BRIAN KEEFE: We just learned a very short time ago that Dikembe Mutombo passed away. Condolences to him and his family. Very huge part of the NBA community, legendary player and someone that gave back to not just the NBA but the world. This guy was a humanitarian and also someone in this area, the DMV, late '80s, '90s, played at Georgetown. Sad day for his family and the whole basketball community. Condolences is to them. Big impact on this community. And obviously Coach John Thompson, we're thinking about him today, too.
Q. As you look at this roster after the off-season of change, just what stands out about it?
BRIAN KEEFE: The mixture of good, veteran presence and obviously emerging players. You know, we have some great returnees in Kyle Kuzma, Jordan Poole, Corey Kispert, and then the additions of Jonas, Malcolm Brogdon, and then obviously the returning guys of the emerging guys in Bilal and the three guys we drafted.
I think we have a good blend of youth and experience. Looking forward to tomorrow to get started.
Q. With Alex, early on in his career, where do you see him fitting in, at the four, at the five. Are you worried about spacing concerns with that? Where do you see that?
BRIAN KEEFE: I think what we are most excited about Alex is his defensive versatility. I think he can do a little bit of both. We're going to learn about him as we go but we're excited about his ability to guard multiple positions, to do multiple different coverages. I think that's where we are going to see his impact initially early.
So we are excited to learn about him as we go through training camp and put him in positions to be successful. But it's definitely the defensive versatility is going to law him to be able to do multiple things for us.
Q. Jordan Poole said after you took over last year that him playing more on ball, sort of unlocked him and you were a huge catalyst for that. Do you plan on using him the same way this year as one of the team's primary ball handlers for the majority of the season?
BRIAN KEEFE: Absolutely. That was a big emphasis down the stretch. Last year to get him the ball, be a playmaker, be our lead initiator, we expect the same this year. We want Jordan to be aggressive for himself, aggressive for others. He's had a great off-season getting his game even tighter. So we're excited for tomorrow to get started.
Q. Looking at point guard, obviously Jordan Poole is coming back, bringing Malcolm Brogdon into the fold, and drafting Carlton Carrington. What the short-term and long-term vision at point guard?
BRIAN KEEFE: What we did is we added multiple handlers to our roster. We want not just one guy making the plays. We want a team full of play-makers.
So we'll see those guys on the court together. I think that's how the NBA is going. You want versatility at all positions, guys who can make decisions, guys who have length, size. So I think we have added some of that, and definitely with those three you're speaking specifically, they are all going to be initiators. They are all going to be handlers. They are all going to be and playing off. I think that just builds you a tougher unit to defend as we build our team.
But those guys have some unique strengths and we are going to use them.
Q. What are your initial impressions of Carrington?
BRIAN KEEFE: A guy that loves to play. I think that we can see that from him every day in the gym. This is a guy that brings tremendous joy but also a competitor, someone who has got an edge to him, who wants to compete and who is not afraid of the moment. He's got a little bit of that Baltimore toughness in him. We are excited to have him for sure.
Q. I know it's earliest but what are some areas you're looking for him to improve early in the season and the regular season?
BRIAN KEEFE: I think not just for him but our whole roster. We have to get better defensively. That's definitely an area we have to see some growth this year. He's a guy that's going to be the point at the top of defense, someone that can pressure the ball, fight over screens, those are things we're looking to see. But he's someone that's got size and length to do that and we are going to expect him to show that early on.
Q. Specific to Brogdon, the numbers suggest he's pretty good at driving, and he's also a willing passer when he does drive. What can that do to your offense?
BRIAN KEEFE: Just another guy that can attack the rim and put pressure and collapse the defense. As many of those guys you can have on the court as possible. That's one of the reasons we're excited to add him.
He's obviously a guy that knows how to play but he's a guy that always in his career has been able to put pressure on defense, not only himself but for others. He's got a big strong body, quick first step and strong driver, and I think that's going to start our ability to break down defenses better.
So that's a great addition for our team.
Q. Slowly, it's not there yet, but slowly the roster is getting younger. Was I wonder how that changes the teaching points and points of emphasis that you as a staff are going to be making as the season goes along?
BRIAN KEEFE: If you've been around me for a while, we are never going to use the excuse that they are younger players. We expect a lot of them from day one. We know that their progression is sometimes going to be up and down.
But we are going to have high expectations, and we are going to start, like I said, with the defensive stuff. We are going to expect them to do that early on. We know that some of the offensive stuff for our whole team was going to be a work-in-progress but we are going to coach them all the same.
We are going to expect them to compete, to focus on the process of getting better I ever day and I think that's 1 through 18 on the roster.
Q. And how do JV and Malcolm help you along with that?
BRIAN KEEFE: I think that first of all, they are basketball players. These are guys who are still highly skilled, have been through a lot of battles, know how to play. I think they are just going to help us function as a team.
They are also tremendous character; their work ethic, how they prepare. Those are great examples not just for our younger players but for our whole organization. We want to have as many of those people in our locker room as possible. Couldn't be more thrilled to have them in our group.
Q. Question about Marvin Bagley? When a player comes in with certain expectations and may not live up to those expectations but has to continue his career in a different role, how does he kind of make that shift and be successful still as an NBA player but just not who people thought he was.
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, we obviously got Marvin in the trade last year through the season. You know, had not worked with him. Coached against him obviously.
And what I loved about Marvin, very quickly, is he was a guy who was totally into the process of getting better; who is locked into some of the things that we wanted to do, and he became someone who I noticed very quickly that could help be an example for what we are trying to build here.
So for whatever experiences, him being drafted maybe higher in the past, this was something I was not like surprised, but I was like, this is a guy who is focused on his craft. And then for us, he produced. Like he produced for us really well.
Any time -- he got in there very quickly and when I was able to get him time, which it was a tough acclimation just throwing him out here in a very short time, he was producing very quickly.
I expect Marvin to keep getting better. He's still a young player in this league. He's not someone who is 35 years old. And this is our whole thing for our whole organization is that we expect progress year-to-year, week-to-week, month-to-month. This guy had a great summer. We expect him to come back ready to play and show improvement.
That's the stuff we're going to be talking about, our whole group, and Marvin is a great example of that that maybe it didn't go exactly the way he wanted early in his career but that has not stopped him from persevering and continue to build on his craft, and we are excited to work with him this year.
Q. Because of that, outside of games that we see him in, do you have an example or just something that Marvin added to the locker room or during these summer practices that has helped the program?
BRIAN KEEFE: Sure, what everybody doesn't see, and wish everybody could see some of the stuff of our guys because I love our guys, the amount of time they put in and Marvin was such a great example of that, early morning before guys would be there, staying after, driving guys to work with, showing guys some of the hopes, the things that he's experienced in his career.
You don't get to see that. I get to see that on a day-to-day basis, and Marvin did that from the get-go. And that's the thing you love about this game. When you get to bring new people in into this organization, you get to learn about who they are. And I was so impressed with Marvin's character and work ethic when he came here, and that has continued since he's been here.
Q. Now that you're the full-time head coach, what are some of the standards that you expect regardless of what the result will be every night, and can you describe the coaching staff you've assembled?
BRIAN KEEFE: Sure. I think you guys are going to hear me say it's the same thing that our organization says; it's process over outcomes. I'm a competitor. I want to win. But I wanting to into the stuff that gets us to win. And what does that look like on a day-to-day basis, how we prepare; how we handle practices; how we hand shootarounds; how we handle film sessions. Those are the things that's going to build us to be a sustainable winner, and that's the stuff we are focused on on a day-to-day basis.
The second part was part of the staff, this was something that was very deliberate with myself and Will and Michael and how we built this out. We talked to a lot of people but we wanted to have people that were high character, people who loved to coach and teach, and people who were collaborative in nature.
Couldn't be more thrilled with the people that we've added here. I think they are going to be a great support system for our players but also for me and push me. Because I think if we are asking our team to get better, I have to get better, too. And I think that's the environment we want to create, and that's what we've seen so far. So I'm thrilled to have them.
Q. When you are deciphering how you want pace of play to look this season, assess how much different initiators you will have for that cause this year?
BRIAN KEEFE: Sure. We want to play fast. I think we led the league in pace last year. That's something we're going to continue to focus on.
I had a couple questions about some of the additions to the roster. We have more guys who can make decisions. So I'm not going to give you the list of everybody, give my scouting report away. But we are going to have multiple people who are going to push and handle, and especially off the rebound, to start the break, always starts with our defense.
You're going to hear me say, once we can rebound and we have certain guys who can get on the boards, I'm going to allow them the freedom to bring it up and make plays. The list is longer than last year; I'll put it that way.
Q. You talked about players. How do you feel you're better as a head coach, having gone from assistant and having some time as a head coach, but how do you feel you're better as you prepare for this journey?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, I had the luxury of having the reflection on what I did well and what I didn't do well.
I think I had some time to do that in the off-season. Part of that was addressing the needs to help support me on the staff, which we just talked about.
But I think now, having the chance to start from day one to not skip any steps, to build the habits that we want to do, I think that was the exciting part was me being able to plan.
And we're starting tomorrow, but we have been building these things through the whole off-season. This isn't just, hey, tomorrow is the first day I'm going to see these guys. No.
We have been in the gym, a lot of you know, when I started, about June 1st; we had a lot of guys in our gym. We had multiple things this summer in Las Vegas and a couple get-togethers throughout with our whole group, and then most of our guys have been in the voluntary workouts in September.
So I think the exciting part for me is getting the chance to plan this thing out, how we are going to build this on the day-to-day and how we are going to build our habits, and that's been my focus this off-season.
Q. It's serious business but you seem to emphasize joy and fun as you're going about the business. Can you talk about that?
BRIAN KEEFE: I think for me, we understand where we are. We understand what we are about to do.
But I think there's a great challenge. Some people use joy in a certain way. I love the challenge, and I think that's what makes it fun. You guys, you get to know me a little bit as we go, I love to coach. I love to teach. We have assembled a group and staff that loves to do that. When you have that enthusiasm coming into the gym every day -- and the guys we've added and the guys we have in our organization are high-character guy who is want to be in the gym, who want to work.
Well, that should be a fun atmosphere. Because that's how you're going to get better, and there's no skipping steps here. There's no magic pill. We're going to have to dig into this every day, and I think there's a joy with that and we're going to see that on a day-to-day basis in our gym.
Q. You mentioned the process over outcomes, and this is a similar vibe I think to the answers in a lot of the questions. In D.C. we've seen a lot of teams go through this where they rebuilding, retooling a mixture of young vets and players. How do you convey -- you seem -- you're in it, you have the patience. How do you, I guess, yourself have the patience and then convey that to your players, or they know this is what they signed up for as far as there may be some rocky times ahead, but you do still want to win games; a long-winged way of saying that.
BRIAN KEEFE: I think for us, and I think we have the character in the room that's going to do this. We want to win the right way. We're competitors. I think last year, in the second half of the year, we led the league in crunch-time games, plus or minus five in the last five minutes.
We want to win those games. Like we are all competitors here. I have a locker room full of competitors here. But we want to do it the right way to build something that's sustainable. I think our guys understand that in our locker room because they want to be part of something unique, too.
We can go out and win a game and it's not the proper way and that could cause us to take steps backwards. We are not going to do that here. We are going to build it the right way and to do that it's going to take some mental fortitude, but I have complete faith that we are going to be able to go through the fire together and come out the other side stronger.
Q. What does Jonas Valanciunas add to this team?
BRIAN KEEFE: First of all, a guy who loves to play. If anybody has looked at the status of how many games he's played in the last four or five years, I think he played 82 games last year. This is a guy who shows up, who wants to compete, who is a total professional and knows how to win and what that looks like and how to prepare to win.
He adds some physicality to our team, veteran presence, and game IQ. But it's the stuff, the character stuff, the preparation stuff, that I think is going to translate tremendously to us, and I think he's going to be able to help us really function on the court, too.
Q. You talked a lot last season about accountability, and that it's starting with you. Now that you've had the full off-season as you prepare for training camp tomorrow, what does that look like on day one, and then how do you continue and maintain that moving forward throughout the season?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, I think accountability for us is the standard for how we operate and how we do things on a day-to-day basis, how we approach things. It's a mindset.
I think my role is if we drop below that, that we have to be reminded of what we set as a standard as a group. I think that's something we've got to relentlessly pursue every day. I think we have the group to do that.
My role is to make sure that we are staying on track; that we are not skipping the steps as I always said. But it's also all of us, and that's our whole organization, our whole team that has to have that standard for how we do things. That's going to be how we are going to be measured and how we are going to get there is how we are going to operate, and I think that's a shared way and shared characteristics, actions, norms, values. Those things have to be shown every day in how we operate and that's a standard we are going to create on a day-to-day basis.
Q. You talked about the reflection process that you had over the off-season and what you wanted to improve on. What specifically did you want to improve on as you get into your full year as a head coach?
BRIAN KEEFE: I think for me a little bit was being able to put in our own offense and defense. Those are the things, how are we going to best function with the team we have here; I think we did the best job we could last year. But now we had a little bit of off-season to prepare for that and build the habits that we want.
For me it was thinking how we are going to layer this thing in; how are we going to build our offensive and defensive systems; how are we best going to utilize our staff to teach; and how are we going to best utilize our players.
So those are the things I was thinking about the whole the summer. Obviously we are always going to have a defensive focus. That's something you guy are always going to hear me talk about, but how are we going to build this offensively for our team to grow and play sustainable basketball. More movement. More cutting. The pace will be high. But we want to play in a style that's going to lead us to be something sustainable.
So those are the things we've been thinking about. Those are the things we are going to start working -- we have started working a little bit but we are going to really get after it tomorrow.
Q. There's been a lot of talk about what's happened with the Wizards the past couple years trying to become a contender once again for the playoffs. Is there any motivation when you see what the Washington Commanders are doing on the other side of the street?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, for sure. Obviously they are off to a nice start. I know their high draft pick quarterback has been playing pretty well. He's been pretty good. We are all in this community together, all the teams, and I think we should support each other.
But it's about what goes on in our building, too. I think what we are really we focused on, there are examples of other teams, and we are always going to be supportive especially of the D.C. teams, but what can we control on the day-to-day basis. Those are things we are working on and thinking about. But it's nice to see the Commanders playing well.
Q. Apart from putting the ball in Jordan's hands more often, what did you do in terms of your messaging to him to help unlock him?
BRIAN KEEFE: Jordan unlocked himself. We stylistically gave him the ball but I just wanted Jordan to be himself. This is a guy who has already had a great career. I just wanted to remind him that that's who he is, and we're going to give you the ball to go do that.
And I'm going to expect more on him to be better this year. So to me, it was a little bit stylistically but also a reminder, like you're a really good player. You're a really accomplished player. You put a tremendous amount of time and work into your craft.
And I've been around a lot of guys in my career; he is top of the food chain in terms of preparation and the work that he puts in. Go be yourself. And that's how we're going to expect him this year.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports