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00:00 [Ball hitting bat]
00:15 Hi.
00:17 Yes, I'll wait for it.
00:21 First of all, I'm proud of our guys.
00:25 The way they defended at Spurs today was really good.
00:28 The discipline they had to stay down on shot fakes.
00:33 You know, the first half we shot a lot of jump shots.
00:36 I think we had 20 points in the second half in the paint, shot 55%.
00:42 We knocked down a couple threes,
00:43 but we played the way we needed to play to win the game.
00:47 Questions?
00:56 Coach, Ty Law played about three minutes in that first half.
00:59 And what was it?
01:00 Did he miss a couple of defensive assignments early on
01:03 and then you put him back in in the second half?
01:05 You ready for this?
01:06 I probably shouldn't tell you this.
01:09 We didn't have the tights that he wanted,
01:11 so he didn't know if he wanted to play.
01:13 Oh yeah.
01:15 What?
01:16 You heard it.
01:17 We didn't have the tights that he wanted, that we've never had for him,
01:21 and he decided I don't feel like I can go.
01:25 That's what young people do.
01:28 Oh yeah.
01:30 I don't even know.
01:32 But he figured it out in the second half.
01:34 He accepted the fact that we didn't have the tights that we've never had for him.
01:37 And he played and he played well.
01:42 Next.
01:43 Is that because it was right in the middle?
01:45 I have no idea.
01:49 In the first half you took 15 of 29 shots worth threes.
01:53 They didn't get to the line, they didn't follow you to the –
01:56 I think a minute and a half was left in the half.
01:58 Debatable about the foul.
01:59 But is that what you wanted to do?
02:02 And at halftime did you say you got to change that and attack the rim more?
02:07 I'm always saying we got to attack the rim more,
02:09 we got to attack the lane more, we got to put the defense on their heels.
02:12 If you don't get it off the first drive, spray it, pass it, pass it,
02:16 get a second drive, get a second lane touch.
02:19 And then, and only then, if you get to the lane and they collapse
02:22 after the second lane touch, then you throw it out.
02:25 If not, they're in scramble mode and you go finish or get fouled.
02:30 We only did it the first time and then we threw it out
02:33 and just accepted the jump shot.
02:37 Kenny, just big picture, after last year,
02:39 you know the disappointment of that game,
02:41 just how rewarding is it to see the guys finish the game the way you wanted to,
02:44 knock down free throws and just at the end of the day able to get this victory?
02:48 You know, for me, I'm proud of those guys in the locker room.
02:51 I hope that people understand that a year ago was very hard for all of us
02:58 and you can see that we're a better team
03:03 and we're not even close to how good we can be.
03:05 We got a lot of growth to do, we got a lot of growing up to do,
03:09 but we have the ingredients to be a pretty decent team.
03:17 But, did you have to have a heart-to-heart with him at halftime?
03:20 Yes, I did.
03:22 What exactly transpired there that changed his mind?
03:26 I cannot say tell what exactly transpired, but his mind got changed.
03:33 Kenny, what would the reaction have been in your era
03:36 with players wearing tights or refusing to go into the game because of tights?
03:41 Listen, at the end of the day, here's the deal.
03:44 This is a new day and age, a new generation of young people.
03:48 They're learning what it means to be a part of a team.
03:52 They're learning what it means to be kids of character.
03:55 They're learning.
03:57 They're learning.
03:58 All of them are learning.
03:59 We want them to think like in your mind,
04:02 you're looking like I can't believe he just said that.
04:05 That's what it is coaching young people.
04:08 That's what it is.
04:09 There's a generation where these people, these young kids now think,
04:15 you know, I don't feel good today, I can just shut it down.
04:18 So that affects a whole lot of lives.
04:21 Tylor Johnson is a great kid, a great kid.
04:24 He is learning for the first time of his life
04:27 what it is to be held accountable, to be on time,
04:31 to be a part of a team and be his responsibility to the team.
04:36 I'm proud of him for fighting through,
04:38 but I'm also – know that I cannot ever take my foot off his neck.
04:45 I know that.
04:50 You all right, Dudas?
04:53 Anybody else?
04:58 Yeah, that first answer threw me off.
05:00 The heart of what I wanted to get at was it seems like when Tyler is on the floor
05:06 just the offense runs more smoothly, you know, even Sky, five points,
05:13 four turnovers first half, second half I guess it was 16 points
05:16 and no turnovers that he finished with.
05:19 Are you toying with the idea of maybe putting him out in the starting lineup
05:24 to begin with or is that still kind of –
05:26 Did you hear the first part of my statement?
05:28 I cannot do that yet.
05:30 I got to make him earn it.
05:32 I got to make him be a part of something and learn that it's –
05:36 yes, we're a different team with him.
05:38 But if I give him something, is that the right thing to do?
05:41 No.
05:42 Nobody would want me to do that.
05:45 He really don't want me to do that or he wouldn't have done what he done.
05:49 But I'm not just picking on him when I say this.
05:53 I got a bunch of great kids, he's one of them.
05:56 They just are learning.
05:58 This isn't AAU.
06:00 This isn't high school where you can just go and come.
06:03 You have a responsibility.
06:04 This is a business.
06:06 You're being taught things that you've never been held accountable for
06:10 in your life.
06:11 This is new to him.
06:13 He's very talented.
06:14 He's a great kid.
06:15 He's a winning player.
06:16 He is vital for our basketball team.
06:19 We all know it.
06:21 He just has to keep having his feet held to the fire to do the right thing
06:25 and we'll watch him grow and grow and grow until he's a force to deal with.
06:32 Second half, Brandon was a lot more of a force inside,
06:35 posting up, getting rebounds.
06:37 What changed?
06:40 I think Brandon started the game off sort of like he started
06:44 against the last game we played.
06:46 And there may be a little doubt, unsure from that.
06:52 And as the game went on he got more comfortable and got more confident.
06:57 You know, he played well.
06:58 You think he had double digit?
07:01 Ten rebounds.
07:02 Ten rebounds.
07:03 I mean, I'm expecting that from him every night.
07:06 And when I don't get that, I'm upset.
07:10 Coach, to have four wins already and obviously looking to last year, this year,
07:15 to kind of get this monkey off your back, there is clear improvement here.
07:20 What is that emotion for you, just knowing that you guys can kind of turn a page
07:23 to obviously a new season and not have to hear so much about last year
07:27 at this point?
07:30 I want to hear about last year, but I want to hear it from my own people,
07:35 from my own eyes.
07:37 That's the reason I went back and watched every game that we played last year.
07:42 You know, for me, to be honest with you,
07:45 it's about every day getting these guys better.
07:49 I can't listen to the critics, to the supporters,
07:54 I just got to get the guys better.
07:56 I am truly locked into this team.
08:00 Yes, it's hard.
08:02 Yes, it's difficult.
08:04 Yes, there's elements about this that we have to overcome.
08:10 There are things that you guys will never, ever imagine that happen,
08:15 that does happen in this program that are obstacles.
08:21 I can't use it as excuses.
08:24 You don't want me to.
08:25 So we just going to get it done.
08:28 [BLANK_AUDIO]