Raptors 132, Wizards 102
Q. What do you think gave them the edge tonight?
DANIEL GAFFORD: A level of physicality. All in all, they came out with a level of aggressiveness that I feel like caught us by surprise. You know, point of emphasis tonight was just like the transition piece, offensive rebounding, so like I said, the physicality piece is something that we should, I would say, be better at, and I take pride in that because trying to come out and set a tone, I feel like I lacked in that area tonight.
Just the transition piece, it was just like a level of communication I think we lacked in, too.
Q. Kuz said they did a good job of hunting the matchups they wanted. What's the key to countering that?
DANIEL GAFFORD: Guard your yard. If you feel that they're trying to, I would say, put you in a matchup that they want, at the end of the day, you just have to pretty much just step up to the plate. It's a lot of teams out here that are going to try to find certain matchups tend that are going to try to get us on our heels and put us in a position to where we have to scramble, but that's just pretty much any team in the league. Every team in the league does that to each team, and down the stretch we just have to find ways to adjust to it.
Q. Over the last maybe 10 or so games we've seen a lot of uptick in your numbers offensively and defensively. What do you think has led to some of your consistency in production?
DANIEL GAFFORD: Just how hard I work. I come in every day and I try to just make myself better in the areas that I lack in on a day-to-day basis. I really just try to hold myself accountable and to put myself in position to where I can succeed, and with that being said, I just come in, and it's just like a regular 9 to 5. That's how I treat it. I come in, I put my head down, and I go to work for sure.
Q. If you can point to any specifics, what are some of the areas that you're seeing yourself improve on most, whether it's from your first game here as a Wizard until now?
DANIEL GAFFORD: In all honestly, for sure, just my physicality. I felt like I took a major leap in that area, more so just any other game besides tonight, I feel like I've actually a step up to just show what I'm capable of out there on the floor. I do have my lapses from time to time of course, but at the end of the day, I'm going to make up for my mistakes, and I'm going to make up just pretty much anything that we're lacking at the end of the day. I try to be the energy guy, I want to be the anchor of the defense, and I just want to be in a position to where it can help us win games.
Q. I saw you hit a mid-range today. Is that something you've been exploring, adding that jumper to your game to kind of stretch the floor?
DANIEL GAFFORD: Yeah, most def. Whenever the time comes and the ball is in my hand in those situations, I want to be ready for it. So really just being consistent and working on those things has helped me get comfortable in those situations.
Q. You had your clothing brand recently dropped. Can you talk about the Christmas drop that you guys had with the Landlord brand?
DANIEL GAFFORD: Yeah, this is the second drop that we've had. The first drop was great, and pretty much just piggy-backing off the first drop, we just want to keep it going, getting the merch out and just doing as much as we can and just get a bunch of Landlord stuff to everybody. Everybody is a landlord in their own way, you know.
Q. Would you say this last handful of games is the most consistent stretch of your career?
DANIEL GAFFORD: Yeah, most def. Just mentally, physically, emotionally, everything, I actually felt like I'm a little bit more locked in with everything, and I just kind of push myself or hold myself accountable, and I tell the coaches and I tell my teammates, I'm just like, push me as much as y'all can because once you push me that'll put me in a mindset of pushing myself because I have guys behind me that are helping me out, and I want to be able to do the same thing for them, so I'll return the favor. So that's just one of the main things.
Q. Rebounding has been a major point of emphasis for a lot of this season. When you sit and a team doesn't grab as many rebounds, are you on the bench thinking, I need to get back into this game to grab some boards?
DANIEL GAFFORD: Yeah, of course, but at the end of the day I try to be a good teammate. Everybody gets frustrated when it comes to just like the offensive rebounds, but at the end of the day, we just can't stray away from each other. I can always come out and be like, oh, I need to be back in the game, I need to do this, I need to do that, but I can also motivate people, too.
So when it comes to that, instead of getting in my own head, like dang, I should be back in the game, I should be out there, I try to motivate guys. That's the main thing, because frustrations do happen, and it's a lot of times where most guys are out of position, most guys don't put themselves in position to go for rebounds, so when it comes to coming to the sidelines, whether it's a time-out, coming out of the game, just talking to them, got to get on the glass, got to do this, got to do that, we've got to make a better effort in this area. Those are some of the things I'm trying to grow in, to be able to kind of push guys how they push me.
Q. Being a, quote-unquote, undersized center, being 6'10", does that put a chip on your shoulder to be out there, be more gritty, dive for loose balls, stuff like that?
DANIEL GAFFORD: Yeah, most def. I'm from Arkansas, nitty-gritty. I was raised in the trenches. That's just my mindset now, just having that mentality, going out and accepting the challenge that's in front of you. You really can't just back down from anything because at the end of the day you're on the floor. You get thrown in the fire, you're not going to cool off no time.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports