Mark Diagneault | NY Knicks Post-Game | Feb. 14, 2022
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00:00Yeah, fun game, the guys really competed, and I thought we really were like lost in
00:17the competition.
00:18I thought we did a good job of the game plan, especially on the offensive end and how we
00:22had to attack them.
00:24And then, you know, obviously enjoyed the atmosphere and the competition.
00:28It was obviously a really tough back and forth game.
00:32Happy for the guys hanging in there and getting that one.
00:46Not just them.
00:47I thought the whole team.
00:48I just thought we had a great balance of just like enjoying the moment and the competition,
00:53but not losing focus and concentration on the pathway to go get the game.
00:59And I think sometimes that's your excitement can sometimes get in the way of execution
01:04and focus.
01:05And I didn't think that was the case.
01:06I thought we had just a great, you know, competitive balance with that tonight.
01:12He was good on Randall all night.
01:18You know, I thought Randall did some damage when he wasn't on him.
01:21You know, again, just continues to execute on both ends.
01:25You know, he's a force defensively.
01:27He's great on the glass, made a hell of a play there to tie the game and didn't have
01:31a good start offensively.
01:33And even that stretch, he made two straight threes.
01:36You know, he hung in there mentally.
01:38And I think, you know, we've talked a lot about his defense and but he's had some games
01:41where he can kind of get knocked off course and emotionally takes him a second to get
01:46the car back on the road.
01:47And I thought tonight he just kept playing, understood the 48 minute nature of the game
01:51and, you know, ended up delivering for us big time.
01:57He's a passionate person, you know, and you just it's your emotions is like riding a horse,
02:15you know what I mean?
02:17Take you wherever it wants to go, you got to train the horse.
02:19But you know, that passion is a good thing competitively, you want to be yourself out
02:25there on the court and you got to learn how to channel, you know, the strengths that you
02:28have as a person on the court.
02:30And I think he's learning how to do that because he's an emotional person.
02:33He's a passionate person, wants to get it right, like we've talked about.
02:37And I definitely see that because it's his emotions aren't getting in the way of his
02:41performance.
02:42That's a good thing.
02:44Josh, you're the fourth player ever to play with the Cubs.
02:49What are your thoughts on the way that you can fill up the stat sheet and do it in a
02:56way that's constructive?
02:58Yeah, that's what, you know, he obviously can get that done because he's done it before.
03:03But, you know, the style that he's playing with is contagious.
03:07You know, I think he has a domino effect on the team with how he plays when he's in that
03:12mind state.
03:13I thought he was in it last game against Chicago and I thought he was in it again tonight.
03:16And, you know, similar, he's really passionate, fiery, competitive, and he's just learning
03:21how to channel that.
03:22You know, but the one thing I've said about him is he doesn't shrink.
03:25You know, when things get tight, he doesn't shrink.
03:29He just keeps playing, plays through mistakes, plays through pressure, you know, bodes well
03:34for him and for us.
03:37What does that say about him and sort of like the huge moment that he played really well?
03:51Yeah, and I think, you know, I'd extend that to, we've got the youngest team in the NBA.
03:55It's early on, you know, in our process, obviously.
03:59But, and we're not perfect.
04:01You know, we weren't perfect tonight, just like we weren't against Chicago and Philly
04:05and all the other games.
04:06But we have players that they see challenges as opportunities rather than threats, you
04:15know, and it's not just him.
04:17It's Shea, it's Lou, it's Trey Mann.
04:20You know, it's up and down the roster.
04:22They're just guys that you put a hurdle in their way and they see it as a challenge.
04:26They see it as an opportunity and not everybody internalizes hurdles like that.
04:30And that's a really good starting point.
04:32Those are good.
04:33You know, that's good stock for us to be working with.
04:35And it's hard to instill that.
04:37You know, that's something I think they come in the door with.
04:40You mentioned how good he is at creating for others.
04:43And you talked about his passing at times.
04:45He had a back-to-back series there at the end of the second quarter.
04:47Second and fourth half, where he stepped into one, did not do something.
04:51I guess mentality-wise, it's working off into just a, you know, kind of a shot that he doesn't want to play.
04:58Yeah, I mean, it's just, I think, another example of what I'm saying.
