NBA IN-SEASON TOURNAMENT

December 6, 2023

Adrian Griffin

Milwaukee Bucks

Semifinal Practice Day

Q. Having just played last night and then having to fly in today, how much have you been able to begin preparing for the Pacers, and do you think that the attention to detail with the scouting report and whatever else you guys do over the next 24 hours will be more in depth than you would spend for an opponent in a regular season game?

ADRIAN GRIFFIN: I think the preparation, it's not too much different during the season. The games come fast, so we're accustomed to working at this pace. Our coaches work very hard. We got in last night, watched some film with our team this morning, but it is business as usual as far as the grind and the preparation. That never changes for us.

There's just certain things you have to do going into every game to walk out with a victory, so we try to focus on those three or four things that we absolutely need to do to neutralize their strengths.

We had a good walk-through practice, and I love the energy, I love the vibe, a lot of excitement. We're happy to be here.

Q. Both Dame and Giannis talked about reaching your potential as an offense and how last night felt like the first glimpse of getting closer and closer to that. What are you seeing from you guys offensively?

ADRIAN GRIFFIN: I just think we're continuing to trend in the right direction. I think this In-Season Tournament has actually been a huge positive for us because it's kind of accelerated some of our chemistry. As you saw last night, we were really clicking on all cylinders.

Do we expect to score 140 plus points every night? No. But I think the execution was there, getting in the paint, making the right reads, playing off each other, sharing the ball. I think we had 32 assists. The ball was hopping.

Those are positives. Those are things that we can duplicate game after game.

Are we going to score that many points? Obviously probably not, but I love the concepts behind it, the discipline behind executing versus a very good Knicks team.

I know tomorrow is going to be another opportunity for us to -- we've got to be disciplined on both sides of the floor. Indiana is fast. They get the ball out. They get the ball up the floor. They have multiple ball handlers. They have multiple personnel that can shoot the ball at a high level, so we've got to do a lot of things well tomorrow.

Q. The new court being in Vegas, your early thoughts on the In-Season Tournament and how the atmosphere was just in the walk through, and second, Malik Beasley, shooting 46 percent from three, I think he's top 10 in percentages and he has the highest volume out of those players. What have you seen from him in terms of what he brings to this team and how key is he to helping guys like Giannis and Dame spacing the floor when they get blitzed?

ADRIAN GRIFFIN: I think to answer your first question, there's been a lot of excitement before coming to Vegas. We saw last night it was a lot of electricity in the building. We expect the same tomorrow.

The players are excited about being here. They know what's at stake.

We're treating it like a playoff game, which it is. We're treating it as if it's June, that we're fighting for something, we're building for something. I think this is going to help us later down the road.

Definitely enjoy being here. I think it's been a home run as far as the In-Season Tournament goes.

As far as with Malik, he's just been invaluable to us. He's kind of the piece that makes this all kind of click as far as his shooting and how he can space the floor, how he keeps the defense honest because Dame and Giannis, they command a lot of respect, and rightly so. They command a lot of attention.

To Bease's credit, not just on the offensive end, he's been tremendous on the defensive end. Last night I thought he did an outstanding -- as good a job as you can on Brunson, who's phenomenal in pick-and-rolls. He's going to score, but I thought how he got his points, I think in the first half we were fouling a little bit too much, but I thought in the second half we started to settle down. We started to really lock in defensively. We held them to 50 points in the second half, and I think Bease is a big part of that, big reason. Just he's taking the challenges on the defensive end, and then they trust him on the offensive end.

I always know when the ball is hopping when Malik is having five, six threes, I know we're playing the right way and sharing the ball and making the right reads. He kind of benefits from a lot of attention that Dame and Giannis get, and they trust him out there, and they trust the pass with him.

Q. Throughout this point of the season you've talked about your growth as you're going through this as a first-time head coach, things you're learning, things you're trying to do better. Now that you're here, this game or maybe even Saturday, what do you think this game can do for you and your staff, considering it can be a championship? What can you draw from this?

ADRIAN GRIFFIN: I think it's always just the process of every day coming in, how can we prepare, how can we be better as a coaching staff. You've always got to come in with a clear message, and I think that's something that I've learned from all the coaches that I've been under. I've been fortunate to play in playoff games, started in the Finals as a player. I've coached in the Finals and won a championship as a coach.

So, bringing those experiences to the table, but at the end of the day it's always about how can we best prepare our players.

As a coaching staff you're always searching for better ways. You're always evolving. You're always tweaking your philosophy but staying true to your values.

This is a different team as far as veteran teams when you have someone like Brook, so I've had to adjust some of my defensive philosophies to fit this team and it's been all positive. When you have someone like Brook back there spearheading our defense and protecting the rim, you'd be foolish not to take advantage of it.

He's a big part of why we're continuing to get better on the defensive end. If you look at especially last game, we were No. 2 in protecting the restricted area, No. 1 in protecting the above break three, No. 2 in protecting the corner three, just on that game alone. Areas we have to improve, though, defend without fouling, I thought we fouled a little bit too much. I thought we got to limit them to one shot. That's something we continue to preach.

But I like how we're trending, and that's all we can do as coaches every day is just find ways to get better.

Q. You know Tyrese and the Pacers want to make it a track meet. Is that something you're comfortable with, or is it important for you guys to have more balance and try to slow the game down?

ADRIAN GRIFFIN: No, it is what it is. Every game, every opponent you're going to be presented with certain challenges, and for us, one of those challenges is to make great decisions when the shot is taken. Either we're crashing or you have to sprint back because there's just no way around, there's no gray area. Make or misses, they get that ball out the net and get it up the floor. They play with great pace, and they put a lot of pressure on your defense.

But I'll also say that your offense is also -- oftentimes your best defense, as well. When we execute, when we take care of the ball, that's ways to keep them out of the open floor, and then again, on misses, there's no jogging. Sometimes it's that black and white. You've got to sprint back and get our defense set, make them see a sea of bodies, then go from there.

I have a lot of confidence in our half-court defense but getting them there is always a challenge when you play the Pacers.