NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: CLIPPERS VS. SUNS

June 21, 2021

Ivica Zubac

LA Clippers

Practice Day

Q. I wanted to know about playing Deandre Ayton, what are the different challenges that he presents in comparison to the other centers you've faced in these playoffs?

IVICA ZUBAC: Every series is different, and you know, this series we've got a big who is better offensively than bigs we've played before. He's better at finishing around the him. You know, he can get the ball in the post when we go small and he's just more aggressive offensively. He's always trying to get in position for offensive boards, so it's definitely different.

Q. With regards to, Ty [Lue] was talking about the defensive pick-up points of Booker and how he kind of likes the mid-range more than the three-point shot. Obviously it's different than guarding Luka [Doncic] and [Donovan] Mitchell, who like the three a lot more. How does the defense change for you with a guy who likes the mid-range more, as opposed to maybe getting you out to the three-point line where they try to exploit that? How is it different now with Booker?

IVICA ZUBAC: I mean, with Luka and Donovan, you have to be up at the level of the screen. With the guys who like mid-range more, you don't have to be that high up. That's really a big difference for me when guarding the pick-and-roll.

Q. How much of a challenge is it dealing with Deandre Ayton and Jae Crowder on the board, along with their guards who also like to rebound?

IVICA ZUBAC: We've just got to put a body on them. We know they have got a lot of guys who press the boards, and as soon as the shot goes up, we have to find our guy, put a body on him and get a rebound. It's a team effort and we've all got to get in and get it together.

Q. Ty and Reggie [Jackson] were talking about how engaged Kawhi has been, just knowing the strategies and talking to the coaches about what's going on before every game so when he talks to you, he knows what he's talking about with his observations. How does that happen? Does he FaceTime or text you guys? What does he say?

IVICA ZUBAC: It's all the time. When we were in L.A., he was back in the locker room. He talked to us before the game or at halftime. He was talking to us about adjustments, even the game before that, he went to Utah. But he went back and he's texting us in group chat. I mean, he's a big part of this team, and it's not like he's done. He's involved and he's trying to help in a bunch of different ways.

Q. How does his mind work or his perspective? Is he very technical? Does he point out certain things that he sees that's like a strategy or like really in-depth?

IVICA ZUBAC: Yeah, I mean, Kawhi's really big on details. He was like that when he was playing, and he's like that right now when he's on the sidelines. He's all about details.

Q. Curious, is there any concern that in each of these series and all these series so far, you've been the one reacting or the one adjusting first or has the team kind of embraced that identity so far?

IVICA ZUBAC: I mean, it depends on -- it really depends. Utah was waiting on us to finish the series, Phoenix was waiting on us to finish the series; so they had more time to prepare for us.

After Game 1, we can see what they are trying to do and how can we adjust. Obviously it would be perfect if other teams would adjust to us, but our series with Dallas and Utah went to seven and six, so other teams had more time to prepare for us. That's how it is and we've got to embrace it. We're going to make our adjustments.