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NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: TRAIL BLAZERS VS. WARRIORS

May 15, 2019

Andre Iguodala

Oakland, California - Practice Day

Q. It's interesting to hear a lot of length because KD is out and he's one of the longest guys, so how has everybody else been contributing?
ANDRE IGUODALA: Draymond has a seven-foot-plus wingspan as well as Loon [Kevon Looney] as well as Bogs [Andrew Bogut], and then obviously on the perimeter, Steph is a bigger guard even though that's not something they say about him. And Klay obviously is 6'7", good length. And then you have two guards that are great on their team, but in terms of their height and length, we would have that advantage in that area. So we just try to use that to our use or for the good of our team.

Q. As calm as Klay can be, what's it like seeing him hyped after a shot or a defensive stop?
ANDRE IGUODALA: I don't know, it's kind of scary, actually, because you don't know what's going to come next. You could get anything.

Q. What do you think that does in terms of his overall game?
ANDRE IGUODALA: I think he's always locked in. Sometimes he just might be a silent killer, other times he's kind of showing that passion. I think it's always good for him actually. It just means he's engaged. Not to say he's not, but he's really in the moment. You know, that's when he hits tough shots. He's lasered in on the basket. He was really locked in last night, and something we're going to need from him every game.

Q. We were a little surprised to see Portland's "don't guard Steph" strategy last night.
ANDRE IGUODALA: I don't think it was that. I think sometimes you get either side of it where a team's defense is doing a good job and you guys ask what's wrong with your offense. And you've just got to give credit to the defense. And then vice versa, you ask what's wrong with the defense and sometimes you've got to give credit to offense doing some different things. Secondary action, we're getting to that, which is throwing the defense off. We saw one play where we had five guys shifted on one side and Loon was under the basket wide open, and you say, Why did you leave Loon open? And they were covering our shooters and you don't want to give wide-open lay-ups. And that's the attention that Steph and Klay and KD draw when you're guarding us, is that you've got to give up something.

Q. As someone who takes pride on getting stops and playing defense, what about CJ McCollum and Damian Lillard makes them so hard to guard?
ANDRE IGUODALA: They're very crafty, very shifty, very confident in their skill set, and they're in a great environment that allows them to play to their strengths, and they've got a great supporting cast.

There's a reason why they're here. It just wasn't luck. They put the work in. They have built a good foundation, camaraderie with their team, and coaching staff. They've done a really good job of continuing to build, get better each and every year with their core and get further and further.

So it starts with those two, and when they have tough shooting nights, you can't relax, you've got to look forward to them coming out looking ready to put the ball in the hole more going forward.

Q. Some of the other guys were saying, as much as obviously Kevin wants to be out on the floor, that he's been helpful behind the scenes with his observations and presence. What's stood out to you about his role?
ANDRE IGUODALA: I mean, he's always engaged to me as far as what we want to do, especially when it comes to important games, once we get to the Playoffs, you've got to up your level of focus and intensity.

He's always done that. You know, he's looking forward to coming back, so he's putting himself in that mode, as if he's preparing for each game like he's going to play. He's always had that, and it's always good to see him here.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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