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00:00as you join us here on the River Islands guest line.
00:02How you doing?
00:03I'm good.
00:04How are you guys?
00:05We're doing fantastic, man.
00:06Can you take us through the mindset for you
00:10in a game like that last night when you find out
00:14that the point guard's not going to play
00:16and how that changes your role?
00:20I mean, when 30's out, I tend to lick my chops a little bit
00:25knowing I'll get some more shots.
00:28I understand that everybody's play has to elevate
00:30because of his absence.
00:32And just being ultra aggressive.
00:36I think I was for three quarters.
00:37I think a little bit in the third quarter,
00:39I was a little bit passive.
00:40Aggressive doesn't always mean scoring.
00:42It's just always trying to be assertive
00:44and making the right play.
00:45I think we did that for the most part yesterday's game.
00:48Dan, you hit a couple of big threes in that fourth quarter.
00:51And Mark woke up his daughter with the first one.
00:53And the second one is the one I'm fixated on.
00:56Is there a certain protocol for the night-night celebration?
00:59Because you're up eight.
01:01You hit the three to put the thing away.
01:04Are you allowed to go night-night?
01:05Or is that just Steph and Draymond's bit?
01:09I mean, I was contemplating it on the second one.
01:11But then I was like, that's kind of their thing.
01:14So let me just not intrude on their little celebration
01:17they got.
01:18So I got to find something of mine
01:20that I can kind of label as mine and stick with it.
01:22If you want suggestions, you could just
01:25rip off the headband and throw the hair back
01:28and just kind of frizz it out.
01:29That would kind of be like you're
01:31going to let your hair down because the night's over.
01:35Yeah, maybe let the hair go, throw the headband in the crowd.
01:38Something like that.
01:39I like it because you hit that three
01:41to go up 11 with a minute to go.
01:42And I mean, that was it.
01:44So you go ahead and let your hair down
01:46at the end of the night.
01:47And it's like, OK, I can go ahead and relax now.
01:51Yeah, that's something for sure.
01:54Brandon Pajewski joining us here on Willard and Dibs.
01:58Hey, Pods, I'm interested with regard
02:02to sort of your mentality, listening to the way
02:04your teammates have talked about you, right?
02:07It was Kevon Looney even a couple of weeks
02:08ago that's like, he's kind of a bleep hole,
02:10but we need him to be.
02:12Where does your, you've been described it,
02:15you've said it yourself, you're very confident.
02:17Where does that come from?
02:19Like, go back to your roots.
02:22And where did your mentality kind of come from?
02:27Yeah, I think this all stems from my parents, you know,
02:32raising me in a family that's super competitive.
02:36Never wanted to lose in anything I do.
02:39Just kind of stems from that.
02:40And my parents never going easy on me in anything.
02:44You know, from backyard games to sports games to just stuff
02:47in life in general.
02:48Just never taking it easy on me because I was a kid.
02:51So just that feeling of losing and not winning
02:54has always stuck with me.
02:56And so I try to compete at the highest levels
02:58I can every night.
02:59And I try to instill that in my teammates.
03:02Sometimes it comes off different than it's intended to,
03:05but it's all for the right reason.
03:06How much has Jimmy Butler kind of added to that culture?
03:09Because you have that edge, and we know Draymond does,
03:12and Steph Curry as well, and I'm sure other teammates
03:15that we don't really talk a lot about
03:16with their competitiveness.
03:17But what is it like playing alongside Jimmy Butler
03:20as another guy, another alpha in the room
03:23who has that same kind of ethos?
03:26I think it mixes well.
03:29I think for us, at least for me and Jimmy and Dray and Steph,
03:35we're kind of all alphas in our own right,
03:38but it's none to the point where it'll ever interfere
03:40with us trying to win because at the end of the day,
03:43that's all we're trying to do is win a championship.
03:45And so we're all alphas in our own way.
03:48And so I think it's mixed well
03:51because everything's about winning at the end of the day.
03:53Paz, this may sound random,
03:55but since Deb's brought up Jimmy Butler,
03:57have you ever gone to a meal with Jimmy yet?
04:02I have not.
04:04I plan to do so with him in Miami.
04:06Okay.
04:06Go see his coffee shop down there.
04:09Okay, and the reason I ask is Logan Murdoch
04:11just had a story come out where in it,
04:14Mike Dunleavy is quoted as saying they had a meal
04:17back in Mike's playing days in Chicago
04:20and that Jimmy has, at least in that meal,
04:23has dessert first.
04:25So he starts with cheesecake and then he goes to an entree
04:28and then he goes to an appetizer.
04:30And the quote is, it's all going to the same place.
04:33What's your take on someone who eats that way?
04:38I agree.
04:38I agree with the fact that it all goes to some place,
04:40but I like to always say the best for last.
