Josh Giddey | Sacramento Kings Post-Game | Feb. 05, 2022
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 - [Josh] Thank you, I love Casey.
00:02 Josh, just your thoughts on kind of the fight
00:04 you all showed in that fourth quarter
00:06 and the way that you all were able to battle all night,
00:08 given I think four games and six nights.
00:10 - Yeah, obviously a tough road trip.
00:13 It's a tough one, four games and six nights.
00:16 Against good teams, undermanned as well, all on the road.
00:19 So I think, you know, we won three out of four of them,
00:22 which is a good effort for how undermanned we were
00:25 and then the positions we were put in.
00:26 But I think tonight we gave ourselves every chance
00:28 to make it four out of four on this road trip.
00:30 But, you know, they got out to a bit of a lead
00:33 in that third quarter.
00:34 We got it back, got in front.
00:35 And I think we need to put our foot down
00:37 and extend that lead,
00:37 but we kind of let them hang around.
00:39 And then, you know, they went on a run
00:41 and we didn't really, we couldn't really catch back up.
00:43 So I think it was a good fight, man.
00:45 We played hard all game, played physical,
00:47 but, you know, we got to,
00:49 when we get that lead is not take the foot off the gas,
00:51 it's, you know, put our foot on their throat
00:53 and kind of extend that margin.
00:54 - You know, one thing that you said
00:57 maybe a week or so ago was just looking forward
01:00 to kind of stepping up defensively,
01:02 taking on more of these challenges.
01:04 What are you thinking about that
01:05 over the course of the last few games?
01:07 You have had some tough assignments
01:08 over the course of that time.
01:09 - Yeah, I love it.
01:10 It's only going to make me better.
01:11 I mean, tonight I had Barnes and he gave me the works,
01:14 but it's something I'm going to learn from
01:16 playing against physical, bigger veteran guys.
01:19 And that's something I want to continue to do
01:20 is guard those wings, those scorers.
01:22 And I think, you know, tonight getting my ass kicked
01:24 is going to help me in the future.
01:26 You know, it's going to prepare me
01:27 to play against these guys more often.
01:29 So I want to take that next step defensively
01:31 and this is how I'm going to get better at it.
01:34 - Chris Lawson, Oakland Defender.com.
01:35 You mentioned physicality and, you know,
01:37 Mark mentioned that it's going to be a physical game.
01:40 You attack down the line, you got to the rim.
01:43 Why was playing physical offensively
01:45 such a key for you guys?
01:46 - Well, I mean, it goes both ways.
01:47 Defensively, we want to push them out of their stuff.
01:49 And when teams are playing physical, it's harder to defend.
01:52 And it goes both ways.
01:53 As I said, offensively, the more physical we are
01:55 getting downhill on them, making them, you know,
01:58 contest shots at the ring and it makes it harder on defense.
02:00 It puts the onus on them not to foul.
02:02 I think we got to the line a bit,
02:04 Mamadi, Faye were good rolling,
02:06 giving us different options out of the pick and roll.
02:07 So, you know, attacking downhill gives us good looks.
02:11 You know, defense collapse,
02:12 we've got guys that can knock down threes.
02:13 They don't, we've got bigs that can finish,
02:15 guards that can finish at the ring.
02:16 So it gives us a variety of options
02:17 when we're playing downhill and playing aggressive.
02:20 - And for you personally, how much were you looking to
02:22 try to play with some pace for yourself
02:24 and play some tempo off?
02:25 - Yeah, lots.
02:26 I mean, I think that's where we're at our best
02:27 when we're out running, playing free basketball.
02:29 We look really good.
02:30 And I think I was trying to get us out running
02:32 as much as I could tonight.
02:33 I mean, there's times where you're going to get
02:35 into an offense and run a set,
02:36 but the more we can just get the ball and just play freely,
02:39 that's when we're really good and hard to stop.
02:41 So, but having like a healthy balance between running,
02:44 you know, offense and playing in transition,
02:47 you know, playing out of drags, on balls, whatever it may be.
02:50 - Joe Masato of the Oklahoma,
02:53 Josh, with Lou and Shea,
02:55 do you put any more pressure on yourself
02:57 or challenge yourself to be more of a scorer
02:59 and to that point, like be more aggressive
03:02 offensively tonight?
03:03 - I mean, as I said, with Shea being out,
03:05 it leaves an offensive hole.
03:06 Lou and Shea is a bigger hole.
03:08 So it's not a one man job.
03:10 You know, obviously the ball is going to be
03:11 in my hands more naturally,
03:12 but that doesn't mean I have to change the way I play.
03:15 You know, I still try and make everyone around me better.
03:18 You know, it doesn't mean I have to go out
03:19 and score 30 to fill the void for Shea,
03:21 but if I can just do those little things,
03:23 obviously the offense is going to be different
03:24 without those guys.
03:26 You know, Shea's the best isolation scorer in the league
03:28 and we don't have him.
03:29 So naturally we're going to play
03:31 a different style of basketball.
03:32 And I mean, my style is different to his,
03:34 different to Lou's, they're all different to mine.
03:35 So I'm trying to keep the ball moving
03:37 and get guys involved on offense, you know,
03:39 make everyone feel involved in what we're doing.
03:41 And I think it goes a long way to keeping the guys engaged
03:44 and, you know, winning games.
03:46 - Who was in that fourth quarter lineup
03:47 with you guys tonight?
03:48 It's the first time he's played with the Thunder
03:51 in about a month or so.
03:52 What did you think of that?
03:54 - He was awesome.
03:55 Hasn't played in a month and he came in
03:56 and did what he did tonight for us.
03:57 He was big, he defended well, which was big for us.
04:00 We needed that.
04:01 He rebounded really well, made shots, made play for us.
04:04 And when he's playing like that, you know,
04:06 it helps the team so much because he's a seven footer
04:09 that can do a lot of things.
04:10 He has so much untapped potential.
04:12 And when he's playing with confidence
04:14 and with swag like he was tonight, he's tough to stop
04:16 and he helps us and makes us a lot better.
04:19 - Anyone else in the room?
04:21 We have one question on the Zoom, Josh, from Daniel Bell.
04:24 Go ahead, Daniel.
04:25 - Yeah, Josh, we had 19 shots tonight
04:27 and dished out eight assists.
04:29 With Shay out, does it make it easier
04:34 for you to be able to look for your shot
04:37 and also look to get other guys involved?
04:40 - I mean, it doesn't make it easier.
04:44 I'd say it's probably easier with him
04:45 because a lot of the time he's got the best defender on him.
04:48 So it probably makes my job a bit easier.
04:49 But as I said, I try not to change too much the way I play.
04:54 I mean, naturally with him being out,
04:55 the ball's probably going to be in my hands
04:56 a little bit more.
04:58 So just trying to make the right play,
05:00 whether it's me getting downhill scoring
05:01 or finding teammates for shots
05:03 and getting other guys involved.
05:04 So as I said, you know, I can't replicate what Shay does
05:08 on the offensive end.
05:09 He's, you know, having 30 points
05:12 is probably not the way I play,
05:13 but trying to get guys involved,
05:15 get the offense flowing, the ball moving.
05:18 That's just what I'm trying to do to help us get wins.
05:21 - Thank you guys.
05:22 - Thanks guys.
05:23 [BLANK_AUDIO]