Latest / Bleacher Report / Alex Caruso Says OKC Saw Sinners as a Team Activity Before the NBA Finals

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Alex Caruso Says OKC Saw Sinners as a Team Activity Before the NBA Finals · Bleacher Report

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Alex, thank you so much for joining us. The first
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: question is a non basketball question. What have you guys
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: done as a team, like as an activity between the
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: two series?
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  Speaker 2: Between the two series here, honestly this time, not a lot,
• 0:14
  Speaker 2: not a lot. We stuck to like staying at home
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: and hanging out with the family because we talked about
• 0:19
  Speaker 2: we had. We had two big breaks between the end
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: of the season and the first round and the first
• 0:23
  Speaker 2: and second round. One of those we went and saw
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: Centers as a team, we went into we went to
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  Speaker 2: a movie theater I think either Shared Dub running out
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  Speaker 2: of a movie theater. We went and saw. We went
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  Speaker 2: and saw the Michael B. Jordan Nice Sinners. It was
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  Speaker 2: really good.
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  Speaker 1: Nice. I heard it was really good. He actually Jadepp
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: said that he's seen it three times and that was
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: like weeks ago, So who knows how many Yeah Dubs.
• 0:41
  Speaker 2: A big movie guy. He's a big movie guy. That
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  Speaker 2: doesn't surprise me.
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  Speaker 1: So the culture of this team that is kind of
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  Speaker 1: what you just described is unique in the NBA. You
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: do not see full teams doing those sorts of activities
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  Speaker 1: independent of the team, right the coaches? How and why
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: is this culture there with you guys the thunder and
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  Speaker 1: why is it special?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think you just have to look
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: at the team as a whole to start with. Is
• 1:09
  Speaker 2: just like it's a bunch of It's a bunch of
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  Speaker 2: good dudes, you know, like you know, everybody is pretty
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: level headed, you know for the most part, like one
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  Speaker 2: through seventeen. You know, everyone can like make a joke,
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: everyone can take a joke, and you know a lot
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: of life and energy, and obviously that comes with some
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: of the youth. You know, like they are still very energetic,
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  Speaker 2: and I am energetic myself, but there's days where I
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: like need a coffee in the morning and like guys
• 1:34
  Speaker 2: are coming in, you know, hollering already. But it's just
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  Speaker 2: a bunch of guys that have, you know, similar interests.
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: You know, are very competitive, want to win basketball games,
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: and then off the court, just keep it really light.
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: So one of the assets or attributes for your team
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  Speaker 1: that the reason why you're so successful is because you're
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  Speaker 1: so deep. And it's not just on the offensive end,
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: which is what you normally see with successful bench players,
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  Speaker 1: right it's offense and defense. So a little bit about
• 2:01
  Speaker 1: how strong your benches and how you all trust each other.
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean that was one thing that Mark kind
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  Speaker 2: of presented early in the season, was like, you know,
• 2:11
  Speaker 2: be ready for anybody to play at any time, and
• 2:15
  Speaker 2: whether it's you know, changing lineups at half, whether it's
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: you know, I've started a couple of games. I've come
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: in at the first time out, I've come in a
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  Speaker 2: second time out in the first quarter, I've come in
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  Speaker 2: and started a second quarter. Just for my example, Like,
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: you just have to be ready when your number is called.
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  Speaker 2: And I think that that, you know, just it keeps
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  Speaker 2: everybody at at a mental competitive advantage because when you
• 2:39
  Speaker 2: are called, you're ready to go. But also, you know,
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  Speaker 2: it helps to have ten to twelve guys that can
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  Speaker 2: really play basketball at a high level too.
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  Speaker 1: All Right, so your coach is very much trusted in
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: the locker room. I've spoken to several of you guys
• 2:54
  Speaker 1: throughout the season about how you trust him implicitly with
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  Speaker 1: his play calling, with his strategy. How important is that.
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it's very important just to just to go out
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  Speaker 2: there and not really be second guessing and not overthinking,
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  Speaker 2: you know, just to go out there and kind of
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  Speaker 2: free your mind as a unit, for your mind as
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  Speaker 2: an individual and go out there and play at your best.
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  Speaker 2: I think that's you know, it's obviously a large portion
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  Speaker 2: of our success is you know, all the great schemes
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  Speaker 2: and along with extreme talent, like you need some of
• 3:24
  Speaker 2: that to win games in this league. But but having
• 3:27
  Speaker 2: just a belief and a confidence and the stuff that
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: we're doing and then going out and executing it at
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  Speaker 2: a high level. You know, the playing really really hard
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  Speaker 2: to also it finds holes in it, like if there's
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  Speaker 2: something that we need to adjust, you play really hard
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  Speaker 2: and you compete at high level, then you can figure
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  Speaker 2: out if it's just effort or if it's actually something
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  Speaker 2: x's and o's, and you know, if it's ever x's
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  Speaker 2: and o's, you know, our staff does a great job
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  Speaker 2: filling those holes.
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  Speaker 1: So the effort level is always high with you all.
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  Speaker 1: As with the Pacers, your opponent for this series, very
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  Speaker 1: similar teams in terms of fast pace basketball at the
• 4:01
  Speaker 1: offensive end, but really stifling defense. What are your expectations
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  Speaker 1: for this matchup? How do you stay true to yourselves
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  Speaker 1: but still be careful and not play into their hands.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think the emphasis for us is just trying
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  Speaker 2: to dictate the game and play on our terms. You know,
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  Speaker 2: when we've been able to do that in the postseason,
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  Speaker 2: we've won games, and when we haven't, you know, it's
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  Speaker 2: been kind of a coin flip, and anybody can win.
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  Speaker 2: So we know that they like to play fast. We
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  Speaker 2: know that they have a bunch of guys that, like
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  Speaker 2: you said, they're a deep team, they're all live, they
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  Speaker 2: can all play a lot like us. So luckily we've
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  Speaker 2: been practicing against ourselves all year, so we have a
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  Speaker 2: little bit a little bit of experience with that. But yeah, no,
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  Speaker 2: their pace will definitely be a factor. And then they've
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  Speaker 2: done a great job in the postseason of amping up
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  Speaker 2: the pressure and really forcing teams to play you know,
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  Speaker 2: maybe faster or or you know, make quicker decisions than
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  Speaker 2: they want. But you know, I think we've done a
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  Speaker 2: good job of preparing ourselves for that. So hopefully it'll
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  Speaker 2: be it'll be a obviously it's the finals. It'll be
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  Speaker 2: a tough matchup, but you know, we're looking forward to
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: it and we feel good about it.
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  Speaker 1: And this home crowd that you all have here, I mean,
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  Speaker 1: it is a significant advantage for people who have not
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  Speaker 1: been here, and you hear the references about, oh, it's
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  Speaker 1: like a college crowd, but I don't think that's truly
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  Speaker 1: an understanding of what it is. I mean, just walking
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  Speaker 1: around town, you see thunder signs everywhere. Yea, this town
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  Speaker 1: is all in.
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  Speaker 2: I referenced it during the postseason to like small town
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  Speaker 2: Texas high school football, because it's like everyone's got a
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  Speaker 2: yard side, everyone's got a flag. The city all is
• 5:34
  Speaker 2: you know, it's the only sports team here, so like
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  Speaker 2: there is no like half of them are baseball fans
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  Speaker 2: and like they're like basketball is just there, like they're
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  Speaker 2: all in. And that's a lot like what it was
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  Speaker 2: like growing up in Texas with high school football, where
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: it's like the city is just all in on the team,
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  Speaker 2: and you know they they probably I don't want to
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  Speaker 2: say they care more than us, because we obviously care
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  Speaker 2: at a very high level, but the care factor is
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  Speaker 2: exactly the same, and you know we can feel it
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  Speaker 2: through their energy and their noise.
• 6:00
  Speaker 1: Love that. Thank you so much for your time. I
• 6:02
  Speaker 1: appreciate it.
• 6:03
  Speaker 2: Good luck, thank you, I appreciate it.