Put a game first of all.
I just, I just got to I got
to acknowledge our our fans,
our fans were we're off the charts.
And then it was it was deafening in there.
It was extremely loud and so
you got to take your hat off to
them because they brought it.
They brought it for us tonight
and you can feel the energy.
My son Elijah told me when he got
to the building he he texted me
right before the game. He said Dad.
The energy in the in the air is
unbelievable and this is before tipoff.
So you know, I applaud our fans.
We're going to need them to,
we're going to need them to continue
to be there for us night in,
night out, because it's not easy.
It's a long journey and we just got to
keep taking one step at a time and we
need everyone behind us in Sacramento,
which I feel we definitely have.
I thought you know, our guys,
they they competed.
They stayed poised,
especially when we went down.
You know, Golden State again,
they're champions and you know you're going
to have to try to take this from them.
You know it's not going to be easy.
They're good.
They're going to go on runs.
We may go on runs and we have to
stay the course and until that
buzzer sounds at the end of the game.
So for our guys to to do that even
when we were down, was fantastic.
Obviously Foxy and and Malik
were terrific for us.
You know they both hit the
record books for playoff debuts.
Obviously Malik coming off the
bench and his point production for
a playoff debut and Foxy, you know,
obviously starting and him having
a playoff debut.
They were, they were big for us,
especially when we couldn't get a bucket.
During the course of the game,
and that's what you need.
You need guys to, to step up especially.
You need your All Stars like
Fox you did tonight.
He was, he was absolutely fantastic.
You know,
I thought our physicality on
both ends of the floor was good.
Our pace was good in the second-half.
We ended up scoring 10 fast
break points in the second-half,
which was the huge difference
than what we had in the first
when we only had two and you know.
Again,
I'm going to be preaching at the
whole playoff run, Physicality,
pace, pace, physicality.
Not just in the full court,
but in the half court too.
And physicality, not just defensively,
but offensively as well.
And Speaking of offense,
I thought our sprays change the game.
We did a better job in the
second-half of touching that paint
and finding guys on the perimeter.
We had a lot of guys hit some
big shots for us.
But I, I,
I,
I also have to give credit to
the rest of our bench.
Our bench was was really
good day beyond Trey and
Alex. I already talked about Malik,
but those three guys were were really,
really good for us in a lot of
different ways. It's one game,
obviously we'll take it,
but it's we understand that
this is a long journey.
Coach, congratulations.
Sounds like maybe some country music
and Modelo are in order tonight.
I don't know.
But what can you share with us
about the way you defended Steph?
Steph didn't get a very good look there,
and it was a very short clock.
But what can you share about the
way you defended their last shot
and where that broke down for them?
Well, I mean, he, you know,
he's capable of making any shot,
and you just kind of hold your breath
until that thing bounces off the rim.
You know, it's no secret we wanted
to take away the three-point line
and that's what we tried to do.
But in the same breath,
he's so crafty that once he faced up,
you know, you had to try to
contest but not to do it where
you're picking up a file because
if you file him in that situation,
we all know he's making all free,
free throws.
He's about as good a free throw shooter
in the history of the game and as anyone.
So you know, again,
we we guarded the three-point line.
We did a fairly good job with it.
He ended up breaking free at the last second.
He had to rush.
Taking that one foot 3 point shot
which at the end of day you got to
live with as opposed to fouling them.
Mike,
Matt George, BBC 10 over the course
of the season a couple times you
talked about you can't always call
timeouts to regather the group.
You need them to do it yourself.
How pleased are you with how they
responded to Stefan Clay's kind of big
shots in the fourth quarter to make
sure things didn't get out of control
No you know excited we we had
an extra time out to burn and.
You know, it was, I was close, you know,
not just to stem the tide a little bit,
but I thought, I thought,
you know, our guys would especially
foxy because we ran them.
We need some, some need a quick blow,
but we kept you know,
mixing in stops with big threes
that they hit and we were,
we were pushing it and I did not want to.
Hinder our pace at all.
And that's why I didn't burn.
That's why I didn't use extra time out,
because I thought every time we got it
off the glass and even after the makes
we were trying to get it up the floor.
And I didn't want to take that away from
because that's how we're going to have
to play throughout our playoff run.
James Hammett, ESPN 1320 Mike,
we've talked about it all
season long with you.
You started early in preseason
talking about how dear and has to
be a two way player for you guys.
The 38 points was nice,
but his defense tonight was probably that
some of the best we've seen in his career.
Just like what has gone into that,
making him that type of defender.
Well, first of all he's embraced it.
He knows that he has to be able
to do that in order for us to
attain or achieve our goal.
He's got to be a two way
player if he expects.
At all, at any time to win a championship
and he's got to do it at a high level.
He was really good tonight, you know,
we we try to give him a rest from time to
time by throwing Davion in the game and
and letting Davion chase stuff around.
We also mixed in,
so a little bit of zone and boxing
one and we're going to have to
keep trying to mix it up, you know,
throughout the course of the game,
but he's going to have to be.
Not only a leap for us offensively but a leak
defensively and that's what an Allstar does.
That's what a first, second,
third team, all NBA player does.
They rise to the moment,
especially when the moments really big.
We know we know Malik right here. We know.
We know Malik's got a big personality
and and when he plays he's always
aggressive and getting his shots up.
But to see what he did tonight.
Well, just what you make of of that,
particularly in his in his playoff debut
and and how much does his personality
rub off on his teammates when when he
is encouraging guys and particularly
guys off the bench to do what they do.
Malik is is a confident individual
and you can feel that when
you're around him and you know,
I I told him there were a couple of times
where I thought he touched that paint and
he had a couple of sprays in the first half.
And I told her, I said bleak. I said,
I'm not trying to call you off your shot.
I'm gonna live with you shooting the ball.
But when you touch that paint,
if you can feel it,
we got guys wide open on the
perimeter because they're either A,
trying to blitz you or B.
And so they're sending two at you or B,
they're sending a second, sometimes a
third body when you hit that paint.
I said, now again, I know you,
I know you could score.
And if you don't agree with what I'm saying,
you do what you want to do,
We going to live with it.
You know,
you could feel Malik's confidence,
and we need that in games
like this because he ain't,
he ain't afraid of me and he
ain't afraid in a moment,
which is what we mean.
Coach Mark, Devon Davis Enterprise,
third quarter.
The scoreboard showed you guys missing
18 of your first 22 three pointers.
You guys in the game making
eight of your last 10.
Talk about that,
turn around how you made it happen.
Well, we can shoot.
And and you know I told our guys I
thought we had some wide open looks
in the first half that we normally
make and they just didn't go go down.
And so we kept encouraging our guys
if you're open, just even a tad bit.
Let it fly. We we got to play fast
and if you're open, let it fly you.
If you pass up a shot to drive
and all that other stuff we'll
probably get a worse shot.
So trying to instill that confidence
in our guys even when we weren't
shooting it well was big by my entire
staff and our vets because they kept
letting it fly and and we finally,
you know caught fire enough to knock
a few down towards end of the game.
Mike Jake Aiden for CBS13 One did
anybody win the chain. Alex, Lynn
and two, you said you'd need
everybody when this playoff run hits.
Domas Keegan struggles a little bit tonight.
What do you want to see them when they
when they take on game two on Monday and
changing their game and their approach
in this situation?
You got to have a short memory.
That's the biggest thing.
You got to have a short memory.
They've done it all year for
us and so we're going to keep
encouraging them to play their game.
If they are in position to score,
go ahead and do your thing.
But don't hesitate at all.
If they hesitate,
that's what would hurt us
more than anything else.
We all have confidence in them.
Tony Harvey, NBC Sports Radio,
Coach Brown. You know,
you've been pretty much preaching
about mental toughness all season.
That fourth quarter fury.
Would you describe that?
You know, it's something that you
know that your team just up to level
and didn't just rose to the occasion
100%, you know, and more so.
