00:00Coach Keefe, good morning.
00:01Good morning, guys.
00:03Coach, Coach.
00:03Thanks for being flexible.
00:04So, if I told you before the game last night that Anthony Davis would give you 44,
00:09AJ would give you 21, Trey Young would pour in 20,
00:11you'd feel pretty good about your chances to win the game, right?
00:15Didn't quite go that way.
00:18Yeah, the turnovers were too hard to overcome.
00:22Lots of lessons.
00:23We played the two best defensive teams last year in two games in a row.
00:26And lots of things to learn.
00:28We're a new team.
00:30You know, obviously we had trouble with ball security last night.
00:34And that's not going to sustain in a 48-minute game.
00:38We've got to get back to how we were playing.
00:40You know, we've been in nine of our 11 games.
00:42We've been all fourth-court games within six points.
00:46And obviously we won half of those.
00:48So, got to get back to that.
00:49But a lot of lessons we can learn from the last two.
00:51And we're going to look at the film.
00:53Coach, teach.
00:54Keep getting better.
00:55One thing that's been frustrating is you guys started out so well, I think,
00:58you know, defensively in the last four.
01:00You know, you guys are playing tougher teams.
01:02No question about it.
01:03Giving up more points, that sort of thing.
01:05Rebounding has been difficult.
01:06I think last night was a lot closer.
01:09What can you do?
01:11I know you're pulling your hair out and you're screaming and doing your thing.
01:15But how can you get your message across to get back to that kind of unbelievable
01:19defensive turnaround you guys had made earlier in the season?
01:23Yeah, we were top ten.
01:25We were top ten in our going into the last two games.
01:28Obviously, the Oklahoma City game ended up being not what we want.
01:31And last night, one thing we have gotten better is we have gotten better in our
01:35defensive rebound and we've cut in the last five.
01:37We've cut down on the offensive rebound by almost five a game.
01:41I believe we're going to be a good defensive team.
01:43We're still in the top half in the league.
01:46But we're learning.
01:47This is a new group.
01:48Like I said, we played two teams and won in their 60 games last year.
01:52You have to go through these things.
01:54This is part of how you're going to grow as a team to face these challenges.
01:58We're going to be a good defensive team.
02:00We're going to keep getting better on that end.
02:01And the offense is going to continue to grow.
02:03And we've got a lot of new pieces coming together.
02:05But I like our group's mentality.
02:07And we're going to come back and respond in the right way.
02:10Talking to the head coach of the Washington Wizards, Brian Keefe, they fell to four and
02:13seven last night with their loss.
02:14I want you to kind of take me through how much an NBA team actually practices.
02:19Because I've heard from some, you know, with all the travel, that there's very little
02:23time to practice.
02:25You talk about a young team getting better.
02:26How do you fit it in?
02:29Yeah, that's a challenge for every team in this league.
02:32So everybody's got the same thing that they're dealing with.
02:35You know, we're in a stretch.
02:37We're playing a lot of games here.
02:38We play back-to-backs.
02:39We have another one coming up here.
02:40Three and four we're playing.
02:42You take advantage of every time that you can.
02:44That's shoot-arounds, obviously, which we had.
02:46We had one yesterday.
02:47We'll have a film session today because we're playing going to another back-to-back.
02:52So you have to teach and coach in all these little instances.
02:56And we've got a great staff to do that.
02:57We do a lot of film work.
02:58We do a lot of stuff on the court where we make sure we're silenced, the execution of
03:04things we're going to do.
03:05You just have to take advantage of your time when you have it.
03:08But it's a challenge that every team faces because of the schedule in the NBA.
03:12When you have four road games in essentially five or six days, I'm going to ask you kind
03:18of a life question.
03:19Have you ever run out of clothes?
03:24I'm the lightest packer probably in the NBA, to be honest.
03:27They all laugh at me because I come with one bag.
03:31I'm pretty efficient.
03:33I know what I'm going to wear.
03:34It doesn't change much.
03:37I've got enough, just exactly enough probably for the trip.
03:40So I've done this a long time.
03:42I've probably become very efficient at doing it.
03:44Well, they also made it easier because back in the day, the NBA coaches would wear suits
03:48and you'd have to wear a tie.
03:49Yeah, I think that's quarter zips.
03:51That's right.
03:51Quarter zips.
03:52There you go.
03:52Quarter zips.
03:53I'm going to just get team-issued gear.
03:54Yeah, that's perfect.
03:55Yeah, just pack nothing.
03:56That's probably what he does.
03:57He probably wears sweats in his court.
03:59That was a whole different deal for sure.
04:01You had a whole separate bag and a lot of drag cleaning going on.
04:05Right.
04:06All right.
04:06So, Coach, Trey Johnson's shooting over the last few games, well, for the year, hasn't
04:12been good.
04:12He's not this bad of it.
04:13He's a good shooter.
04:15A lot of guys are below their careers, like, you know, what they should be doing.
04:20Right.
04:21Just kind of talk about it.
04:22Is it a confidence thing?
04:24Are guys just getting hands in his face?
04:26Is he just in a cold funk?
04:27What exactly is it with Trey?
04:29Look, I've seen this a lot through the years.
04:31Like, you're going to go through stretches at times where you're not going to shoot the
04:35ball well.
04:36This guy is one of the more elite shooters in the league.
04:38We've got great confidence in him.
04:40And he will, this will turn and he will end up having a very positive year for shooting.
04:46The guys go through this.
04:47If this was in the middle of the season, you probably wouldn't notice.
04:51This happens to be at the start.
04:52So, things like this do happen.
04:55But, as you can see, in the Atlanta game, he goes 6 for 10 for 3.
05:00This guy's going to make shots.
05:02The amount of work that this guy puts in is unbelievable.
05:05We've got great faith in him.
05:07This is, there's a rhythm to basketball.
05:09We have, and sometimes when you're playing new guys, new combinations together, you're
05:14learning how those things work.
05:15Um, we think the offense was going to be, come along slowly because of that.
05:20And that's why we've been so focused on the defense.
05:22These things will turn around for our guys.
05:24Totally believe in that.
05:25So, I saw these offensive efficiency numbers, offensive ratings that Greg Finberg put out.
05:32And it showed that the combination of Saar and Davis is far less efficient than having
05:39just either Davis on the court without Saar or Aiton on the court without Saar.
05:44What are you finding about the two big lineups when the two guys are on there together versus
05:51when maybe only one is on the court?
05:53Yeah, these are the combinations we're working through.
05:56And like we talked about, this is a new team, new season.
06:00And it's about being positive on both ends of the ball.
06:05Obviously, our defensive rig has been pretty good this year.
06:07And a lot of that can be attributed to the size of our team.
06:11I'm sometimes playing, like you talked about, the two bigs.
06:16You know, some of those lines are going to grow as the season goes.
06:20And I think that we knew that was going in.
06:21But we really want to establish our defense.
06:24And we're learning what combinations work with each other and how those are going to play out over time.
06:30Those are the things where, like you talked about, what are you using every day?
06:34Those are the things we're coaching, looking at, showing film, going through and shoot around,
06:39how we're going to get ourselves better in those areas.
06:41But those will continue to get better.
06:44And over time, we're going to get more efficient on both ends.
06:47And that's the goal is to be efficient on both ends.
06:50Well, just to kind of end this on a positive, one thing that's been fantastic is just watching AJ and
06:56just, you know,
06:57especially the effort that he's just putting out there on defense when he was so criticized for it
07:01and admitted that sort of in college, he kind of didn't really take it that seriously.
07:05I mean, obviously, he has the athleticism and the will-how and the determination to do whatever he wants.
07:10You guys have made that a priority for him.
07:12And those of us that are just fans can just see it.
07:14And then his explosiveness and just the arsenal of moves he has inside, the way he creates his own shot.
07:23Obviously, the three-point shot needs to develop, but he's been phenomenal as a fan.
07:28I don't know if you have the same opinion.
07:31No, this gives a two-way impact player.
07:35His defense has been terrific for a first-year 19-year-old, as best as I've ever seen, to be
07:41honest.
07:41His ability to impact the game, how hard he plays.
07:45You can feel his physicality.
07:47And then you're seeing his offense, his ability to get downhill, get into the paint, make plays, obviously, for himself
07:55at the rim.
07:55And then you're starting to see him making plays for others because he just draws so much attention.
08:01He's still young.
08:02He's still learning.
08:03He's got so much more to improve.
08:05But his competitiveness has really stood out early in the season.
08:08We've been really pleased with his start.
08:10And his confidence.
08:12I mean, oh, my God.
08:13This kid's got everything.
08:13He's got all the swagger in the world.
08:15And deservedly so.
08:16It's amazing to watch.
08:17Yeah, you definitely saw that in college.
08:19All right.
08:20Thank you, Coach.
08:21All right.
08:22Thanks, guys.
08:22Yeah, all right.
08:22Best of luck against the Pacers.
08:24Keep them winless at home.
08:25They're 3-8.
08:26They stay.
08:27They've lost 7-8.
08:27They're 3-8.
08:27They're 3-8.
08:27They're 3-8.