05:00You know, it's like shooting 20-something percent from three.
05:03And yet, you know, he's stepping into those shots with the same confidence.
05:07You know, he's got himself in a very present state.
05:10And, like, you know, it's up and down the roster.
05:13Like I said, I thought we had a lot of guys tonight that played through some stuff.
05:16You know, that's a back-and-forth game.
05:18That's a team that came in with a lot of, you know, desperation and juice.
05:21And I thought, you know, we stood up.
05:23We made our own mistakes.
05:26And we just kept playing.
05:27And I give our guys a lot of credit for that.
05:29Is Trent a performance offensive player?
05:33Yeah.
05:34You know, he's how good he is now, obviously.
05:36But, you know, he's still learning.
05:39He's still trying to figure out that balance between aggressiveness and functionality.
05:46You know, obviously we've tried to encourage him to be really aggressive.
05:49And, you know, he got that going tonight.
05:51He got it going early, and he kept it going late.
05:54I thought he competed tonight.
05:55He had a couple, like, big-time, like, loose ball plays that we really needed,
05:59which, you know, we've obviously emphasized a lot.
06:01That's a great example of a game where you don't want to have to choose between
06:05his offense and somebody else's defense.
06:07You'd like him to be able to hold up with both.
06:09And I thought he did that again tonight, too.
06:17I thought we attacked really intelligently.
06:19We knew how they were going to guard us,
06:20and we had a couple different things we wanted to do from an execution
06:23standpoint that we thought could give us some advantages.
06:25And I thought the guys did a really good job of doing that.
06:29I thought we did that against Chicago, and then that kind of eroded,
06:32to be honest with you, as the game went on.
06:34And I thought tonight we were able to sustain that longer,
06:36which is a good mark of focus because, obviously, you know,
06:40you want to win the game.
06:41But, again, like I said, we didn't allow our, you know, emotion
06:45and passion for wanting to win to get in the way of our focus
06:48and our execution, which is important.
06:50You need everything.
06:51You need both.
07:04The only time I get personally emotional is watching our guys.
07:08Like, I love watching those guys rock out like that.
07:11I really do.
07:12And it has less to do with the stage.
07:15It's just, like, I love when they break through a wall
07:18that they haven't broken through yet.
07:20And, you know, we've had situations like that this year
07:23where that's happened.
07:24We've had it happen in losses.
07:25And so, you know, we're in these guys' corner.
07:28We work hard with them.
07:30We believe in them.
07:31And when they go out there and they play like that, you know,
07:33there's nothing that makes us happier, not just me.
07:36I would say that's probably like an organizational mentality.
07:39We're really kind of in their corner and rooting them on.
07:42And when they play like that, it's pretty cool.
07:46Hello, coach.
07:51Congratulations on the win, the whole effort on tonight's game.
07:54Thank you.
07:55We spoke a lot about Josh's leadership on the floor.
08:00My question to you is, tonight we played without Shea, without Lou.
08:05How does his presence help the other players to make a great game like
08:10Trey, like Bayes, and the other players on the floor?
08:14Yeah, I mean, you mentioned leadership.
08:16We always talk about the leader is the person doing the right thing.
08:19And I think, you know, part of doing the right thing is bringing your
08:23strengths to the team, you know, and bringing your strengths to the table.
08:26And, you know, in Josh's case, him getting off it early,
08:30him advancing the ball, him putting his teammates in advantages,
08:33that's a form of leadership just like, you know,
08:36Aaron Wiggins chasing Fournier around or Trey, you know,
08:40helping off of a shooter when Randall's got the ball in his hands, that,
08:43you know, those are all opportunities to lead.
08:45I think the best team's leadership's coming from, you know,
08:49a thousand many directions rather than from one person standing at the front
08:53of the room or standing at the top of the team.
08:55And so I thought Josh led tonight,
08:57but I thought all our guys led tonight because, you know,
09:00they just got lost in the competition and they brought, you know,
09:03the best of themselves to the team.
09:04And like I said,
09:05we've done that a lot this season and we've done it in losses.
09:07I thought we did it against Chicago.
09:08We did it against Philly and we just came up a little short.
09:11So, you know, but more games to go.
09:14We got to keep getting better.
09:15Got to stay humble, but obviously a great win.