Ty Jerome | San Antonio Spurs | Jan. 19, 2022
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00:00 [inaudible]
00:11 I think it started with a good game.
00:13 They got whatever they wanted,
00:15 so we didn't get anything in transition.
00:19 Like I said, it was a free game.
00:21 We were on a tier. They played hard.
00:22 They played hard, and we didn't match up any jumps.
00:25 Not rebounding.
00:27 Not a lot of times we come in the book
00:30 and say they really thought they could play harder than us,
00:33 but they did tonight.
00:35 We got to just look in the mirror individually
00:37 and just be good.
00:41 You mentioned that they kind of got everything that they wanted.
00:44 Mark had said that was kind of the point of the attack.
00:47 Were they just able to kind of beat you all off the dribble tonight?
00:51 And if so, why did you think that?
00:56 It was a lot of ball strength, I feel like.
00:59 The guards did a good job of playing that little 10-foot area
01:03 and making floaters, making pull-ups.
01:05 And we didn't -- as guards, we didn't get over-strained well enough.
01:10 We didn't make them uncomfortable.
01:12 We didn't feel this.
01:14 I think we had one team foul the whole first quarter.
01:16 And the third quarter, I think we had one team foul
01:18 for the first seven, eight minutes of the game.
01:23 And it's just -- and a team like that, who's well-coached
01:26 and plays hard and talented, you can't wait.
01:28 We've got to find a bunch of players who can react fast enough.
01:31 It was just -- it was awesome.
01:34 What do you think of the way Aaron Rubens moved off the ball?
01:37 He seems to find his stuff within the flow of what you guys are doing.
01:42 Great cutter.
01:43 It's something to take pride in.
01:45 It's something that I know the coaches have been honoring,
01:48 but they want to change it.
01:50 It's something that Aaron was cutting.
01:54 That's a credit to him because he had a lot of game on the dribble, too.
01:58 But he just knows, like, you know, we've got Shea
02:00 and Diddy with the ball most of the time.
02:02 So, you know, that's a good way for him to get back in the game.
02:08 What's it like playing with a guy who you know is going to look for those spots
02:12 and is working off the ball to kind of create the opportunity?
02:16 I think as far as regard, whatever position,
02:19 I'm going to go with guys like that because that's what stands out about guys like that.
02:23 You know, if you're not worried about putting the ball on the floor
02:26 or touching the ball all the time, you know, do whatever they can, face the floor,
02:29 cut, get a scot, might open up a shot for somebody else.
02:32 And he'll just keep doing it repeatedly.
02:34 That's who he is as a person.
02:37 Josh was just saying that by this time, like, when he was playing in the NBL last year,
02:41 he played 30 games or so.
02:43 Same goes for the guys who were just in college last year.
02:46 You played, I think, right around 30 games each year,
02:49 your first three seasons including this one.
02:51 How hard is it to just, you know, kind of fight through this middle of the year type thing
02:57 and just like just all the team through the season throws it?
03:01 No, we're not going to need that.
03:03 I think it's good.
03:06 We've got a young team.
03:07 We knew that coming into the season.
03:09 But we believe in ourselves and we've got a hot dinner for ourselves.
03:13 So if it's like, okay, we're a little short on our shot because our legs won't make,
03:17 that's acceptable.
03:19 Not the way we played tonight.
03:21 Not giving up.
03:22 How many offensive fouls?
03:23 I don't remember how many it was.
03:24 Not getting back in transition, not communicating, not keeping guys out of the paint,
03:28 not making anybody feel offensively messed up.
03:31 And that's not Josh.
03:32 That's one through 11.
03:36 That's all of us tonight.
03:37 We might not have any offensive fouls tonight, but we're not going to be able to do too much.
03:41 After the season, whatever it is, not a lot of guys here.
03:45 We're playing a lot of road trips.
03:47 Nothing to do.
03:49 Marcus talked about you kind of having discovered your game.
03:53 You truly understand yourself as a player.
03:56 You've only -- the next game will only be game 100 for you as an NBA player.
04:01 Is it kind of a point of pride that despite not having played that many games of good,
04:05 guys kind of look to you for some better in your position?
04:08 And you look to as a guy that kind of understands himself as a player.
04:12 I think I've had to grow up fast because of how I was hurt in my first season.
04:23 I missed the first half of both of my seasons.
04:25 So I really had to grow up fast because at the end of the day,
04:28 when you're in your third period, you're not done anymore.
04:30 So just had to figure it out fast, figure it out on the fly.
04:33 The coaches did a great job last year allowing me to find who I am,
04:39 allowing me to put me in situations to be successful.
04:42 And I think I'm obviously still learning.
04:45 I'm still growing every night.
04:47 And in a certain way, I'm a player too.
04:49 One night I may be on the ball more, and one night I may be off the ball the whole game.
04:53 So I think it's just a matter of just trying to compete better.
04:57 I think that's the thing.
04:59 My first year at Phoenix when I was hurt, and I don't know if you've heard that,
05:02 I've lost sight of it a little bit.
05:04 I think now I try to bring that with me every time I step on the court.
05:07 I think I do a good job of competing from the second I got in
05:11 and getting everyone on the court to compete.
05:14 We've got one on the Zoom.
05:15 Christos Soltis, go ahead with your question, Christos.
05:18 Hey, Ty, hope you're doing well.
05:20 For a young guy like you, what do you need to do on both ends to be a consistent team?
05:28 We've got to compete.
05:31 I don't think that's been an issue for us 98% of our games this year.
05:38 But Coach says all the time, like, we don't have the luxury of not competing and being in games.
05:45 And he said that's a good thing and a bad thing, 100%, right?
05:48 Because it's going to teach every one of us how important it is to compete.
05:52 And you watch the good teams play.
05:54 Like you watch Golden State play.
05:55 You watch Phoenix play.
05:57 You watch those high-end, really, really, really good NBA teams play.
06:02 And they compete at a really high level.
06:04 They undertake coverage and they execute.
06:06 And we may slip in those areas a little bit, but we cannot slip in our ability to compete every night.
06:12 And when we do, you see what happens.
06:15 All right. Thank you, Ty.
06:16 That's a wrap for Thunder. Available tonight.