Cavs at Pacers | Kenny Atkinson Post Game | 12.01.2025

Cavs at Pacers | Kenny Atkinson Post Game | 12.01.2025

Yeah. Kenny, what did you think was different about this team tonight compared to last night? Um, yeah, it it wasn’t perfect. Um, I don’t know, Dan. The first thing that comes to my mind is our young guys. Um, and how how well they’re playing. Jaylen, Tyrese was really good. Naqucoin CP I mean we’re you know those four guys you didn’t think they were going to be in the rotation and they’re in our rotation now and you know you go on the road and and and get a win like this other first and then and then you know I think Dom was frustrated um you know last night and and uh you know this is what the great ones do like they you know we weren’t losing to he wasn’t going to let us lose basically. Um, so those are the two things that that stood out. Um, good reaction by us. Um, you know, when you’re teetering a little, you you know, game like this is tricky. So, um, really good job by our guys. Really good team win. What specifically stood out you about, man? He’s just, um, he’s just that, um, he’s everywhere. He’s on the offensive boards. Um, he’s in transition. Um he’s guarding you know guarding the point guard, guarding the best players. Um so um you know I think we found ourselves a gem. Um you know um he’s like the ultimate uh role player right now. Um still makes mistakes. you know, we still can um um help our our main guys out a little bit more, but um um just uh thrilled thrilled with how he’s playing. Over the last couple years, we’ve talked a lot about Donovan’s sense of the moment that it’s just an thing. Is that is tonight another example of that? Yeah. And um I don’t know, you know, rarely is Don not jovial. I think he was um um almost like uh I don’t know what the word like I looked at him pregame and you knew like um you know almost more businesslike than ever. Um he wasn’t I kind of knew we weren’t going to lose this game. He wasn’t going to let us lose it. Um and did it on both ends, right? Like we’re we’re asking a lot, you know. um you know he’s really played like Superman for us quite honestly you know without him how many wins do we have you know we have to ask ourselves that question that’s you know everybody you know talk about the great players in this league this guy is one of them there’s there’s you know top five you can say whatever you want you know um an incredible player who plays both ends of the court hey Kenny following up on that is that a good No, I don’t think it’s a good thing. I I don’t I don’t like I don’t like that process where we have to rely on him so much. Um but kind of is what it is. Um you know um I kind of uh we had a little text exchange before the game. I said, you know, you got to got to go for 40 tonight. I never said I’ve never said that to a player. Um if you take 30 shots, I’m good with it. Um because we, you know, sometimes you just got to and if you take five or six bad ones, we’re good with it. And I’ve never kind of said that to him or any player, but that was, you know, he kind of felt it. I felt it. We we needed him tonight. Um just had to get a get a W. I was going to say, what prompted that? I don’t know. I mean, we have that kind, you know, um I don’t know, that kind of relationship where I can be um you know, just frank and tell him what we need and and um you know, um he probably would have done it anyway. I don’t know if he needed my proddding. Um I really don’t. So, don’t give me credit for this. Like, it was just like I just wanted to make make sure he knew that. Uh um I don’t know how many shots. I don’t I wanted 30 shots. I don’t know if he got that. Um but yeah, then following last night’s game, Jaylen was actually one of the guys that was pretty critical of the way that you guys have been playing lately. He talked about cruise control, not being hungry enough. What do you make of a secondyear player having enough confidence to go out and say those things and then following up with the kind of game that he had? Yeah. Yeah, that that’s that’s a great point, Chris. Um obviously, you know, there’s some truth to what he he’s, you know, he’s saying and he he’s one of the guys in our elite, you know, um kind of elite energy competing, playing hard. He’s in that bucket. Um and we got to get more guys in that bucket, quite honestly. Um I still, you know, and and it’s really our vets. I I have no um no issues with their young guys. they play their, you know, every possession and and sometimes we just get caught in these lows. Um cuz these guys have been really good in the league, you know. Um but we got to we kind of got to get off that and and um you know to get this thing moving again in in the right direction. Yeah. You have questions? All right. All right. Thanks everybody. Thank you. Fish.

Kenny Atkinson spoke to the media following a 135-119 Cavaliers victory over the Pacers in Indiana.