Bliss | Hawks Post-Game | Nov. 22, 2021
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00:00You know, obviously wrapping up the trip here in Atlanta, three, three very good Eastern
00:09Conference teams and, you know, great chance for us to go up against, you know, some, some
00:14proven veteran players that have been together for a little while.
00:18So yeah, I thought we had some good, good carry over and some things, particularly the
00:23ball movement, you know, and getting that thing flying around a little bit more.
00:27That's going to open up our threes.
00:28We've really struggled shooting the ball so far this year, but, you know, showed some
00:32nice flashes of executing there and that, you know, defensively just got to feel what
00:37it feels like, you know, against a team that doesn't give you a lot of margin there.
00:42So, you know, we've maintained some similar principles, you know, I think throughout the
00:47early part of the season and carrying over into this middle part here and, you know,
00:52I think guys are feeling good about, you know, the way we're executing and the way we're
00:56doing things and the principles that we have.
00:59It's, you know, I thought we didn't necessarily make enough plays to win tonight, both ends,
01:03you know, some simple plays, some handling plays, some, you know, passing plays, some
01:08finishes.
01:09But I thought the execution was probably good enough to win.
01:12And, you know, at the end of the day, we know we got to put the work in and, you know, get
01:16better in all areas and, you know, everything darned in this league.
01:19So we're not shying away from that.
01:21We're going to keep coming at it and, you know, keep getting better.
01:26Yeah, I thought Josh did a really good job of kind of controlling the game and calling
01:47the game.
01:48I thought for one thing, you know, something we've been challenging him on and, you know,
01:52getting us into sets quicker and then, you know, picking his spots to play in the fast break.
01:58You know, we want him out in transition, throwing the ball ahead, you know, firing the guys,
02:03creating avenues, you know, for other guys to get looks.
02:06But then also it's like, you know, Atlanta got back pretty well tonight, I thought.
02:12When they did, he was able to get us into sets and get everybody organized, showed some
02:16good ploys there.
02:17So, you know, credit to him for continuing to build that piece of his game.
02:21You know, it's easy to just look at the numbers sometimes with players and evaluate that.
02:25But, you know, just learning game management and, you know, where to attack, how to attack,
02:30when to attack, that stuff, you know, that takes time, but he's really picking that up well.
02:52Yeah, I think it's just always good for a team, you know, when everyone's touching the ball
02:58and everyone's, you know, has an opportunity and it speaks to the connectedness of the group.
03:02I think that the ball's not sticking right now.
03:05We're hitting the open guys and, you know, we're going to build on that.
03:08And some of those shots are going to start to go, you know, as those reads start getting
03:12cleaner and we get used to playing that style, you know, and cement ourselves with, you know,
03:17how we want to play and how we want to move it.
03:19And, you know, it just, it magnifies everybody's skills, right?
03:22You know, that's kind of the great thing about passing and ball movement.
03:28You know, everybody wants, says they want to do that, but it's not easy to do.
03:31And if you can do it, you know, trying to get to a situation where, you know,
03:36the sum of the parts is greater than the whole, you know, in some way or form.
03:41So I think that's what passing can do for a team.
03:44And we're, you know, we're making progress there.
03:49Yeah.
04:05I think a lot, you know, he's not, you know, not afraid of that at all.
04:10You know, he's been extremely open to taking on challenges for a young player.
04:16That's a big deal.
04:18You know, and he gets to make a lot of decisions tonight and, you know,
04:21he's starting to see some more coverages, you know,
04:23he's seeing some different things out there.
04:25He's starting to learn a little bit better timing, I think, on some things.
04:30So, you know, like we always say, we try to grow from every experience,
04:34but you can't do that watching.
04:36So really, really valuable for him to be out there, you know,
04:40in a lot of different actions, playing all over the floor,
04:43playing two-man games with a bunch of different guys.
04:46You know, he had a lot of different combinations trying to, you know,
04:49trying to find some cracks in their defense.
04:51So, you know, I think it helps him a lot to do that.
04:56I know it's more to it than just the shooting numbers,
05:00but Darius really struggled to score the ball on this trip.
05:03Didn't shoot it well tonight.
05:05What do you, as Mark often talks about,
05:08like consistency is the thing with him and just sort of reaching a level of
05:13consistency.
05:14What's sort of the next step for him offensively to sort of get going and not
05:18have slumps similar to this?
05:20Yeah.
05:21I mean, if there's an easy answer, you know, we would, we would do it.
05:25But I actually liked how he played on the trip.
05:28He got some of the rim on, you know,
05:30and that's where as he continues to get physically stronger and older,
05:34you know, that, you know,
05:36some of those plays where he's missing right now,
05:38he's going to start turning those over and, you know,
05:40he's going to have the power to really finish those.
05:42But I do like how he's getting to the rim.
05:45I think he's,
05:46his three point shooting numbers have come up a little bit since the
05:49beginning of the season.
05:50And, you know, that stuff's, it's kind of been, you know,
05:52push and pull, you know, a little bit, you know,
05:55scoring well inside earlier, but you know,
05:59just the way he works and the way he prepares, you know,
06:02he's going to continue to get better, but, you know,
06:04I thought his teammates did a good job, you know,
06:07just giving him confidence and say, you know,
06:10keep putting pressure on the rim, keep getting there.
06:12You know, we saw the passing come as a result of that last night.
06:15He couldn't get a lot to go,
06:17but was able to create a better job of finding the corners.
06:21Definitely want to do a good job.
06:24So, you know,
06:25sometimes you just got to hang in there and keep putting the work in and,
06:28you know, trust that it's going to help.
06:31Steve McGeehee,
06:32news nine being the head coach for the last three games is about where you
06:35expected?
06:38Sure. I mean, you know, I didn't,
06:40I didn't really have any expectations, you know,
06:42I've coached summer league before, I've coached some other things, but,
06:46you know, getting to do the real things, you know,
06:49same as same conversation I had with Josh, you know,
06:52spent a lot of time studying coaching, you know,
06:55coaching techniques and watching the best coaches,
06:57but it's an opportunity for me to grow. You know,
07:00you get to go out there and do it, you know,
07:03against big time teams and some really good opposing head coaches.
07:07I got a ton of respect for all three of those guys that just got a chance to
07:11coach again. So, you know, first time doing it for me and, you know,
07:16just happy that, you know,
07:18thankful to the guys for allowing me to coach them hard and, you know,
07:21being responsive and trying to execute what we're saying.
07:25Dave there's,
07:27it used to be that Lou would be kind of streaky as a three point shooter.
07:31He's now got 31 straight games with a made three,
07:34eight straight games with two or more made threes. Like, are you just,
07:37are we seeing consistency from him as a three point shooter? And if so,
07:41why?
07:42It's yeah, I think so. You know,
07:47he's in year three now. You know,
07:50the thing about Lou is it's a little different than some of the guys who are
07:54primary defenders is his background growing up as a point guard, you know,
07:58being a highly recruited player, being a scorer at different levels.
08:02You know, I think he just,
08:04he just continues to believe in his own ability, you know,
08:08and obviously he adds a little bit each year. We've seen that, you know,
08:12in different ways, he's improved his handling. He's improved his passing.
08:16He's improved his shooting. I wouldn't say it's just the threes.
08:18I think he's just a growing player and an emerging player. You know,
08:23he's always had the hard work ethic, but the skills take time, you know,
08:27and nobody conquers all that in a year or two. You know,
08:31even the best players make massive skill jumps, you know,
08:35from age 20 to 25 to 30, you know, a guy like Gallo,
08:38who's out there who we've had, you know, super highly skilled player, but,
08:42you know,
08:43he's in his 13th year and he's been honing his craft for a long time. So,
08:46you know, that's been,
08:49sometimes when we talk about better teams and young teams,
08:53it's not all about just experience. It's also, you know,
08:57you've had a lot of days to work on your craft. And, you know,
09:00the one thing we do is we never waste a day. You know,
09:03sometimes we rest, but when it's time to rest,
09:05we rest and it's time to work, we work. And, you know,
09:08those days are going to stack up, you know, but you can't, you know,
09:11you can't rush the process and, you know,
09:13you got to just kind of hang in there sometimes, but no, like, Hey,
09:16all I can do is get up the next day and go back to work.
09:20Dave.
09:21John Collins is certainly more known for his offense than defense,
09:24but tonight he had five blocks and seemed to be doing a lot of things for,
09:27for the Hawks.
09:28What was stands out about him and sort of the matchup problem that he
09:30presents?
09:33Yeah. Same thing. He's like a really nice player starting to get a little
09:37more seasoned, you know, under his belt. I think when they added Capella,
09:42that really just, he saw it last year,
09:44their team defense took off and he was out at the beginning part of the
09:48year. And now that he's back, he's such a good communicator.
09:52And I would imagine, you know, that's rubbing off on, on John as well,
09:56you know, just having somebody back there,
09:57showing them the way that was the ropes and, you know,
10:00really helping him grow into, you know, a better defensive player.
10:04And he's obviously willing to do that.
10:09You know, that's what guys do when they want to win.
10:12They start going from, you know,
10:13rebuilding to now having some playoff success and, you know, yeah,
10:17you got to get better scoring, but, you know, collectively,
10:19I think they've gotten a lot better defensively and Nate does a great job
10:23coaching defense. That's, that's not new.
10:26So I'm sure he's had a big impact as well.
10:30So I couldn't say much more about being in the locker room there, but,
10:34you know, they've got some pretty,
10:36pretty good defensive influences over there to be sure.
10:44Yeah. Coach, you guys rebounded the ball pretty well tonight,
10:47but only had two fast break points. Was that, was there something specific,
10:51the Hawks were doing to stop you guys?
10:54Cause it seemed like the pace was there, but the fast break points weren't.
10:59I don't know. I think, you know, a lot of it was just didn't get enough stops.
11:02You know, it's always easier to run off misses and turnovers.
11:07You know, they did a pretty good job knocking down threes and, you know,
11:12I thought they passed the ball well. I thought they executed well. So,
11:15you know, credit to them. And, and, you know, when you're playing off made shot,
11:19you know, a lot of the, a lot of the game,
11:21it's tougher to get those fast breaks and easier to get your defense set.
11:24So I don't think I had anything other than that.
11:45All right. Thanks guys.