NBA FINALS: BUCKS VS. SUNS

July 7, 2021

Jrue Holiday

Milwaukee Bucks

Practice Day

Q. Jrue, after you were able to break down what you saw and maybe distance yourself, you mentioned doing things differently, maybe switching. What did you glean from your film review of how you handled the perimeter and the switching yesterday?

JRUE HOLIDAY: I guess I'll go off-track here. I think one of the big things was transition, transition defense for us. I think they had 25 points of transition, and then the free throw line. We've got to keep them off the free throw line. They probably missed one free throw, and that's huge.

So, I think the disparity in that would help us out in that situation, and then switching it up on Chris and Book, trying to make them uncomfortable, not give them a steady diet of the same thing; and doing that from the beginning of the game.

So, there will be some minor adjustments tomorrow.

Q. Wondering how your game changes when Giannis plays versus when he doesn't play, what are the keys that you have in your head and how you personally adjust?

JRUE HOLIDAY: Right. Pick my spots to be aggressive, and I think sometimes it's gotten me in trouble. I think I've got to be aggressive from the beginning of the game. Sometimes it gets just a bit difficult, or it's just a bit different, again, because we have another ball handler and somebody that's great in transition and makes plays for others. Sometimes rhythm could be off, but I've just got to continue to be aggressive.

Q. Do you feel like you guys passed up some looks?

JRUE HOLIDAY: Yeah, a bunch. Bud showed those to us. Just got to let them fly. You know, I think some of the times when you feel like they are swarming and they are contesting and contesting fast, you want to get a better shot, but that essentially is the best shot.

Q. P.J. was in here and talking about the idea of like a soft switch and how easy you give it up or don't give it up. What's your mindset going into, one, a series, and then as the series progresses in that regard? Is Game 1 one where you're like, hey, I'm supposed to switch here, let's do it and see how it goes? Or how do you approach it?

JRUE HOLIDAY: I don't want to say it's like a figure it out, but just kind of like this is the game plan and we're going to go with the game plan, and if that doesn't work, we'll adjust. Sometimes it's in-game and sometimes it's the next game.

But again, I think we kind of figured that giving him or giving those two guys the same dose of action or defense doesn't work.

Q. As a man who knows defense pretty well yourself, what have you seen from Devin in Game 1 and just watching the film with him this year in terms of how he's improved?

JRUE HOLIDAY: Yeah, he's, I think not only him, but as a team, they play defense well together. Defense isn't an individual sport.

So, I think the way they load the paint, especially Deandre Ayton down there just anchoring that and him always being around the basket, that makes it tough to see driving lanes. Makes it tough to go in there and even have easy layups. So they do a great job of packing the paint and playing defense together.

Q. You were talking about the difference in the game and you mentioned transition and free throws. With transition, do you feel like the turnovers were -- it was because of the turnovers that they got out in transition or do you feel like it was just forced or mental mistakes? What were you seeing?

JRUE HOLIDAY: Some of them were transition. Some of them I felt like it's just being eager, and when you see how fast they play and when you see Devin Booker and Chris Paul just kind of going fast to the lane, you try to double-team or do something and you get out of character.

I think for the most part in transition, we have to be solid. Obviously, Devin and Chris, but mostly Devin in transition, great at the basket. But we have to trust our defense, trust our individual defense and be able to spray back out to contest threes.

Q. What's the importance of you all countering the free throws and trying to get to the line?

JRUE HOLIDAY: For sure, playing in the paint. Their defense does try to take that away. Again, like I said earlier, they pack the paint very, very well but we've got to be smart. Sell it a little bit. But we have to be in the paint a lot more. I felt like every series that we played in, the games that we've won, we've been the best in the paint and scoring in the paint, so that's what we have to continue to do.

Q. How do you kind of balance between getting a good shot and make sure you don't pass it up, but also being patient within your offense, especially against such a defensive team that's disciplined?

JRUE HOLIDAY: Yeah, really just take your time. Not everyone is going to be perfect, every situation isn't going to be perfect, but just trust in yourself, believe in your ability and let it fly.

Q. This might sound dumb but I'm going to ask any ways. What is it about Book and CP, they are really good at the pump-fake and making it believable. What is it about that? What makes a pump-fake believable? You get what I'm saying?

JRUE HOLIDAY: Yeah, for one, a scorer. Somebody who scores a lot and they are great at it, and you know the spots that they like to get to. So, if it's mid-range with Chris and Book, you pretty much think that it's going to go in, and that's believable in itself.

But I think the way that they pump-fake, they show the ball. They show the ball. You can see their eyes. They make it believable in that way. So, it's not only their actions but the way they move, showing ball and all that. So, it makes it super believable.

Q. You guys have had to grind for offense, going back to 86 points in Game 3 against Brooklyn. Last night was one of the better shooting nights for you guys all around. I know every game is different, but can that lead to anything? Can that give guys confidence putting it up to a degree that for the first time, really, threes went in and a lot of those mid-range shots went in?

JRUE HOLIDAY: Yeah, I don't think that we're super unhappy with our offense. I think that we can be -- we feel like we can be better defensively, and it's individual and a team effort where we all feel that way.

Us getting to a 100 points and being able to play that way, I know I didn't shoot well, but we also made plays where guys are knocking this threes. Bryn had a couple. Brook was knocking them in. Pat had some key threes.

So, I wouldn't say offensively we're necessarily like disappointed in that. I think we did okay. We can do better. But our most, I guess what we're really focusing on today was our defense.

I mean, every day we've got to grind it out. We played some of the best scorers and we've done different things in different situations. We've literally shown that defense wins games.