"We're pretty even keel bunch, enjoy each others company, get excited for each and every game"
Did it feel like Game 7?
"Truly felt like a playoff type of game because of the energy of the crowd."
Pau has acclimated quickly, how surprised are you?
"Not that surprised at all. People have gotten used to seeing Pau on the Grizz, when he plays on the Spanish National Team he does a lot of the things for them that he does for us. Knew what he was capable of doing and be a seamless transition."
"Vlade/Sasha teaching me all the bad words in other languages"
"On the bench against ATL, Vlade said something to Sasha, I said something to Ronny, Vlade asked how many languages do we speak on this team? ha ha it's awesome though it's awesome"
Worried about some guys getting a big head re: championship?
"No, not worried about that at all. We're playing well, we know we have a lot of work ahead of ourselves, excited at possibilities, working that much harder. "
Compare makeup of this team vs. three-peat team?
"Completely different, much younger crew. Derek and I are elder statesman. We all hang out, get along extremely well. In terms of execution the three-peat was Shaq down low, me on perimeter. Throw it down to Shaq, or iso for me. This team there is more fluidity, ball is constantly moving. Little more fluid."
More comfortable with teammates than you ever have been. Accurate?
"No question about it. A lot of that comes from me seeing the hard work they put in. Always said that doesn't matter if you miss a shot or not, everybody misses shot. Important thing is the work ethic is there and guys have willingness to get better. Spend time in gym before and after practice so we can be better as a ball club.
Finger injury?
"Looked really weird, pinky felt like it was on the other side of ball. Reason we have tape is we don't want the finger going out more than it should be, if it does good chance it will dislocate again. So long as that doesn't happen, I'll be ok. Surgery was just not an option. Played last four games of the trip with the injury. Only thing that changed when we got back was that the injury would require surgery. I had played with it already, no sense for me to do procedure, why would I do it if I can play efficiently? re; Ronnie Lott finger solution, that's not going to happen"
Sasha?
"He works extremely hard. Sasha is a gym rat. Just a matter time until it carried over to 7:30. All the hard work has paid off, he has confidence, took him a little while to develop, but he's turned into a hell of a player. Sasha doesn't think about contract year, truly gym rat, he loves to play basketball, he's been like this since he's gotten here, he's in the gym all the time, it's paying off for him. Sasha never misses in practice/pre-games. Players become more comfortable with roles, when that happens you see some very good results."
Phil using the media, top seed, win 25 out of 30?
"Phil is great motivator, all we can do is take it a day at a time. That's our motto, that's what we will continue to do."
Book Phil gave you?
"He gave me pretty good one last year, Blink. Start really anticipating before it happens, a lot has to do with prepartion before game, the space, the emotional space, that you find yourself in that moment...am I sounding too much like a Jedi or something? When you find yourself in that right emotional space where you can really focus in on certain actions and prepration that you did before game, things start having illusion of slowing down"
Where do you stand on summer topic?
"I think I had to get some things off my chest. I wasn't comfortable going on 5 years of not really doing anything. The development of our younger players and the focus of wanting to win a championship and win one now, and us understanding that. It's helped us have a sense of urgency. They knew what I was there for, here to win a championship. Teams think that word championship is taboo, but once that was established, we just went right for it."
Team looks like it can be good for 5 years?
"Yeah we are young, key is to stay healthy, if we can stay healthy than we can do some special things, but we just have to take it a game at a time and not look to far down the line.