Hornets 124, Wizards 117
Q. It seemed like rebounding made a big difference in this game. What do you attribute that to?
WES UNSELD JR.: Yeah, it was huge. Did a remarkable job down in Charlotte, had a tough time tonight. It's a team effort thing. Just you get caught scrambling in situations. I thought we did a much better job of being in the right spot, particularly in the first half.
Defensively I thought we were all on the same page and really did some good things, just the inability to finish those possessions. It's going to be tough pretty much sledding uphill with 25 offensive rebounds for 30 points. But I thought our overall disposition was great, much better. Just couldn't finish those possessions.
Q. It seemed like you guys did a great job on LaMelo in the first half. What changed in the second half?
WES UNSELD JR.: Well, I think he got loose a little bit. Some of it was in transition. Made a handful of turnovers, particularly in the fourth, which hurt us. I think 4 for 9 I think in that fourth quarter.
It's tough when we had success early in the game, getting stops and running, but those offensive rebounds, now we're taking the basketball out and playing against a set defense.
Q. The intensity of an in-season tournament game, and you just played the Charlotte Hornets Wednesday, could that have been a disadvantage to tonight's game?
WES UNSELD JR.: I don't necessarily think a disadvantage. Obviously we want to get to the point where we're playing in playoff series, so it's got that kind of feel. You're going to have to make adjustments. You've got to know what that opponent does. They've got to know what you do, how you handled the previous meeting.
I kind of like that feel. I think it's good for our group.
Q. How would you describe the mood in the locker room? You guys led for a majority of this game.
WES UNSELD JR.: Well, I'm sure disappointed. Obviously it was a very winnable game. Just take care of one area, and I think it changes the game completely.
Q. How do you think Jordan is acclimating a new role, primary focus for defenses?
WES UNSELD JR.: Yeah, I think it'll take some time. He's seeing different coverages. Teams are obviously keying in on him.
But he's trying to play the right way, so he's making the right read. He's moving the ball. He's trying to make team plays.
I think it'll click. His shot will start falling, and I think once that happens, the dam will break.
Q. On a positive note, the bench outscored Charlotte's percentage 49-30. Can you talk about the play of the bench?
WES UNSELD JR.: Yeah, our bench has been solid. I know it's a young season, but through these handful of games, they've done a really nice job. I think they've found a bit of a rhythm, some degree of synergy. It kind of suits the way they play. Shooting the three, playing with tempo, the floor is open with Gallo, obviously spreading the bigs. So that creates a lot of area to play behind the coverage. Guys like Landry, Corey, even Bilal have benefitted from it.
Q. What do you attribute the difficulties on the defensive board to?
WES UNSELD JR.: A lot of it is I think a little bit of a mentality, but we're in scramble situations. You've got to close and guard people. Gaff has done a terrific job of protecting the rim. Oftentimes he has to provide help and takes a body off the big, smalls have to do a better job of kind of getting in the mix and driving their bigs out.
Q. What do you think about Bilal Coulibaly, not just his game but since the beginning of the season?
WES UNSELD JR.: Bilal has shown continued progress for a young player. He plays with a level of poise, and he doesn't look like a typical teenager out there. It feels like every week he looks more comfortable, defensively he's making plays.
I think we're still just scratching the tip of the iceberg with him, but I do believe he's got a lot to give.
Q. What did you think of ball movement and shot selection the last six minutes?
WES UNSELD JR.: Wasn't great. I think once again, you're playing against a set defense, don't have as much of a flow, but I think their physicality got us a little bit, started playing a little bit too much one-on-one.
But you're going to have stretches like that, so it's a learning moment for this group. Won't be the last time we'll be in this situation, and at times we've shown the ability to play through it, and in stretches tonight we didn't.
Q. Towards the end of the game when Charlotte went on that run, I believe they closed out 25-8 in the fourth quarter, you opted to keep a lineup out there that was I think the same as the starting five. What was the rationale behind that rather than maybe making some substitutions?
WES UNSELD JR.: Well, I was going to make a substitution, and obviously when D-Wright went out, it kind of changed the pattern a little bit. We're trying to play offense-defense, get a little bit more size in there, but there were fouls, free throws, and couldn't quite navigate that.
Q. How did Delon hurt his knee, and what kind of injury is it?
WES UNSELD JR.: It's an injury to the knee. I don't know to what extent. I'm sure we'll find out in the morning.
It was a play I think someone stepped on his foot, and then there was an impact to the side of the knee to some degree and just raised a little bit of concern for him. He didn't feel comfortable continuing.
Q. You mentioned Gafford earlier. What did you think of his effort, particularly that sequence at the end blocking three shots --
WES UNSELD JR.: Yeah, that's been Gaff all season. His mentality, that's what we've preached to him all summer. You've got to own the paint, own the rim on both sides of the ball, finishing with efficiency on rolls, blocking shots, making those multiple-effort plays. We had a couple plays like that. We also had a play where he was first to the floor for a loose ball. Those don't show up in the box score, but those are winning plays.
That mentality I think is great for him. He's going to be a big part of what we're doing.
Q. When it comes to three-point defense, I'm curious on your thoughts for the whole game. You held Charlotte to 2 of 23 to start the game and then they made four consecutive down the stretch. I'm curious how much of that is progression in just making shots versus missing shots, or how much of that is three-point defense?
WES UNSELD JR.: To tell you exactly, I'd have to probably watch the film. I think some of it is -- I think they got two off offensive rebounds. But eventually it'll level out. You're probably not going to hold a team to that far below an average for a 48-minute game, but those plays, when they start compiling and you put them together, they do add up.
I thought overall the three-point defense was great, and I think that's a tribute to how we were guarding most of those pick-and-rolls, specifically in the first half.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports