Oklahoma City Thunder Media Conference

Monday, September 30, 2024

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

Jaylin Williams

Press Conference


Q. Have you thought about what it's going to be like to play with another big man on the roster this year?

JAYLIN WILLIAMS: I haven't thought about it yet. I have been working out and getting better. We played a little bit of pick-up. Of course I'll play with Chet in pick-up, and we played some last year. Chet just makes the game easy for everybody. I haven't thought about it that much.

Q. We see guys play pick-up. How much does that tell you about playing in real basketball? Does it tell you anything, or is it just keeping fit?

JAYLIN WILLIAMS: I think you can kind of see what guys have worked on and done in the offseason, but it doesn't really tell you that much. There's not that much organization. We're kind of just out there playing pick-up.

Of course, we're running plays and doing the smart things that you would do as a basketball player, but we're not out there in a setting where somebody is stopping and calling plays or calling sets like that. Not that much.

Q. Last season there was praise for you as you got better as an athlete. What work have you put in?

JAYLIN WILLIAMS: A lot of work. You've got to eat right. You've got to work out right. You've got to sleep right. You've got to think right. Whatever it is, you have to do a lot.

This offseason I took another step in that area. Ate right. Worked out a lot. I was in Miami working out a lot. I was trying to get my body right, working on my jump shot, and getting better at the small portion of my game.

Q. You've had a chance to go up against Isaiah and Alex, the new acquisitions, when they were with other teams. What was difficult to prepare for them? What do you remember sort of in scout or thinking, Oh, yeah, you have to really pay attention to that with those two guys?

JAYLIN WILLIAMS: With AC, you know he is a great defender. It's one of those guys that you want to -- as a big you want to screen him. You want to get him off of Shai or Dub or whoever he is guarding. You want to create an advantage for our guys and get him off the ball.

Then with Hart, that's one of those guys that he's a tough, big, inside guy. Hard to box out. He's a ball mover. He sets screens. You have to play up on his screens. They're both great players, great guys, and I'm happy that they're on our side now.

Q. (Indiscernible).

JAYLIN WILLIAMS: With working on my shot it's just a lot of reps every day. A lot of reps. First thing I do is work on the small jump shots and then switch it up to threes, shooting with a quick release or with a guy contesting or from different passes, different areas, different actions, things like that.

Then in pick-up it's kind of like another thing you don't really take charges. I didn't take any charges this summer. It's not something that you want to risk myself getting hurt or the guy I'm taking the charge on.

If there's ever a situation where I could have taken a charge, it's kind of like a little back and forth things where it will be me and say, Should have taken the charge. I'm not taking the charge right now. It's kind of you know not to take charges in pick-up.

Q. What is more satisfying in the course of a game because you're never not smiling. Nobody has ever taken a charge and not smiled like you. What's more satisfying, that or setting a screen and a guy is walking away and looking over your shoulder and thinking, Yeah, I felt that or knocking down a three?

JAYLIN WILLIAMS: I would probably say taking a charge just because everything stops. The game stops. Your teammates come pick you up. You can talk a little bit. You can look at the team that's on the bench.

I would definitely say saying a charge. Especially this team. We have a couple of us that take charges. We're kind of competing with each other to see who is the best charge taker or who can get the most charges.

Q. Can you talk about how valuable it's going to be to throw out so many versatile line-up to match whatever kind of team you're playing against?

JAYLIN WILLIAMS: Yeah, I think if you are able to get better and you are able to do those things, I feel like that's always an upside for your team. With our coaches, you never know what we're going to throw at another team, and I'm sure that's a question you should ask him. I'm excited for this season.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
148802-1-1253 2024-09-30 18:15:00 GMT

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