Washington Wizards Media Conference

Monday, September 30, 2024

Washington, DC, USA

Jonas Valanciunas

Media Conference


JONAS VALANCIUNAS: Well, I had some good memories here, and I had some bad memories here, too. I remember leaving this arena sad, too. But coming back to come here, yeah, I wanted to be here. Great organization. They really showed the interest in me, showed what they want to do, how they want to build, what they want to do with the players. I believed it, and I'm here and ready to work.

Q. What do you think about the style this team plays? They led the league in pace last year, and I saw that you've played on some fast teams over the years. What do you think about that fit for you as a player?

JONAS VALANCIUNAS: Well, young core. Young core, they have to be running. That's a strength. But I'm here to maybe keep up with that fast pace and give different looks, physicality, as well. That's my thing, physical, down on a block, controlling the paint, that's my thing. To have a little bit different look. I'm here to work.

Q. When the Wizards came to you and kind of explained their vision, how did they pitch you on what your role in this vision was?

JONAS VALANCIUNAS: Well, my role is to play basketball. My role is to play basketball and win some games. That's what I'm going to do. That's what I'm going to work for. We have a lot of young players I can share my experience. I'm not going to teach them. I'm not a coach; I'm going to show by example. I'm going to lead by example. I'm going to be tough guy in the middle. I hope they can see that and learn something from me.

Q. With Alex Sarr, what have you noticed so far, and what do you think you'd like to help him with?

JONAS VALANCIUNAS: Well, he's a super talented kid. He's one of the most talented kids in his draft class. Sky's the limit for him. He's still learning. He has a lot of stuff to learn from top to bottom. But he does that. He's in the gym all the time.

I think that's all you can ask from a young kid like him.

Q. As someone who has had a lot of very high-level playoff experience in your career, now as a veteran, coming to a team that might not be in playoff contention this year, how do you sort of weigh where your career is at now and as a leader of a team that might not make it to the Playoffs, how are you handling it mentally this year?

JONAS VALANCIUNAS: I'm not thinking about that. I'm thinking about we have all chances to make the Playoffs. I'm thinking about that, making the Playoffs. We have all the tools we need to get there. Yeah, we're a young team. We could have more experience from the young core, yes. But that experience is going to come to them by playing in games, by winning games. We're building culture. We don't build culture to lose. We build culture to win.

We're not even talking about not making, making, not winning, winning. Rebuilding the winning culture. That's all we do here.

Q. You were just talking about the winning culture, and that kind of shifted my question a bit. What have you seen with regards to the winning culture in the pickup games that you've been able to play with the current roster?

JONAS VALANCIUNAS: Well, it's a young core, as I said, many, many times. How are you going to show them, how are you going to show the way, they're going to follow. Coming back to that winning mentality, we're not giving up. Okay, we're going to lose some games, yeah. We're going to lose some games. But we're not going to lose the games -- we give up end of the third, halftime. We're going to fight until the end no matter what, we're up or down. That's the winning mentality I think we can build on.

Q. With the four players that have returned this season, what have you learned from them in terms of the style of play that we should expect this season?

JONAS VALANCIUNAS: Well, as your colleague said, they already showed that this is a fast-paced team. Building on that, making the smart plays. Making good easy pass plays, me setting good screens, getting guys open. That's X's and O's. That's a coach's job. He's going to put us together. No doubt about BK, he's going to do his best to get us all together and working together.

Q. I just spoke about setting screens. With the popularization of the screen assist as a stat over the last decade in the NBA, what are your feelings of the evolution of just the stat itself and how it's perceived around the league and also can you give some great Marcin Gortat screen assist stories?

JONAS VALANCIUNAS: I was just going to say, continue what he started. That man is legendary here, setting the screens. He's been the most screen assist guy a couple seasons.

Yeah, honestly, I watched a lot of film on him setting the screens, so I learned some. I have some in mind which I'm going to continue.

I feel like these days, setting a good screen is shifting away from the NBA, but I will continue doing that. I know that guards love it, so I expect some passes from them, too.

Q. Learning angles, learning the way to get guys open and where to move and how to hold a screen, how did you learn that over the years, and who helped you learn the details of that as a young player?

JONAS VALANCIUNAS: Well, I'm still learning, first of all, still learning. Every time you play with a different roster, different guys on a team, they like different stuff.

Setting the screen is not a one-man thing. You've got to analyze your teammate, as well, who you're setting a screen to, what they like, they like quick shot, they like to hold the screen longer, angles, waiting for screen, not waiting for screen. That's the X's and O's we get into during practice. We've just got to play together. We've just got to practice, games. That will come. One thing, I can be physical. I can promise that. Then we've got to work with the guys to getting the angles and X's and O's.

Q. You're joining a team that was last in rebounding last season, and I understand it's something you do pretty well --

JONAS VALANCIUNAS: Oh, yes, let's get to it.

Q. What are your thoughts on joining a team that needs help desperately in an area that you are so good at?

JONAS VALANCIUNAS: Let's go and rebound the ball then. It's not hard, but it's not easy. You've just got to go for every rebound. It's kind of selfish, too. You're padding your stats, too. But you're helping the team by getting the rebound defensively. It's the last layer of the defense. You've got to finish with a rebound.

That's what I like to do.

Q. I've got to go back to the screen. I specifically asked JP about playing with a guy like you who thrives off of setting a correct screen, angling it the right way, working with his guards and how you want to know what they like, but he talked about coming off of you and how you like that short role and how you've perfected that to your advantage. How have you been able to learn from different point guards and different guys, Kyle, DeMar, and kind of shift the way that you play off of them but also making sure that they still thrive?

JONAS VALANCIUNAS: Well, as I said earlier, every player has a different style of play. Again, I played with many point guards. Some of them likes to go right at the basket, go right at the big defensively. Some guys like to stop and shoot. You've got to work with -- especially JP. I already talked with him about that, and we messed around a little bit. I told him to be nice with me because you're going to live off me.

So yeah, we're going to work. My job is to get guys open, so that's what I'm going to do. Simple as that. It's not simple.

Q. How much of a level of communication within the moment that people may not necessarily know actually goes into the difference between where JP wants to be, where Kuz may want to be in a big-to-big kind of action and then where Malcolm may want to be? How much are you communicating and are they communicating with you in that moment that fans may not understand is happening?

JONAS VALANCIUNAS: Well, for right now it's all about communication. That's how we're going to learn how to play within this group. Right now it's just stopping every play basically and just talking through, talking how they want to get open, how -- it's not just about setting screens, it's about in general playing basketball because we're such a new group. A lot of new faces, a lot of new players. We've all got to just talk it out and get on the same page. That's a big key, communication.

Q. Since you signed your deal here I think over a couple months ago or over a month ago, what has the team done to make you comfortable in D.C.? Have you been going out with teammates? Has the front office been showing you around?

JONAS VALANCIUNAS: It's been six days now, seven days since I'm here. I had a big-time jet lag, so I've been sleeping a lot, waking up early.

They did a lot of good stuff for me to feel comfortable, coming here, family, making sure I'm settled, helping me with getting around the city, finding places. I feel good here. I feel good here, and that's what amazes me.

Q. Just in the short period of time that you have been here and what you know of Coach Brian Keefe, what are you looking forward to when it comes to working with him?

JONAS VALANCIUNAS: Well, one thing I know is honest guy. He likes to talk it out. I told to him that if he needs to yell at me, yell at me. I'm here to learn. I'm here to be coached. I'm here to help a team. He's an honest guy. What he sees, he's going to tell you. That's what I respect the most.

Q. I was wondering, obviously you and Alex are both going to be large presences down low. Do you think that in terms of how to space out the floor, do you think you might go outside more than him, or have you talked to Alex about that, about how you'll space out the floor for the offense?

JONAS VALANCIUNAS: Well, we haven't talked about that yet. We're going to see how all the structures going to look like. We had some individual workouts. We had some -- maybe one-on-one, two-on-two workouts, but nothing team oriented yet. As I said, that's the coach's job. He's going to put X's and O's to our game.

Q. Early in your career, how often did you feel homesick for Lithuania, being so far away?

JONAS VALANCIUNAS: I've been joking around that coming from Lithuania the first time away from home country, not knowing the stores, where to get what, different names, different departments, it was not the easiest thing in my life. But I managed to survive. I learned English maybe 30 percent. I'm here now. I'm happy. I keep pushing.

Q. You said Alex Sarr was one of those talented kids in his draft class. Have you played with any player in your career that reminds you of him?

JONAS VALANCIUNAS: Good question. I think he reminds me of those versatile bigs who can run, who can shoot the ball, who are fast and quick roles, athletic, big guys. I can name a lot of big names. He has the potential to reach that.

We'll see how he's going to develop. So far he's doing a tremendous job. I hope he's going to continue doing that and be a superstar of this league.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports
148830-1-1002 2024-10-01 01:40:00 GMT

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