NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HAWKS VS. BUCKS

June 28, 2021

John Collins

Atlanta Hawks

Practice Day

Q. How tough a situation was that last night when Trae goes out with his ankle injury and he's able to come back but not quite fully 100 percent?

JOHN COLLINS: That's the head of our snake. That's the last thing I feel like anybody who is a Hawks supporter wants to see is that dude coming down with any sort of knickknack or whatever it is. I think he stepped on the official's foot or somebody's foot. That's the last thing I want to see. I hate to see it, and just hoping, praying that he's going to be okay.

Q. Have you spoken to him today, and how are his spirits? He was understandably frustrated last night.

JOHN COLLINS: Yeah, he's about where you would say. I saw him in passing at the facility today. He's okay. Obviously not happy about the loss and not happy about stepping on somebody's foot. He's in an okay spot for what's going on, and I feel like he just wants to move on and try to get ready for next game.

Q. I wanted to ask you about the run-outs that you guys are allowing. I think one of your fouls last night came trying to chase down Portis. Do you see that as an issue, and what can you do to stop that?

JOHN COLLINS: Yeah, I guess you could say it's an issue. We've just got to get back, really. I guess we take a lot of three-pointers. I feel like they're just trying to capitalize on that fact and get out early, which means we can't necessarily crash as hard as we used to and just have to get back earlier and make an effort to stop them on the break.

Q. In your words with the "head of the snake" not nearly 100 percent, should he play tomorrow night, what gives you confidence that you guys can win?

JOHN COLLINS: What gives me confidence is the fact that we've had to play without Trae for a couple big moments throughout the season, throughout the year. I feel like guys have stepped up and been ready for the challenge. Obviously it's a playoff series, so the magnitude is a little bit intensified. That just means other guys have to be ready to step up. I feel like that's the beautiful thing about this team is we have a lot of great depth and a lot of guys who we have confidence in. Just praying that they can come in and affect the game in a positive way.

Q. You mentioned Trae's frustration level. Yours with the fouls yesterday? And has that altered the way you play and prepare offensively and defensively knowing that they've been quick with the whistle with you?

JOHN COLLINS: Yeah, it's tough, man. You never really understand, or you can't really know, how the group of officials is going to officiate the game, whether it be tight or ticky-tack. We can't really change based on the officials, but it definitely can change the outlook of how we play the game, depending on how it's being officiated. It was a tough night.

Q. How do you guys get a bit more movement on offense? At times it seems like there's been a little bit more dribbling and offense is a little bogged down. How can you maybe get that passing going again and get more guys involved in the offense?

JOHN COLLINS: Yeah, we just have to make a concerted effort to do it. I definitely feel like that's a great way to play basketball. I feel like we're very effective when the ball is swinging and moving and we're able to have the ball touch a lot of different hands.

It's just got to be a doubling down on us, on our side, to do it and make a concerted effort to play that way.

Q. Talking about you and your maturation with regard to these Playoffs, I'm curious about how you think you have performed so far and where do you think your game has grown the most since you started playing in the postseason?

JOHN COLLINS: I'm a very hard critic on myself. I definitely feel like from a team perspective, from me being a cog in a team, I feel like we've been amazing, exceeded expectations and continuing to do so. I just want to continue that.

But personally, I feel like I've done all right. I feel like we are winning games, so that's enough for me. Stats-wise, I might not necessarily always be happy with what I see. But I know what I do is I try to make winning plays, and I'm happy with that because those winning plays are amounting to wins. In my eyes, I'm doing an all-right job. But the team is winning and we're continuing to go on that route, and no complaints really about for myself.

Q. You all have been known for learning on the fly as one of your great attributes throughout the Playoffs. But what have you learned from this series so far -- being up 1-0, then they win the next two games -- as a team and then personally for you?

JOHN COLLINS: It just really shows how hard winning in the Playoffs really is. It shocks me every new game I play, the next game I play, how difficult the experience is. It always lets me know that this is real basketball. This is probably going to be the toughest basketball that I can ever play on this stage. It just challenges me to try to just be more locked in every possession because this is real tough basketball right now.