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OKLAHOMA CITY THUNDER MEDIA CONFERENCE

April 26, 2017

Alex Abrines

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Q. How did your rookie year go? What were your expectations coming in, and how would you say that you did in your first year?
ALEX ABRINES: Well, I think pretty good. I didn't expect to play that much, and just play at the level I was playing as soon as possible. Just took me like two, three weeks to understand the way they play here, actually because of the teammates I had, so I'd just say like I'm really happy to be here, and I think they did a great job. I can't wait to move forward next season.

Q. What are your expectations for next season?
ALEX ABRINES: I mean, I know I've got to work a lot this summer. Actually it's going to be my first summer off. I know I've got national team, but still, I've got like a couple months to work. That's never going to happen in the past. I will work on just not being just a shooter, try to help the team with pick-and-rolls, try to create for the team like Victor does, for example, or Russ, and just help more the team next year.

Q. What were some of the biggest differences from playing overseas to here that you feel like you've got to now take into summer and make your game maybe different in some ways?
ALEX ABRINES: I mean, the physicality. I've been in the weight room a lot this year, so I think there was like a really important point to work on this year. We did a great job with the strength coach. So I think I've still got to work on this. The lower body especially, and besides this, also the basket (indiscernible).

Q. Are you also going to play Summer League?
ALEX ABRINES: No, I'm not coming. I mean, I would like to, but I've got a couple weddings and some dates, so I'll come before, stay here for like a month, around a month, and work with the coaches here.

Q. Coach Donovan always talk about your feet, having good feet in terms of your defensive ability to stay in front of guys. Is that something that's natural or do you work on that?
ALEX ABRINES: You've got to work on that. After every practice we've been doing some choppy steps like going from the low position to your man and then explosion steps, and that's things you've got to do to get better. You've got to do it like a hundred or a million times, so just keep improving and be faster.

Q. What was it like guarding guys like Williams and Eric Gordon for a full series? These are veterans who play a vaguely similar role to you maybe at a very high level. What was that like for you guarding those guys?
ALEX ABRINES: I mean, it's pretty hard because there's so many great players, and you really say this overseas, like one-on-one players should penetrate and do almost everything. But I think once you get to know the players, what are their tendencies, going left, going right, shooting, step back, just faking, jump foul. I think that you work on it, you learn about it, and watch some tape, also, and then it's way easier to play different against those guys because you know what they're going to do most times.

Q. What you mentioned there about a guy that can play one-on-one, can shoot it from the outside, can take a guy off the dribble, do you feel like that's something that you're kind of on a track towards being, that all-around offensive threat?
ALEX ABRINES: Yeah, that's what I'm going to work this summer. I know this year I was more like just a shooter, but I mean, I know I can put the ball on the floor and help the team with penetrations and get open shots to other guys. That's the way I like to work, and I'd like to be better at it.

Q. Do you feel like you play better when you're involved that way?
ALEX ABRINES: Yeah, because I know I can do more things, so I don't want to be just a shooter, as I said. I just want to be like a complete player, shooter, mid-range, dunker if I can, help with the rebound. I just want to do as much as possible.

Q. At the beginning of the year you said a few times that you were adjusting from the style you were playing in Spain to now the NBA style. How do you feel like you did with that by the end of the year, and do you think that there are parts of ball movement and that kind of stuff offensively that you can further incorporate into your game moving forward?
ALEX ABRINES: Yeah, sure. I mean, the rules also are different here than in Spain, so the way you space the floor and the way the team goes around Russ essentially, you've got to do things differently than overseas. So I think -- I mean, as I said before, it took me like a month, around a month to figure it out and get comfortable with, but I think during the rest of the season, I think I did a really good job understanding the way they play, the way the coaches wanted me to play, and that's what I did. I think I learned from that.

Q. It seems like you took strides defensively this season. What work went into that on that side of the ball for you?
ALEX ABRINES: It was pretty hard. The players here are much faster than in Europe, so at the beginning it was pretty hard, so that's why I've been working on the weight room and on the court with some coaches or some other players almost every day, and I think I got better on the defense, on the defensive end of the floor. I know I'm still not the best defender, but I will keep trying to be the best defender I can.

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