Washington Wizards Media Conference

Monday, November 20, 2023

Washington, DC, USA

Tyus Jones

Media Conference


Bucks 142, Wizards 129

Q. Where do you feel you guys lacked defensively against Giannis?

TYUS JONES: I mean, Giannis is a tough cover. Obviously everyone knows that. Just his physicality. They were able to get him in some actions that got him in good spots on the court, and we didn't do a good enough job kind of extending his catch or impacting the ball in a way that would take them out of their actions. It happens.

Q. Wes talked about during the fourth quarter he was in dialogue with you about what he's trying to do with rotations. How do you take that as a player?

TYUS JONES: I mean, obviously everyone is a competitor. Everyone wants to be out there. Tonight kind of how it unfolded, it was just how the game went, the matchups. It got kind of late into the fourth, there was a stretch where there wasn't a whistle for a little bit. We talked, we were in communication, and I told him kind of just let that group go after like a certain point. Yeah, that's all it is. Obviously I want to be out there. I want to help close games. I want to help lead the team.

But at the same time, I'm going to be always everyone's biggest fan who's out there I'm supporting. It's always about the team. It's not about one individual player. I understand Wes has a tough job to do, and just like tonight, for example, kind of how the game unfolded, that's just kind of where it went.

Q. When you were in there, what do you think was working for you?

TYUS JONES: Yeah, I was able to get to my floater, just being aggressive, trying to look to score the ball, just working -- pick-and-roll game tonight, trying to get to that a little bit more, and it was opening up stuff for us and just kind of playing through that.

Q. You said before that you were close, 18 in three quarters. Do you have it figured out?

TYUS JONES: No, no, I'm still figuring it out. Just getting more comfortable, continuing to have open dialogue with Wes, all the coaching staff, still teammates, just figuring out where we can improve offensively, both individually, myself, and as a team.

But yeah, still figuring it out. Still a work in progress. But definitely taking steps in the right direction for sure.

Q. You've been in the league for a while now and seen a lot of talented young players and talented veterans. What have you seen from Bilal so far?

TYUS JONES: Yeah, he has all the tools. He has all the tools, and he knows that. It comes easy to him. Like he's just naturally gifted. Then when you mix in the fact that he's a worker, the fact that he's in the gym working, trying to improve, he's asking questions, he wants to learn on both ends of the floor, that's when you get something special.

You can see he's not scared. He's confident. When you see that from a young guy, that's special just because when you're thrown in -- he's one of if not the youngest player in the league, and when you're thrown out there as a rookie and you're asked to cover some of the best players in the league, that could be eye-opening for a lot of guys, but he doesn't hesitate. He doesn't hesitate at all. He's ready for it, and that's huge.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
139325-1-1002 2023-11-21 03:23:00 GMT

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