Full Transcript for Media Day interviews: Ime Udoka, Rafael Stone

00:02:06.209 Rafael, you're now just over a year into the partnership 39 00:02:06.250 --> 00:02:09.449 with Kevin Durant. What's your view on how that's going? Obviously, 40 00:02:09.490 --> 00:02:12.669 he has a player option after this season. What's both 41 00:02:12.710 --> 00:02:15.750 the short-term and the medium-term view of his fit here? 42 00:02:16.590 --> 00:02:18.680 Yeah, I think his fit's been really good. I mean, he's, 43 00:02:19.259 --> 00:02:22.379 you know... you can ask him in a half hour 44 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:25.439 or whatever, but for sure it feels like he's really 45 00:02:25.479 --> 00:02:28.560 happy to be here. He's been a good teammate. Ime 46 00:02:28.580 --> 00:02:30.300 knew him well. I didn't know him at all. I've 47 00:02:30.340 --> 00:02:36.530 really enjoyed getting to know him. He's actually probably the easiest, 48 00:02:36.689 --> 00:02:40.509 or along with Yao, maybe the easiest guy of that 49 00:02:40.590 --> 00:02:42.770 stature that I've ever been around in the NBA. He 50 00:02:42.789 --> 00:02:45.909 just wants to hoop, which fits great with our culture. 51 00:02:46.129 --> 00:02:49.139 So I really enjoyed it. And um you know at 52 00:02:49.180 --> 00:02:50.800 the end you know with a guy like that you 53 00:02:50.840 --> 00:02:52.900 want to be respectful of his career and everything else 54 00:02:52.939 --> 00:02:54.960 and so we'll we'll definitely sit down and talk at 55 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:57.120 the end of this year just like we did at 56 00:02:57.139 --> 00:02:59.360 the end of last year but i have every expectation 57 00:02:59.460 --> 00:03:01.430 that he's going to be just as happy if not 58 00:03:01.469 --> 00:03:05.770 happier um uh that he was this offseason and and 59 00:03:05.969 --> 00:03:07.550 you know the the one thing he wanted to make 60 00:03:07.590 --> 00:03:09.270 very clear to me coming out of last year was 61 00:03:09.310 --> 00:03:11.090 just how much he'd enjoyed it and how and how 62 00:03:11.110 --> 00:03:13.509 much he wanted to be here and uh and from 63 00:03:13.590 --> 00:03:15.030 you know and it's been mutual from our. 64 00:03:14.969 --> 00:03:20.789 Perspective For both of you, offensive rebounding is a huge 65 00:03:20.830 --> 00:03:22.689 part of this team's identity and has been for a 66 00:03:22.710 --> 00:03:26.349 couple seasons now. Half court execution outside of that is 67 00:03:26.370 --> 00:03:28.810 sometimes a little bit problematic or was problematic at times 68 00:03:28.849 --> 00:03:32.319 last season. For Rafael, how confident are you in this 69 00:03:32.479 --> 00:03:36.740 group as assembled to be a much better offensive team 70 00:03:36.759 --> 00:03:38.919 in the half court this season? And then for Ime, 71 00:03:39.259 --> 00:03:41.000 what does that actually look like on the floor? How 72 00:03:41.039 --> 00:03:43.750 does this team become a better executing offense in the 73 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:44.090 half court? 74 00:03:46.259 --> 00:03:49.990 Yeah, I mean, I'm very confident. I do think, I 75 00:03:50.050 --> 00:03:52.789 think we, I think I said at the exit interview 76 00:03:52.810 --> 00:03:54.930 that I thought we were a little underskilled last year. 77 00:03:55.530 --> 00:03:58.830 I think our off-season additions address that, but also just 78 00:03:58.849 --> 00:04:03.099 getting Fred back is an enormous, and actually Steven. Steven's 79 00:04:03.520 --> 00:04:07.479 offensive IQ is very underrated, and particularly as a screener, 80 00:04:07.919 --> 00:04:12.699 he's maybe the best screener in basketball. So I think 81 00:04:13.080 --> 00:04:16.579 we should be better suited to be an efficient half-court offense. 82 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:20.769 Having said that, we were a pretty efficient half-court offense. 83 00:04:21.649 --> 00:04:24.629 The biggest thing, I think, for us was turnovers. And, again, 84 00:04:24.730 --> 00:04:28.509 I think increasing kind of our skill level should really 85 00:04:28.550 --> 00:04:34.529 help that. Finally, offensive rebounds count, too. So I don't 86 00:04:34.629 --> 00:04:38.769 love the– and they're effective in the postseason, too. The 87 00:04:38.790 --> 00:04:42.189 Knicks are one of the better offensive rebounding teams in basketball. 88 00:04:42.649 --> 00:04:45.250 So I don't ever want to discount that or say, like, 89 00:04:45.290 --> 00:04:48.709 that's not part of offense. It for sure is, not 90 00:04:48.730 --> 00:04:49.189 just for us. 91 00:04:49.230 --> 00:04:50.209 But for everybody in the NBA. 92 00:04:51.290 --> 00:04:54.730 Yeah, I think to Rafael's point, you know, getting guys 93 00:04:54.769 --> 00:04:57.149 back into probably their more natural position or not having 94 00:04:57.180 --> 00:05:00.689 to play certain positions full time will help us execution-wise. 95 00:05:00.709 --> 00:05:04.100 You know, when you get Fred and Steven back, two 96 00:05:04.139 --> 00:05:08.399 of our, you know, more experienced, high IQ guys, vocal guys, 97 00:05:08.819 --> 00:05:10.839 the communication and everything goes up on both ends of 98 00:05:10.860 --> 00:05:14.110 the floor. obviously offensively but again a guy like Marcus 99 00:05:14.129 --> 00:05:17.110 Smart who has done that at a high level on 100 00:05:17.149 --> 00:05:19.879 a big stage for years and so he'll complement that 101 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:22.560 as well but to Rafael's point I think it puts 102 00:05:22.600 --> 00:05:25.800 guys back in their position you know a man doesn't 103 00:05:25.839 --> 00:05:28.060 have to handle every time he can do that obviously 104 00:05:28.300 --> 00:05:30.649 and he took some steps last year but he can 105 00:05:30.689 --> 00:05:32.949 also play in every other position on the court as 106 00:05:32.990 --> 00:05:35.449 a screener as a dunk in the dunker and everywhere 107 00:05:35.470 --> 00:05:37.350 else on the court and so read a little bit 108 00:05:37.370 --> 00:05:40.639 more off ball and our

execution-wise as far as having 109 00:05:40.670 --> 00:05:44.509 those guys out there with their veteran leadership and adding 110 00:05:44.529 --> 00:05:46.490 Bogdan as well. I think it's just a really good 111 00:05:46.550 --> 00:05:49.689 mix for us. And so execution will go up due 112 00:05:49.730 --> 00:05:51.970 to that. But to Rafael's point, I think we were 113 00:05:52.089 --> 00:05:54.370 decent in the half court, could obviously get better, got 114 00:05:54.410 --> 00:05:56.990 bogged down and got ugly at times. So we do 115 00:05:57.009 --> 00:05:59.069 want to play with a faster pace and where we 116 00:05:59.089 --> 00:06:02.310 were really good there. But offensive rebounds, I think we'll 117 00:06:02.610 --> 00:06:06.089 quadruple down on that now with additions of Stephen back 118 00:06:06.129 --> 00:06:08.410 and men and some guys not having the ball as much. 119 00:06:12.939 --> 00:06:13.160 Hey, guys. 120 00:06:13.920 --> 00:06:16.139 How much does it help, obviously, going into training camp 121 00:06:16.180 --> 00:06:19.170 last year? There was no Fred. Year one with Katie 122 00:06:19.189 --> 00:06:21.250 just kind of having to figure out those hurdles, just 123 00:06:21.290 --> 00:06:23.129 being able to hit the ground running in a different 124 00:06:23.149 --> 00:06:27.029 way this year. And does that kind of add a 125 00:06:27.069 --> 00:06:29.069 different level of urgency, just being able to check a 126 00:06:29.110 --> 00:06:31.110 few boxes going in and knowing that you have the 127 00:06:31.149 --> 00:06:33.480 pieces that you have with this team, where it was 128 00:06:33.720 --> 00:06:37.660 a little bit more questions going into last season? Yeah. 129 00:06:39.100 --> 00:06:41.560 Yeah, I guess I'm definitely more excited than I was 130 00:06:41.620 --> 00:06:44.259 going into last season. I do think, like, the way 131 00:06:44.379 --> 00:06:46.319 Fred's injury kind of hit right on the eve of 132 00:06:46.360 --> 00:06:49.829 the season, that was hard on everybody. And so maybe 133 00:06:49.870 --> 00:06:51.430 I was a little bit more nervous. And this year 134 00:06:51.470 --> 00:06:54.189 I feel like I know what to expect more from 135 00:06:54.230 --> 00:06:57.810 this group, which lends itself to, yeah, some excitement from 136 00:06:57.850 --> 00:07:03.089 me to see what's going on. Yeah, that would be 137 00:07:03.129 --> 00:07:03.490 my answer. 138 00:07:03.990 --> 00:07:05.959 I mean, you never know how guys are going to 139 00:07:05.980 --> 00:07:09.050 respond coming back from injury, so. Like I said, we 140 00:07:09.069 --> 00:07:11.509 want to be smart about that, but it's more of 141 00:07:11.550 --> 00:07:15.649 what we envisioned last year coming into it. Talking to Kevin, 142 00:07:15.709 --> 00:07:17.970 he's excited just being back in the gym with some 143 00:07:18.069 --> 00:07:21.269 veteran guys out there. Our young guys have all taken 144 00:07:21.290 --> 00:07:25.029 steps and grown this offseason, but to have those guys 145 00:07:25.050 --> 00:07:28.670 with experience out there, he sees a difference already. Like 146 00:07:28.689 --> 00:07:32.000 I said, it puts guys in their natural positions, and 147 00:07:32.220 --> 00:07:33.519 we can do a lot of things that we envisioned 148 00:07:33.540 --> 00:07:36.680 last year as far as that. We're all excited. Obviously, 149 00:07:37.339 --> 00:07:40.199 seeing everybody in the gym playing five-on-five, and you can 150 00:07:40.240 --> 00:07:43.079 kind of see the new pieces, the new additions, as 151 00:07:43.139 --> 00:07:45.350 well as the guys coming back. You know, Steven and 152 00:07:45.370 --> 00:07:48.470 Fred looking good out there gives us a lot of optimism. 153 00:07:49.449 --> 00:07:51.509 And I should add that the silver lining of last 154 00:07:51.550 --> 00:07:54.509 year is I do think that mostly for a man 155 00:07:54.569 --> 00:07:58.459 in Reed, but even for Alpey and Jabari and Tari, 156 00:08:00.279 --> 00:08:02.519 I do think that, like, being thrust in those positions 157 00:08:02.600 --> 00:08:04.579 is going to end up being really good for their careers. 158 00:08:04.800 --> 00:08:07.389 And Just watching them now, like they're so much more 159 00:08:07.430 --> 00:08:11.740 confident than they were this time last year. So, you know, 160 00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:12.920 there's a silver lining to everything. 161 00:08:19.160 --> 00:08:21.060 Kind of a two-part question. 162 00:08:21.439 --> 00:08:24.220 After a season ends like it did last year where maybe, 163 00:08:24.500 --> 00:08:25.860 you know, things didn't turn out the way you wanted, 164 00:08:25.939 --> 00:08:28.560 does it make you hungrier going into the next season? 165 00:08:28.769 --> 00:08:31.269 And what are your expectations for the team for this year? 166 00:08:32.340 --> 00:08:35.240 Yeah, I would say so. You know, expectations were to 167 00:08:36.470 --> 00:08:38.789 take some big steps last year, and I feel, you know, 168 00:08:39.169 --> 00:08:41.370 in the three years that I've been here now, going 169 00:08:41.389 --> 00:08:44.129 into the fourth year, we somewhat plateaued at the point 170 00:08:44.149 --> 00:08:49.070 last year. Record-wise, the same, 52-52, but, you know, losing 171 00:08:49.090 --> 00:08:51.889 in the first round again, and so what we expected 172 00:08:51.929 --> 00:08:55.340 coming in, I don't think anybody met our expectations. You know, 173 00:08:55.360 --> 00:08:59.590 decent regular season due to circumstances, but... It could have 174 00:08:59.610 --> 00:09:02.789 been a lot better. We were looking at our record overall, 175 00:09:03.470 --> 00:09:06.289 and we had 30 losses, and I think in 18 176 00:09:06.289 --> 00:09:09.059 of those we had double-digit leads. And so closing the 177 00:09:09.100 --> 00:09:12.919 game is a big thing, and some guys coming back 178 00:09:12.960 --> 00:09:16.960 will help with that. But, yeah, we're not here to 179

00:09:17.059 --> 00:09:19.120 just make the first round. We want to make some 180 00:09:19.159 --> 00:09:22.549 real noise, and I think everybody's hungrier for that and 181 00:09:22.610 --> 00:09:25.490 to kind of not take the next step and not plateau, 182 00:09:25.529 --> 00:09:25.929 so to speak. 183 00:09:32.309 --> 00:09:33.929 This is for both, for you both. 184 00:09:34.690 --> 00:09:37.220 Where is Amin in your, in your, you guys' opinion 185 00:09:37.250 --> 00:09:40.659 in terms of his progress and kind of, what's, what's 186 00:09:40.679 --> 00:09:43.960 the expectation for him this season? 187 00:09:44.000 --> 00:09:46.679 I'll take another jump, continue to improve and, and in 188 00:09:46.740 --> 00:09:50.970 every area. And, you know, I think with him, anytime 189 00:09:51.000 --> 00:09:53.350 you see him, whether it's Las Vegas and, you know, 190 00:09:53.370 --> 00:09:55.529 playing with the, in the open gym there or Los 191 00:09:55.610 --> 00:09:57.350 Angeles or wherever he's at, he's one of the more 192 00:09:57.389 --> 00:09:59.629 dominant players on the, on the court, wherever he's at. 193 00:09:59.669 --> 00:10:02.500 And so, I want that to translate into the NBA 194 00:10:02.659 --> 00:10:05.679 and where he's had really good seasons and progressed but 195 00:10:06.559 --> 00:10:09.220 for him it's continuing to improve in every area I 196 00:10:09.240 --> 00:10:11.860 think not having the ball as much in his hands 197 00:10:11.960 --> 00:10:14.620 will allow him to do some other things on the 198 00:10:14.639 --> 00:10:16.990 court you know he's like a Swiss army knife out 199 00:10:17.029 --> 00:10:18.909 there where he can play wherever but it also allows 200 00:10:18.950 --> 00:10:22.519 him to probably get back to the defensive intensity that 201 00:10:22.539 --> 00:10:24.399 he wants to play at a high level obviously leading 202 00:10:24.419 --> 00:10:26.559 the league in in minutes it's going to take a 203 00:10:26.659 --> 00:10:29.039 toll on you some on both ends at times and 204 00:10:29.059 --> 00:10:31.259 uh you know we don't want to have him and 205 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:33.330 kevin that high minutes wise and i think with our 206 00:10:33.370 --> 00:10:35.490 rotation and the depth we have now we feel more 207 00:10:35.529 --> 00:10:38.610 comfortable with that but just continue to improve you know 208 00:10:38.629 --> 00:10:41.129 him being all defensive in the past he wants to 209 00:10:41.149 --> 00:10:45.049 get back to that but also taking steps offensively understanding 210 00:10:45.269 --> 00:10:48.070 what we're looking for from him and Everybody talks about 211 00:10:48.110 --> 00:10:49.990 the jump shot, but he's still a really dominant player 212 00:10:50.029 --> 00:10:52.210 at times without that, but he'll continue to prove on 213 00:10:52.250 --> 00:10:53.289 that because he's putting in the work. 214 00:10:53.320 --> 00:10:59.559 For both Ime and Rafael, with Fred and Marcus in 215 00:10:59.580 --> 00:11:02.139 the rotation, what do you expect the roles to look 216 00:11:02.159 --> 00:11:03.259 like with the men in Reed? It seems like with 217 00:11:03.279 --> 00:11:04.779 the men you guys are talking about a little less 218 00:11:04.960 --> 00:11:07.139 on-ball responsibilities. Is that still going to be something that 219 00:11:07.570 --> 00:11:09.730 you want him to be doing? And then with Reed, 220 00:11:09.750 --> 00:11:12.330 do you see another increase in playing time similar to 221 00:11:12.370 --> 00:11:14.110 the jump he made from last year to his career? 222 00:11:15.450 --> 00:11:17.590 Yeah, I would say, you know, just due to the 223 00:11:17.629 --> 00:11:19.529 players you have out there, he won't have to handle 224 00:11:19.549 --> 00:11:21.990 it full time, but he's really good at that. And 225 00:11:22.250 --> 00:11:24.840 anytime he can get the ball, he's a one-man fast break, 226 00:11:25.580 --> 00:11:27.840 really pushes the pace, and he's going to continue to 227 00:11:27.879 --> 00:11:30.919 grow in that area. So we're never going to take 228 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:33.519 that away from him, one of his main strengths and 229 00:11:33.600 --> 00:11:35.919 one of the things that gets us going out in transition. 230 00:11:36.000 --> 00:11:37.970 But the fact that he doesn't have to have it 231 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:40.029 every time in the half court, you know, his first 232 00:11:40.049 --> 00:11:42.539 year he played, Once Alperin got hurt, he started the 233 00:11:42.580 --> 00:11:46.220 last 18 games at the backup four. And so, you know, 234 00:11:46.340 --> 00:11:48.379 he was playing great in the pocket, screening and rolling 235 00:11:48.399 --> 00:11:50.240 for the first time, playing a dunker off Alpy. And 236 00:11:50.259 --> 00:11:53.220 so those things all bode well for him, regardless if 237 00:11:53.259 --> 00:11:56.389 he has the ball or not. And so Reid as well. 238 00:11:56.610 --> 00:11:58.750 I think he's a guy that has to continue to 239 00:11:58.769 --> 00:12:01.289 improve in the pick and roll. But playing him off 240 00:12:01.330 --> 00:12:03.710 ball as well is something he's done his whole life 241 00:12:03.769 --> 00:12:05.629 and he's really good at. And so you put the 242 00:12:05.649 --> 00:12:08.889 guys out there. who have played with shooters and know 243 00:12:08.909 --> 00:12:10.509 how to get them to ball, I think it'll just 244 00:12:10.590 --> 00:12:11.830 open up and expand Ree's game. 245 00:12:17.649 --> 00:12:17.950 Hi, guys. 246 00:12:17.990 --> 00:12:19.750 Kind of on that same note, do you think that 247 00:12:19.789 --> 00:12:22.149 in the early part of the regular season and the preseason, 248 00:12:22.190 --> 00:12:26.659 of course, your rotation will be bigger just because you 249 00:12:26.700 --> 00:12:29.220 have more guys available right now, or will you still 250 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:31.740 look to kind of only play, you know, eight guys 251 00:12:31.799 --> 00:12:34.840 maybe and try and make that more realistic. 252 00:12:34.480 --> 00:12:35.480 As it will be? 253 00:12:36.539 --> 00:12:39.460 I mean, we have good depth, and, you know, the fact, 254 00:12:39.860 --> 00:12:41.940 you know, the guys are coming off injury, we will 255 00:12:41.960 --> 00:12:45.350 play more people. You know, it's easier said than done 256 00:12:45.370 --> 00:12:47.809 to play a 10-man rotation, but there's a lot of 257 00:12:47.830 --> 00:12:51.009 deserving guys, and guys, we have to get acclimated to everything. 258 00:12:51.070 --> 00:12:54.350 And so I would say yes, as well as the 259 00:12:54.389 --> 00:12:56.549 fact we want to get our men and Kevin's minutes down. 260 00:12:57.230 --> 00:12:59.190 And so all of the above will lend to us, 261 00:12:59.370 --> 00:13:01.230 you know, getting a look at other guys, Bogdan and 262 00:13:01.269 --> 00:13:05.169 Marcus included, you know, Our top 10, 11, 12 are 263 00:13:05.200 --> 00:13:07.340 all really deserving, and it's hard to get all those 264 00:13:07.360 --> 00:13:11.200 guys minutes, but that'll be something that goes well for 265 00:13:11.259 --> 00:13:14.580 us during the season. We'll see who we play and 266 00:13:14.600 --> 00:13:16.620 what we play and what combinations work well together, and 267 00:13:16.639 --> 00:13:19.139 I think it'll take a little bit of time early 268 00:13:19.159 --> 00:13:20.409 in the season to find that out.