Postgame Tim Hardaway Jr. interview after Thursday’s Dallas Mavericks 129-127 preseason loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves:
On playing at home and in an empty arena:
“I mean it was fine. A lot of arenas are different when you are playing in them. LA, MSG, Brooklyn – the stands are dark so you can probably see the basket better. That is probably more similar to the bubble. Here and in Milwaukee the lights were on in the stands, so it was brighter. But it doesn’t matter. I am just happy that we are out here playing ball, and everyone is healthy.”
On his confidence level with this team going into the season:
“Very high. It shouldn’t be any less. We know what we have to do out there on the floor to be a productive playoff-caliber team. And it is on us to just go out there and execute. The coaching staff has done a hell of a job this whole training camp so far of preparing us and making sure we are on track and making sure everyone is focused. From a confidence standpoint it is really high. We have to take that on the road when we start next week.”
On his offensive aggressiveness:
“I feel like tonight I just tried to stay aggressive. You want to get your feet wet while you are at home and get used to the surroundings where there is no one in the arena. I just wanted to make sure I picked and chose my spots wisely and knocked down some shots. But we are not satisfied. We lost and we had the lead going into the fourth. I know that the starters and the rest of the guys weren’t happy with how we were playing the rest of the game. But in this league you just have to take every win. Everyone has to understand you take every win and every loss and learn from it. For me, it wasn’t enough.”
On Josh Richardson:
“J. Rich has been doing a great job from the start – keeping a positive attitude and keeping his mindset all about the team. He wants to win. He has come here with one goal and one goal only and that is to win and be in a playoff-loving team environment. So far he has done a heck of a job and is doing a great job of being a leader and a vocal leader out there.”
On the final three-pointer by Boban Marjanović:
“For Boban, it was a wide-open shot. He makes that shot so we were happy that he got that look. In and out probably says a lot about how the game went for us tonight on that end of the floor. A lot of easy and open ones that we wanted to go in and drop.”
