Lakers Coach Darvin Ham Reacts To GM6 vs Warriors | May 12, 2023

Darvin, you've kind of hung your hat on defense with this team all season long. How did you feel like tonight was an example of that and do you feel like that's the main thing that got you to where you want to go getting out in series? Totally. A great defense is the best offense. I just think our guys is focused on film, study, the communication, going through our walkthroughs, talking through scenarios, switching up different matchups, switching up different lineups in our walkthroughs. I think it all helps. I think everybody, you know, working really hard to be on the same page to make sure we're on the same page. Each and every individual, each and every coach. It's, I mean, just a hell of a job by everybody and kudos to Golden State, man. It's a hell of a series. You know, they're defending champs multiple times over for a reason. It's a tough, tough, tough, tough team that makes you work, you know, not just during the game but even off hours, like in between game day. You're trying to just dig through the film and just seeing what different nuances they're throwing at you. How can you defend them? How can you score? Like, you know, they really put a on your P's and Q's, so salute to those guys. But I'm super-duper proud of our guys. You know, the players, the coaches, Rob, Jeannie, like, I'm so happy for the entire organization to be able to sit here and be in this position. You know, a challenging year to say the least, but at the end of the day, we kept powering through. Our vibes stayed positive. You know, once we righted the ship and switched out some pieces, it came together. And I'm just happy and thankful that I get to sit in this seat and enjoy the ride. We talked about LeBron before the game. You said you're gonna need something from everybody. But just now, that performance tonight in this stage of his career, how would you summarize it? Man, just our leader. He and Abe both has been our leader, not just by chatter, but example. Stepping up, playing big in the biggest of moments. Those guys really helping the young guys, really communicating with the coaching staff. Um, and again, you know, it's things that we all see out there and everybody communicating with one another, sharing dialogue, having dialogue, um, just to find the best way, not your way, my way, his way, their way, but the best way to go about our business. And so, uh, it was on display tonight, you know, did a great job playing downhill with one assist, one rebound short of a triple double fingerprints all over the game, steals block shot and then a just controlling the glass. Um, you know, Dennis setting the tone on step early defensively. Um, D'Angelo playing solid, being just doing a little bit of everything. Um, Austin, Lonnie, Rui Vando. Uh, all of those guys, man, just pitching in and really making plays all over the place on and off the ball. Some stuff that shows up in the stat sheet, some won't. But, um, at the end of the day, it was a good, good, solid, really huge team win. Darvin, congrats on closing out tonight. Um, LeBron, the offense running through him early on really felt like it set the tone. How much of that was by design? A lot. You know, we want to put pressure on Steph and Clay and Jordan to have to guard, defend multiple actions, sort of try to take some energy out of their legs, forcing them to defend, um, multiple plays, multiple actions, initiate and burst them, you know, seeing them on the second side, going to another second side action, even third side action. I just isolate them in a situation where they had to guard on the ball or guard screeners or get hit, you know, by screening them. So I thought it worked out well. You know, it was a lot of dialogue again between the coaches, players, you know, broad, you know, us throwing stuff at them, them responding with different things. By the time I get to the huddle, you know, they already have a good idea, good, clear idea how they want to attack. And that is great. You know, I mean, just to have a team with IQ like that, that's not just waiting to be told something or and that's okay too. But you know, when you're coaching and everybody's, it's an interactive situation. It's just like you just, it just the care factor, it takes the care factor to a whole entirely different level. Um, a positive one at that. And so, uh, our offensive attack, which is one again, not settle, not play soft, not play slow. We want to really just go downhill, live in the paint. And I think you saw that from the amount of free throws we took. I mean, it just, we just stayed aggressive. It's a Darwin over here. I hate to spin your head, but I will. What's the light, the game plan for your kitch and what have you thought about the ways played in the playoffs so far? Bt. If you around on sunday, I will let you know. You're not gonna push the fast four button on me that fast. We already know that monster in the in the Rocky Mountains that's waiting on us. But we're gonna take it. Is it okay if we enjoy this one tonight? Yes, you can. Yes, you can. I appreciate you. Nice suit, by the way. No more. No more Denver questions, please. I'm just joking. Darwin. Um, to two for you. Um, Austin shot at the end of the first half. Um, as they they've shown the ability to close and flashes. How important was that shot? Do you think for this team? And then secondly, um, after you guys beat Memphis, LeBron sat in that locker room and talked about the levels and how each level was gonna get harder. Um, did you see your team soak that message in tonight, especially in the way that they never really let Golden State come all the way back or really make it close? Absolutely. Um, you know, Austin shot was a huge shot in the arm for us to take the lead back to double digits. And I was already pissed at him because I felt like he turned down some good looks, you know, on catch. You know, he thinks close out with him a lot close out to him a lot with their hands down the defense. And I feel I feel like, you know, he's one of those guys. I just want to shoot it every time he touches the ball when he's open. Um, so he had turned down a couple thing. One of them ended up in a turnover. And then, you know, for him to knock that down again, take the lead back to 10 points. I think it was a 10 point lead at halftime. Um, it was great. And then, you know, you just saw the focus when we went through some clips at halftime, you know, looking at, you know, trying to get better on the defensive glass was one of the main priorities. Um, and also continuing to play downhill, not to settle, not, you know, not to let the 1st 24 minutes go to waste. And so, uh, the guys came out with a focused and then, you know, it was, uh, it was great. What was the second part of the question, Dan? I'm sorry. Oh, yeah. And was the message similar again? Yes, indeed. Yes, indeed. Right on point. Um, we surpassed level one against Memphis. Now we surpassed level two against, uh, go to state. And now level three is, you know, it's gonna be a hell of a challenge. Um, you know, we're gonna enjoy this one tonight, take some time, get our thoughts together, recharge the battery tomorrow and then really come ready to work on sunday, uh, and putting together a game plan, which we've already started the process on. Um, I just think, you know, and this is what the league is about. You know, the fewer teams, the tougher the matchups, the more skilled the players, um, talking about two time MVP with a well balanced squad, hungry, um, great synergy, great chemistry, great ability, athleticism, shooting all of the above. So we're gonna have our work cut out for us, but you know, they gotta guard us too. And so we're gonna do our due diligence as we always do and just be prepared for game one. But right now we're gonna soak all of this in and try to enjoy this tonight, fill our cups back up tomorrow and be ready to go back to work on sunday. Darvin, um, one of LeBron's favorite phrases is saying he likes being comfortable being uncomfortable. And now that you've been through the first year on the inside and seeing that sometimes the teams he plays for attract all sorts of attention that can lead to uncomfortable situations when he's not even calling for it. Sometimes do you feel like that journey can steal a group, can build a group to be ready for the intensity of the playoffs because the regular season can maybe involve more scrutiny than it would for a team that LeBron doesn't play for? Absolutely. You know, they expect nothing from great, but greatness from him, you know, and not off of what he always says or how articulate he can, you know, relay something in a interview or pre or post game interview. Like it's about the work he's put in and where he's placed himself, not just in this league today, but amongst the greats. And so, uh, that's always going to be the case. The biggest thing is, can you stay solid? Can you stay consistent? That's the one thing he respects my short time being his head coach, knowing him for years, but now being able to see it up close, the consistency, the level headedness coming to work with a plan. Um, things don't go your way. You don't throw the baby out with the bath water. I mean, you try to see the silver lining in the glass half full in all situations and the year we've been through the way we started to get to this point now. Um, and then the changes that were made to our roster, basically flipping our roster and the way those guys came in, I'm with a hunger and, you know, just vibrant energy because a lot of those guys in his locker room has never have never been this far in their individual careers. So it forces Brian to be more vocal forces 80 to be more vocal. We pick up Tristan Thompson, a great, great addition from a mental spiritual standpoint, someone who can also still play. And so you bring all of that, all of that positive energy, productive energy, everyone pulling in the same direction. It's cool. And we just gotta again, stay humble with our success. Um, and just take wisdom and lessons away from each and every situation, whether we come out on top, come out, you know, not so on top we lose, but they're all wisdom and lessons. And we just got to keep learning from that stuff and moving forward in the right direction. Yeah, Darvin, yesterday you hinted at a potential lineup change, but it was something you were considering with your coaching staff. When did you guys officially decide to move Dennis into the starting lineup? And how did that dialogue go between Dennis and Jared and just kind of him? Except that was decided this morning. We, you know, we had start kicking around the idea yesterday, but it was the final decision was made this morning by myself and the rest of the staff and talked to Vando. He understood he was a trooper about it. And, you know, again, it's not about his way, my way, their way, the best way. And we felt like the best way for us to put ourselves in a position to be successful today was to put Dennis have him start and set the tone on Steph. Vandal has done an amazing job. We don't win game one without Vandal. We're not in this series without Vandal, but it's about the team, what's best for the team. And Vandal understood that. Dennis came in and set an unbelievable tone defensively. His relentlessness, you know, he's the best guy to defend him on the team. Um, and not just on the team, but probably one of the best in the league to defend Steph. So we want to set that tone early, that defensive mindset, him being aggressive and feisty and that no quit mentality. And he got us off to a great start. Darvin over here. When did you know for sure that Anthony Davis would be able to play? Or was there ever any doubt? And also for a guy who was carried off in a wheelchair the other night to come back in 20 rebound performance tonight. That's pretty remarkable, isn't it? It's unbelievable, but that's just who he is. You know, as you can't get caught up in the chatter, all the nonsense that goes on outside of our building in regards to A. D. I mean, you just have to come in and just understand that there's a plan in place. And, you know, our medical staff assured us that he would be okay. You know, it was an unfortunate hit that he took, but he was, you know, by the time we were getting ready to leave the arena in San Francisco, he was already on pace to, uh, you know, start getting himself back together, feeling great and woke up this morning to a text from him saying how great he felt and so, so much better and he couldn't wait to get to the game. And, um, so it's great. We would never play possible or put our players out there without our medical staff really green lighting it like we don't do that. And and so his ability to come out and his impact was huge on both sides of the ball. He was used specifically cleaning up the glass because again, this team will kill you with their second chance and third chance opportunity. So his defensive right rebound and 17 defensive rebounds unreal. And so I hope whatever said, whatever was said, you know, whatever has been said that he gets the same energy, I'll be it on the positive side instead of all the foolishness to govern. It's been such a positive national story from the start at two and 10 where you guys did flipping the roster as a guy in the middle of that to where you are right now tonight. What has impressed you the most in that body of work? Just the due diligence of the coaching staff, the performance team, our front office, our ownership constantly, you know, being supportive, being positive. Um, everybody just again seeing ways we can get better, not getting disappointed, not getting discouraged when there's a lot of times earlier we could have done that. But you know, this thing is a marathon. It's not a sprint. So take day by day by day and try to get better at something each and every day. Um, and then you get to the point where everybody is on the same page. Everyone is holding on to the rope with both hands pulling in the same direction. You'll be surprised how your circumstances could change for the better. And me being the head coach of this team just again, I'm not seeing me sweat. You know what I'm saying? Like not being too high, not being too low, keeping everything in perspective, but constantly knowing we have to get better. We have to get better. We have to get better. And the only thing I told him is from day one on the way through, we have to be the most competitive together, accountable team in the league in the world. And I think we're at that point where we're competing at a very high level. Everyone's on the same page together. And if it's something, any type of breakdown, whatever, we can go have dialogue with one another without anybody taking it personal or somebody, you know, just just being slighted. You know, it's just it's real, credible, genuine, um, a real, credible, genuine, uh, attempt to get it right. And that's all you need. Last one, Bill. Yeah, Darwin, I know you've always believed in this team, but can even you acknowledge how surreal it is that you're in the Western Conference finals? Yeah, it's unbelievable, man. I think it's been a hell of a ride. The one I hope never ends. It's uh, we just have to take it day by day and be in the moment. You know, we've gotten past two really phenomenal teams, this recent one being world champions four times over. Um, and now we're stepping into another realm. Like Brian say, everybody says in the locker room level three. You know, so now we got to take our our focus, our awareness up a level and there's only 14 will only be four teams left. But I'm enjoying it. Um, I don't let anything stress me out. It's just, it's fun. It's basketball. And I'm coaching this team and representing this organization. Thanks, coach. Thank you. Austin's on his way.