00:00Just to get to logistics, is everybody available to practice since the regular season ended?
00:06I don't know if you guys got together yesterday, but today and yesterday.
00:09Yeah, everybody practiced.
00:12What do you think is the challenge of the Hawks in the playoffs?
00:17Athletic team.
00:19They get out in transition just as good as any team, if not the best.
00:28Their athleticism, their length, they're very aggressive on the offensive glass.
00:36Their size and athleticism allows them to switch when they want to defensively
00:41and try to do some things defensively because of their versatility.
00:50And they can all, for the most part, when you look at the group that they play,
00:55they all can handle the ball, they all can pass the ball,
00:58they all can shoot slash score the basketball.
01:01So this is a well-coached team.
01:03Mike, seeing this group now through the whole regular season,
01:06when you see them approaching the playoffs, you have a very experienced group in there.
01:11Do you see that confidence or maturity for them?
01:16Yeah.
01:16You know, I feel the group is, you know, not confident to the point where, oh, we're going to go
01:23win,
01:24but, you know, there's no deer in the headlight-looking faces, I guess.
01:30Is that right?
01:31That's it.
01:31Okay.
01:34Mike, kind of a two-part question.
01:36When you took the job, you knew what the expectation was,
01:38and then I know the owner a few months later will come out and say that this team should make
01:42the finals.
01:44How hard is it for a group, including just like, because this is your first year with this group,
01:48how hard is it to do something of that magnitude in one year?
01:54And obviously, I know you signed up for it, and that's part of the expectation
01:57and something that you said that you look forward to.
02:00How hard is that to do with a group in one year, not needing ample time?
02:04And then two, have you gotten the sense that if anything short of that happens,
02:09things could look differently?
02:12Yeah, I mean, I don't even think about the last part of the question,
02:16but everybody in that locker room has a competitive spirit that I like
02:22and that I can say is unmatched, and I love the group.
02:27And we're competing not just for 53 wins.
02:33We're competing at the end of the day like you feel everybody else is to win it.
02:38And so for us, you know, we're concentrating on practice tomorrow, getting ready for Atlanta,
02:47but, you know, our competitive spirit's there, so it's not anything that we take lightly.
02:53Coach, the teams you've been on that went far in postseason, won titles or got close,
02:59what does this team have that those kind of teams had?
03:03It's what our standard's about.
03:06You know, they were different teams.
03:09You know, again, as head coach in Cleveland, we got to the finals with a pretty young team
03:14and assistant coach in San Antonio with a veteran team
03:21and assistant coach in Golden State with a veteran team.
03:26But if there was something that was similar with all those different teams,
03:32they all somehow, someway sacrificed throughout the course of the year.
03:38They found a way to be connected, especially at the right time.
03:43They all had an unbelievable competitive spirit and the belief in the process
03:50and each other was always there.
03:53And everybody was okay holding one another accountable.
03:59They all embraced that.
04:00And I feel that this group has trended towards that way.
04:07How different are you, I mean, 2007 was almost 20 years ago.
04:12So how different of a coach are you from all those different sort of iterations
04:18starting back from 2007 when you were younger and, like you said, it's a younger team.
04:23Now this is a veteran team with high expectations.
04:28I mean, I've been, again, the expectations are across the board.
04:35And I say that because no matter where I am, my expectations are high.
04:42So I just want to make sure I get that out there.
04:46But more mature, you know, more experienced, more seasoned.
04:52You know, if you want to get specific about it, but I didn't message great back then.
04:58You know, it was more about the work.
04:59Like, that's the one thing I knew I always had control over is I can outwork this guy if I
05:07want to.
05:08It's my call.
05:09That's easy.
05:11Therefore, if I'm going to do something with our team, our team is going to outwork that team.
05:17It's easy.
05:18You know, and now it's based more on feel, a little bit smarter with my work and the team's work.
05:32I do feel like I message better.
05:34But I've learned all these things being around great players and great coaches.
05:39And just over time, learning from your mistakes, I feel like I have a better opportunity now
05:47because I've been through a lot to be more present than before.
05:52And when you're present, it helps you be able to make adjustments more timely on both sides of the ball.
06:05Mike, when people talk about the Hawks, they often say, you know, great team, has a lot of length, athleticism,
06:11all that.
06:11And they say, but they're pretty smart at center.
06:14Right?
06:14And then you guys, you have Cat, who's average now, I don't know, something like 28 against the Hawks.
06:18You have Mitch, who's dominated against the glass.
06:19Do you consider that, the center position, like a key to success for you guys going into the series?
06:24No.
06:25I mean, Onyeka Khan, who's a really good young center.
06:29I mean, he's athletic.
06:32He has long.
06:33I mean, Chudy had four offensive rebounds against us in our last game.
06:38So the excuse that they're quote-unquote small at the center spot, I don't buy it.
06:48Because, you know, again, it's your approach to the game and the things that you do out there.
06:54So he can impact the game on both sides, defensively with his athleticism and then offensively with the way he
07:03shoots it and the way he offers the rebounds.
07:05What have you seen from Cat in the matchups against the Hawks this year that he's had, the success that
07:09he's had against them?
07:11Cat's done a really good job mixing up his rolls and his pops offensively, his perimeter shooting and his attacks
07:19off the dribble.
07:20And then, you know, his post-ups at times, you know, they're not necessarily coming with a hard double all
07:28the time.
07:30And then when that happens, we really want him to be aggressive.
07:34With their versatility they have on defense that you mentioned, just what stands out about how they approach Jalen and
07:41the guard at Jalen specifically?
07:44They have different guys with length that want to take on the challenge.
07:50And so they don't have to rely on one guy to match up with them the whole game.
07:57You know, there are some teams that use one guy and they chase his minutes.
08:05They don't, in their minds, they don't have to because of the length and the athleticism that they have
08:10and the different types of defenders that they have on the perimeter.
08:15They feel they can guard them with a few different types of guys.
08:18Have you seen Carl at any point this year?
08:21There's a lot of pressure on him to perform, not just from a numbers standpoint, but from an effect.
08:26Have you ever seen him press this season like on film, maybe not in person, but on film when you
08:32go back and look at it,
08:33or have you seen highs and lows from him?
08:36From Ket?
08:38I mean, I just see highs and lows from everybody.
08:41You know, that's what the season's about.
08:44And not, as I said it before, everybody's not going to be here or trend up.
08:49You know, hopefully you trend up more than you take a dip or two.
08:54But he's no different than anybody else.
08:58I mean, he's an all-star.
09:00He'll probably get some votes for, you know, first, second, third team, which is deserving.
09:05He's, don't quote me on this, which you guys probably will,
09:09but he's got to be top three double-doubles in terms of double-doubles, if not top.
09:15Top three two are tied for one.
09:16Okay.
09:17Yeah, so that's a pretty good season.
09:22You know.
09:23I'm talking about Josh Hart.
09:25Everyone calls this guy an X-Factor.
09:27He does a lot of great things for this team.
09:29Two-part question here.
09:31Like, what do you see from him from, like, the work standpoint behind the scenes
09:35and the work that he's putting on in part two?
09:38Like, is he, you guys, an X-Factor?
09:40Would you call him that?
09:41Well, one thing that Josh does do, he connects everybody on both ends of the floor.
09:50He's pretty selfless in terms of he can go through a game and get zero shots,
09:56and he'll be just as happy as if he had 20 shots, as long as we win.
10:02You know.
10:03So he does a lot of little things that are selfless that help in winning.
10:10And his competitive spirit is off the charts.
10:13I mean, he leads us in that area.
10:17You can feel how he likes to compete.
10:22And then what was the first part?
10:25Behind the scenes work.
10:26Yeah.
10:27So he, I mean, I think, again, don't quote me on this.
10:31Well, you guys know his stats.
10:32But I think he's shooting close to 40 percent, maybe 38, 39 percent from the three.
10:38And that's not by accident.
10:41He puts the work in.
10:43And, you know, teams won't guard him.
10:46And when they don't, we want him to let it fly.
10:48And he's won games for us this year with his shooting.
10:54And, you know, it's no different going into playoffs if a team decides not to guard him.
10:59Josh, let it fly.
11:00Because we're with you.
11:01Last year.
11:01I'm sorry.
11:02No, you're good.
11:03Yes, sir.
11:04Last year you watched these guys from the distance do what they did.
11:08Seaman, especially the group, the core group up close all year.
11:12What have you learned about them?
11:15That they're resilient.
11:16That's probably the biggest thing.
11:18You know, you don't really get that feel until you're around them.
11:22And I say that, you know, obviously for a lot of different reasons, you know, some of the wins that
11:29we've had coming back, especially late in games, trying to stay the course throughout the course of games, even when
11:36things don't kind of go our way.
11:39And we continue the jab, jab, jab, if you want to talk in boxing terms.
11:46And then, you know, we started off the year playing one way on offense and one way on defense.
11:53And we made some pretty big changes throughout the course of the year.
11:58And usually if you make I don't know if I've ever gone through a season with a team as a
12:04head coach or an assistant coach with making the changes that we've made with a group of guys and them
12:13continuing to try to stay the course and believe and buy in and all that.
12:18And to see that from a veteran group, you know, when we hit some adversity, even during that time, has
12:27a lot to do with their makeup, them being as resilient as they are.
12:32Mike, with Jalen, we've obviously seen defenses do either trap, less, double, being super physical with them, whatever it is.
12:40Just what have you seen from him in terms of diagnosing what a defense is trying to do and then
12:44ultimately solve them as the game goes around?
12:46It looks like he kind of gets better figuring out what a defense is trying to do and then fully
12:50exploits it in the second half towards that again.
12:52Yeah, you know, we've had a lot of things thrown at us throughout the course of the season.
12:57And that's what's, you know, I think that's what the regular season is for and that's what kind of made
13:01it fun is, you know, what can we do as coaches to help them if teams cross match, if teams
13:09switch?
13:09You know, if teams trap or blitz and then watching the evolution of our guys grow, not just Jalen, but
13:20the guys off the floor, us off the ball, they have to be spaced correctly too in order for it
13:27to happen.
13:28And so to be able to see all that come together throughout the course of the year and us get
13:34better as the year goes on, that was a lot of fun for me.
13:39And, you know, obviously Jalen's the one that usually, you know, cat too, but Jalen's the one that usually he's
13:46getting blitzed or doubled or whatever.
13:47And so he's the head of that snake and seeing him make the right decision at the right time has
13:54been great, not just for him, but for us in general,
13:58because that's part of that standard of belief in the process first, but just as importantly, belief in each other.
14:06If they put two on Jalen, it's his job as a great player to make the game easier for others.
14:13And so you put two on him, he makes the right pass or moves the ball in a timely manner.
14:19Now it makes the game easier for others.
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