Kentavious Caldwell-Pope Reacts To Nuggets Game 3 vs Lakers | May 20, 2023

Can you talk about how important was it for your team to come out out the gate really quickly it was Important, you know, we talked about it the day before How we wanted to come out didn't be aggressive and We came out and did that, you know perfectly in there for in that first quarter and we didn't know We let go to rope a little bit, but we sustained it and got it back Describe the business like mentality that you guys came into this trip with and how you executed it Yeah, we talked about it at the game to endeavor No How we wanted to come in and make this a business trip as far as like getting no trying to come in and get two games and not just one and We we came out very professionally And got it done. And that's why I said I continue to thrive with this team. I love this team and how we you know Continue to fight for what no what we want You know very well how Difficult it is to beat the Lakers in this building. What impressed you the most about the business you went about We came out aggressive, you know in the mindset, you know, this is a business trip we wanted to come in and apply the pressure and not let them Apply the pressure to us first. We wanted to throw the first punch We came out strong in the first quarter and we did exactly what we wanted to do Just play half-ass well, no continue to move the ball Help each other on defense And no, he did get open guy. That's that's open throughout that stretch, you know, like you said Kola got his third foul Mall with they have it going a little bit But like we have other guys, you know, including myself that you know can can make a play make a shot down the stretch when we need it When when LeBron and AD had the ball you guys were showing a lot of bodies crowding the paint How did you walk that line between clogging things up and still getting out to their shooters just effort No, we wanted to have no Just that effort on defense like knowing we got a shrink the floor when them guys have the ball and also make a second effort to get a contest when they do kick it out to the To their teammates and we did a great job of that just helping it and also helping the helper So that's that's a big you don't keep us What's okay? You've been a quiet player, you know, but going back to your rookie year but it seemed like tonight you were playing with a bit of a Verbal edge you got on Christian after you there was like a mix-up on a I think maybe a Reeves three And it just seemed like you a bit more aggressive chirpy tonight Was that is that how you wanted to approach the game or did you just find yourself there? Um, I Felt like I've been verbal, you know the whole season or even more in the playoffs postseason Just trying to keep my guys motivated, you know for for the goal that we have set in training camp and For like just Christian George like we can't have the mistakes, you know, we too close to to our goal So we can't have the mistakes when we know the game plan was no Breeze is a chase so we can't you know, and then when we have a small ball like that with a G at the five He's always in coverage. So we got to know when we check in we got Just be ready and I had no mistakes Kenny a part of the third quarter run I know was with some buckets for you Making sure to like especially when Joker goes out you take over and in that moment at a couple points You've had a lot of those times during this playoff run How do you know when the right time is to sort of assert yourself when most of the time? You're you're a fourth or fifth guy and Just be a patient and when the ball come to me taking my open shots and being able to knock them down Just being confident Within the offense and what we running Okay speed KCP Do you feel like tonight is another example that shows that you guys can win no matter what the situation is like Joker struggles in The first three quarters and yet you guys still find a way to pull it out. Oh, yeah No, I learned a lot about this team every every time we play, you know, we have that resilient That that dog mentality we're like no matter if we up down, you know, we're gonna continue to fight and play our game and we We do it at a high level and we got to continue to do that throughout the rest of these games Do you do you remember if there was a point when you looked at this team and thought this is a team that can win a championship, uh From training camp, you know since we've been playing together and just throughout the whole season, you know, we number one in the West for a reason and I believed it from the front of jump that we can win a championship and That was everybody mindset, you know, we we knew what how we Could gel together and play together We just wanted to continue, you know No Just play hard, you know together And just continue to just do great, you know, we We we'd underdogs. No, we don't get enough credit for what we do And like I said, we number one in the West for a reason and not being talked about. No, that's that's a lot So we we take that personal and we just use that energy Continue to prove everybody wrong Last question over here in strike Contavious given that there's not a lot of experience on your squad of guys who have gotten to the finals What can you impart on your teammates to get the job done at some point in this series and get to the finals? Always all like telling my teammate defense, you know, we're gonna win win games for us, you know And it's gonna win us a championship know the more we can continue to defend get stops when we need them Or get multiple stops We're gonna be great and I feel like my teammates and I we doing a great job is at getting stops when we need them especially down the stretch And and closing out games Contavious you guys have you know, we've talked a lot about the the business like, you know mentality This really might have been there's been a ton of great wins in this playoff run for you guys But this really might have been one of your best coming into this building getting a win like this Do you feel like that business like mentality is kind of increasing for you guys as each round or is? Yeah, I feel like it's increasing. No, we We know last round we went into Phoenix and we gave up two games We wanted to change that narrative we went up to oh, so we wanted to come on the road and Make this really a business like trip, you know, we come and we come in to get both go both games we got the one tonight and Just Monday we got to continue to just do what we did here and try to come out with a second win