You've talked a lot about the core principles you are trying to instill into the team. Can you explain what they are to those who are unfamiliar and what you want to accomplish with them?
Our core principles that define our culture are No. 1 being centered and fully present. That when you walk in our building you are here with us, you are present, ready to work. And I always say this to our guys, ‘Be where your feet are.’ No wasted time, no water energy elsewhere. No wasted energy on the past. Be fully centered and present in the moment in getting better.
The second one would be just curiosity. We want players that are curious about the game. They are perpetual students of the game. They want to get better. They want to develop. There’s a hunger, there’s an appetite. That’s a core piece of what we are trying to build here.
The third piece has probably got us through this entire season, which is being fully connected as a team. Through the highs and lows of the season staying connected, never giving in. Holding each other up, being relationship-focused. One of the things I pride myself in as a coach is being relationship-centered and focused. With my staff, there’s constant communication. Even when we disagree or at times people aren’t on the same page, the way we get through that is we communicate, we stay connected. I think this team has exceeded expectations this year because of that. They’ve stayed the course and they’ve stayed together on the floor and off the floor. I’ve seen it on both sides.
And then (lastly), we always compete. It goes back to last year. One of those core principles is we always compete. Whether we are out-manned, out-talented, we’re injured, we're down 10 with a minute to go, we stay the course and we continue to compete to the last minute. We compete 'til the last day. That's what we do here and that’s the standard. So, I’m proud of our guys for that. They’ve stayed this course and this was laid in the roots of last season. When nobody thought we could do anything last year, when everybody looked at our roster and said that's probably the least-experienced, least-experienced roster in the NBA we just did not accept that. And I’m not going to accept that. I don’t value my team based on what I hear or from the outside. I value what I see in their work and their commitment to each other. And that’s how we’ve built this thing.
