it. Well,
18:31 this season, like how maybe it's oversimplified, but with more shooting
18:35 around that, like, how is that going to make things even easier for both of
18:39 those guys and make it look better together? I mean, everybody knows
18:42 shooting is an essential ingredient to efficient offense. What I'd say is that,
18:48 you know, with shooting, it comes down to selection, which some guys need to
18:52 improve in terms of just getting better looks or in like Trey man's case, like
18:56 just more catching shoots, like more clean looks, like moving actively to
19:01 get more clean looks would be good for our offense for Gali Kim. That's part
19:05 of his development this summer. So selection is a part of it. Skill is a
19:08 part of it. We got five months right now with a growing team, young players,
19:12 players get better at shooting over time if they work at it. We have that
19:15 opportunity this summer on. Then you've got to put shooting on the court, you
19:20 know, and we understand that and we'll do that. Um, in terms of projecting
19:25 what that does for us, I would imagine it's gonna help any offense if you're
19:28 shooting the ball better and we expect to shoot it better moving forward. Have
19:31 you decided yet if Josh is going to play in summer league? No, I mean, those are
19:35 up in the air. We get some time before that. I assume this is maybe the first
19:39 time you've looked at off season as being somewhat normal length and just,
19:43 you know, duration. How do you plan to structure off season? And I'm sure you
19:48 want some lessons, lessons the last two years about what you like as far as
19:52 off season program. What are you gonna do with off season? Yeah, we've got a
19:56 good off season rhythm that I think is a nice balance of structure for our
20:00 players, especially the younger players that are still habit building and
20:03 routine building, um, in terms of developing approach for them that they
20:07 can carry with them through their career. Um, and also enough structure
20:10 for the guys that aren't like on site all summer. But the first part of the
20:14 summer is is very okay. See heavy and okay. See base for a lot of especially
20:19 our younger players that are in their first summers. Um, summer league is
20:23 kind of an inflection point where, you know, that's kind of the apex of the
20:26 summer. And then the back end of the summer is where we really encourage
20:29 guys to get kind of on their own turf. We'll go see them quite a bit. They'll
20:32 be working, but kind of in their own pockets of wherever they work, we're
20:37 encouraging them to try to do that together this summer quite a bit. Maybe
20:40 not every single day, but with high quality. But, um, we're looking forward
20:44 to just the duration of a five month off season. I mean, it's a huge
20:47 opportunity when you have a team this young. If you've got an aging team, the
20:51 summer is about recovery. But when you've got the youngest team in the
20:55 league, the summer is about growth and we have an unbelievable platform and
20:58 opportunity to grow. When you talk about the young players being okay, see
21:02 heavy early on. Almost all your guys are young. I mean, do you anticipate a
21:06 vast chunk of the guys to remain good chunk? I mean, when I say young, it's
21:10 probably a good point. Like, um, Shea Lou, those guys have developed an off
21:14 season routine and kind of their own bases. They're not as okay. See centric
21:18 at this point, basely. This is gonna be his first summer kind of transitioning
21:22 offside a little more. We actually encourage that because it promotes
21:26 autonomy. You know, they it forces guys to take, um, the steering wheel of
21:30 their own career, and we think that's a healthy thing for them to get away. But
21:34 certainly, you know, making sure that we are doing the proper habit building
21:38 and giving guys proper direction before we do that. Mark two questions. One, you
21:43 took the high road on Mike Bignell stuff in private. Did you go to Maddie
21:49 or whoever? And so what the hell? I try to take the high road in private as
21:53 well. Second, um, you talk about shooting, unique shooting. Everybody
21:59 does. You particularly need a lot of shooting. Are you at the point where
22:03 personnel decisions you focus on that? Or are you the point where we just we
22:09 just want talent, whatever it looks like Sam question. But, um, the one
22:14 thing I'd say as it relates to personnel and, you know, Sam is very
22:18 engaging with me on that. We're we have a very collaborative relationship and
22:22 very, um, frequent communication as it relates to all things as it relates to
22:27 both of our jobs. But once I've mentioned this before, but I think it's
22:31 important, you know, the system that we're operating in is a constraining
22:35 system. There's a salary cap. There's roster limits. The draft is a
22:39 constraining system. Everything is presenting constraints all the time as
22:42 it relates to roster building. Everything's always trying to pull you
22:45 to mediocrity systematically. That's why the NBA, um, you know, wants parody.
22:51 That's that's part of having a salary cap system. We also have additional
22:55 constraints because of our market size. And so my personal philosophy is to not
23:01 be an additional constraint on top of all that in terms of roster building.
23:05 So if I'm banging the table saying we need a B or C, it's just more
23:09 constraints that makes roster building even more of a challenge. What we try
23:14 to do is focus on the development of the things that I mentioned before so
23:17 that whatever we bring into the door is being planted into fertile soil so that
23:23 that player or that team can operate closer to its ceiling than its floor.
23:28 And that's really the focus of our coaching staff and really anybody
23:31 that's in front of our players. The guys who really one more question.
23:35 I guess we ended the season with injuries or had surgeries like you
23:40 expect them to all be ready to go by the time you get track that cost in
23:44 September. Yeah, I would expect most of them be ready to go, um, in time to get
23:49 something out of this summer. You know, like we're expecting they're all making
23:52 progress, um, kind of on pace that we would expect and we're expecting them
23:56 to all be able to have some part of the summer and most of the guys are coming
24:00 into the summer relatively healthy at this point.
24:02 Bye.