Can you just talk about the difficulty of having to go out there, being in a position where you have to feel perfect and you've got to create turnovers, stuff like that, to be able to have chances in games like this?
I mean, that's always the goal is to get takeaways and to play a great game. We can strive for perfection. You'll never reach it, but It's always the goal.
Is it frustrating to be in that kind of situation week after week?
What situation?
Where there's not enough points being scored? You guys give up basically ten points and we're standing here having this conversation at the end of the day.
It's a team effort. You know what I mean? So, where a certain part of the team is lacking, you've got to pick up that slack. So, if that's what we need, that's what we need to do. But like I said, going into the games, we always plan on getting takeaways and keeping them under 13 points. So that's always a goal. That'll never change.
At a personal level, you've talked about this early this year that this defense could be special. This is obviously not what you thought was going to be coming this year. How do you handle that?
It's a weird year, man. Out of the years I've been in the league, this is the craziest year by far as far as injuries and the type of injuries that we've had. So, it's difficult at times, but like I said, this league is all about next man up. So, you got to encourage your guys after them to pick up that slack.
You spent some time sitting over there inside with Shaq (Thompson). What do you talk about with him at times like this? Is it basically how you get through?
No. Basically, what can we improve on? What can we do in the opportunities that we have. Shaq (Thompson) is seeing the game from a different perspective. So, with that being said, he can see ops that we can't. So, we were just thinking of different ways to get the ball out, thinking of different ways to get takeaways and turnovers, and pretty much where we were messing up at. Shaq (Thompson) is one of the main leaders on the team, a big key to the defense. So, his input is always needed.
