NBA: Interview with Daniel Theis – “That was a slap in the face”

The German professional Daniel Theis has had a difficult season with the Indiana Pacers in the North American professional basketball league NBA. After a long injury break, he was only allowed to play for a short time and then had to make room for young players. In an interview with the sports show, he also talks about the title favorites Boston and Dennis Schröder.

sports show: The Pacers fail to qualify for the playoffs near the end of the season. From the outside, it’s been a strange season for Indiana so far: there was a lot going on before the season that there was a fresh start with young players, but then the team played so well that the playoffs were possible. How do you look back on the season?

Daniel Theis: This isn’t discussed with players, but it was looked at from the start Rebuild that we wanted to develop young players and see how things went. But then we just played too well. Until Tyrese Haliburton got injured, we were even fourth or fifth in the East. Then the organization saw: ‘We don’t need that much rebuild after all.’ But then I think we lost 19 out of 21 games.

sports show: The Pacers gave up their star Domantas Sabonis last year in exchange for young point guard Tyrese Haliburton. He has developed into a really good player very quickly and is putting up 21 points and ten assists per game this season. How would you describe his style of play?

Theis: He was primarily a pass-first player, sometimes it was like he lacked aggressiveness and he looked too much at other players. We had a rule that we had to get the ball over the halfway line within three seconds and that worked for him. That was a big part of why we were so successful. Nobody wanted to defend against us because we played so fast. Before I knew him, you’d think his shot looked a little weird, but it’s amazing how well he hits.

sports show: Shortly before Trade Deadline many Pacers players were in talks of being traded. How does that affect the atmosphere in the team, how did you deal with it as a team?

Theis: It was a new situation for the younger ones. For most who have been in the NBA longer, it was less dramatic. Myles Turner has been here for eight years and for eight years he’s been said to be traded.

sports show: After your injury you played 16 minutes per game and put up seven points, three rebounds and one block. Your coach found many words of praise for you. But after only seven games they were no longer used. How did that develop?

Theis: It started in the summer with that Trade from Boston to Indiana, that wasn’t an ideal situation. The summer with the national team was good for me. But then in preparation for the NBA season, my knee was not good, I could hardly walk and jump. I had discussions with six different knee specialists, what can and cannot be done? I talked to Marc-André ter Stegen, who had an operation in Sweden and I did that too. The rehab was twelve weeks. And then, just as I was getting into the rhythm, I had a talk with the coach and he Front Office, that now they want to see how good the young players are. Of course that’s quite a slap in the face.

sports show: You played your former team, the Boston Celtics, in one of your games in February. The Celtics are among the favorites for the championship title. What do you think makes them so strong?

Theis: That the core has been together for years. The players we were in the finals with last year want to come back and win. It’s like licking blood, you want it again. Jayson Tatum in particular was motivated because he didn’t play as well in the finals as in the previous rounds. Then they got someone in Malcolm Brogdon who the bank is a lot better with now.

sports show: The Los Angeles Lakers have had the best defense in the NBA for several weeks. You have a lot of good, individual defenders, for example your national team colleague Dennis Schröder. Especially this season, he seems like he’s very motivated. how would you his Defense describe?

Theis: I think it was important for Dennis to show that he was the best defender in the game Guard-Position is. The Lakers have people in LeBron James, Anthony Davis and D’Angelo Russell who to score want and thereby help the team. It’s important for a team like this to have someone like Dennis who defends every second and doesn’t take time off.

sports show: You played an important role in the national team’s third place finish at last year’s European Championships. Have there already been talks as to whether you will be back at the World Cup in the summer?

Theis: I met with Gordon Herbert a few weeks ago and the goal is definitely that I play and we get the core together from last time.

The NBA playoffs begin on April 15th. The Sportschau basketball channel on Instagram, NBA Overtime, reported daily. There are also other excerpts from the interview with Daniel Theis.