0:00 right up in the front and Joe Joel Lorenzi with the Oklahoma. Mark, I don't know where you'd rank this game for Dub's career as long as you've been coaching him, but what did you see from him and what do you think allowed him to get out and run and play with the force he kind of did? Great force. I mean, that's the word. Um, and we've used that word with him in his development and when he's at his best, he's he's playing with that type of force. And that was an unbelievable performance by him um just throughout the whole game. I mean, he he really was on the gas the entire night, applied a ton of pressure, thought he made a lot of the right plays. Um and we're going to need a similar type of approach in game six from him. Joe on the right, Joe Mado, the Oklahoma. Mark, what do you
0:47 think of the crowd tonight? Yeah, unreal. I mean, they've been unreal forever, but um they they just put the wind at our back, you know, and we have to give them a reason to. We have to play with um the type of togetherness and competitiveness and spirit that they can relate to, which I thought we did tonight, but um it's an unbelievable lift for us to be home. I'm sorry. Can can you hear each other out there? I mean, your barking, instructions, everything like that. Just what's that like? Yeah, less than the regular season, but enough. We're getting getting the stuff in. Hey Mark, Jenny Carlson with the Oklahoma. You guys are trading punches there in the fourth quarter with them and then you go up eight after JDub hits a shot. Then you had the four steals in a row. Just walk me through those
1:33 defensive possessions for your guys and how fitting it was to see this game really secured with your defense. Yeah, I thought our defense uh tonight was really good. Um I thought our conversion off of our defense was hit or miss. We had some really good moments. We had some moments that uh I wish we could have back. Um you know, the second chance points were a major problem. They did a great job of crashing to the glass. Uh they beat us in the paint tonight. Um so that was it wasn't a perfect game at all and there's a lot of room uh for growth, but I thought our improvement from game four to game five um was critical and we're going to need a similar type of approach. Um, you know, we got to take the humility to understand there's still a lot we can get better at, um, if we want to go on the road, you know, and and win a game.
2:21 Nick in the middle, Mark, you just mentioned improvement, the offensive process. What did you make of that, the 24 assists, 10 by Shay, and, you know, just the sheer way that you scored on that end? Yeah, I thought we took a step forward there that, you know, we took some steps forwards tonight, we took some steps backwards. That's natural. You're not going to be perfect. um in everything, but offensively we definitely took some steps forward in terms of our uh approach. Um and defensively, you know, I I thought we were pretty good. You know, I thought McConnell really changed the game in the third. Obviously, that was blatant. Um and so, you know, we got to do a better job there. We got to do a better job on the glass. Um late game defensive transition. You know, they kept the pressure on us there. Um so, we have room for growth, but I thought we took
3:07 some steps forward on the other end. Vince on the right. Hey coach, uh Vince go Yahoo Sports. Coming into the season, the thought was that either Dub or Cadet was going to have to step forward to be the second guy next to Shay to get you guys to this level. Was there anything before the season or during the season where you were sort of affirmed about JDub or was it something that evolved through the playoffs that sort of leads up to tonight in this series? respectfully, we don't look at it like that in terms of, you know, second guy, first guy, third guy, anything like that. We're just trying to help every guy grow and improve um and tackle the next thing in front of them. And um Dub's a third year player, Chad's a third year player, um Kase Wallace a second year player. I mean, we're just
3:52 trying to help those guys take steps forward um wherever they are at a given moment. That's everybody on the roster. That's Caruso and Kenri Williams, and that's all the way on down. Um, and when you do that and when the guys commit to that, um, they improve. And I think tonight, a lot of the things that Dub got in the game tonight are things that we talked about early in the season. He wasn't having games like this in November, December. So, um, his focus on the improvement, I think, led to, um, him being the player he is right now. But again, you know, these guys can be ready to go on the road. We got to be ready to go as well. Fifth row on the left. Right here, Mark Logan Murdoch of the Ringer. Um it seemed like Shay provided a calming influence down the stretch of this game. I think he had a hockey assist uh to JDub
4:38 u with about I think eight minutes left and then you took him out and he came back in and got another assist to Dort. What did you think of his game and how did he kind of settle things when you guys were when they were coming back when Indiana was coming back? Yeah, I thought, you know, we really they were they had a really good offensive second half. um you know and so defensively there's some things we can learn from like I mentioned McConnell in the third and then in the fourth even I think they had 30 points or 33 points um and so we need to improve there but our offense kind of paced us down the stretch you know and he's such a big part of that because he's just in such command with the ball uh and Dub was doing that tonight too which is important against their pressure so thought those guys again you know played really well in the two-man game you know controlled the clock controlled the game down the
5:24 stretch and and pace us ahead of them. Fourth on the right. Mark Valencia King, Real Talk Sports. I talked to you last series about how both JDub and Shay used the phrase be where your feet are. As their coach heading back into into Indiana, how will you continue to hold tight to that phrase? Yeah, I mean, we have to um as we have all year, you know, we have to focus on improving, you know, we're we're playing a game, you know, and um we have to get better in the areas that we have to improve. Indiana is going to do that. That's part of a series. That's how you you pace ahead of a series is you keep improving. Um and we got to go up there and and focus on what we focus on which is the next game, the next possession, uh and where we are, you know, and the guys have done an amazing job of that. Um but, you know, these games are a challenge. We want to win these games.
6:09 It can pull you into the future. It can pull you out into the past. We got to stay present and compete together in every possession of the game. Tim McMahon, ESPN. Mark, you mentioned uh I think the practice after game one that typically for thirdyear guys delivering in the finals isn't on the curriculum. Yep. Why do you think Dub has been able to come through the way he has uh you know especially over these last few games in this series? I mean these guys are really good players obviously. Um but I go back to the improvement. You know there's times earlier in the season where you know he had some ugly plays and ugly games. um trying to establish the type of force that you saw tonight. Um and I complimented him back then, but you know, he's trying to make an all-star team. He's a allNBA player this
6:55 season. You know, he's he's got an individual career that um you know, he he's ambitious, but um the way that you accomplish your your goals and become the player you're going to be is by improving, you know, and I credit him because in the face of all those things, he just focused on improving. Um, and now in the face of going up to Indiana up 3-2, we have to focus on improving. That's got to be our mindset and we have to discipline ourselves to do that. Third row on the left, Daniel. So Mark, back to Joe's question about the crowd. Um, when seems like when there are LOLs in the game, the crowd starts making noises. I don't know if it's a correlation or if you feel like it's a correlation, but seems like that kind of pushes you guys to the next level. Do you feel that or do you feel like the players feel that? I mean, you can ask
7:42 them, but again, I think the crowd puts the wind at our back. I'm always uh I always marvel at how enthusiastic and positive they remain uh in the es and flows of a game or of a season. You know, they're always trying to put the wind at our back. They're always trying to lift the team up. Um and I just think that's a great spirit um that's on display in all these games. But, uh they were amazing tonight, obviously. Second row on your right. My patent, OKC Sports. Uh Jaylen, is this the kind of game you envision for him? I mean, not that he's going to get 40, but I know he's worked on trying to get to the free throw line. He had 12 free throws tonight along with the field goals. And also, could you comment? You got the turnovers tonight, like in game one, but you also got the points to go with it 32 unlike uh in game one. Yeah, I thought our conversion tonight was better. I thought there were also some plays where we were a little hasty in transition. Um
8:28 and we can clean that up. we have to we have to you know attack with intelligence uh after our stops and you know we can improve that a little bit. Um but yeah Jaylen you know again I don't know if this is what I envisioned but we're just trying to help guys grow you know from wherever they are at a given point in time and um you know he's committed to that process and he's not the only one. I mean he had the loudest game but we've got a a culture of that. You know, our guys do an amazing job of just staying present in their careers, staying present in the season, just attacking what's right in front of them. Fourth row on the right, Dean Blevens, News9. Coach, I was wondering on potential challenges. There seemed to be a number of calls that could have been uh that
9:15 you might have thought about challenging. What was your thinking on it? Because it wasn't just one or two. It seemed like there were a number of them. I mean, you're always just focused on trying to um get it right. You know, you don't want to you don't want to burn one on a play that uh could be marginal or can be interpreted uh in a certain way and you know, try to keep it in your pocket unless it's one that you can really go get. Fred, last question in the back right. Hey, Mark. Um you guys especially especially like Aaron Wiggins seem to put a real emphasis on getting up shots uh getting up threes in transition. Um, was that was that something that you felt like you guys had to emphasize? Was was a better way to get threes in transition? And and what did you think of the looks you guys were able to get
10:01 from beyond the arc tonight? Yeah, I mean, we we shot 17 threes in game four, you know, and um that's not really a recipe in ter, you know, it it's a byproduct of um offense that's not where it needs to be. And so I thought we made some improvements tonight. I thought Wigs and Kase Wallace specifically, especially in the first half, those guys gave us gave us a major lift, came in aggressive. Um, Wigs only played eight minutes in game four. I didn't think Kasem played great in game four. Uh, and they both came ready to go tonight and gave us a massive lift. Uh, and we're going to need that type of aggressiveness and and confidence from everybody. Um, and they gave it to us tonight. Thank you, coach. Yep. This
