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00:00I guess now that the season's over, you had a few days.
00:03When you look back at it, if you've had a chance to,
00:07what moments stand out to you as, like, this is the team we can be?
00:10What were some of the lowlights, I guess?
00:13Can you put the season into a little bit of a synopsis from your point of view?
00:19Yeah, I mean, I think the entire season, from start to finish,
00:25I think we trended upward.
00:27We obviously had highs and lows.
00:29And certain points where we were peaking at the right time,
00:35certain points where it was a low for us.
00:37But I think overall we got better throughout the year.
00:41And I think that's just most important.
00:43That's what we strive for.
00:45How do you think the experience with the team that was together last year
00:50with a new coach, I don't know what your expectations were coming into that,
00:53but it's not the end of it, but the end of the regular season,
00:56and just how guys dealt with that and trying to better adapt to that.
01:02Yeah, I think it was a process throughout the entire year
01:05of just making sure we were on the same page,
01:11getting to know each other, and trying to click.
01:15Things take time, and obviously we're in a world now
01:19where everyone wants everything immediately.
01:21And so it was a good process, and I enjoyed the process.
01:26Do you ever feel the external pressure of expectations people put on this team?
01:31No.
01:33When your owner established a finals or bust mandate,
01:38do you embrace that?
01:42I don't know.
01:43I feel like it's obviously we want to win,
01:48which is very important for us.
01:50But I think our approach matters, and how we attack that every day,
01:56attack that goal is really important.
01:58So I think regardless, it's important for us to just focus on one day at a time.
02:04I remember a few years ago when you guys first advanced,
02:07you said you don't get to come back next year and pick up in a second round.
02:10You have to go through the whole season.
02:13Did that get harder?
02:14Because it took longer to get here now when you've done this three,
02:17four years in a row, and you sort of think you're going to be here.
02:22Did the season get harder a little bit?
02:25No.
02:27Why not?
02:29Why didn't it feel like it took a long time for us?
02:33That's for you.
02:36Like I said, I enjoy the process every single day.
02:39Yes, it's tough.
02:39Yes, there's times where there's ups and downs
02:42and self-doubt creeps in maybe sometimes.
02:46But, I mean, this is something that I enjoy doing
02:48and it's something I've worked my entire life for.
02:50So I embrace the opportunity.
02:54You talk about the process.
02:56How much better do you know Carl going into this playoff run on the floor
03:01than you did last season going on to that playoff run?
03:06Yeah, I mean, obviously, the longer we're together,
03:08the more chemistry we have.
03:09And so it's been great being able to work with him and understand him
03:15and figuring out what best puts us both in a position to be successful.
03:21And so, yeah, I mean, I guess I know him better the longer I've known him.
03:26Does it take time to develop that?
03:28Yes.
03:29Hey, Jalen, go back to the finals with us comment.
03:32Like, can you take us in the locker room of what was, like, the guy's initial reaction
03:35when they heard that?
03:36Like, do you guys get excited when they hear the owners say something like that?
03:41I could, but I won't.
03:44So, Jalen, in terms of Atlanta, you guys played them a few times this year.
03:47Just what do you make of the matchup?
03:48And then just what do you think about the way that they play defense, their makeup,
03:52and how do they try to get after you guys?
03:54Yeah.
03:55I think most importantly, they're very well coached.
03:57They have a lot of pieces.
04:03They're good at adjustments, clearly.
04:05Being able to have a pretty big trade in the season
04:08and then adjust to be the team that they are now.
04:10And so they've been playing great.
04:13You know, you've got to be ready for the challenge when it comes on Saturday.
04:18And, yeah, definitely excited.
04:21I think it's going to be great for us, and it's going to be a hard-fought battle.
04:24A lot of people from the outside looking in will look at their roster
04:27and see, like, you know, real seven-footers,
04:29and then look at you guys and say, well, you've got Cat, you've got Mitch.
04:31What do you make of, just, I guess, that scenario where you guys have 27?
04:35I think Cat's average is something like 28 against the whole set.
04:37How do you look at the matchup?
04:38Yeah, I mean, for the most part right now, on Wednesday,
04:41this whole matchup is basically on paper.
04:43And so we've got to go out there and just do what we've got to do.
04:45And, you know, obviously we want to take care of business.
04:50We want to obviously move on.
04:52But it's going to take one game at a time,
04:53and it's not going to be easy whatsoever.
04:55Everybody talks about the pressure of playing in New York for this franchise right now.
05:00Does it take a certain type of mental makeup to be able to block out all that stuff,
05:04but to be able to embrace the pressure and the opportunity that's in front of you?
05:08Yes.
05:08What does that take?
05:12Focus, preparation, confidence.
05:18Those are, I think, big pieces, yeah.
05:20What do you have, routine, to kind of, like, ground yourself?
05:25Yeah.
05:26My routine consists of, obviously, getting my work in, doing what I usually do,
05:34coming back at night, shooting, my confidence comes from my work ethic,
05:40and that hasn't changed since I've, I guess, I've been dribbling the basketball.
05:45With the box.
05:47Regular season home games are electric, like playoff home games.
05:52You've been in a few now.
05:54What's the difference?
05:57The energy.
05:58It's electric.
05:59It's something that we can sit here and explain,
06:06but no one really knows it unless they experience it.
06:09With the Hawks, I think Dyson Daniels has spent more time on you than any other defender.
06:15This year, just what stands out about him as a defender in that matchup?
06:19Yeah, he's a great defender.
06:23He's very smart, and he is great.
06:26He's able to use his wingspan and create habit on and off the ball.
06:33He does a lot of great things for their team,
06:35and he puts them in the position to be successful.
06:38Caleb, what kind of confidence do you have in your ball flip?
06:40What should the fans know about the way you feel about this team
06:43having it to the postseason?
06:45I have a lot of confidence in us.
06:47A lot.
06:48Is there a main reason why, or is it just the, like you said,
06:51trended upward, overall got better?
06:57To be honest, there's a lot of things that go on that you guys don't see.
07:02A lot of things that we talk about, a lot of things that we do
07:04that we don't even say publicly, and for a reason,
07:08because we want to keep everything in-house.
07:10We want to make sure that the people that are inside this building,
07:13inside the locker room, like, where are we got no matter what?
07:17But, and so, like I said, I have the utmost confidence in them.
07:22All right.
07:22I'm just, I guess we didn't talk to you about it the other day,
07:24but knowing that it's Atlanta now and having a chance to start looking at it,
07:28what kind of challenges do they present?
07:30I mean, they're a great team, and they're young, and they're athletic,
07:33and they cause turnovers.
07:35So, you know, we expect, we expected ourselves to needing to be the best.
07:40I've told you that all year, and we just have to continue to use those 1%
07:43every game in the regular season to be the team we want to be at this time.
07:48Now that you've had a few days, how would you kind of assess the regular season?
07:53Obviously, this is a group that's been together.
07:55The new coach comes in.
07:55How would you assess how the season went?
07:59I mean, it's great that we put ourselves in this position
08:02to be in the playoffs in this position,
08:05but at the end of the day, regular season doesn't mean anything
08:07if we don't capitalize on this opportunity.
08:10Kat, do you look at one game at a time here, one series,
08:14or do you look at the big picture?
08:16No, one game, one game, one game.
08:18You can't look in the future.
08:19You can't look past an opponent.
08:20You can't do any of that.
08:22The present's the most important thing.
08:23As long as we take care of the present,
08:24the future will be taken care of by God.
08:27Kat, you're scoring, your performances against Atlanta
08:29have been pretty consistently good, like 25, 28, 30, 30-plus points, et cetera.
08:34So what have you seen in that matchup that's allowed you
08:36to kind of impose your will consistently against that team?
08:38I just, you know, I just went out there and maximized my opportunities.
08:42And, you know, I've got great teammates that have trusted me
08:46in the position with playing Neil Hawks with the ball,
08:49and I just wanted to maximize this opportunity.
08:50Well, when you see that, when you see,
08:52is that something that you pay attention to,
08:53how you play against specific opponents,
08:55and then when you see the numbers skewed in your favor,
08:57it doesn't seem like they agree with you.
08:59I mean, for me, like, I just consistently walk into this gym
09:03and just put the work in.
09:04So I'm confident in whatever I need to do for us to win.
09:08I always talk to you about impact and winning,
09:10and I put the work in so that I always get impact winning.
09:13You knew what was at stake going into this season as a whole.
09:17Like, you know, if you want to assess game by game,
09:19but when you start off the season, you start off training camp,
09:21you knew that new coach, same team,
09:24the expectations were going to be pretty high.
09:26You put yourself individually.
09:28Where do you sit with that stuff right now?
09:32I mean, you know, this is the time.
09:35You know, we've got to go out there and we've got to execute
09:36and we've got to capitalize again on this opportunity.
09:39You know, at the end of the day,
09:40we'll be judged by what we do in this round.
09:44Kat, after the last regular season of the game against the Hawks,
09:47you talked about making it easier for Jalen down the stretch.
09:50With Dyson Daniels guarding him, there's a lot of, you know,
09:53a good defender on him.
09:54How important is it for you to help take some pressure off of Jalen?
09:56I mean, it's important.
