Mark Daigneault | Miami Heat | Mar. 18, 2022
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00:00 start with questions in the room and we will take the zoom. Questions around
00:04 separation of that second.
00:08 Put some of the lessons
00:10 that
00:12 Yeah, I mean, I think when they started to build that lead, uh, there's two
00:18 offensive rebounds. One of them, Struce made the shot from a million miles
00:22 away. Uh, and that's what started to break the game open a little bit. I
00:27 thought we could have done a better job of closing the half. Um, you know,
00:30 they kept pressure on us and their biggest lead of the first half was
00:33 right at the end. So, um, you know, certainly just not like the game get
00:37 away from us, taking every possession, uh, as its own life and trying to win
00:42 those possessions against, obviously a really good team. We ran through the
00:45 finish line tonight. I thought we continue to play and I was pleased with
00:48 that, that we were a 48 minute team tonight, but obviously need to be a
00:52 little sharper inside a really, really good team.
00:55 Got hot there. What we see in terms of
00:58 Yeah, I thought is exactly right. I thought his decisions on the catch
01:05 really good. I thought he was ready to shoot immediately and then read the
01:08 close outs and really played off the catch as well as he has in a while,
01:12 which is obviously been a huge emphasis for him and our team. So he got it going
01:16 there. Uh, kind of kept us afloat during that stretch of the game. No
01:20 update on him, by the way, with his ankle. Um, he'll get checked out
01:24 tomorrow morning, but played a really good game, especially the first half.
01:27 I mentioned
01:29 very anybody
01:32 that's
01:34 Yeah, I thought we just kept playing, which is how you want to, you know,
01:39 finish the game. Regardless of the circumstances up down postgame, um,
01:43 second straight night. I think that we have done that in the fourth quarter.
01:48 Um, second straight night that, like we got the game kind of in a good spot and
01:52 then went into halftime with more of a deficit than we probably deserve. So
01:56 it's got to close the halves better, start the halves better. Um, but, you
02:01 know, again, happy with how everybody close to me.
02:03 That's the one
02:05 and it just seems like since since he's come back,
02:12 is that almost as important?
02:17 It's like
02:18 Um, yeah, I think he's been pretty consistent, you know, to your point, and
02:26 what's been consistent is the stuff you control every night. Um, it's getting
02:30 great effort and competing. It's playing a good floor game, reliable floor game
02:33 makes it easy to kind of play through him. We've done that a lot of ways on
02:37 the perimeter in the second unit tonight and played with the five down stretch.
02:40 And I thought you did a really good job of kind of facilitating from that spot.
02:44 Um, so he just continues to make progress. But the biggest progress he's
02:47 made is the consistency of this competitive level. And he just got to
02:50 keep that going.
02:51 This is a driver.
02:55 Um, yeah, you know, I think he's he's improved everywhere, but, um, he's doing
03:01 a better job of kind of reading close outs and playing out the catch.
03:04 Similar to, you know, a lot of our players. Um, you know, he's he's taking
03:08 contact better. I've mentioned before. I think the physical gains that he's made
03:12 are showing up kind of in every aspect of the game. He's guarding centers now.
03:16 Um, you know, we're not putting them out there and at bio, but we're putting
03:20 them out there on a lot of NBA centers. Morris is an NBA five at this point,
03:25 and, you know, we're comfortable with that matchup. And so, um, you know, his
03:29 strength and physical gains he's made, I think, are having kind of a trickle
03:33 down effect through many aspects of his game.
03:35 Trade. What would you decide to break?
03:39 Matchup related, you know, um, mix it up. I thought we finished the game
03:44 really well the other night. Um, you know, it's gonna continue to remain
03:48 fluid. You know, just give different guys opportunities. Keep guys, you
03:53 know, kind of on their toes. You know, trade. You know, it's not like a sure
03:56 fire starter moving forward, so he's gonna understand what it feels like
03:59 from off the bench. Hopefully, you should understand what it feels like
04:01 to start stuff.
04:02 Workout beneficial.
04:06 Somebody like my
04:07 Yeah, I mean, we lean into these games because of the quality of the opponent,
04:13 and, you know, we're obviously a long ways away. We're early in the process,
04:17 but we have high hopes. And the only way that you get an accurate measure of
04:23 where you're at is against the best teams. You know, we're not interested
04:25 in being average, and so we're not gonna compare ourselves to average.
04:29 We're gonna compare ourselves to the best, and they're one of the best. Um,
04:33 as they showed tonight, you know, there's a lot we could learn from the
04:35 game. What we could learn about our team. Um, but, yeah, we're gonna lean
04:39 into any opportunity. You get to compete against one of the best teams
04:42 in the league. You know, we're gonna lean into that fight. I thought the
04:44 guys did a decent job of that tonight.
04:45 Anyone else in the room? Coach, we have one of the zoom. Come on down, Mom.
04:51 Uh, go ahead with your question.
04:52 Hey, Mark, suppose I've been playing consistently well since the beginning
04:57 of February. Are you reaching a point where you can expect him to have these
05:02 type of performances, at least for the rest of this season?
05:05 Yeah, sure. You know, I think, uh, that's how you earn, you know, minutes.
05:10 It's how you earn your role. It's how you earn. Everything is with
05:12 consistency. I think if you look at the best players in the NBA, not only like
05:17 the top end guys, but the guys that are like long time NBA players, there's a
05:21 consistency to their approach. There's a consistency to their kind of
05:25 temperament, and there's a consistency to their play. And I think, you know,
05:30 with young players, you don't come. You don't hatch into the league with that
05:34 skill. That's something that's learned behavior. And, um, you know, we're
05:38 trying to do our best to, you know, not only teach that, but accelerate it as
05:41 best we can. And, you know, poke was a good example of that. He's had some
05:44 ups and downs, but starting to smooth out at least the consistency of those
05:48 things. And, you know, that pays dividends.
05:50 All right. Thank you, Coach. All right. We'll bring players next. Everyone
05:54 players next.
05:55 [BLANK_AUDIO]