Raptors 132, Wizards 102
Q. What do you think the difference was in this game?
WES UNSELD JR.: I think some of the same issues popped up. Obviously the transition piece, handful of those were turnovers, of course. The offensive rebounding has been an area the last couple games, of course, that bothered us. No excuse, obviously back-to-back is always hard, and against a very physical and aggressive team, it makes it a little bit more difficult.
Q. How can you guard against running out of gas on the second night of back-to-backs?
WES UNSELD JR.: I don't know if it's just that. I think sometimes you miss shots, and we missed a ton of pretty good looks. Some of those turn into run-outs and transition opportunities, but I thought last night we showed a little bit more resilience to that. You can have nights like that where you come out a little flat, but I think you look back at the stretch of games prior to these last two, I think it's been trending in a better direction with our overall disposition, the activity, and I think it's tough, you're reintegrating a handful of new guys, trying to figure out how to rebalance and get guys back into the fold. It's going to take a little bit of time to kind of reacclimate.
Q. They were really efficient on capitalizing on turnovers and second-chance points. Is that just the kind of thing that's going to happen when they're operating pretty efficiently overall?
WES UNSELD JR.: I mean, it's a strength of that team, so we knew that ball security and possession would be key. Obviously you don't want to turn the ball over, but when you do, you've got to find a way to show more resilience to these turnovers. Oftentimes they got behind us, and those turned into lay-ups and dunks.
Q. You're taking a little longer after games this season. I'm wondering if it that's something where you're talking to guys or going over things or if there's more analytics involved most game now?
WES UNSELD JR.: A little bit of everything, and I'm just taking my time, making you guys wait a little bit.
Q. What's your sense on the morale in the locker room after this game?
WES UNSELD JR.: I would assume frustration, disappointment. Those would be natural reactions. I don't think it's an issue of buy-in or -- it's just more the in-the-moment frustration when things don't go well and you try to put effort into something and it doesn't pan out.
Q. For a team and for a coach like yourself who really harped on playing fast with pace in transition over the off-season, playing against a team like Toronto who does the same thing and them having outscored the Wizards in transition tonight, is it a challenge to overcome that when a team plays your same style?
WES UNSELD JR.: I don't think so. We saw we had a lot of success against Indiana, and playing the same way. They're a team that's probably top 3, as well, in that category. The biggest key I think was the turnovers. It's the type of transition opportunities you get. If you're not getting shots at the rim versus you're getting quality looks, and a team is taking the ball out of the net and pushing and attacking. We've had success doing both. But when you turn the ball over, I think it just complicates things quite a bit.
Q. What have you made of Deni's defense over the last two weeks or so?
WES UNSELD JR.: I think in general pretty good. I think he's done a pretty good job of not fouling. We've asked him along with some other guys to guard different matchups, guarding those quick, shifty guards is a lot different than guarding two wings like we saw last night, so it's a different feel.
So finding that cadence of where you're steady no matter who you're guarding but understanding the strength of each individual player. It makes a difference sometimes from night to night.
Q. You've been out-rebounded in most games this season. Is that due to just a lack of size or what goes into that?
WES UNSELD JR.: Some of it is we're undersized a little bit, but I think it's just a mindset, as well. We can't afford to ball watch, and I think at times we do. It's doing the work early, kind of reading the flight of the ball. There's a number of things that go into it. But it's been an issue, and it's something that we're aware of, something that we harp on, and there's no schematics to boxing out. There's individual technique, but there's not a -- of course you can do box-out drills and things like that, and it's something we work on at times, but there's just got to be more of a shift in mindset that this is a priority.
Q. With Gallo leaving tonight's game, do you envision any changes to the back end of that front court, anyone coming out?
WES UNSELD JR.: We'll see how he shakes out, a little bit of back tightness, spasms. So we'll see. I don't see it being anything substantial.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports