Q. Obviously you've improved every year of your career, but this season seemed to be a bigger step forward. What do you attribute that to?
DENI AVDIJA: Confidence, maturity, hard work. I think all those three combined. Confidence, as well. I feel like the environment was great this year. My teammates were really supportive of me. They wanted me to succeed.
I feel like that helped me also believing in myself even more. Coach has done a tremendous job of telling me what they need from me and what I need to do on the court, and just my competitive nature. Just being able to be there every play, making the right one, being aggressive, not being scared of situations, and I think that's it.
Q. What was it like achieving a breakthrough specifically with your three-point shooting knowing how hard you've worked on it the past few years?
DENI AVDIJA: It's nice to see results, definitely. I still think that I can be even better. But I know how much I worked hard on it this summer and how much time I spent on it.
I'm not going to stop here. It makes me want to work on it even more. I'm happy that I'm seeing some results, definitely.
Q. I know we have talked about it earlier on in the year, but the mental and emotional kind of standpoint and journey you want on with everything on the court but then also keeping in mind everything off the court that you were experiencing with regards to back home, how did you balance the emotions of everything?
DENI AVDIJA: As a professional, you've got to know how to disconnect from your personal life when you play the game. There is a lot of players in the NBA that played through a lot of situations in life, and I'm not the first one, I'm not going to be the last one to do it.
There's something in this game that when you step on the court, you kind of disconnect from everything, and you focus on one job, and it's to win. I feel like that's the beauty of the sport. That's the beauty of sports I feel like.
My heart is back home, but my head has got to be at the right place. I feel like I did it. I did it this year. I represented my country. I've been there when I needed to, and I helped my team on the court.
Q. When you look at the totality of this season and what you did on the floor, the steps that you had taken, especially on the defensive end, you told me when we were in Denver, to finish you wanted to take it to the next level. What's that like now that you can look back at the season? Did you make the strides you wanted to make defensively to improve yourself?
DENI AVDIJA: Not 100 percent. I feel like honestly I'm looking at us as a team. Like defensively we weren't great. We were way better than what we've been in the beginning of the year, but personally I think I can do better, and the team expects me to do better, and I'm happy about it. Being a two-way player is a great asset in this league.
I'm talking about more off-ball, I can be better off-ball and communicate a little better. But defensively I've seen the potential. I know it's there.
Q. You came to the league already a really good defender. Looking at team defense, it got better when Brian became head coach. Defense, is it a system thing, is it a personnel thing, is it a mentality, or is it all of the above?
DENI AVDIJA: It's all. It starts individually. Everybody has got to hold themselves accountable of doing the right thing and being in the right spot at the right time, and if they're not, somebody else has got to be there to cover for them, which is team defense.
You've obviously got to communicate because that's what it's all about. When you want to make a stop in defense, it's got to be collective. Somebody has got to contest the shot, the other guy has got to box out, and somebody needs to come and grab the rebound. It's collective.
But I think we did a great job towards the end of the year. Everybody took pride in defense and tried to do the best they can, and obviously we will do even better next year.
Q. You were very successful at point forward. Is that a role you want to slide into in the future?
DENI AVDIJA: I definitely have the potential to do it. I haven't really been exposed to it a lot, but especially versus Chicago, having a defender that is guarding you the whole game, a good defender that's guarding you the whole game with Torrey Craig and then being able to handle the whole game, it's something that you've got to get used to a little bit. I was a little fatigued; I'm going to be honest.
But I think I tried to make the right plays, tried to get the guys going. I think I did a pretty good job. If I'm going to have the opportunity, I'm going to control what I can control, and it's to get better, handle the ball better, being able to go both ways, being more patient in my decisions, and I think I'm going to be all right.
Q. In terms of your shooting strengths, it seems like especially towards the end of the season you wanted a steady diet of threes and then also muscling your way into the paint for lay-ups. Is that what you want your diet to be going forward, mostly outside shots and then closer-in shots?
DENI AVDIJA: I think I can mix. There's some teams that are bigger inside that maybe I'll go less in the paint, but I don't really dictate a steady diet of shooting a three or going to the paint. I feel like it's just what I feel.
I feel like if fatigue is kicking in a little bit, you tend to shoot more towards the end of the season, but for me, I'm good either way.
Q. You got that four-year extension before the season started. How does it feel just knowing that you're one of the franchise cornerstones, one of the guys that the team, the organization wants to build around?
DENI AVDIJA: It's great. I feel like when a franchise believes in you and wants you to stay and wants you to keep playing, I feel like it's the best confidence booster in the world. I'm really happy that I'm staying here, that I'm a Wizard for now, and I'm excited to go ahead and compete and take this team to the best situation.
Q. When you look at the big picture, what gives you hope that the franchise is on the right track?
DENI AVDIJA: The people that I'm surrounded. At the end of the day, it's fun to come to work. They're professional, from the staff to the owners to the players. They want to be better. They want to work. They want to make this organization at the top again.
Obviously a great fan base that is thirsty store success, and I think when it's going to blossom, it's going to really show what this franchise is capable of. I'm excited to see it. It's closer than it looks. Time flies.
Q. How do you hope the coaching situation ends up, not necessarily with a specific person, but what kind of qualities do you hope that that new coach brings to the team?
DENI AVDIJA: Competitiveness, being able to hold people accountable when he needs to, and play together, play as a team.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports