Mark Daigneault | Nets Post-Game | Nov. 14, 2021
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00:00 State your name, affiliation, that would be great.
00:02 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:04 Questions?
00:06 >> Nick Gallo, KC Thunder.com.
00:08 Mark, just seemed like you all weren't able to quite get over that hump,
00:11 made a few runs at them.
00:13 What were some of those maybe moments that didn't allow you to get quite
00:17 that breakthrough that you needed?
00:19 >> Yeah, at our chances obviously, but that's exactly it.
00:24 I thought we were just like one play away on offense.
00:29 I thought they had some momentum breaking fouls where we got on a run and
00:34 then they were able to get to the line.
00:36 So it's just one of those nights, this team's been so good at competing and
00:43 responding, and we just couldn't get the fire lit tonight.
00:47 So stuff we can take from the game,
00:50 certainly fundamentally attacking some of their defensive stuff.
00:54 I thought they did a nice job on us there, game plan for us.
00:58 We can learn from them, but we had a quick turnaround here and
01:01 obviously need to be better tomorrow.
01:02 >> Christine Butterfield, 107, son of the franchise.
01:06 Near the end of the game, there was Ty Jerome in,
01:09 there was this group that was really giving the team some momentum.
01:13 And then you decided to put back in your starters.
01:15 Can you just talk about your decision behind that?
01:17 >> I thought about it.
01:18 I knew they were going to on the timeout, got it to 10.
01:23 In a game like that, you don't wanna rack up a ton of minutes for
01:27 the starters if you're down by 20 or something like that.
01:31 And so you hope that that unit can go in there and bridge on a back to back and
01:35 four and six, you hope that unit can go in there and
01:37 bridge you to get you back in the game.
01:40 Our group has just been so competitive all year and
01:43 has responded so well all year.
01:44 I wanted to give them the opportunity to do that.
01:47 And obviously, they outplayed us there coming out of that timeout, but
01:51 those guys did a really good job.
01:53 I give them a lot of credit.
01:54 They went in there, they were ready to play.
01:57 Just kept competing and I thought, turn the game a little bit obviously and
02:01 got us back in it, got us within striking distance.
02:03 But probably just the betting on the competitive spirit of those four starters.
02:10 It was really those four guys.
02:11 Obviously, it didn't work out though.
02:14 >> Paris Lawson, okccenter.com.
02:17 Coach wanted to ask you about Lou, third straight game for
02:19 him scoring 20 or more points.
02:21 Just offensively, what are you seeing from him over these past few games?
02:26 >> Well, I think, I don't wanna oversimplify it, but
02:29 he obviously got off to a start shooting the ball from three that
02:33 is just below what you would expect from him.
02:37 Which I think happens throughout the course of the season.
02:39 There's variance in shooting and he's starting to see some fall now.
02:43 So I think that's got something to do with it.
02:44 He has been aggressive on the drives.
02:46 He's done a nice job playing in the driving kick game when the ball gets
02:49 sprayed to him, reading the close out and either hitting the paint or
02:54 shooting the three and so we need him to be aggressive.
02:57 When you've got him playing like that and you got giddy playmaking and
03:02 you got Shay, it's hard to hide guys.
03:04 When those three guys are foot on the gas like that,
03:07 we need him to play the way he's playing right now.
03:09 So he's done a nice job on that end.
03:11 >> There was a moment there in that first half where Jeremiah got matched on to
03:14 James Harden, did a really good job on him.
03:16 Just in that sort of opportunity learning experience for him.
03:19 What did you think of the way he was able to handle that?
03:21 >> He handled it well.
03:24 I thought he continues to impress with his fundamentals.
03:29 He continues to impress with how quickly he's picking things up.
03:32 And he learns the lessons, you know what I'm saying?
03:34 He's a guy that I think if you give him experience,
03:37 he grows through those experiences.
03:39 He did a lot of good things again tonight.
03:41 But he followed the jump shooter on a play, he has his moments.
03:45 But you have a lot of confidence that because of who he is and
03:49 kind of the way he can kind of think and execute.
03:51 That he picks up those lessons quickly and moves on and improves quickly.
03:57 So we have confidence he'll continue to do that.
03:59 He's played well tonight, I thought.
04:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]
04:03 >> Joe Masato, the Oklahoman.
04:05 Mark, I know you probably couldn't have seen it coming at the time.
04:08 But that challenge really backfired on you guys with
04:11 the foul on Doerr instead of Giddey.
04:13 What did you sort of see there?
04:14 >> Well, they called the foul on Giddey.
04:19 >> Yeah.
04:21 >> And I thought Doerr was legal.
04:22 He had his hands up.
04:24 I didn't think Doerr fouled him and Giddey wasn't near the play.
04:27 I also, I think some of that is,
04:32 I thought that was not the first call that I disagreed with.
04:38 And so I wanted to go get one there.
04:39 And I understand with the foul trouble, but Lou didn't foul out.
04:45 Neither did Kenrich.
04:47 And like I said, I think we've only challenged five plays this year.
04:52 You don't always get one in the game and
04:54 there's no guarantee that the game's gonna go down to the wire.
04:57 So I think the possession or the points or whatever is worth it.
05:02 If you can go get one.
05:04 And like I said, I saw the replay board.
05:05 I thought we were legal on the ball and Josh was nowhere near it.
05:09 So we technically won the challenge.
05:10 But obviously, the fact that Doerr picked up a foul on it and
05:13 that there was no outcome difference wasn't what you're looking for.
05:19 >> Was there any thought, obviously it didn't really come back to Kostya, but
05:22 was there any thought to not start Doerr in the second half with four fouls?
05:26 >> We kicked those things around.
05:28 I'm of the mindset of every minute you take a guy off the court with fouls,
05:35 you're fouling him out of the game as the coach.
05:40 So if you sit Doerr five minutes to start the third,
05:43 you're fouling him out of the game for those five minutes.
05:46 And so it's always been kind of my mentality of make them foul him out of
05:50 the game.
05:51 Because like tonight, him, Kenrich Williams, Kenrich, I think had three or
05:55 four in the first half.
05:56 He had five for all that stretch, and they never fouled out of the game.
06:00 So I tend to be pretty aggressive with those because I've just learned
06:04 the lessons.
06:04 You got guy gets two in the first quarter, you sit him and
06:07 then he ends the game with two fouls.
06:09 And you sat him six minutes, you fouled him out, the refs didn't.
06:12 So that's kind of where I've landed on it, but
06:14 there's obviously times where I'll do it.
06:16 >> Why was tonight the night for Aaron to make his debut?
06:21 And obviously goes in there in a tough spot, and
06:23 how do you think he handled himself?
06:24 >> Well, like I've said, taking different looks at different guys.
06:30 To be honest with you, watching him in summer league,
06:33 he was really impressive with his competitiveness.
06:36 So we're like, okay, let's see what this looks like in camp.
06:40 Camp, he's really competitive, preseason games, he's really competitive.
06:44 And then when he started the blue season, we really challenged him on style of play,
06:49 and really trying to be simple offensively.
06:51 Because the defensive stuff was popping, he kind of passed every test.
06:57 And we don't wanna make the mistake of having a guy on a two way like him,
07:03 and just waiting around until there's a natural opportunity to put him out there.
07:07 You gotta kind of know what you have, and
07:09 he's a guy that's kind of checked some boxes up until this point.
07:13 And I thought he did that again tonight.
07:15 Offensively, he could have been better, it was his first game.
07:17 And it takes some time to get used to the speed of the game.
07:20 And obviously, as fans, you're playing against Brooklyn.
07:23 It's not an easy situation, but we wanted to evaluate him in a not easy situation.
07:27 And we wanted to see how the defense stood up against a real team and
07:32 real guys.
07:32 Because if you put him out there against a second unit and
07:36 a lesser opponent, lesser talented than that, and he does well.
07:40 Then you're sitting there wondering, okay, does this translate to Harden?
07:43 So it's like, put him on Harden, that's how you learn.
