Aaron Wiggins | New Orleans Pelicans Post-Game | Dec. 26, 2021
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00:00Aaron, this is your fifth start this season, and you put together a performance like this.
00:14Just what was it like out there for you personally, and what was working so well offensively?
00:18I mean, it was really fun for me, you know, just being out there, you know, I was trying
00:22to find open windows, finding the right cuts and everything so that, you know, I find easy
00:27ways to get going.
00:29My teammates continued to find me. Giddy was amazing. I mean, he found me a couple different
00:33times. And I mean, I was just trying to find ways to, you know, make sure I was contributing
00:36on both sides of the floor. So I felt like I did a pretty good job and happy to have
00:41the win.
00:42You've had a lot of different experiences just in your time with the Thunder, between
00:45starting coming off the bench and then time with the Blue. Just how have those experiences
00:49helped you in moments like this?
00:51Yeah, I mean, every experience, every little thing you go through, you got to try and learn
00:55from it, take away whatever you can and grow, you know, add it to whatever, you know, you're
01:00going through, because, you know, you want to live in the present day, but you also want
01:03to have hope for the future. So I just, I just try to take every single thing that I
01:07go through and, you know, make sure I, you know, learn from it and just continue to grow.
01:12Tony Sellers from the Associated Press. What was different about tonight for you offensively?
01:16I mean, you hadn't scored in double figures in a game this year, and you tripled that
01:20tonight.
01:21Yeah, I mean, I just think I did a really good job, you know, trying to find open spots.
01:26When I'm on the bench, when I'm not in the game, I watch those guys who are really good
01:30playing off ball. K. Rich, Baisley, it's a lot of different guys who are really good
01:35at it. And, you know, I just try to find ways to, you know, make sure that when I'm on
01:39the court, I'm doing those little things that can, you know, just help the team, you
01:42know, get going. So my guys found me in open spots and, you know, I was just trying to
01:47make plays.
01:49Christine Butterfield, 1077 The Franchise. You mentioned Giddey earlier on how he was
01:53able to find you on a lot of those looks. What does it say about a player like him who,
01:57even though he's not having a good scoring night, that he's still able to be a primary
02:01creator in the offense?
02:02Yeah, I mean, he's incredible. I didn't even know. I looked up at the scoreboard and I
02:06saw that he hadn't scored yet, but he had like nine rebounds and eight assists. And
02:10I was like, I mean, he's really good. So, I mean, regardless of, you know, his scoring
02:15or anything like that, he's contributing in every other aspect of the game. So, I mean,
02:20he's a really great player. It's crazy to think he's only 18. So, I mean, he's going
02:23to be really good.
02:24Nick Gallo, KC Thunder.com. Mark has talked multiple times about sort of giving you a
02:30homework assignment when you went to the blue, not just defensively with some of the matchups
02:35that you were tasked with, but offensively playing within the flow, but with more aggressiveness.
02:41Can you maybe explain some of the things that you really try to focus on, on that, on that
02:45homework and maybe how they showed themselves tonight?
02:48Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of different things. You know, there's, there's obviously cutting,
02:52you know, finding the right times to cut and having a good feel for those cuts. You know,
02:56rebounding offensively and defensively. Like you said, he sent me down, you know, I've
03:00been with the G League and played and had different homework assignments, you can call
03:04it. And I mean, defensively, you know, I think a lot of my teammates, the coaches believe
03:10that, you know, I'm a good defender and I 100% agree with them. So, I mean, just trying
03:15to make sure I'm getting comfortable, you know, finding ways to be a, be a player on
03:18both sides of the ball, offensively and defensively. And, you know, just continuing to grow with
03:22that. So that's, that's been my biggest thing in terms of those homework assignments, making
03:25sure I'm working on, you know, those little things that can contribute.
03:29James Jackson with the Oklahoma, was there a certain point tonight where you had, you
03:32felt like you had everything going on the offensive end for you scoring wise?
03:38Not really. Cause it was like a lot, a lot of the buckets were on like cuts and you know,
03:44just getting easy looks. More than anything, I felt like, you know, I was able to contribute
03:49to getting the offense going, getting a good start out of the gate. And I mean, like I
03:53said, Giddy found me on, I think two or three different cuts early in the first quarter.
03:57Shea found me open for three, a couple of times. So, I mean, I think those little things
04:01trying to make sure that I'm in the right spots and I'm doing the right things, if
04:04anything, got our team going and help contribute to the win.
04:07Yeah. Aaron, coach talked about how you guys have a next man up mentality from a
04:21organizational standpoint, but I want to get the input from a player. Like what's the
04:27mentality of having, what's you guys, cause this is not the first, it's not the first
04:30time that someone has stepped up when someone is out or someone wasn't playing well.
04:34So how is it from a player standpoint with you guys as the next man up?
04:39Yeah, I mean, it's just about always being ready. You know, whether your name's called,
04:45you know, whether it's called to go into the game and score the ball, go into the game
04:48and rebound or guard somebody defensively, you know, you just got to be ready. You
04:52know, we have guys who are out, we have guys who aren't playing and stuff. And as a
04:56team, you know, it's not just one guy who's going to step in and be able to, you know,
04:59fill in for a specific player's role. But as a team, you got to play together and you
05:03got to find ways to do what it takes to win. And I mean, with guys sitting out, you
05:07know, we played really well together tonight. We made the right plays, we played
05:10together and things were clicking offensively and defensively for us.
05:15Thank you.