Josh Giddey | Toronto Raptors Post-Game | Feb. 09, 2022
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00:00 - Nick Gallo, KC Thunder.com.
00:02 Josh, you all assisted on a really high number
00:04 of your made baskets tonight.
00:07 Just given their aggressiveness on defense
00:09 where there's some things that you all were able to get to,
00:11 maybe with your own aggressiveness on offense.
00:13 - Yeah, I mean, that's part of learning
00:15 to play off the ball with, you know,
00:17 the team we have is a lot of guys that can handle it.
00:18 And that's a part of my game I got to keep working at.
00:21 And tonight, especially playing with someone like Ty,
00:24 who I know is, you know, a great passer.
00:25 He has great vision.
00:27 He sees the floor well.
00:27 So I always know when he's got the ball to cut
00:30 and get in the right spots.
00:31 And he always hits me, you know,
00:32 he hit me on a couple of those back cuts, floaters,
00:35 things like that.
00:36 So just being aware of the ball and trying to, you know,
00:39 get myself involved in the game in that way.
00:41 - And then with Poku,
00:43 what maybe differences are you seeing in him?
00:45 I know it's a very small sample size
00:47 these last couple of games, but very productive,
00:50 very efficient on both ends of the floor.
00:52 - He's been awesome.
00:53 I mean, he playing confidently right now.
00:55 And I think that's when he's at his best.
00:57 When he goes out there, you know, shoots his shots,
00:59 doesn't hesitate.
01:00 And when he plays, you know, freely,
01:02 he looks awesome out there.
01:03 I mean, the guy's seven foot.
01:04 He can do a lot of things.
01:05 You saw that layup he had down the lane.
01:07 When he gets a rebound and starts pushing in transition,
01:09 he's tough to stop.
01:10 He's really smart, great passer, makes good plays.
01:12 So when Poku's playing like that, you know,
01:15 it's great to see and I'm happy for him.
01:18 - Paris Lawson, OKCThunder.com.
01:19 Josh, wanted to ask you about Ken Rich.
01:21 We talk so much about his hustle and his defense
01:23 and what he does on the glass,
01:25 but he had six assists tonight
01:26 and that's after five against Golden State.
01:28 What are you seeing from him just in terms of how he's
01:30 been able to share the ball and facilitate a little bit?
01:32 - Yeah, Ken Rich is a really good passer.
01:34 I don't think a lot of people know that about him.
01:36 And he does a good job of finding guys
01:37 and he always makes the right play.
01:40 You never see Ken Rich take many bad shots
01:41 or turn the ball over too much.
01:43 He's a really high IQ player.
01:44 Guys can't Ken Rich find him.
01:46 So it's a testament to, you know,
01:48 it's also guys getting open,
01:49 being in the right spots, making shots.
01:51 But I mean, these last couple of games,
01:53 Ken Rich has really shown that ability of his game
01:55 to pass the ball and he's a really good passer.
01:57 And I don't think that people have really understood that
02:00 just because his assist numbers might not be high,
02:02 but you know, you see over the last couple of games,
02:04 it kind of, the passing he does results in assists
02:07 these last few games.
02:08 - And then also wanted to ask you,
02:09 'cause Coach Dagnold mentioned the physicality,
02:11 you guys were able to kind of ramp that up
02:12 in the second quarter to shave down that lead,
02:14 but what does that look like for you guys?
02:16 What can you kind of take away from this game
02:18 in terms of the physicality required
02:19 when you're going up against teams like this?
02:21 - Yeah, you know, you need it.
02:23 You know, you saw early,
02:24 OG posted me twice, got buckets.
02:26 They had, you know, some of their mismatches they had,
02:28 they started taking us to the block
02:29 and getting easy scores in that first half.
02:31 But the second half, I think we cleaned that up.
02:33 We hit them first, made them feel us.
02:35 And then, you know, they were thinking twice
02:37 about coming back in the paint.
02:38 So just establishing that early that, you know,
02:40 whether it's physicality or just that presence
02:44 to make them feel us is really important.
02:46 And it goes a long way to, you know,
02:47 you hit someone when they come in the lane,
02:49 they're going to think twice about coming back.
02:50 So it's a mental game as well,
02:52 but if we can kind of implement that from the start,
02:54 it's going to go a long way to helping us win a game.
02:57 - Anybody else?
02:59 - Thank you.
03:02 - Oh, wait, hold on.
03:03 We got one other, sorry.
03:03 Late, late, late, Panthers.
03:05 Daniel, hit it, bud.
03:06 - Sorry about that, Josh.
03:09 You guys have, tonight you had a Kenridge with six assists.
03:15 This is kind of a follow-up to Paris' next question.
03:17 But you had Kenridge Williams with six assists.
03:19 You've had days where, or nights where,
03:22 Ty has had five plus assists
03:25 and nights where SEA has had five plus assists.
03:27 So you guys have a lot of guys that can just,
03:30 just to ball that.
03:31 How easier does that make your game
03:33 as the primary ball, or primary playmaker?
03:36 - Yeah, it's a lot easier.
03:37 And it's great to know I've got other guys, you know,
03:40 around me that can also pass the ball
03:42 and get other guys involved.
03:43 So, you know, it speaks to how unselfish we play as a team.
03:47 We move the ball.
03:47 We always try to give up a good shot for a great shot.
03:50 And I think, you know, guys having multiple, you know,
03:53 five plus assist games is kind of evident of that.
03:55 And when we're sharing the ball, getting good looks,
03:58 we look really good.
03:59 So I think, you know, tonight it was Kenridge.
04:01 Ty's been doing that for a long time now.
04:03 So when we keep doing that, getting guys involved,
04:06 you know, turning down good shots for great shots,
04:08 you know, we look good and we're tough to stop.