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LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCESeptember 29, 2019JaMychal GreenIvica ZubacLos Angeles, California Q. I have a question for both of you. As free agents you both chose to sign back with the Clippers. Tell me a little bit about that process for you. JaMYCHAL GREEN: It was a tough process for me because I was trying to weigh my options, but my heart was here. I just love the culture, my teammates, just the way we fight, just get through adversity. IVICA ZUBAC: Ever since I got traded the front office was saying they want me back for the future and they think I can be a big part of the team. So when the season of done it was pretty easy. I want to stay. They want me to be here. We got to the agreement really easy. Q. This is a question for JaMychal. Last year you were traded here and you were having a family and everything. Talk about that transition. JaMYCHAL GREEN: It was a tough transition. Had to leave my family in Memphis. My girl was pregnant with my son, due any day now. So just like I want to thank God for giving me the opportunity to get back and be with the family during that time and during the season trying to finish strong. Team did a great job holding it down while I was gone. Now my family get to come out here, so feel good about that. Q. This is for both of you guys. The playoffs showed how much spacing is going to be important. JaMychal, you showed that; Zu, you've been expanding your range a little bit. With stars on this team how important is spacing going to be? JaMYCHAL GREEN: Going to be very important. The attention is going to be on them at first. Just open up opportunities for everybody for them to drive. It's just our job to not shot down. IVICA ZUBAC: Yeah, whatever JMych said. I been working on my shot. That's what coaching staff wanted me to do. I always had that shot but I didn't get a chance to shoot it, so I just needed more reps. I think I'll be ready this year if there is a chance to shoot it. Q. Zu, you got a pretty good contract this off-season. What kind of responsibilities have you placed on yourself after getting that contract? IVICA ZUBAC: It's a big -- it's big. You know, they showed they trusted me; gave me a four-year deal. Just this summer was my best summer so far. Worked super hard. Even when I went back home they sent the coaches with me. So I got to prove to them I'm worth it. That's what I'm going to do. Q. JaMychal, you played the five a bunch kind of to close out in that series against the Warriors. Are you looking forward to playing that more this year maybe? JaMYCHAL GREEN: Just looking forward to be on the floor period with the team. I'm just going to stay true to myself, play hard, defend, and shoot the open jump. Q. Zu, you look noticeably slimmer. Was that a goal this off-season? IVICA ZUBAC: Yeah, lost some weight. It was more about losing body fat and gaining some muscle. I think that's exactly what we did. Worked on it hard. A lot conditioning and cardio. I think I'm in best shape of my life. Q. Is diet a part of that? IVICA ZUBAC: Yeah. Q. What does that entail? IVICA ZUBAC: Big part of my diet. I had to change everything up. They were preparing meals for me. I had to cut out sugar and sodas and all that stuff like that. Really showed me that diet is the most important part of transforming your body. Q. What did you miss the most when you had to cut things out? IVICA ZUBAC: I can't say, but like I like desserts, so it was either help improve my body or just stay the same way. It was an easy choice again. Q. Ivica, early on in your career you were playing with a sky hook and we haven't seen it for some time. Curious if that's going to come back? Also, the NBA has shifted over the last number of years. Harder and harder for true 7' players to stay on the floor for a long period of time. How do you adjust? Maybe changing your body, how did you adjust to stay on the floor? IVICA ZUBAC: I'm still working on my sky hook. I'm just waiting for a chance to use it. It's not an easy shot. I was not playing a lot for last three years so didn't want to use my time on the court to shoot a sky hook because that wouldn't end up well. So now I know what my role is and I'm going to have more constant minutes, I think this year might be the year when I start taking that shot. Q. And as far as staying on the court? IVICA ZUBAC: It's just improving my body is a big part. Just being able to guard the guys on perimeter and just being able to run the floor and understand the game. Q. So you guys I guess, A, did you eat the fish that you caught as part of the diet? And then, B, you guys really surprised a lot of people last year and were kind of like the scrappy tenacious underdogs, and this year you come in with a target on your backs. How are you thinking about that and how are you approaching it? JaMYCHAL GREEN: I mean, the cook did have fried fish prepared, but we don't know if it's the fish we caught. But they just work, the grind. We know we got a target on our back. We have the core group, so it's not going to get easy. Every game going to be a dogfight. Just the work we put in going to prepare us. IVICA ZUBAC: Yeah, same like he said. We're going to be playing hard as last year. We kept almost the whole team from the last year and added some guys who play the same way. I think it's going to be -- we're going to keep it going like we were last year. Q. You weren't on the fishing trip, were you? IVICA ZUBAC: No. Q. Who was the paint ball ringleader though? Tell me, what was Pat Beverly like that day? JaMYCHAL GREEN: Crazy. We had a lot fun at paint ball. You know, it's great for team bonding, and Pat was all over the place. Was shooting at everyone, even his people on his team. It's what Pat does. We just had a lot of fun. Q. I had a question for Zubac. In regards to when you first got traded you went to the wrong locker room. How is your transition going now? Second question to that: With the team camaraderie you guys are having piggybacking on the fishing and paint ball, how does that helping you to acquire new team and new teammates? IVICA ZUBAC: I didn't go to the wrong locker room, but it was -- someone was there who I knew so I went to say hello, and then Doc saw that and he was like, Why did you go to the wrong locker room? So, yeah, team events we're doing has been helping a lot. We've been together the whole summer. Just helped us to get a better team chemistry. We are not going into training camp just like not knowing each other. We know the guys and we're going to be really good together. Q. Zu, you were on a team last summer that caught the biggest fish in free agency and had a lot of expectations going into the season. This summer you did the same thing with Kawhi Leonard. How do those expectations feel different on this team, and what do you expect your role to be compared to last season? IVICA ZUBAC: It's just a team around those stars. Over there we had a lot of young guys and a lot of guys -- like a lot of new guys who never played together. It was a different kind of feel. This year it's just we got the same group of players around the two stars, and, you know, all experienced veterans. I think it's a whole different feeling. Like I feel like we can get a -- win a championship. Q. Question for you, Zu. You just touched on that. Just opened up can I think by saying you think you can win the championship. How familiar you were with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard before them joining your squad? IVICA ZUBAC: I mean, I didn't know them personally. I knew what they were doing on the court. I knew they were top -- I don't know, I'm not going to say top what, but top players in the league in both ways. I know their game style and I just know they're going to fit perfectly with us. Q. Hey guys, question for both of you. You both have talked about fishing trips and paint ball and all that. You were kind of thrown into the mix, both of you, last season coming over in trades. What's it been like just overall now being able to have some months here getting to know guys on a personal level without that added pressure of just trying to get in the flow during a season? JaMYCHAL GREEN: I feel like last season we got a good feel for each other, so coming into the summer it was pretty much easy. Pretty much had to get used to two players, Kawhi and Paul, but the core group we already had was already close. IVICA ZUBAC: Yeah, just last year we got to know each other really good. We're not starting like a new players. We know how the team wants to play and how hard they play. We just -- I feel like I'm here for -- I been here for a couple of years. Q. Zubac, question for you. Last year you came off, had a chance play in the playoffs against a team like the Warriors. What did you take from that series to pinpoint what you need to get better at? IVICA ZUBAC: I realized I got to work on my shot; I got to improve my body to stay in front of some of those guys. You know, gave me a lot to work on this summer. Next time around playoffs time I'm going to be ready. Q. What part of your games did you guys most work on during the summer? JaMYCHAL GREEN: Just made sure that I got a lot of shots up. Want to continue to knock down threes and continue to open the floor for Zu and Trez. And ball handling, just getting to the goal and creating for my teammates. IVICA ZUBAC: Yeah, I was working on my three-point shot, trying to be like JaMychal and work on my body a lot, my finishing, making contact in the paint. I think that's going to be a big, big part of my game. Q. Zu, Doc has spoken highly of your ability or upside as a passer. Have you been working on that at all in the off-season? If so, how did you build that vocabulary with teammates? IVICA ZUBAC: It's hard to work on passing, but as we play 5-on-5, as I get to know my teammates better, I know what they like to do in a game and I know where I can make a pass. It's just about knowing your teammates and knowing like their angles, where they like to play. Q. On the chemistry, Rodney McGruder was with you first round of the playoffs even though he wasn't on the active roster. What does that say about this group welcoming a guy that isn't actually on the team into that experience, also about him working in that situation? JaMYCHAL GREEN: Rodney, he's a hard worker. Coming in he was always talking, giving us tips on the game when we playing, during the game. So he was always a part of the team. IVICA ZUBAC: Yeah, Rodney, he was getting in every day like we did and he was working hard even though he was -- he couldn't play with us. He was always on the bench supporting us, so he felt like a part of the team from day one. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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