04:44Otherwise I won't eat the healthy stuff.
04:46So, I mean, Jimmy's different.
04:49He does a lot of things that I've never seen,
04:51but he gets it done, it works,
04:54and hopefully we learn with it.
04:56What are some of those things?
04:58What do you see as Jimmy Butler differences?
05:03I think the biggest thing that stands out to me
05:05is he lights a candle in his locker home or away.
05:09I've never seen that before.
05:12I don't know if it's something spiritual
05:13or just like a good luck thing, but he does that.
05:17I saw it for the first time in Chicago when we were there
05:19and I was like, wow, this is kind of different,
05:21but hey, it's working.
05:23Yeah, and you mentioned his coffee shop
05:25and I was just looking it up.
05:26It's the Big Face Coffee Shop in Miami.
05:29Is that something that the whole team's going to check out
05:31or is that just going to be something that maybe you do
05:34or Jimmy does just to go check out
05:36his brick and mortar coffee shop?
05:39We haven't talked about it as a group yet,
05:42but I assume if some of us are going,
05:45a bunch of us will go.
05:47Brandon Pajewski joining us on Weathered in Dibs.
05:50Brandon, I wonder how you would describe
05:53the difference in Brandon Pajewski in November
05:56versus the player that we see right now.
06:01Yeah, I think obviously from a broad perspective,
06:05it looks like two different players.
06:08I think November, there's a bunch of things going on,
06:12uncertainty, kind of the role with everybody playing,
06:15us playing 13, 14 guys, whatever it was,
06:18and so just kind of uncertainty of that.
06:20There's a rhythm to that,
06:22who you're out there with, the lineups,
06:25but then also just not playing well in general.
06:29All that kind of combined, as a confident person,
06:32it still does lower your confidence
06:34because you're like, why is it not working?
06:36Because you put so much time in it and nothing.
06:38But just since I came back from injury,
06:42or even December, January-ish,
06:46just from playing like myself,
06:48playing like how I envisioned myself playing
06:51coming into the year,
06:53and so I think it's just been good.
06:55Everything's about winning our locker room,
06:57and my teammates do a great job of helping me out with that.
07:01Brandon, I want to play something for you
07:03back at that time.
07:04This is November 21st,
07:06and Draymond Green, after a game,
07:09is talking about what he sees in you
07:12and what he was telling you at that time.
07:15The amount of pressure that he puts on himself
07:17with each shot is insane,
07:20and so I'm saying this also so I hope you hear it.
07:22Me and Steph talk to him every day.
07:24Who cares?
07:25Miss seven of them.
07:26No one cares but you.
07:28Like, you're the only person
07:29thinking about the shots you miss.
07:31No one else is thinking about it.
07:32Anyone who carries that amount of weight in anything,
07:35it affects you negatively.
07:37I hate that for him,
07:38and so that's something that we've been trying
07:40to talk to him about.
07:41Stop reacting to everything that goes wrong for you.
07:45No one cares but you.
07:47Nobody else.
07:48What we care about is all of the other things that you do.
07:51So if you do all of those things well,
07:54and that can keep you on the floor,
07:55who cares about the shot?
07:56And I think he has to reach that point.
07:58What did those words from those people
08:01do for you at that time?
08:05I think not only at that time,
08:06but even to this day,
08:10you know, Jermon and Steph and Jimmy,
08:12you know, just reiterate to me
08:14that I'm a big X factor to our team.
08:18Whether I put the ball in the hoop or I don't.
08:21But, you know, we're significantly better
08:23when, you know, guys like me, Moses, Jonathan,
08:27contribute at a high level.
08:28And so I think to have that confidence
08:31that they have in me to,
08:33even last night when it's me and Jimmy out there,
08:35he wants me to just be as aggressive as I can
08:37with him out there.
08:38And so hearing that from guys that are champions,
08:41that are Hall of Fame players,
08:43it just gives you that kind of like,
08:45yeah, you know, I don't really care if I miss.
08:47I'm gonna just go out there and be aggressive
08:48and, you know, always try to make the right thing happen.
08:50And so I think that's helped me from November to now.
08:54But just kind of constantly reiterating to me,
08:57you know, we want you to score the ball.
08:58We want you to be aggressive.
09:00If you miss, okay, it doesn't matter.
09:03I think it helps a lot for anybody.
09:04And so when you think about contributing no matter what,
09:07like, what does that look like for you?
09:09Is it rebounding?
09:10Is it defense?
09:11What are the things that you look at
09:12when the team is whole and Steph is back there?
09:15How do you feel like you can contribute the best?
09:19Yeah, it's just helping the team
09:21in the ways that Steph and Draymond and Jimmy don't.
09:25Obviously they cover a lot of those things for us,
09:28but there are also things that they are deficient at
09:31that they aren't as good at.
09:32That guys like me, Moses, Key, Quinn, Jonathan,
09:36all got to pick up slacking.
09:38And that's what a team is for,
09:40is to put all the pieces together and make it a whole puzzle.
09:43And, you know, on a night-to-night basis,
09:46that might be a different thing.
09:48You know, last night it was making the clutch shots
09:49on the stretch, and tomorrow,
09:51maybe getting a clutch stop down the stretch.
09:53You never know.
09:54And so that's what role players are for in this league.
09:57And that's the spot I'm at right now.
09:59And so whatever takes the win is what we're doing.
10:02Brandon, how do you guys go about developing a plan
10:05on a nightly or even a weekly basis
10:08when it sort of comes to health
10:11and the urgency of where you guys are in the standings?
10:14You just missed a handful of games.
10:16I sort of get the sense
10:18that they took it slow with you, though,
10:20because they really wanted to make sure that you were right.
10:23I could be wrong on that.
10:24Maybe you can clue us in.
10:25But how are you guys, you know,
10:27Steph sits out last night.
10:30How are you guys navigating that line
10:32of rest versus urgency?
10:37Yeah, I think to start off, it's crazy to say,
10:39but we haven't all played together in 2025 yet,
10:43our whole group together.
10:44And so we don't know what that looks like yet.
10:47We haven't done it.
10:49But I think, you know, for Steph,
10:52you can see that there is just like
10:53in the emotional kind of drainage with him.
10:57He's been doing so well for us
10:58and doing a lot of things over the past few weeks.
11:02You know, a day off is not gonna hurt him,
11:04especially with the talent we have around.
11:07But there's definitely a sense of urgency.
11:09We know within a day we can go from six to fourth
11:12or we can go from six to ninth.
11:14There's always that possibility.
11:15And so there's always an urgency
11:17to win as many as we can,
11:18because we're trying to not just be at the 60,
11:21but get as high as we can.
11:22What's it like over the last two games
11:25where you take on Denver
11:26and they're missing a couple of stars
11:28and they seem to rally up.
11:29And then last night you're without Steph
11:31and seemed like you guys felt a little bit more
11:33of that urgency.
11:35When you don't have one of your best players on the court,
11:37do you have a little bit more motivation
11:40to go out there and try to do more?
11:44I mean, everybody has a little bit of urgency
11:46and motivation to do more.
11:49It's a lot of points and a lot of shot attempts
11:51that we were missing last night.
11:52And so, you know, you can't just rely on,
11:54Jimmy to take 18 more shots
11:56or whatever Steph shoots tonight.
11:58That has to be dispersed.
11:59And guys understand that.
12:02And, you know, it helps your confidence
12:05as an individual and as a group
12:08when you can go out there
12:09and win without your best player.
12:11I'm sure them guys in Denver are feeling,
12:13you know, great winning without their
12:15three to five best players out there that night.
12:18So it just builds confidence for role players.
12:20And I think heading into the playoffs,
12:23knowing that you can win
12:25without your star player out there,
12:26it gives, you know, the role players confidence.
12:28And every year, the team that wins,
12:29their role players play extremely well in the playoffs.
12:32And so we understand that's what it takes to win.
12:34Pods, how much are you scoreboard watching?
12:36Like you guys have a night off tonight.
12:38Will you be at home watching Nuggets, Lakers,
12:41or what will you be doing?
12:44Yeah, we definitely keep a track of that.
12:47You know, it's always fun to play on the nights
12:49that the other teams don't because you can control,
12:52gain a half game on somebody.
12:54Like nights like tonight, I think you're also good
12:57because Lakers and Denver play each other.
12:58So someone has to lose.
13:01And so we're all just trying to keep up.
13:03We really needed that Denver game
13:06because it just becomes that much harder to have the,
13:09you gotta be ahead of them now
13:10because you can't win the tiebreaker.
13:11And same with the Lakers.
13:12And so we got a chance on Memphis
13:14and I believe Houston one more time.
13:17And so those are really the games that we need to win.
13:20Do you think about things like, you know,
13:22playoff matchups and who might be the best team
13:26for you to go ahead and take on?
13:27Or are you just really hyper-focused
13:30on like what's right in front of you?
13:33We don't care.
13:34We just want a seven game series.
13:36And we got that most belief in our group
13:38that whoever we play in a seven game series,
13:42we have the capabilities to beat them.
13:44Whether we're the one, the rate seed, it doesn't matter.
13:47Obviously you wanna be at home court.
13:49So you wanna be a top four.
13:50But if not, we just wanna get into it
13:52because when we get into a series, we're pretty successful.
13:56Pods, nice shots last night.
13:58And especially on a, as we said, on a day off for you guys,
14:03the fact that you took some time to call in
14:04means a whole lot to us.
14:06Thank you so much for coming on.
14:09Yes sir, thanks guys.