Throughout the course of the game,
especially when we were down,
you know we're down again.
Not being in a situation like that,
when when the stakes are as high
as they are in a game like tonight
against the the defendant champions,
you could have easily said, hey,
we got 7 games to win for it's
okay if we don't get this one,
let's fight and figure it
out for the next game.
But our guys mentally stayed locked
in and kept trying to do the
things that we asked them to do.
But being physical on both ends of the
floor and getting out in transition
and trying to increase our pace,
especially in the half court.
So that takes a mental toughness as
well and our guys showed it tonight.
Mike Jason Anderson, Sacramento Bee.
I asked you a week or so ago what
playoff Fox might look like and you
said you you wanted to see it first.
Now that you've seen it,
I just wonder what is it about
his makeup, his skill set,
what you know about him that that
might make him able to to thrive
in these kind of environments.
You know his his skill set is is
off the charts that you know.
I mean, he can shoot threes,
he's got a medium game,
he can get to the rim,
he can get out and transition and you know,
things he does all offensively,
so shifty and crafty and he
hits difficult or tough shots.
It's it's it's really fun to watch
and you know you need guys like
that on your side because again,
they know everything that we're throwing
out of and so there's no secrets.
You got to have guys on your team
that can go make plays and Foxy went
and made plays tonight and that's
just a testament to who he is.
What a playoff debut.
I mean, I you you can't ask for
much more than what he did tonight.
The thing the biggest thing though
that that that that I felt and that
I continue to see from him is in
order to be great you have to have,
you have to have a short term memory.
All the greats that I've been around,
they they move on to the next play.
Next play Speed baby and and and Foxy
did it and I think he had nine points.
He was three for 8:00.
In the first half and that
did not hinder him.
And that was fantastic to see.
Yeah, coach Bernie Nunez, Kings Herald,
that boxing one that you mentioned,
we saw a lot of in that second-half
at what allowed your team to
be successful in running that?
And how do you, how well do
you think they did of going in
and out of that coverage as you
called for it from the sideline?
They they they did it they did a great
job and we we don't work on it a ton
you know and and it was part of our game
plan as coaches going into the series
and I'm there I won't forget we we were
in the coaches meeting and somebody
said hey let's work on the Box 1.
Let's work on this let's work on
that and I said I said no we're not
going to because the beauty of us.
Going to a box and one is we don't
really know what we're doing,
which that may confuse the other teams.
So let's just let them play it and
to back that up, you know when we,
when we were slapping the guy's
hands going around Alex Linden,
first thing he said to me,
he said he said coach.
Hey, can we go over the boxing one?
Because I don't know what I'm doing, I said.
That's a good thing, don't worry about it.
And I kept it moving.
So we have some principles,
but the biggest thing is we just
got to talk or communicate with
one another cover space,
and if somebody gets cracked,
then you go ahead and switch it.
Michelle Dapper, KCRA coach Harrison
Barnes called this an emotional win.
What do you think this win means
for a guy who's been through the
highs and lows of this franchise?
Means a lot, you know? And not just that,
obviously not just for him,
but but but it means a lot to all those guys.
Because you know, I said this before,
when you have a team that is inexperienced in
a lot of different areas, you got to find.
Little victories and celebrate them
just so that they can continue to
believe and the more belief they have,
that's the more dangerous that team becomes.
And so getting this win for
sure is an emotional win,
especially with us being down with the
defendant champions in game one and
and hopefully that's going to give us a
little bit more confidence going forward.
Yeah, Coach Sarah Hodges,
CBS13 Just to go off that,
just to be able to come up victorious
in game one against the Warriors.
How huge is that?
As well as just building that confidence,
it's it's huge. You know,
you lose a game and it can doubt can
start creeping into certain guys.
You know, especially guys that
haven't been on this stage yet,
you're playing against the defendant
champions and so on and so forth.
And so when you can go out
there and you can get a win,
especially in game one,
especially at home,
that always helps the psyche going forward.
Thank you guys.