09:57Like I said, I got to continue to impact winning
10:00and do whatever this team needs me to do
10:02or sacrifice for to get us a win.
10:05So I'm willing to do that.
10:06So how do you play?
10:08How do you keep yourself loose
10:09and not, like, feel that pressure in that game?
10:13Trust my work.
10:14That's where my confidence is built.
10:16It's built when there's no lights, there's no cameras, no fans.
10:18Just me and me, the basketball, and the hoop, you know,
10:22and the great Mark Bryant, you know, we just really get to work.
10:25And my confidence is built there.
10:27It's way before game one, the lights, the fans, the energy of MSG.
10:32It's been built before that.
10:34Have you seen Jalen trust you more?
10:35You guys, as far as your own two-man game,
10:38just knowing where you are,
10:39a lot of guys have been repping for Jalen,
10:41trusting over the past month.
10:42Have you seen that in the big deal with your own two dynamic?
10:46I think we've done a great job this month
10:48of just, you know, getting prepared for this playoff run.
10:51So, it's great.
10:53It's been great to end the regular season like that,
10:55but we've got to put it together now.
10:57What's it like knowing that you're, you know,
10:59getting used to just getting checked by what happens now?
11:01Like, when you were in Minnesota, just getting to playoff.
11:03It was the same thing.
11:04We got judged by what happened at the end.
11:07So, but, yeah, I mean, you know, like you said,
11:11expectations were high for us.
11:12We understood that walking in.
11:14We built those expectations by having a great run last year.
11:17But, you know, you just can never be satisfied.
11:20Did it take time to get used to that?
11:22Because when you were in Minnesota,
11:23you guys weren't winning at first,
11:25and then, you know, things turned around.
11:27And before things really got to ratchet up,
11:29you got traded.
11:30Here were the expectations started off sky high.
11:32Does it take a long time to get accustomed
11:34to the day-to-day highs and lows
11:37of being expected to just win every single game
11:41and not just win, but win with a certain style?
11:44I mean, I've dealt with pressure
11:45since I stepped into the league.
11:47And before that, but on top of that,
11:49just, you know, that's sports.
11:52The highs are high and the lows are low.
11:54And you just weather the storms.
11:56You stay to each other, you know.
11:58That's when team bonding and unity is so important,
12:00when things aren't going well.
12:02You know, it's never when things are going great
12:04that team bonding is lacking.
12:05It's always, you know, you test each other
12:07when things are going bad.
12:08So we've had those highs of highs this year with the Cup.
12:11We've had the lows of lows with the losing streak.
12:13And this team has stuck together,
12:15and the locker room has been great.
12:17So it's good for us to know that, you know,
12:20when things are not going well,
12:21we're going to lean into each other
12:23and we're going to get closer.
12:24Your last game against the Hawks,
12:26pretty close game.
12:27What do you take from that type of game?
12:29They seem to be confident that, you know...
12:31I mean, they're a great team.
12:32They're a great team.
12:33I mean, it's not a surprise, you know.
12:34So we had to fight.
12:36We found a way to win at the end.
12:37But, you know, at the end of the day,
12:40it didn't change what I thought about them.
12:41I knew they were a great team,
12:42and we've got to be ready.
12:43How would you rate this group
12:45that you're going into battle with in these playoffs
12:47compared to, like, other years?
12:50I mean, I'm confident, you know.
12:52I step into every playoff run confident in our team,
12:56you know, because at the end of the day,
12:57we're the ones that are going to need to get the job done,
12:59and also we all we need.
13:00So I know that everyone in that locker room
13:02believes that we have everything we need
13:04in that locker room to give ourselves a chance,
13:06and we just got to go out there
13:07and continue to play at a high level.
13:08A couple more.
13:10You got so close last year, obviously, in the finals.
13:13You tasted something really cool together
13:16in the NBA Cup this year.
13:18How important is it to you that this group together,
13:21just the opportunity to prove
13:23that you guys are good enough to go to the party anymore?
13:26I mean, you know, every day we've got to prove ourselves,
13:29and I think that it's going to be cool to go out here
13:31and compete at the highest level possible
13:33in the NBA playoffs.
13:34So, you know, great competition.
13:37It's going to be against a great team,
13:38start the first round,
13:40and, you know, we've got to take care of business.
13:42You have pretty good numbers this year
13:44when Okonwu guards you.
13:46I mean, what have you made about how he matches up with you,
13:48and what do you like about that match?
13:50I mean, he's a hell of a player
13:52and he's definitely much more improved as well.
13:55He's a great player, so I don't know about all that.
13:58I just know that, like I said,
13:59I just maximize opportunities when they're given,
14:01and I've got to continue to do that.
14:04So, you know, we've got to do that.
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