Rockets 135, Wizards 112
Q. Those live ball turnovers tonight --
COREY KISPERT: Yeah, that was the difference. We played a pretty good defensive game for the majority of our night tonight, but a lot of points off turnovers and a lot of our possessions where we didn't get a shot on the rim, and that's not a very good equation for winning. Credit to them; that's kind of what their hang their hat on is being scrappy and being aggressive and getting their hands in the passing lane. We need to do a better job of adjusting if we see those guys again.
Q. When you get into an individual rhythm, what are you doing right?
COREY KISPERT: I think the main key for me is movement. If I can maintain my off-the-ball movement, continue to run around, try to create advantage for myself -- I've said this since I was in college, I'm not the most athletic guy in the NBA, I'm not even close. But if I can make the guys guarding me tired, all of a sudden we're the same athlete. If I can keep moving, keep my pace up and get those shots to fall especially, things really start to open up and get clear for me.
Q. It feels like there was a couple times today where you looked like you had gotten better at the pull-up jumper. How much have you worked at that and how gratifying is it to see how --
COREY KISPERT: Yeah, I work on it every day. It's a shot that I need to knock down with efficiency, and hopefully today is a start in the right direction with higher efficiency on that, that kind of shot. Technically it shouldn't make any difference; from the time that you collect the ball two hands to when you release it, every shot should be pretty much the same, but hopefully I can take tonight and run as far as shooting off the dribble because it adds a whole 'nother layer, as well.
Q. Another guy that came into the league with some good pull-up shooting and has kind of moved from the mid-range to the three-point line, Bub. What about that transition has impressed you the most?
COREY KISPERT: Yeah, he had a lot of touch from 15 feet and in, and being able to extend that out, especially at his age, is difficult to do. It took me a while to do. I'm proud of him for shooting the shots that he has and taking us up on the open ones that he gets. We need him to knock those down. When he gets the ball and he's open, he's got to let it fly. Happy he's doing a lot less pump faking on the three-point line and doing more shooting. We need him to do that.
Q. Did you put any emphasis tonight on putting more arc on your threes because it just seemed like the first two makes you had were more arced than some of your makes.
COREY KISPERT: Are you counting the bank shot, too? That was 100 percent accidental. Arc, yeah. I'm always trying to work on arc. It's not something when I'm in a game that I want to necessarily start thinking about. When you start thinking about how you're shooting the ball, those tend to be misses, but I've been working behind the scenes on creating a little bit more arc and pushing the limits, and hopefully during games that just kind of shows through naturally through the reps on the back end. But if they look like they have more arc, great. The work is working.
Q. What did you think of the space creation from the rookies specifically when they drive and kick? Did you think they create a lot of space for you?
COREY KISPERT: Yeah, that's the way we want to play our offense. Credit to those guys for turning down good shots to get great shots for us. That's something that we need. That's something that we needed as an offense is for those guys to be facilitators, and Bub and Kyshawn especially have gotten much, much better at it in a short period of time, so it's another testament to their adaptability and their ability to take coaching and implement it right away.
Q. With Kyshawn specifically, his shot diet seems like it could be something that you could also -- it seems like it's similar to what yours is, a lot of threes and a lot of shots off the cut. Do you think he should have that shot diet, and is there anything you can tell him about how to make that an effective way to score?
COREY KISPERT: Yeah, if you cut effectively, you cut well, you get two or four free points a game and knock down a few threes and get out in transition, all of a sudden you're at 10, 12 points. It's an easy way to score. It's an easy way to catch guys sleeping, but you have to be consistent with it. He's just figuring out his spaces and figuring out his opportunities to cut and play, but he's also really good on the ball. He's much better on the ball than I was when I was his age, so he's got that going for him, too. I think Kyshawn is going to be really special. In a matter of time he's going to develop and develop and develop and be a really good player in this league. You can just see it.
Q. When you talk about getting arc on your shots, are you saying you have tried to add more arc to your shot?
COREY KISPERT: Yeah, that's from summertime, beginning of the season. Some of it you kind of work on in practice and you exaggerate in practice and then you kind of return to your mean a little bit in games, but the more you practice it, the more that mean starts to kind of bump up and bump up. Hoping for more of that. I don't necessarily want to shoot a moon ball, but a little more arc doesn't hurt.
Q. What's the reason that you want more arc?
COREY KISPERT: I mean, I don't want too much, but enough to create a bigger hoop essentially, more chances for that ball to go in and have enough backspin and shoot a soft enough basketball that at times if I shoot with arc and it hits the rim, it's going to trickle in.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports