NBA EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS: HAWKS VS. BUCKS

June 28, 2021

P.J. Tucker

Milwaukee Bucks

Practice Day

Q. How much did you notice the mentality of the group and the way everybody continues to stay locked in when you joined the Bucks?

P.J. TUCKER: Yeah, I think that's just all really great teams are like that, top teams in the league all have that mentality, try to win, when you’re really trying to win big. I think it's cliché and everybody says they are trying to win, but six to eight teams that are really in the mix to win the championship, they all have that mentality every day. How they approach practice, games, like everything they do, it's just another approach.

Q. Khris was asked about your selflessness after the game and he said P.J. is all about the team. Where did you develop that mentality?

P.J. TUCKER: Understanding how to win. People remember winners. They remember who won. They don't remember really Game 2, Game 3, Game 4, what happened. They remember who won the game. I think at the end of the day, to win big, you've got to be selfless. You've got to be able to turn down good shot for great shots. You've got to be able to take somebody off the glass, to be able to get a board. You've got to be able to do things that a lot of people may not see but contribute to winning. I think that's the stuff that helps and helps win big.

Q. The extra pass that you made from the corner three that you would have had to find Khris when he was hot, how much fun was that for you? It seemed like the whole team was like, if we can get Khris, let's find a way to do it. How much fun was it to be part of that, seeing him that hot?

P.J. TUCKER: Yeah, I mean, that’s what it’s all about. Khris was rolling and even though the corner three is my shot, I had two guys running at me. I was open, I could have shot it. But you know what, it's not about me only shooting one or two times in the game or for me to get a score, who cares? Somebody might get a better shot. I was just as happy as if I made the shot. You know, it don't matter. It's all about winning.

Q. For you defensively in this series, you guys really turned up the help intensity in Game 2 by playing the driving lanes and showing stunting, a little bit more of that. Looked like they reacted pretty well to that last night and started to find more skip passes, kickoffs to the corners. How do you guys find the balance of hey they want to show bodies but we are not going to give you open threes to you guys?

P.J. TUCKER: Well, they’re at home so obviously they’re going to play better, going to make more shots. They came out with a lot of energy. You know that's going to happen. I think for us it's still being able to play the same way. May have over-helped a little bit more last night, so they got a few more open shots. Rotation wasn't great to say the least. But each series is different, different players on the teams.

You know, this series is completely different from the Brooklyn series and completely different from the Heat series. Defense changes and assignments change. It's just being able to do what Coach wants to do.

Q. Bobby had said yesterday that he knows that this team has said a lot over the last several years they want to stay focused on each day, each moment, but when he got here, he didn't realize the degree to which that was true for this team. I'm wondering for you, since you've gotten here, have you seen that focus level shift and change? It's something that even the Bucks have said it's something they have always held dear as a value but not something they have always stuck with.

P.J. TUCKER: I think that's hard for any team. Once you get to this point, to the Conference Finals, the Finals, it's pretty easy to stay focused, pretty easy to stay locked in because you're that close. But throughout the season, I think it's hard. I think, teams really believe they can win it, even still, it's hard for that many months to stay focused every game, it's hard. It's hard. It's a part of your job and it's a part of the will to win and the will to win big. And it's something that daily you have to remind yourself and continue to think about your goal, what you are trying to do and when you believe in your group and you think you can really do it, it makes it a lot easier. So it's something that it's definitely taking a step and getting better at.

Q. How have you guys, not just the focus, but balanced the statements of your coming here, you wanted to come to win a championship, that's been the talk. But not feeling like you're putting pressure on yourself. Is it the focus? Does that keep that pressure, where you don't want to create that on yourselves but you want to get there and you expect to get there?

P.J. TUCKER: I think it's part of being professional, it's a good pressure. I want to feel to myself that I'm going out every day and I'm doing everything I can to help my team win. Yeah, I put that pressure on myself. I think that's like kind of the necessary evil to daily be able to go out and say, you know what, everything I have, I'll put it on the line. Every game, I'll put it on the line. I’m going out there and I'm doing everything I can to go out there and be able to help this team win in every way.

That's something as a pro, as a vet, that you pride yourself in. It's something you wear on your sleeve, that you carry and I teach that every day. So I have to show that every day with the young guys and the other guys on the team. It's a part of being a leader. It's a necessary thing, that pressure on yourself.

Q. Those three games against the Hawks, what was the biggest improvement especially on the defensive end for your team?

P.J. TUCKER: Very small adjustments, being able to take them out of their pick-and-roll, when Trae gets downhill and got Capela, Collins rolling at times. Getting rid of that trifecta, being able to switch, to be able to get the ball better and square the ball up with Trae and the rest of the ball handlers to take the shot away. That single-shot attack is tough. Everybody just being in and helping each other it trickles down to be able to stay in front of the ball and take tough-contested twos.

Q. You were in the same spot in the conference finals with the Rockets. Do you see that this season is different and that you can go to the NBA Finals?

P.J. TUCKER: I thought I could go to the NBA Finals that year, too. But you get to this point, everybody thinks they can make it no matter what their record is in the series. As long as they have another game to play, they’ve still got a chance and they believe they can win. It's the same for me. It's no different. I feel like I can win. I like my chances.