Mike Wilks | Dallas Mavericks Post-Game | Jan. 02, 2022
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00:00Nick Gallo, KCThunder.com. Mike, you guys defensively were pretty disruptive all night.
00:05Seemed like some of those chippies around the rim just weren't falling for you. What did you see
00:10kind of on both ends of the floor? I thought our guys came out, you know, focused,
00:15ready to compete. They got some high-level players out there. They got Daunches back,
00:20Tim Hardaway back. So we knew with some of their key guys back that it was going to take a team
00:26effort. I thought our guys did a good job of that, being connected on a defensive end,
00:30giving multiple efforts. We had some slippage at times in terms of gave up a couple of good looks,
00:35but guys were able to snap right back and lock in and stay focused. And, you know,
00:41I thought defensively we were solid and we gave ourselves a chance.
00:45Christine Butterfield, 1077 of the franchise. Josh Giddey got his first triple-double
00:51of his career. What did you think of his performance tonight?
00:54Josh is a competitor, you know, tonight. He just got lost in the competition and, you know,
01:00that's just a result of, you know, him competing tonight. His teammates did a good job finishing
01:05the plays that he was able to create. But he's a young player. He's continuing to grow.
01:10Got a lot of room for improvement, but, you know, it's just a result of, you know, his will,
01:15his focus to go out there and compete and make plays. He's developing into a complete player.
01:19And then Isaiah Roby came out of, you know, halftime, really sparked the offense in the
01:25third quarter, added some spark there down low. And then also on the defensive end,
01:29what did you think of him coming out of the second half?
01:31Isaiah Roby, like you said, gave us a good lift, came out, you know, with a level of focus and
01:35intensity that we need. You know, I told him we needed him, get his physicality into the game
01:41and just be aggressive offensively. And so we were able to feed off of him a little bit in
01:45terms of his energy. So I thought he was productive and helped us out tonight.
01:52Paris Lawson, OKC Thunder.com. Wanted to ask you about Poku, obviously his first start
01:56for the season in the starting lineup. Just what did you see from him and then kind of the energy
02:00and the effort he brought tonight?
02:01Poku just continuing to grow through his experiences, you know, continue to develop.
02:06He competes. He's fearless out there. You know, it's one of the things I love about him.
02:11He takes chances, but, you know, he's a competitor as well. And he's continuing to
02:16grow and develop. So I think it's a great opportunity for him that hopefully, you know,
02:21he'll learn and grow from.
02:23And I want to ask you about that effort down the stretch there. Got it down to four points
02:28and had really an opportunity there after a big deficit. This is not new for this
02:33team to keep fighting and clawing back. Just what did you see from that group
02:36down there at the stretch?
02:38We have a resilient group. You know, we came into time out. I think we were down 10 at the time.
02:44I looked at everybody. We smiled at each other and said, hey, we right there. We make a couple
02:48shots. It becomes a two possession game and just keep fighting. We right there. Very optimistic,
02:54you know, young group that's feisty and is going to keep fighting to the wire.
02:57And so I was proud of those guys for not giving up.
03:00They came back out and just kept fighting and gave us gave gave ourselves a chance.
03:04Joe Masato, the Oklahoman. Mike, I just wanted to follow up about Josh. He became the youngest
03:08player in NBA history to record a triple double. Just given how long you've been around the league,
03:13what what is your reaction to that?
03:16I'm happy for him. I'm proud of him. He, you know, he's a he's a great worker. You know,
03:20I get to spend a lot of time with him. He's a sponge, you know, smart for for a young player.
03:27Smart for a young player. But again, you know, young, not even 20 yet.
03:33Got a lot of room for growth and improvement. And so, you know, I'm just expecting him to
03:38continue to grow, continue to develop. But again, he just got lost in the competition.
03:42You know, we weren't focused on the numbers. He was just out there trying to make plays.
03:46He was focused on winning, you know, as a team. And, you know, I give him a lot of credit,
03:50credit for doing that. And, you know, like I said, our guys did a good job of finishing
03:53the plays he was able to create. And, you know, he was out, he was out there. He's
03:58been aggressive and being Josh and the numbers is just a result of it. Thanks.
04:08Steve McGee, News 9. One more on Josh with Shea out,
04:11Lou out, his leadership role tonight. Were you impressed with that?
04:15Yeah, you know, he knew I was going to lean on him a little bit more. But just like all our guys
04:22with our key guys out, different things we're experiencing as a team as far as COVID. It's a
04:28great opportunity for all our guys to get, you know, a chance to play, you know, certain minutes,
04:33certain roles, being put in situations that they're normally not. And so we continue to
04:38preach our guys professionalism, growing through experience. And I think our guys embraced that
04:44they came out, you know, with a level of focus, they competed together. They stayed together
04:49and encouraged one another. And so just proud of the overall effort, you know, they put forth tonight.
05:01Yeah, coach, um, I know it was Lucas first game back in like three weeks. But the defense Aaron
05:07played on him was pretty spectacular. I didn't make anything easy for him. Can you talk about
05:13the effort he gave on Luca? Yeah, Wiggs, you know, gave a great effort, you know,
05:18is what he's been doing here lately. You know, he provides a defensive impact for us,
05:24developing, you know, as a guy, you know, we can count on defensively, we know he's gonna compete,
05:30he's gonna get multiple efforts, really good athlete. And so he's gonna fight and try to make
05:36it, you know, tough on guys, but, you know, still give a credit to Luca, you know, he missed some
05:41shots that he normally, you know, my mate, you know, coming back, you know, trying to establish
05:46his rhythm, but was just proud of the effort, you know, that Wiggs, you know, gave on him,
05:53but it was also a team effort, a lot of communication, a lot of guys helping each
05:58other and making them see crowds. So, but overall, I thought he, you know, competed well tonight.
06:03And then another quick one, Josh tied his career high with four steals. I know the triple double
06:09is going to be what's talked about the most, but can you talk about the effort he gave on defense?
06:15Yeah, Josh, he just, you know, continues to work on, you know, developing into a complete
06:20player. You know, we challenge him on both ends of the floor. We know he's a
06:25good playmaker and pick and roll situations, you know, elite passer, you know, for a young guy.
06:32But we continue to try to challenge him to be a two way player. And tonight, you know,
06:36he was active, bounce back, he'll make a mistake, acknowledge it and come back out
06:41ready to compete and, you know, give a better effort on the defensive end.
06:45And so some of those plays, those steals he got is just the effort, result of that effort.
06:56Hello, coach. Happy New Year, first of all. Speaking about Josh, Josh game, he plays more
07:03than 30 games so far in the NBA, in his career in the NBA. But how big is the level of maturity
07:10of his game? And what makes so special this player from your perspective?
07:17I think, you know, for a young player, he has a high level, a high level of being a competitor.
07:27So I think, like I said earlier, he just gets lost in the competition, you know, wants to win,
07:31wants to make plays for his team. And at times, you know, he's very unselfish. And so at times
07:38throughout the game, you know, I'm yelling at him, go get the ball. And he gets the ball and
07:43tries to make the right play, make the right reads. And again, very unselfish. So just
07:49just impressed by his unselfishness, his willingness to play for and with his teammates.