Aaron Wiggins | Minnesota Timberwolves | Mar. 09, 2022
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00:00Paris Lawson, okcthunder.com.
00:03Aaron, obviously they got going really early.
00:05They found a rhythm early.
00:07Just how tough is it?
00:08You guys were able to kind of chip away a little bit
00:10in that third quarter,
00:10but how tough is it to slow down a team like that
00:12when they catch that much rhythm early on?
00:14Yeah, that's going to be super tough against any team.
00:17You know, you give a team, you know, a big lead.
00:19You let guys get hot, guys get confident.
00:22You know, that's something that you establish early.
00:25You know, teams are going to continue that momentum
00:27and just kind of take it with them.
00:28Their crowd got really into it midway through the game.
00:31And I mean, they just played, you know, really well,
00:34just adding that momentum and they continue to stay hot.
00:36So it was, it was kind of big for them.
00:38What are some of the controllables?
00:39I know, you know, randomness and shot making,
00:41they made some tough ones.
00:42You guys are undermanned as well,
00:43but what are some of the controllables
00:45in that sort of element that you guys could,
00:47could utilize in that sort of situation?
00:49I mean, you got to be able to play through adversity.
00:51Some nights, you know, everything's not going to go your way.
00:54Guys are going to get hot, but you know,
00:56you got to be able to stick to your game plan.
00:58You got to be tough enough to just kind of, you know,
01:00answer, have answers for whatever's thrown at you.
01:03And, you know, tonight it was, it was tough for us
01:05to kind of, you know, get, get answers early in the game
01:08when, when a couple of their guys got hot.
01:10And I mean, they just continued to build on that momentum.
01:13A career night for you, 25 points,
01:15and coach credited you for just playing a simple game
01:17and still playing within the flow of the offense.
01:19When you knocked down five threes, like you did tonight,
01:22was there anything in terms of the rhythm
01:23that you were finding, especially in that first quarter,
01:25where you were able to get going?
01:27Yeah, I mean, one thing our coaches emphasize
01:28is just being able to make quick decisions
01:30and play off the catch.
01:31And a lot of those shots were just, you know,
01:33me feeling open enough to take the open shot
01:35and, you know, making the quick decision to shoot it.
01:37So, you know, our team as a whole tries to emphasize that.
01:41And, you know, tonight just had a hot hand
01:44and, you know, hope to continue.
01:49Aaron, just what, what is it like
01:50when a guy like Malik Beasley tonight, 11 threes,
01:53when someone is that hot,
01:56what is it like just having to defend that?
01:59I mean, it's tough,
02:00because once a guy gets hot and they get confident,
02:02they start hunting it.
02:03And, you know, the ball just kind of finds them more
02:06off a rebound and might come out straight to them.
02:09It's just a matter of, you know, us as a team, you know,
02:13trying to find ways to, you know, calm it,
02:16to keep it, to, you know, kind of settle it down.
02:18I'm looking and he only shot threes,
02:20like he didn't get up any other shots.
02:21So he got confident early
02:24and he began to hunt them
02:25and his team began to find them and look for him.
02:27So when a guy gets hot like that, you know,
02:29you got to find a way to shut it down early
02:31or you're going to be in for a long night.