LOS ANGELES CLIPPERS MEDIA CONFERENCE

May 24, 2021

Ivica Zubac

Press Conference

Q. Zu, with Luka, is it hard to -- is he one of those players that you have to kind of not overreact to as a scorer, especially when he's getting those step-back threes, those drives to the basket? Is he one of those ones you can't overreact to or do you have to put more emphasis on that when he does get going?

IVICA ZUBAC: I mean, yes and no. Luka does a lot of things well. He's great attacking the paint and involving his teammates. You've got to pick your poison with him. Those step-back threes with a late contest, that's one of the shots we're going to live with, and that's how we defended him in the past. We had success with it in the last Playoffs.

Q. Wondering how has Ty Lue been? What's Playoff Ty like?

IVICA ZUBAC: I mean, it's only been one game, but it's different. Our attention to details is very high. We're discussing about everything, about every single play, every single coverage, offense, defense, whatever, and it's just been fun and exciting just going through the Playoffs.

I mean, first game so far, but it's what everyone loves about the Playoffs. It's just game changes and attention to detail. It's totally different.

Q. He said the Playoffs are like his happy place. Do you see that?

IVICA ZUBAC: Yeah, I can definitely see that. To be honest, I think every player feels like that.

Q. This is the first time this group has been down 1-0 in a playoff series. What's the reaction been like in the locker room, and what have you seen from Kawhi and PG in the few hours since Game 1?

IVICA ZUBAC: I mean, last Playoff series we played we only won the first game and we know how that ended up. We're not overreacting. It's just one game. It's going to be best out of seven, so there's still six games to be played, and everyone is just watching a lot of film. We're trying to make adjustments for Game 2. We're trying to see where we made mistakes on offense and defense. There's a lot of places we can improve, and when we knock down those three-point shots with those open looks, we think we're going to be in pretty good shape.

Q. This is your first playoff experience with Rondo. What have you seen from him, especially his basketball brain? He's been through these type of experiences before; what's he been like since this Game 1 loss?

IVICA ZUBAC: He's been the same. I think even if we won that game it would be the same thing with him. He's just the same after every game, Playoffs or regular season. He always wants to watch the film's whole game, defense, offense. It's just his attention to details is crazy, and his basketball IQ is one of the best I've ever seen.

Just being with him, it's really helpful. He sees some stuff that, I can't talk for the other players, but that I don't see, and just having him on our side, it really helps. With all the experience he's got, it makes everyone's job easier.

Q. Another guy who's been on the team this year who wasn't there last year has been Serge Ibaka. Obviously y'all play the same position, y'all never play together on the floor, but what has it been like over the course of this week working with him and getting each other ready for this particular series and for tomorrow's game?

IVICA ZUBAC: It's been great. Serge has been really helpful, and he's a great player with a lot of experience, with championship experience, and he knows what it takes. He talked to us about when Toronto, they were down 2-0 to Milwaukee and they came back and they won that series.

It's all about trusting your teammates and trying to figure out what mistakes we made and how to make adjustments. Serge has been really helpful. He's one of the leaders on this team, and it's really good to have him on our side.

Q. How much harder is it to game plan this year against Luka whenever you have Dorian Finney-Smith and Tim Hardaway, Jr., and these guys that are shooting very high clips from three?

IVICA ZUBAC: Definitely it's hard when you're surrounded with all those guys that can shoot it very well from the three-point line. We've got to limit their catch-and-shoots, open shots, and we've got to make life much harder for them.

Q. In that first game, Dallas did a good job limiting your rebounds. How can you change that for Game 2?

IVICA ZUBAC: I mean, just got to be more aggressive and physical. It's all about getting a good spot and trying to figure out where that miss is going to go. It's all about being physical and fighting for the position early.

Q. How important will offensive rebounds be to defeat Dallas?

IVICA ZUBAC: It's very important. I think it's important against any team. It's just an extra possession. It kills the momentum of the other team. Even when you play hard on defense for 20 seconds, 24 seconds and you get a stop but the other team gets an offensive rebound and gets a wide-open shot, it kind of kills your Y, man. I hate it when it happens to us, so I'm sure other teams don't like it.