LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 24, 2020

JaMychal Green

Press Conference

Q. JaMychal, just curious what's been the root of some of the struggles for the second unit in defending Trey Burke, Seth Curry and Boban. They seem to do a lot of damage on high-percentage shooting in this series so far.

JAMYCHAL GREEN: I just feel like with Boban, he's in there too far into the paint. We've got to start pushing him out, making it harder on him. And as far as Trey Burke and the rest of the bench, they was hot last game. They stepped up to the plate when Porzingis was out, so hats off to them. But we've got to step it up defensively, keep them out of the paint and just contesting shots.

Q. What are you guys' teammates doing with PG right now to let him know that you guys have confidence in him? Doc said that he has all the confidence in the world in him. How are you guys expressing that to him?

JAMYCHAL GREEN: You know, we just keep trying to keep PG to get out of his head, try to block out the social media, the fans, and just get back to playing ball. We need him. We need him to get back to the high-level basketball he's capable of playing, and I feel like he's just in his head, so we just try to tell him that we need him, we know what he can do, and just show it.

Q. Doc mentioned you guys have had a lot of self-inflicted wounds in this series. From your perspective what have you noticed are things that you guys maybe keep doing that you shouldn't be doing?

JAMYCHAL GREEN: We're not communicating defensively. We're not switching well right now. There's a lot of two people on the ball, and swing, swing, knockdown three. So I think we've just got to come together defensively, communicate and then everything will fall back in place for us. We're also missing Patrick Beverley. Once he gets back out there, that will be a huge help for us.

Q. You were just saying about Paul kind of like being that support system for him and making sure he's not in his head. What is he like off the court right now because he's talked about being in a slump and trying to be aggressive. Have you noticed anything different about him or how it might be impacting him?

JAMYCHAL GREEN: Sure. You know, I've really been in the room myself. I think it's just more mental for him right now. We all have bad games. Every shot is not going to fall. I just feel like if he gets out of his head right now he'll be back. He'll be fine. He'll be back to that normal PG. But we're just going to keep letting him know we're right here with him and we believe, and he'll snap out of it.

Q. You mentioned sort of the defensive communication lacking. Why do you think that is? Is it because you guys weren't all here at one time for so long, or is it the Pat thing? And also on Pat, what did he tell you guys last night?

JAMYCHAL GREEN: It's more want-to. I feel like we're making too many excuses. We've all got to take accountability in defending our own man. It starts with everybody. It's just not one person, it's the whole team effort, and we've all just got to put in the work.

Q. Last year in the Playoffs you guys played with sort of a desperation on every possession that kind of defined the identity of this team. It doesn't look the same this year. Obviously it's a different year. How important is it to recapture some of that here?

JAMYCHAL GREEN: It's very important. I feel like that's what's kept us in the game last year, just the dogfight, just the way we competed. I think we lost that. We're too casual right now. We've got to get back to being that gritty team, and once we get back to being that gritty team, we're going to stop them.

Q. You say it's a little bit too casual. With the Playoffs right here, in the middle of the Playoffs, championship just a couple months away, how do you guys get away from having that grit, that want-to? Where did that want-to go?

JAMYCHAL GREEN: You know, not having the fans, that plays a big part. That energy and the way they just help us through adversity, it's very needed. So as a team we've got to come together and pick up that slack from not having the fans in the arena and just get that energy back going. We've been off for a long time, and we're still getting back into the swing of things.

We know it's the Playoffs, but the atmosphere is not the same. I feel like once we fight through that little part and realize we've got to get our own energy, we'll be fine.

Q. Is the camaraderie still there? Do you guys still feel like a good unit?

JAMYCHAL GREEN: Most definitely.

Q. Still supporting each other?

JAMYCHAL GREEN: Still a brotherhood. We're just facing a little adversity right now, but that's nothing we can't get over.