07:46 And we're gonna continue to explore these players,
07:50 it's what we have to do right now with where we are as a team.
07:53 And we're not gonna allow individual outcomes to throw us off track there.
07:58 >> And last one for me, Darius had a rough shooting night and
08:01 then on the other end, he has to guard Durant, that's quite an assignment.
08:04 What are you sort of looking for out of him when it's obviously not easy for
08:09 him out there?
08:10 >> Well, I thought he got some good stuff around the basket early that didn't fall
08:16 for him.
08:17 But I mean, that's just like when you're in the fight like that,
08:20 if you're playing high minutes and you're out there for 25, 30 minutes a night.
08:26 And if you're guarding guys like that,
08:27 you have to be able to mentally weather storms.
08:30 When it's not going well for you offensively,
08:33 you gotta still be able to lock in defensively.
08:36 I didn't think the Durant damage in the first half was necessarily all him.
08:41 Like he got loose in transition on one, we followed him on a three pointer on
08:44 a switch.
08:45 There was one where it was just kind of our help defense where he got loose.
08:48 So I thought he hung in there with the individual matchup, but
08:52 it's just it's a mental test for a guy like him cuz you gotta compartmentalize.
08:56 If it's not going well offensively, you gotta still be able to go.
08:59 And I thought he wasn't like 10 out of 10 on that tonight, but
09:02 he wasn't one out of 10 either.
09:03 I thought he was pretty good.
09:04 >> Steve McGee, News 9.
09:07 Defensively, you guys did a good job on James Harden and we had one three.
09:10 Joe Harris had one three, Kevin had just had two.
09:13 Was Patty Mills the difference maker in this game tonight?
09:15 >> Yeah, I mean, the margins are just so thin with him.
09:18 We've seen it over the years in San Antonio.
09:20 He just makes you pay when you make a mistake and
09:23 they got him twice, pinning in four.
09:27 We're trying to rotate to him and they're sophisticated with their stuff.
09:31 They're good players.
09:31 We try to rotate to him and they screen the rotation.
09:35 That's just tough stuff.
09:38 And then you're still giving effort and you're just a little late and
09:41 it's like, bang.
09:41 But he's that kind of player.
09:44 That's why he's a huge addition for them.
09:46 And I think he's gonna give them a little jolt as they go through the regular season
09:49 and into the playoff run.
09:50 >> Anybody else in the room?
09:53 We got one question, two, go ahead with your question.
09:57 >> Clement, Monza, 1077 franchise.
10:01 Mark, so Trey Mann is the first player, I believe,
10:05 who's played both the Thunder and Blue games.
10:07 How do you handle situations?
10:09 Do you have like a minute restrictions with those guys or
10:12 is it just a wait and see type of situation?
10:15 >> It's not minute restriction, it's like kind of discernment.
10:20 We kind of made the decision, we prioritized his blue minutes today above
10:25 like a full rotation in the game tonight, but there's definitely some margin.
10:29 And he's a guy, it's early in his career and
10:36 we wanna throw some body shots at him a little bit.
10:39 But kind of like the Wiggins response, like all these guys,
10:43 you don't get stronger by lifting 10 pound weights.
10:46 You get stronger by testing yourself and stress testing.
10:49 And we're not shying away from that developmentally,
10:52 we want it to be competitive.
10:54 It's supposed to be hard.
10:55 If you want something, you have to earn it.
10:58 And when you have a high bar, you really have to earn it.
11:00 And we've got a really, really good group that's got a really high bar.
11:05 And so we'd be doing them a disservice if we didn't make them earn it.
11:08 And that's what we're doing with Trey and everybody else on our team.
11:11 And he's passing, he's clearing those hurdles right now.
11:15 He's been impressive, including how he went in tonight.
11:18 He probably wasn't expecting to go in in that moment, but he was ready to go.
11:21 He competed and his foot was on the gas and it was kind of a continuation of
11:25 the way he played last game and this morning's game.
11:27 And that's how he's gonna continue to get better.
11:29 >> Thank you, coach.
11:31 >> All right, guys.
11:31 >> Player's next, player's next.
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