Mark Daigneault | Phoenix Suns Post-Game | Feb. 24, 2022
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00:00 Coming in Phoenix, one of the highest scoring fourth quarter teams in the league,
00:03 one of the best fourth quarter margin teams in the league.
00:05 What were they able to get to from an execution standpoint?
00:09 You guys weren't able to really withstand there in that fourth.
00:11 >> Yeah, and third, second half defense just wasn't,
00:14 our offense was actually better in the second half, but our defense wasn't.
00:17 And credit them, they executed, they got themselves really quality shots.
00:22 I thought a lot of it from a teaching standpoint was self inflicted on our part,
00:26 not to take any credit away from them.
00:28 But there were a lot of mistakes that I would say were break offs from what we
00:33 wanna do, and so we've definitely gotta learn from that.
00:36 Because against a team like them, the good news is when you do it against a team
00:40 like them, they burn you, and you learn the lesson with a punch in the mouth.
00:44 And we've gotta learn the lesson, and
00:45 we've gotta be able to be a little bit better there.
00:46 >> And then Shea scored 22 in the paint, I think 11 of 14.
00:52 How nice was it to see him attacking off the catch, attacking closeouts,
00:57 finding his spots and creases?
00:58 >> Yeah, he was good.
00:59 I thought he was rusty early, obviously, with a couple of turnovers.
01:04 But then once he got into the flow of the game, the meat of the game,
01:07 he was good.
01:08 I thought he looked sharp, good attacks, thought he was pretty decisive.
01:12 Was in the paint all night.
01:15 I thought he got caught with the ball at the end of the clock a couple times,
01:17 which put him in some tough spots.
01:18 But for the most part, played inside the style.
01:22 That's kinda how he was before he got hurt in January.
01:24 He was right back to it tonight.
01:26 It was great to have him out there.
01:27 >> Paris Lawson, OKC Thunder.com,
01:31 just kinda piggybacking off this first question.
01:33 With that in mind, what did you like from what you saw, especially in that second
01:37 and third quarter where you guys were able to bounce back from down 19 and
01:41 then take the lead there?
01:42 >> Yeah, I thought fought well.
01:44 I thought the second unit in the first half gave us a really good lift,
01:46 especially defensively.
01:48 They just did it collectively.
01:49 We didn't have a ton of monster individual defenders out there, but
01:52 they played the schemes and they stuck their nose in the fight.
01:55 Got stops, got rebounds, and then put us on the break.
01:58 And I thought did a decent job in the third as well.
02:02 We just gotta do it for 48.
02:05 And defensively, that really hasn't been a problem for us this year.
02:08 But coming off a break, we gotta get our feet back underneath us.
02:12 Playing a couple different guys, new guys.
02:14 We just gotta get our schemes right and get our discipline back.
02:18 >> And one guy who kind of stood out just on the stat sheet in particular was Trey
02:22 at four steals tonight.
02:23 Was there anything about his game on the defensive end that stuck out to you?
02:27 >> Good and bad, to be honest with you.
02:28 It wasn't his best.
02:30 On some of those plays, he was really good.
02:31 Had one in the first half, had the steal there that led to the layup.
02:35 But needs to continue to be good possession by possession,
02:40 giving him a little bit more freedom right now.
02:41 Cuz I think he's recognizing some of his mistakes.
02:43 So he's not requiring quick trigger pulls, but
02:48 he's gotta keep getting better on that end.
02:49 Cuz that's gonna dictate how playable he is and
02:52 how many minutes of games in his career, as we've talked about.
02:56 >> Joe Masada, the Oklahoman.
02:58 Mark, he played 21 minutes off the bench.
03:02 Continuing to see more and more of him, what stands out about him or
03:05 what progress has he made?
03:06 >> Well, the progress he's made, yeah, I don't wanna take away,
03:08 it's just getting healthy.
03:10 It's such a pain when you're dealing with long term injuries,
03:15 especially for a guy like him that's trying to prove himself and
03:17 establish himself.
03:18 He's a second round pick, he's trying to stick in the NBA.
03:20 He's trying to prove his worth to his teammates, to the organization,
03:24 to the league.
03:25 And he can't get out there, and that sucks.
03:29 So I give him a lot of credit for just his diligence and
03:32 his optimism through that process.
03:34 That's not an easy process, so I'm just happy he's playing.
03:36 I think he's happy he's playing.
03:38 And then he's big, and he's got kind of a nice floor game.
03:41 He's spatially aware out there, defensively competes and plays hard.
03:46 And he's just gonna keep getting better.
03:48 He's new to some of the schemes.
03:50 I thought he got caught on a couple things that I think will catch up pretty quickly
03:53 once he comprehends it.
03:54 But we roll with him tonight cuz he played pretty well.
03:58 >> And then I know it's just one game back for Shay, but what'd you see just from
04:01 a fit standpoint of him getting back in there and
04:04 reinserting himself into the offense?
04:06 >> Yeah, pretty good.
04:07 I thought that was pretty good.
04:08 I thought, like I said, in January, he was more decisive with the ball,
04:14 held it less, was more involved in the driving kick game.
04:17 And then obviously Josh kind of popped here on the ball.
04:20 And we've talked with you guys and also with them about how to integrate
04:25 that back in.
04:26 Josh was on the ball, I think, more tonight than he was prior to Shay's injury.
04:31 And we were able to kind of loosen him up a little bit as well.
04:35 So I thought it was a good positive step.
04:37 >> And just like the athletic, you started with Darius on Devin Booker.
04:42 How do you think he did tonight?
04:44 >> I mean, he blocked that jump shot, which is kind of why you do it.
04:47 It's like Booker, he just kind of gets the spot, stops and shoots over you.
04:51 And so, put some length on him, bother him.
04:55 I thought there were a couple plays where he kind of got caught up,
04:58 where they're screening.
04:59 And Booker's really vicious off the screens.
05:02 He's like a really sharp mover.
05:04 He's like a knife.
05:05 And so you've got to be really good in pursuits.
05:07 And being 6'9", that's one of the disadvantages of that,
05:11 is like it's kind of harder to get.
05:13 He's not as low to the ground as Dorrit or Wiggins is.
05:16 But I thought overall, he had to earn it.
05:18 I thought some of the stuff he got was kind of simple stuff.
05:21 But for the most part, I thought Baze did a decent job on him.
05:25 >> And then your thoughts on Booker's game tonight?
05:27 >> Pretty good, yeah, I thought he was pretty good.
05:29 I thought he's had a nice stretch here.
05:31 He had two good practices coming into this,
05:34 which I thought was important coming out of the break.
05:36 Cuz he had decent momentum going into the break.
05:38 And I thought it was important for him to kind of get out there and
05:42 really play sharp and compete.
05:44 And I thought he did that tonight.
05:45 I thought, again, he seems more under control of his body.
05:48 He's better understanding what's going on.
05:50 He's simplified his game on offense.
05:52 He's competing more on defense.
05:53 He had a couple mistakes tonight.
05:54 But he's earned, with the way he's played,
05:58 he's earned the opportunity to play through some of those, similar to Trey.
06:02 As long as they recognize what they're doing,
06:04 then I'm comfortable letting them play through a little bit more.
06:07 As long as they get the car back on the road.
06:09 [BLANK_AUDIO]
06:12 >> Mark, you mentioned Josh being on the ball a little bit more tonight than he
06:16 was a month or so ago when she was back in there.
06:18 Was that just giving Shay a chance to get back in there or by design?
06:23 >> Design, yeah, I mean, we've gotta be able to utilize his strengths.
06:29 I mean, he's a really good initiator.
06:31 He's a really good creator.
06:32 And we've gotta use that part of his game to unlock the potential of the team and
06:37 it's gonna require Shay to make some plays off the ball a little bit,
06:42 where he's driving closeouts, where he's shooting open shots.
06:47 But it's also gonna take some load off of Shay.
06:49 I mean, he's not gonna have to work as hard.
06:51 That's one of the benefits of multiple creators is you don't have to bust it,
06:56 every single possession to get your stuff.
06:58 And I thought some of his stuff tonight, Shay's stuff, came off of quick closeouts.
07:02 And I thought there was a nice balance there tonight.
