Bulls 127, Wizards 108
BRIAN KEEFE: It really came down to one quarter. That second quarter, obviously, 40-18. We played a good first quarter, we were defending, sharing the ball, and then they put it on us. Got to give them credit for that. That was the difference in the game. We were even pretty much the rest, but that was the total difference.
We didn't respond to the run they made. But we've got another one tomorrow.
Q. It seemed as though you took a little bit of extra time to talk to your team after the game tonight. What were you sharing with them before walking in here to talk to us?
BRIAN KEEFE: Nothing really extra. We just have a back-to-back tomorrow. We were just talking about the recovery stuff that we need to do for that to get ready for tomorrow. That's the thing in the NBA; you play tomorrow. That's the great thing.
Q. Tonight is 12 straight losses, I believe. What needs to change to fix that?
BRIAN KEEFE: The one thing that I like about our group is that we're solution-based and we're trying to find the answers. We're all competitors here. Nobody wants to lose. First of all, me, our players, our organization. We've got to find solutions.
When it's hard, you've got to really dig in, and you're going to have moments of that throughout the NBA season. We're in one right now, but I promise our guys are going to keep competing and find solutions to get this going right.
Q. Alex tied his career high today. Was it a situation where the shots were falling for him, or was there something more that you were seeing?
BRIAN KEEFE: Obviously he made some of his threes, but his activity was pretty good tonight again. Protecting the rim, I thought his defense was good early, and then we said that the shot is going to come. Those are going to come and go some nights. Tonight he made those threes, but he kept us in the game for sure.
Q. He's gotten so many reps on the three so far in game this year. Have you noticed him changing anything or learning anything about that shot and how to make it better in the NBA already?
BRIAN KEEFE: I think sometimes you have to go -- like I said this many times about a lot of these guys. That's a distance that's different. You're playing NBA line, you've got different athletes closing out to you, you've got hands in your face. I think he's just getting more comfortable with the game.
But the biggest thing for us with Alex is it's always going to be his defense. His versatility, ability to switch, protect the rim. When he makes shots, that's great, but the focus is always his defense.
Q. What did you think of his rebounding today?
BRIAN KEEFE: Rebounding was pretty good. Obviously not as high as 14, but he was active on it. I didn't feel like he had a problem on the boards. Good physicality.
Q. Jonas only played 14 minutes today. What was your decision behind that?
BRIAN KEEFE: A little bit just the match-ups of the game. Alex was shooting the ball well. We were switching a little bit. They played smaller in the second unit, so some of it was just a match-up thing. Sometimes that's how it goes.
Q. What did you see with Kuz's shots in the first quarter? I believe he took 12 plus the final one right at the buzzer there. It's really more fair to say he had 12.
BRIAN KEEFE: Yeah, for sure. He got downhill, attacked, got to the rim. Then he actually got some threes that were wide open. We actually for the most part tried to play the right way, I think, kicking out, looking for our shooters. Some of those shots just didn't go in. We had some good looks. Sometimes that can knock your energy down. Actually I think that did happen tonight.
But for the most part, some of that, even the first quarter, we probably could have had 35 to 40 if we had made some of those threes that were wide open.
Q. Did you feel like he was playing the right way there? Was he taking the right shots?
BRIAN KEEFE: He was taking the right shots because, A, he had either kick-out threes that were wide open or he was getting downhill and finishing at the rim. I liked how we played in the first quarter. We were doing the right things, started with our defense. It's just that second quarter, yeah, we missed some shots, but our defense didn't travel, and they started making a few themselves.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports