00:00Out of curiosity, I know you came here and you talked to some of the guys before you guys saw
00:04it back together for training camp,
00:05but at what point did you feel like you were no longer like a new coach with a new group?
00:11And did you kind of just start to feel like you've learned how guys ticked and the temperament of this
00:16team?
00:18Man, this is a good question.
00:23I'm not sure.
00:24I mean, you know, obviously everybody was real welcoming and, you know,
00:29and I always try to tell guys I'm going to be open and honest, so you be open and honest
00:35with me.
00:35And, you know, I think we started two and three maybe and, you know,
00:43just keeping conversations real and having hard conversations at that time made you forget that, you know,
00:52this was your first year.
00:53We just got to keep trying to figure out a way in the engagement that they had early on
00:58with the process and was really good and the help that I got from our coaches made it even better,
01:04especially the ones that had been here.
01:06So probably pretty early on, you know.
01:09That's neat.
01:11Mike, we've made a lot of these things about you guys switching the offensive systems in the playoffs,
01:16but is that something, one, that you started working on right from the beginning of the year,
01:20so you always had it in your pocket?
01:22And, two, just, I guess, having it when you finally made the decision pull the trigger,
01:27was that you saying it, Kat suggesting it, Chris Jenner?
01:33You know, it's an, I always look at it as just evolving.
01:37You know, I came in with an idea during training camp,
01:44and, for the most part, I thought it was pretty good.
01:47It didn't fit everybody, you know, exactly how I thought it would.
01:54And so, you know, you try to tweak some things as you move along,
01:58and we made a pretty big tweak about halfway through the year.
02:03And then, you know, in the playoffs, I've said this are, you know, already a handful of times,
02:10you know, Atlanta, they're really good, and Quinn Snyder and his group,
02:14and, you know, all these teams have been really good,
02:17and they've made us play a little different.
02:20We played a little different, or we emphasized certain things against Cleveland
02:24that we didn't emphasize as much against Philly,
02:27that we didn't emphasize as much against Atlanta.
02:30And so continuing to try to find ways to help the group score in the half court
02:37was something that we all put our minds to.
02:40And, you know, after, I think, game three, it's like, yeah, here it is.
02:47You know, and I get welcoming suggestions from our players.
02:52I get welcoming suggestions from our coaches.
02:55And, you know, I always just try to say,
02:58hey, this is probably the best for the team, and go with it.
03:02Fortunately, it helped us out during that series, and it's helped us out since.
03:06Christian?
03:06Micah, you guys had the long layoff after the last game, after the last series,
03:10and then the game one, you guys obviously were down 22 and had to come back.
03:13What do you learn from the last time you guys had such a long layoff in between series
03:17that you can apply to this layoff to make sure you guys are ready to go
03:20from the start of the game one to arms?
03:21You know, one thing, it's hard, and I experienced this in the past before even coming here.
03:29It's hard to manufacture the competitive environment that you're going to be in in game one.
03:36And so to continue to just find different ways to keep that competitive spirit
03:43or to keep that edge as high as you can is something that, you know,
03:50I'll ask different players, I'll ask my staff, I'll get input from a few different people,
03:55and they roll with this, they roll with that.
03:58But the biggest thing that I think should help us is knowing that as a group,
04:04the last time we went through this, you know, we started off a little slow in that game.
04:11And, you know, we can't afford to do that again.
04:14And, you know, our guys, they're a veteran group.
04:17They've been really resilient, and they've done a good job of growing quickly
04:24any time they've hit adversity.
04:27Does that look like more scrimmages?
04:31What does that look like in terms of keeping guys?
04:33Well, I mean, you can only have so many scrimmages because there's only so many days,
04:39and you've got to make sure that, you know, they're not going to work.
04:42You know, you give them time to recover from the scrimmages.
04:46So it can't be about much more increased contact, you know,
04:52but just the biggest thing is reminding them what happened in game one of our last series
04:59and letting them know that when you're watching these teams,
05:02it can't happen this time around.
05:05Mike, when you're playing this well, does it matter who you play next?
05:11No, it doesn't.
05:12You know, if we expect to be who we think we are, then, you know,
05:18at the end of the day, it doesn't matter at the end of the day.
05:24If we played San Antonio, it would save me some money
05:27because my family lives in San Antonio.
05:29I don't have to buy airline tickets.
05:31So, but at the end of the day, both teams are great,
05:35and both teams will be a challenge for us.
05:38And you're focused.
05:40That's all.
05:41That's we're ready to go.
05:42Brian.
05:43Yeah, I'm watching a trophy celebration the other night.
05:46There's all these non-Knicks out there, these celebrities.
05:49Was that like all your other past celebrations?
05:53And have you gotten to know these folks at all?
05:55Like, I remember beginning of the season, you said,
05:57Spike, give you a hug, and you weren't sure Spike even knew who you were.
06:01You were up until then.
06:02What's it like now?
06:04You know, I've actually gotten to know Joe a little bit.
06:08You know, he used to kill me about my shoes.
06:13He used to kill me.
06:15He tried to tell me I didn't get some Nikes
06:17because it got more cushion and all this stuff.
06:19And he took a picture of my stepson, and my stepson was fired up.
06:24And I've always been a fan of his.
06:26But he's probably the only one that I've really gotten to know.
06:33Again, I talked to Spike a couple of times.
06:37I really haven't talked to anybody else.
06:40I know that she's going to kill me.
06:44But when we were, my wife, Roe, Ben Stiller was over there.
06:50I don't think I've ever met Ben.
06:53But he was over there, and she was like,
06:55Ben's over there.
06:57I was like, go get a picture.
06:58I'm sure he'll take a picture with you.
06:59No, I can't do it.
07:00So, you know, Fat Joe's probably the only guy
07:04that I really know, Spike, too, a little bit.
07:06But it was cool.
07:07It was cool to have him there.
07:10Coach, I asked Jalen what he took away from Coach Wright
07:13in playing days there in Glanova
07:15that he takes into every single day today.
07:17And he said the attitude.
07:18And that was something to emphasize in that program.
07:20It's something you emphasized here on this level as well.
07:22How do you think the attitude of this team right now
07:25has helped propel them this postseason
07:27and just the unselfish play that they have?
07:30Man, you know, you can tell Coach Wright
07:32has instilled a lot of great qualities
07:34in all of these guys.
07:37They're selfless.
07:38They all have a competitive spirit.
07:40You know, they're all about the right stuff.
07:43And they're great human beings to be around.
07:47So I'm sure it wasn't just Coach Wright.
07:51It was, you know, who helped raise them.
07:53But to be able to play for him
07:55and have that continue at the highest level
07:57while competing for championships in college,
08:00definitely made my job easier.
08:03And, you know, when you have guys like that
08:06and those guys are the leaders of your team,
08:11when you're talking about all of them,
08:13then it rubs off on everybody else.
08:15And it just makes for a fantastic environment
08:18to be a part of.
08:19All right, a couple more.
08:20Mike, Jailing has been such a huge inspiration
08:23for the team and the organization.
08:24How has it kind of helped set the culture
08:27and just establish that for the team?
08:30You know, any time that you, any job,
08:35in any walk of life,
08:37that you want people that are serious about their job,
08:40that have a high work ethic,
08:43you know, that know that getting a job done,
08:47it ain't going to be easy.
08:48And I'm going to embrace it.
08:50Not only am I going to embrace it,
08:52I'm going to bring everybody else along with me.
08:54And so when you have that from your best player,
08:59it makes it easier for me to coach everybody else,
09:04you know, because he's open to it
09:07and he responds well to it.
09:10And, you know, that doesn't happen on a lot of teams.
09:14And so for it to happen here, again,
09:17makes all of our jobs easier because of who he is.
09:20All right, last one.
09:21Which one from the post?
09:22How is it?
09:24Mike, I was just going to ask,
09:25I mean, you've been to the finals
09:26with a bunch of different teams over the years.
09:28Like, is there any common thread that you found in them
09:30in any way that you take from them
09:32in how you approach this
09:33and how you, a lot of guys in this room
09:35who haven't been to the finals before?
09:38Yeah, the biggest thing is,
09:42you have to enjoy it because this doesn't happen.
09:46Some guys never make it here, you know?
09:49You know, and this is what most people play for
09:52is to have a chance to, at the end of the year,
09:55say you won your last game.
09:57So you can walk around in the summertime
09:58with your chest out and all that other stuff
10:00amongst your peers.
10:03Having said that, you know,
10:05there are a lot more distractions
10:08that you've got to navigate.
10:09So you have to be,
10:11I was talking to Alan Houston,
10:13he used the right word
10:15when I was talking to him about it.
10:16But you have to be real intentional
10:17about what you're doing
10:19because you're going to get pulled
10:21in so many different directions.
10:23and everybody's human
10:24and it's natural to get pulled here,
10:28get pulled a little here,
10:29get pulled a little there
10:30and think that you're okay.
10:32But at the end of the day,
10:34after doing the media and practicing
10:35and getting pulled three
10:36and four different directions
10:37because you're going to have
10:38your family around you,
10:39you're going to have friends around you,
10:40you're going to have people wanting tickets,
10:41you're going to have people wanting
10:42to go on this show and that show.
10:43At the end of the day,
10:46you may not realize it,
10:48but it could be fatiguing
10:49for you to do all of that stuff
10:52while trying to focus on
10:54some of the biggest games in your life.
10:57So, again, going off of what
11:00the word Alan Houston used,
11:03Alan Houston used,
11:04trying to be intentional
11:06about everything that we do
11:10during this time
11:11while keeping an edge
11:12is going to be huge.
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