07:05 And I thought those guys did a good job of kinda carrying over the stuff that we've
07:09 emphasized.
07:10 But yeah, I mean, we're grooming that one.
07:13 >> So moving forward, Josh is gonna be on the ball.
07:16 >> Well, I'm not gonna guarantee an amount of possessions, but yeah,
07:19 he's gonna absolutely, 100%.
07:21 He's a really good player.
07:23 And to be a great team,
07:24 you have to have multiple really good players working together.
07:28 He's proven that he can do that.
07:30 Like I said, it's gonna take some load off of Shay.
07:32 It allows us to use Shay in some different ways, moving him off the ball to get
07:37 advantages that he would normally not get when he's on it.
07:39 So we're still exploring that, obviously.
07:43 It's not gonna be perfect.
07:44 It wasn't perfect to start the game, obviously.
07:45 But yeah, I mean, we're focused on how to maximize the team.
07:50 And obviously, Josh Giddey's really, really good on the ball.
07:53 And part of maximizing the team is nurturing that.
07:55 >> [INAUDIBLE]
08:02 >> Not necessarily,
08:03 because we've seen him with the ball in his hand.
08:06 We staggered him at different points.
08:07 We didn't do it tonight.
08:08 But we staggered him, and he's been out there without Shay a lot this season.
08:11 So this wasn't the first time we've seen it.
08:14 He's been a primary handler in a lot of minutes without Shay.
08:18 And so we've known that, but he just keeps getting better and better every month.
08:23 And that included in January before Shay went out.
08:25 He was starting to come.
08:26 So it's just a point of emphasis.
08:31 And then during this stretch, obviously, he hit the gas and
08:34 took it to another level in some of those games.
08:37 But I just wanna, the Shay injury is not a starting point of anything.
08:43 We're in a continuation of something that we've been talking about and
08:46 working on all year.
08:48 So this is nothing new.
08:49 It's just an evolution of those two players that we think are really good
08:54 players that we're gonna carry forward with.
08:55 >> All right, thank you.
08:57 Two questions, coach.
08:59 First we have Daniel Bell.
09:00 Go ahead with your question, Daniel.
09:01 [BLANK_AUDIO]
09:05 >> Yeah, coach, you guys kinda went small.
09:07 I know you don't really have depth there at the center big position.
09:12 But what'd you like about,
09:13 they seem like they kinda neutralized the signs in the paint.
09:17 Neutralized Aiden there.
09:18 What'd you like about that line up?
09:19 >> It was good.
09:21 Again, it's a continuation of stuff that we've done.
09:25 We've done that with Basley quite a bit, especially lately.
09:29 There's a lot of advantages to it.
09:30 It lets us get another perimeter player off the bench and on the court.
09:35 It's another way to use Basley.
09:36 I think, especially when you watch the playoffs, a lot of these teams,
09:40 they downsize either out of strength or out of weakness.
09:43 And having a guy that is a perimeter player and
09:46 that you're developing as a perimeter player and perimeter defender that you can
09:50 then downsize with and not drop off a cliff is a valuable
09:55 way of using a player like Darius.
09:57 And so we've been doing that.
09:59 I thought it was good tonight.
10:01 Against a team like that and a guy like Aiden,
10:03 you don't wanna give them a steady dose of that.
10:05 You wanna kinda deploy it and then pull it back and keep them out of rhythm.
10:09 And I thought when we did it, especially in the first half,
10:11 we did a really good job of adapting to it.
10:15 And then you pop back in there with favors or Roby and
10:18 give them a more conventional look.
10:20 I thought it was good.
10:20 >> Last question goes to Nick Crane.
10:23 Go ahead with your question, Nick.
10:25 >> Hey, Mark, apologies if you're into this pregame, but
10:27 with Shea coming off of injury, is the plan for him to still play tomorrow night on
10:31 the second out of a back to back?
10:32 I just wasn't sure if he was fully cleared on that front.
10:35 >> Yeah, he's fully cleared.
10:36 He's fully cleared.
10:37 I mean, I'm assuming he's fine, but yeah, the plan's for him to play.
10:42 [BLANK_AUDIO]