Celtics 122, Wizards 102
Q. What did you like and what did you not like from your team's performance tonight?
BRIAN KEEFE: I loved our competitiveness early, how we attacked the game, how we tried to make them miss and make them take tough shots and our pace. I thought we played probably pretty good 20 out of 24 minutes in the first half, then they had a nice little run at the half and that bled in to start the third. But I liked how we started and I liked how we finished, too. I liked the group that came in in the end, played the right way, won the quarter. We just had a tough little probably 16-minute stretch there.
Q. How is Bub?
BRIAN KEEFE: Just mild. We'll know more tomorrow. Ankle sprain.
Q. What would you make individually of the three rookies' performances tonight?
BRIAN KEEFE: I thought they competed. That was the one thing I wanted from all of them, to go out there and enjoy it. Obviously what a great experience, your first NBA game, but I thought they all weren't scared. They competed. They showed flashes of what they're capable of doing. Now they'll move on and they'll be better next game.
Q. The offense tailed off a little bit in the second quarter. What do you think the Celtics were showing you that caused that discrepancy from the first quarter to the second?
BRIAN KEEFE: I think they made some tough shots, and I think that made us get a little frazzled, and we just didn't continue to play with the movement we had in the first half. We were getting really good shots. I think that kind of bled into -- they made a couple tough threes in a row. That changed the momentum, and then we started taking some tougher ones, a little more contested.
Q. With this season, you may have games that are similar, if not in terms of results, in terms of stretches. You play well for a while and then you don't play well for a while. Do you value the good play more or use the bad play as teaching points that can have bigger results down the road?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, I think a little bit of both for sure. That was some positives that came out of the game that you could see that our size and our athleticism, how we can defend, and when we're really engaged, Bilal, Alex out there showing their length, and then when we play with pace and share the ball pretty good. But then there's going to be lessons for us to learn, and I think we've got to use all these moments to teach and to coach, and we've got another opportunity on Saturday, but tomorrow is another day to get better for us, and we're looking forward to that.
Q. What did you think of Alex's shot selection?
BRIAN KEEFE: He got the shots I liked. He made some of those in the preseason, and we've talked about that. Some of those are going to go in, sometimes they're not. I thought he had some good stuff around the rim, but I thought his defense for the most part, we were switching him out on the guys that are high-level players and he did pretty good against that. I liked how Alex played tonight.
Q. What did you think of Jordan at point guard, especially his aggressive play early?
BRIAN KEEFE: That's what we want Jordan to play like. We want Jordan to be aggressive and attack for himself but also for others because he's going to cause people to collapse, and we want him to kick it out to shooters, and I thought he really set the tone for us early, gave us some good confidence.
Q. What do you think are some things the rookies can take away and learn from this first game against the defending champions?
BRIAN KEEFE: It's a long game. It's 48 minutes. There's a lot of ebbs and flows. Stay more even keeled. That's obviously a championship roster, championship team. They stayed pretty even when we were up on them, so I think those are always good lessons for any guys, but hey, I'm thrilled for them. They got their first one underneath their belt. Now they can move on and keep learning, keep growing.
Q. You mentioned Alex's defense. Seemed like he was maybe just inches away on several KBM blocks. Thinking that he actually gets some experience and understands guys' tendencies, do you think he'll be even more effective?
BRIAN KEEFE: I believe so, yeah. It'll be interesting to see how many challenges he had, but it felt like quite a bit of shots tonight. He ended up having two blocks, but this is part of the reason -- this is one of the main reasons we wanted him, his versatility defensively, to be able to guard on the perimeter and also protect the rim. He's just going to keep learning and growing, but I thought a good first go-around with him.
Q. You talked about some of the things you want your team to learn from and improve on from tonight. Is there one aspect specifically that you thought really went well tonight that you want the team to continue to build on that going forward?
BRIAN KEEFE: I think just our defense to offense. When we defended and we rebounded pretty well early, that led to easy transition baskets. We've just got to sustain that for longer times and learn how to do that for the full 48. There was some stuff that we can take from today that we can definitely use going forward.
Q. Jordan for that first 20 of the 24 minutes you were talking about, when you see him being able to start a game like that, how excited does that make you, the potential of what he could do going forward the rest of this year?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, I'm a huge Jordan Poole fan, as everybody in this room knows. He's played like this for me for a long time, so this is not surprising. I thought he really initiated the offense with his pace. We want him to continue to do the same thing.
Q. Bilal played almost 30 minutes today and led the team in assists. What did you see from him tonight?
BRIAN KEEFE: I think his defense was terrific, was all over Tatum as much as he could, tried to contest things, used his length, and then you're starting to see his play-making ability. Eight free throws, I believe. I think that's what he had. So he was attacking the rim. That led to shots for others. That's something he's going to continue to grow with throughout the season.
Q. Are you happy to see (indiscernible) is that a good thing because he's got to learn that?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, those are all good things. These are lessons. We get to play these teams again. How do you learn and grow? You have to go through the fire in this league. I've been around a lot of guys who have been in his position and seen it. I think these are moments that you grow and you learn. That was the thing I was happy with our guys is that they weren't scared, they went out and competed, they showed that they were ready for the moment. But still things to learn, and that's the part of the NBA that's great, and they're going through the fire, and they're going through it together as a unit. We're going to keep improving day by day.
Q. Going back to Alex's shot selections, would you expect him to be more mid-distance or within the paint in the next games?
BRIAN KEEFE: I think he's going to find his balance. In the preseason he made those. Those are wide-open shots for him tonight. We want him to shoot them with confidence. We think that's one of the things that's going to make him really unique is he can stretch the floor, but he also has the ability to get to the rim, roll to the rim, put pressure on the rim. He's got a unique skill set. He's got to learn how to do both as we go.
Q. As most people know you're a relationship kind of coach. The chemistry on this team, even though it's young, it seems there's something there. To hang with a team like Boston and only lose by 20 points, it says more than the numbers themselves. Talk about the chemistry that you feel that's happening right now.
BRIAN KEEFE: Sure. Our front office and the guys, Will, Michael, those guys have done a tremendous job at adding really high-character guys to our organization. They've done a great job throughout the summer, into September, through October, through training camp, building the bonds that -- those things last, so we're thrilled with the guys that we have. I'm really lucky to coach a really high-character team. I think that's going to be something that's going to lead us to be more sustainable as we grow and as we learn together.
Lucky to have a good group.
Q. You have a few players who speak French. Do you think that helps on the field and during training?
BRIAN KEEFE: I hope it confused Boston a little bit tonight. I've got to learn it myself a little bit better. Hopefully they had them confused a few times.
Q. I want to ask about Bilal, when he drives to the rim, the long arms he has, does that allow him to finish -- what does his length allow him to do in those situations?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, I think that's very telling. He's got a great length, obviously, that helps him really defensively but allows him to put pressure on the rim. He can swoop around guys, but then he can see passes. These are the things we always envisioned for Bilal. We want him to be a play maker. We're going to see more of that as we go.
Q. Marvin and Jonas came in and gave you solid minutes in the front court. How do you as the coach in a retooling year balance playing veterans who are going to give you a guaranteed impact versus younger guys who you need to develop who play the same position?
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, I look at everybody is a contributor. Those guys are great. Love Marvin. Every time you put Marvin out there, he always produces. Jonas has been terrific. He really slows us down. They're going to help our team just become a better basketball team.
That's why they're here, to help us grow and get better. Those guys, they've been in the league, they know how to slow us down when things are a little hectic at times, and you saw that from them tonight. They were great.
Q. Jonas finished with 18 points. If you could expand more on what you saw from him overall.
BRIAN KEEFE: I mean, this guy has been doing this for a long time. I think this is his 13th year. This guy has played a lot of games in the NBA, played a lot of games internationally. This is one of the reasons we want him. This guy is a true professional, and he knows how to play, and he's going to make our team better, and you could see that when he was on the court tonight, when we needed to slow the game down we could always go to him, direct the offense, slow us down, and then his physicality and his defense were terrific.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports