Josh Giddey | Dallas Mavericks Post-Game | Jan. 2, 2021
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00:00 Nick Gallo, KC Thunder dot com. Josh, I want to ask you about the disruptiveness on defense that you all had tonight as a team. You had four steals.
00:08 Teo, I think, had three. What was the key to just staying in this game on that end of the floor?
00:12 Yeah, well, we know a lot of their offense is called Luka and pick and roll.
00:16 So just being tight in our shells, making him sprayed out the corners to wings.
00:20 I think Wiggs did an awesome job for a lot of the night tonight on him and that he made his life harder.
00:24 You know, Luka wasn't able to just pick us apart like he normally would a team.
00:27 And I think we did a good job, you know, which was great, but collectively made it hard for him.
00:31 And I think we made him throw tough passes, make their guys throw tough passes, Bronson as well.
00:35 When we're in the lanes tonight, I think, you know, we kind of realized when we get steals again, we look really good.
00:40 And then you became the youngest player ever to record a triple double.
00:44 Just your your thoughts on the night that you were able to accumulate, you know, just filling up the stat sheet across the board.
00:50 Yeah, I mean, it's cool. As I said earlier in the year, like, you know, the individual stats are good.
00:54 You know, you enjoy it for the night. But, you know, as I said, a win is always better than individual stats for me.
00:59 And, you know, if I had as I said, if I had zero zero zero and we win, I'm more happy than if I have a triple double and we lose.
01:03 So it's always been that way for me, always will be. But yeah, I mean, it's a cool milestone.
01:07 Christine Butterfield, 1077, the franchise. We talked about the triple double.
01:12 You had 14 assists, but you only had two turnovers.
01:14 And especially in a night when, you know, Shaquille O'Sullivan is out and you're that lead in the offense.
01:19 How good did you feel knowing that the ball was taken care of in your hands tonight?
01:24 Yeah, obviously, without shade, you know, kind of free things for other guys and opportunities arise.
01:29 And I think, you know, the guys on our team do a good job of kind of grasping those opportunities.
01:33 And tonight, I guess, you know, I had the ball in my hands a lot more than I usually would.
01:36 And I was able to make plays. My guys ran the floor hard.
01:39 They finished really well around the ring, make shots. So they made my life a lot easier.
01:43 I mean, the assists look good for me, but, you know, if they're not making shots and getting to the right spots, you know, that doesn't that's not there.
01:48 So a lot of credit goes to them. You know, they make my job pretty easy.
01:54 Paris Lawson, OKC Thunder.com, this is your first game back.
01:57 Just how did you feel? What were you thinking? You know, stepping into the game after being out for a while.
02:01 I was tired. I mean, at the start, I was gassed. We got up and down a fair bit.
02:03 But Mike asked me the first time out. He said, are you all right?
02:06 I said I was good, but I was out of breath. But it was good to get my legs under me, get the wind back in.
02:10 But, you know, it's a quick turnaround. So I think we got two days to go to Minnesota.
02:14 So we're good for that. And it seemed like you guys were able to bring the energy a lot in that third quarter, especially got down big in that second quarter.
02:22 What kind of flipped at halftime for you guys to turn it around? I think we got out of transition.
02:25 That's that's when we're at our best. I mean, we got steals, as I said earlier.
02:29 You know, Poku was good running the floor. Roby was really good running the floor.
02:33 So when we got guys out running the floor, we're a hard team to stop.
02:36 And we've got so many guys can handle the ball, make plays. It makes us tough to guard on the offensive end.
02:40 So when we're out of running, I think we're really tough to stop.
02:44 Joe Masato, the Oklahoman, Josh, missing those last few games, being away from the team and being out, what was that like for you?
02:52 Just like how hard was that? And now other teammates are going through that as well.
02:56 It's tough. I mean, we were lucky. We kind of held off on COVID for a fair while, but it was bound to hit us at some point.
03:01 And this is the time. And as I said earlier, you know, guys are going to be out.
03:05 So it's time for you guys to step up. And I think the big one beneficiary of that was Wiggins.
03:10 The last four games, he's been massive for us. And you can see the strides he's making.
03:13 I think playing in the G League gave him so much confidence coming back up to our team, like playing in the starting role, guarding the best player every night, putting up great numbers on offensive end.
03:22 So, you know, when players are out, opportunity comes up for other guys.
03:26 And it's obviously tough missing games, but it's the reality we're in right now with COVID.
03:30 And it sucks to sit in a hotel room, quarantining, watching games on TV. So I'd much rather be out there playing.
03:35 And then last one for me, back to the triple-double, if you don't mind, just getting that last rebound, had a couple of chances there.
03:42 There's kind of a funny moment when Aaron sort of took one away when you guys were both there.
03:47 What was that like trying to go for that last rebound?
03:49 Yeah, I mean, just trying to get it naturally, not trying to force it and chase stuff down that play out of my natural game.
03:56 You know, my teammates were telling me, but I was never going to go out there hunting rebounds.
03:59 But I think a few fell into my lap at the end of the last five minutes.
04:03 So as I said, good to get that ball.
04:07 Come on, Zoom. Let's go to Chris Tavis.
04:11 Hello, Josh. Congratulations on the triple-double, first of all. Happy New Year.
04:16 That performance tonight, that triple-double, that overall performance for the eight minutes, what represents about your growth on both ends of the floor?
04:25 Yeah, I mean, you know, growth comes with experience and learning.
04:28 And I think I've played 30 or so games now and from game one to now,
04:32 I think I'm making progress more mentally than physically, just reading the game, it's slowing down for me a little bit more.
04:38 Stuff's starting to open up. I'm starting to find my spots, where to be on the floor to be effective.
04:42 And both ends of the floor, you know, defense is still a work in progress.
04:45 I've got to get better on that end. But yeah, just, you know, learning game by game, watching film, practicing, you know, having a short term memory.
04:54 And that's the great thing about the NBA is you've got a game the next night, so you can't dwell on one, you know, the one the night before.
04:58 So I'm learning every game and I'm happy with where I'm at and the progress we're making as a team.
05:04 Hey, Josh, obviously, the triple-double is what's going to get talked about, but your defense was really good tonight with a tie to career high with four steals.
05:16 What was your mindset on that end of the floor, especially with guys being out?
05:21 Yeah, I mean, as I said, Luca handles a lot of the ball for them.
05:24 So a lot of the time I'm guarding off the ball. So trying to be early and, you know, to shell spots, to make life hard for him, make him see bodies, put people in front of him and their other ball handlers.
05:33 So, you know, I was kind of just reading his passes a little bit.
05:37 And it's actually, you know, to play against someone like that who I've hooked up to trying to model my game up after a long time, you know, passes that I threw, I can kind of see him throwing the same one.
05:45 And I picked one off earlier in the game and I knew he was going to throw that.
05:49 You know, not a lot of players kind of could have read that because I was a low man and I saw him fake me out.
05:53 But, you know, I've watched his game so much that I knew that pass was coming.
05:56 So, yeah, just trying to be active on that and get us out in transition.
05:59 And then also, are you a little happy to get the triple double over with so people can stop talking about it?
06:06 Yes, I'm happy. Yeah.
06:09 All right. Thanks, guys.
06:10 - Thanks.