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OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER MEDIA CONFERENCEApril 25, 2019Abdel NaderOklahoma City, Oklahoma Q. Billy said he's really proud of the way you handled not being able to get in the flow of training camp, finding your way throughout the course of the season, and just getting yourself up to speed and ready. What did that take from a mental and physical standpoint to get yourself into the flow after not getting really a running start? ABDEL NADER: Physically, it was just getting myself in shape and continue doing the work on the court. Mentally, just not getting deterred and allowing yourself to stay in it mentally and keep doing the work that you know you need to do. Q. What was it like for you to be able to translate your shot from practice to a game? Sometimes I would be out there and watching practice and you're nailing everything, and in the games sometimes you might get one or two shots or a couple of opportunities, and it doesn't go in. How do you translate that from the practice to the game setting? ABDEL NADER: I think it's a rhythm thing, and you know it's just the way games go sometimes. Sometimes you're going to make -- and if you only gain two or three shots a game, sometimes you're going to make them all. Sometimes you're going to make one. Sometimes you're going to miss them all. You can't really get too deterred about that, and just stick with it. If it drops in practice, it will drop in the game sooner or later. Q. Have you had time to reflect yet on your journey from getting back from that injury and playing with Blue some to being a regular rotation player towards the end of the season? ABDEL NADER: Not really. I'm already thinking about next season and the things I've got to do to get better for next year and continue the success -- I still can't talk. Success that I've had. Q. What do you think is the key component to building off of that? ABDEL NADER: I think just continue working. I learned a lot this year from experience to just -- from being able to play and get that experience is just showing me a lot of things I know I need to still get better at and hopefully can do this summer. Q. How difficult or frustrating was it to go from last year, the year you played some equal minutes in the postseason, to this year just very rarely. How difficult was that, and what was the communication like with Donovan? ABDEL NADER: I mean, you've got to control the things you can control. That happening -- it's just like in the beginning of the year having to go play with the Blue or not being able to play because of injury. It's just another thing that tries to derail you or deter you, and you can't really let that get to you. You got to just keep moving forward. Q. Are you going to play summer league? ABDEL NADER: No, I don't think so. Q. We've heard different things that your teammates have said about conversations with Billy Donovan and how open he was with Pat about Markieff coming in and stuff. Do you guys talk before playoffs about what your minutes might look like? ABDEL NADER: No, not really, to be honest, but Markieff and Pat is a little different situation. They're veterans and been through the ringer. I'm just a newby. So you've got to take it how it comes. Q. How do you work on defense in the off-season? You shoot a lot, but in terms of defense, how do you get better? ABDEL NADER: You try to get runs, try to guard other players you know are good. Try to get in runs with other NBA players, other NBA veterans, try to test yourself against them. From being in the weight room, just strengthening your -- I don't even know the specifics. But just strengthening your legs to hep you move quicker. If you can gain an inch, why not? Q. You were one of those guys, including Terrance and Nerlens, who went through those stretches where you get a lot of fouls coming in. Is that something you can even work on in the off-season in terms of fouling? ABDEL NADER: Yeah, you can always work on keeping your hands back, things like that, but I mean, sometimes in a game, you know there's good calls, and there's bad calls. Sometimes you pick up quick ones, and it's just the way it goes, you know. You could try your best not to, but sometimes it will happen. Q. Do you have a go-to guy to work with in the off-season? ABDEL NADER: I have a couple of trainers I use. No one specific. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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