Celtics 122, Wizards 102
Q. How do you measure success, development and all of those things in a season where there's going to be periods of good play and bad play in the same game?
JORDAN POOLE: There's a lot of different things that we can look at. I think just trying to focus on the things that we can get incrementally better at, how we are when we come in the huddles, how composed we are when the other team goes on runs, how composed we are in the game when we got to figure out how to get organized. Just staying together, not getting lost in shot making or mess up coverages because those will be things that happen, and just find ways to continuously stay together.
I think that was a really good challenge, especially for a lot of the young guys who were playing their first game, were going up against the defending champs, and they brought the same team back as last year, they've got really good chemistry. I think it was good for us to see that for our first game out, and something we can build off of.
Q. Does it make you evaluate in a different way because you understand what this is about?
JORDAN POOLE: Me personally?
Q. Yeah, in terms of how you evaluate growth and development when you know this is a very young team with a bunch of rookies, a bunch of second-year guys and they're going to have to take their lumps as they get better?
JORDAN POOLE: Yeah, I think my style of leadership is just continuing to build confidence in the players. I think you'll see that throughout the course of the year. It's a long season, and I know how far confidence can get you. Coach is going to do a really good job of just continuing to coach us hard, not allowing us to slack in practice, and I think something that's really admirable about it is he'll coach until the end of the game. He'll coach whoever is out there on the floor, and he just expects a lot, he demands a lot, and that's all you can really ask for out of a coach.
Some guys in that locker room know what it takes to play at the highest level, and we also know you're not going to get there in one day. Just incrementally every day trying to get better, watching film, learning a little bit of things, and luckily we've got a game in two days, which we can apply that and just continue to focus on getting better.
Q. What were you feeling in the first quarter because you were shooting lights out. Did something come over you and you just got a lot of confidence? Everything seemed to be falling --
JORDAN POOLE: That's just the way I play. We've got a really good team in terms of togetherness, how we play, the way our offense is set up. We've got guys who can get out in transition, and we just focused on hitting the open guy, playing team ball, try to just knock down the shots, tried to be aggressive early for my team, and I think once I start doing that, I started getting in the paint and I was opening up a lot of shots for my teammates, as well.
I think once we started to see the cadence of what type of shots guys were getting over the course of the year, we'll start knocking some shots down.
Q. I was asking Coach Keefe about the chemistry on this team. What's your feeling on that?
JORDAN POOLE: I love it. Personally, I've been around some really, really, really good teams, and a lot of teams that have been good, you kind of just feel the chemistry early. We enjoy being around each other. We enjoy coming into work every day and getting better. We enjoy pushing each other, and we're really together just because Coach puts us through hard practices. Night in and night out when we go against each other, we're building each other, making each other stronger, but now we're playing against other guys, we're playing against other teams, and that's going to bring us together collectively, and I think we've got a really good unit with a really good coaching staff behind us, as well. I think we'll be in a really good situation going forward.
Q. Between this season and last season, how do you feel your leadership has changed or adjusted with the new team and new roster?
JORDAN POOLE: I'm definitely more comfortable. Kind of got an idea of the people that are in the organization, the people that are in the locker room. Credit to the organization for just bringing around high-character people, high-character guys. Credit to the coaching staff for just allowing me to lead in my way, which is being authentic, being genuine, but I'm a competitor, and I want to see my teammates do good. I want the best for them, and I'll just continue to build confidence in them. I want them just to enjoy having the opportunity to play on the court. I'm just talking to a lot of the young guys out there, like this is a dream come true. Whether we win or lose, this is your first NBA game, and try to just have them be present in some moments and just appreciate that.
When you do stuff like that and you get on them and you jump them a little bit, they know it's coming from a good place, a place of love as opposed to anything else. We've got a really good unit around us and guys want to listen and guys can come to me and say the same thing. We've got to just be all ears.
Q. There's been a lot of conversation about your switch to point guard and what that can do for you. How do you feel first regular season game, how do you feel that transition is going?
JORDAN POOLE: Good, really good.
Q. Where do you see the differences -- in this game where do you see the differences in how playing point guard unlocks you?
JORDAN POOLE: Getting out in transition. Coach allows us, he allows me to play fast, use my speed. Got to find the balance of we want to get organized -- if they're going to run, if we want to get a good shot what the last couple possessions looked like, but also just allowing me just to get out in transition, go, attack the basket if I can, but that also brings in so much defense, it brings in so much help, and just having confidence in the guys that they'll knock down shots.
I'm always willing to get off of it. I'm always willing to find the open teammate just because we try to get the best available, and I feel like that opens so much up for our offense, not only for me personally but just being a team player, moving the ball. The ball will find the player that it needs to find.
Over the course of a year, we start to catch our cadences. Guys start to get comfortable with making their shots and then everything will take care of itself.
Q. When you crossed up Pritchard and hit the three in the first half, what was the celebration you did after?
JORDAN POOLE: Just a little signature three action, trying to get DC a little bit involved. I know our crowd, they like to see some good basketball. I told them it'll be an exciting year this year, so we've got to get them a little bit more engaged if we can.
Q. Even with the loss, how encouraging is it to see such a young team be able to compete with the defending champs and hold your own like you did in the first half?
JORDAN POOLE: I think it's really good to see. We've been practicing against each other a lot, pushing each other, just kind of grinding and battling behind closed doors. I think something that's really special about this team is especially with our young guys, a lot of our older guys know that we're fearless. I like how Bub right away out of the first quarter he's battling with Drew, he's bumping Drew, nothing is easy, he'll take a hard foul. We've got guys who aren't afraid to back down.
If you want to be good and if you want to continue to stay in this league for a long time, you've got to just have confidence in yourself, and I'm telling them I'm behind them every time, and I think we're really connected as a unit. It's good to have guys that are fearless, and once we start getting a little bit more games and a little bit more comfortable, I think we'll start putting all the pieces together.
Q. You mentioned Bub's fearlessness. I'm curious about Kyshawn and Alex, as well. I know Alex had that block on Drew in the first quarter on help defense. Is there anything else you saw from the two of them that you really liked?
JORDAN POOLE: They're both fearless, as well. Ky, he's been really good, really good, impressive over the last couple months, watching him play, watching him grow. He really wants to learn. He really wants to get better. He looked comfortable out there to me. He's willing to guard whoever is the best player, and same thing for Alex.
Obviously there's a learning curve with every single player that comes into the league, but luckily enough for them, they get to learn on the court. They get to learn in in-game experiences, and that'll be so big for them down the line, and I just told Alex, I'm going to continue just to be in his ear, build confidence in him because we all know how good he can be, we all know how good Kyshawn can be, we all know how good Bub can be. I'm excited just to help them and be a part of their process.
Q. With the three rookies, you talked about wanting to be a part of their process and giving them advice. Now that they've gotten their first NBA game behind them, what would be your advice for them as they move forward in their journey?
JORDAN POOLE: We've got another game in two days. I think that's something that's special about the league is you can't dwell on things that are low or high. You have good games, you have bad games, and we get another opportunity to go against some really high-level players, some of the best players in the world in two days, and we get a chance to learn everything that we feel like we didn't get better at this past game. It's more so falling in love with the process. It's not about game 10, it's not about game 30. It's about what we're doing next year, what we're doing in a couple years, and it's a be in the present type of thing and it's a day-by-day type of thing. I think everybody in the locker room knows that and we just love coming to work every day and getting better, and over the course of time, everything will take care of itself.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports