Isaiah Roby | Denver Nuggets Post-Game | Mar. 02, 2022
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00:00 [INAUDIBLE]
00:02 You guys are undermanned on the road
00:04 against one of the hottest teams in the NBA at the moment.
00:07 Just what does it say from a mentality standpoint
00:11 that you guys stuck with it for a full 48 tonight?
00:14 I mean, I think it's--
00:16 I think the coaches expected nothing less from us.
00:18 You know, with the guys that we had here,
00:20 they knew we were on demand.
00:21 And they knew that the way we've been playing lately,
00:24 defensively especially, that they
00:26 haven't been happy with us.
00:27 So they didn't give us any excuses.
00:29 They came out and challenged us to be better.
00:31 And I think we did a good job of that tonight.
00:33 You had a career high.
00:34 And it seemed like there was no fear just attacking
00:37 those guys right under the rim.
00:38 Just what was your mentality heading into this game,
00:40 knowing that you're going to be giving up
00:42 some size under the rim tonight?
00:44 Yeah, I mean, I think every game I'm
00:45 just trying to find a better way of exploiting my advantages.
00:49 Obviously, like you said, Yokelch
00:51 has a lot more size than me.
00:52 And even their backup bigs have a lot more size than me.
00:56 But I'm able to attack them in different ways
00:59 in different spots of the floor.
01:01 And also, obviously, playing with somebody like Shea,
01:03 he was able to find me a lot.
01:05 So he makes my job a lot easier.
01:09 Isaiah, it seems like you've often been the guy in there
01:12 against Yokelch.
01:13 How do you think you did defensively, you and Olivier,
01:16 in the big end against Yokelch?
01:19 Yeah, I think I did pretty good tonight.
01:21 I think that as a team, we did a good job of handling him.
01:26 Obviously, there was a lot of moments where it was one-on-one.
01:29 But I think that as a team, we did a good job of corralling
01:32 him and making him pass the ball maybe a little bit more
01:36 than he wanted to and not giving him that many easy shots.
01:41 You shot four or five from three.
01:43 As a team, you got shot 55%.
01:45 How did it feel to just drive for the three
01:47 going back to the line?
01:48 It felt good.
01:50 Obviously, as a team, we haven't been shooting that well
01:52 this season.
01:53 But we have a lot of guys who put in a lot of work.
01:55 And I think nights like this are going to keep on happening
01:58 just with the building of our confidence.
02:01 So I think it was a very encouraging night
02:05 as far as shooting.
02:06 You got it going early on in the game.
02:08 How much did that help you the rest of the night
02:10 with the trip to shoot?
02:11 Yeah, it's always nice to see your first shot go through.
02:14 That's one thing that everybody knows.
02:16 Once the guy sees that first shot go through,
02:19 their confidence goes up.
02:22 But I think that's a part of being a good player
02:26 and a good shooter is not even worrying about it,
02:28 just worrying on the next shot, just thinking the next shot's
02:30 going in every time.
02:31 And that's something that we're all working on.
02:33 What was the mentality going into this game
02:35 with just four guys on the bench and Josh wearing sweats?
02:39 Everybody knew they had to put in a rain gear.
02:41 Yeah, I mean, honestly, I think most of us
02:43 didn't know that we only had nine guys until we
02:45 got to the bench.
02:46 We saw how much space there was on the bench.
02:49 But I think that, like I said earlier,
02:52 coaches expect nothing less from whether we
02:54 have nine guys or 15 guys.
02:55 They expect us to go out there and execute the game plan
02:58 and compete every night.
03:02 What have you seen from Poku this season?
03:05 You've been here for his development track as well.
03:08 And it just seems like both physically and skill-wise,
03:11 he's made some big jumps.
03:13 For sure, yeah.
03:14 Poku has been-- he's been making--
03:16 like you said, he made a lot of big jumps since last season.
03:18 I mean, even since the beginning of this season,
03:20 you can just tell he's just gained a lot of experience
03:23 as far as taking care of the ball better, being stronger.
03:27 There's been a lot of plays where he stuck his nose
03:29 in on defense and got a blocker, just been
03:31 a help side at the right time.
03:32 Those are just things that he's learned how to do.
03:34 And with his size and his skill, he's--
03:37 Scott's learned it from Poku.
03:39 It seemed like maybe four or five times
03:41 you all made steals while you were running back
03:44 in transition.
03:45 How much of that was just knowing that Jokic likes
03:47 those outlet passes?
03:48 And how aware did you have to be in transition tonight
03:52 to make sure they didn't get those easy run-ups?
03:54 Yeah, that's a huge thing for him.
03:55 Obviously, he's a great passer.
03:58 And he looks for that every fast break chance.
04:00 So I think that wasn't even a thing
04:02 that the coaches emphasized.
04:04 I think that just the guys did a good job of getting back
04:07 in transition.
04:08 And that's one of our things every day that we work on
04:11 is transition defense.
04:12 So that was really encouraging that we did that.
04:17 Last one to Chrisos Saltas.
04:19 Go ahead.
04:21 Hey, Isaiah.
04:21 I hope you're doing well.
04:23 What-- that game, that performance overall,
04:26 what does it mean for this team despite the absences
04:30 and the injuries and all those things?
04:32 What does it mean, this performance, for you guys?
04:36 I think it's really encouraging just knowing
04:38 that the amount of talent that we have out right now
04:41 and the fact that we're able to come out and play against one
04:45 of the best teams in the West and get a win on the road
04:47 is very encouraging.
04:49 I think it speaks to just the hard work
04:51 the guys put in to stay ready when the number is called
04:54 and just the belief and the competitiveness
04:58 we have as a group.
05:00 Thanks, Isaiah.
05:01 Thank you, guys.
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