Bulls - 138, Wizards - 105
Q. What do you think went into the plus 17 number?
BRIAN KEEFE: To me it wasn't even the third quarter. It was the start of the game. We didn't have the necessary level of attention to detail and focus to what we need to do defensively to stop. They scored 68 points in the first half. That was a carryover and started in the third quarter.
We made some runs and made it close throughout the game, but really our defense was never engaged. We just had some scoring spurts that led us to get back into the game. The defense was never there the whole night, and that wasn't good enough.
Q. What in particular wasn't good enough about the defense?
BRIAN KEEFE: Transition defense, controlling the paint, contesting shots, rebounding, extra efforts -- all of it wasn't good enough.
Q. At halftime I asked JJ about the transition defense, and he mentioned the turnovers on offense that allowed really get out and run. Is that kind of what played into some of the lapses that you guys had on the transition side?
BRIAN KEEFE: They've got transition every way possible. Makes, misses, turnovers, it didn't matter how it happened, they just got them. We knew that going into the game, and and we didn't bring the necessary level of attention to detail and focus levels to be able to stop them tonight. When they can get going, they're a really good offensive team, and we didn't do anything to help that.
Q. What do you think went into the lack of detail for you guys? Was it something about their travel schedule or anything like that?
BRIAN KEEFE: That's on me. We've got to be better. We have to be better.
Q. On the flip side of this, Alex, third game in five that he's been able to report a double double. What have you seen especially, just in this little stretch of six or seven games, with his incremental growths?
BRIAN KEEFE: He's been great on the boards. Didn't play one of his better games tonight, his first game back. He's been attacking the glass defensively, been much better on those ends.
Q. You talked about a couple games ago about him attacking more when he comes off the pick and pop is a sign that he's just more comfortable on the offense. That play that he has in the first quarter where he gets the dunk, is that an example of what you were talking about?
BRIAN KEEFE: That's an example of him reading the game. He's getting much more of those. They were closing to him because they're respecting the shooting a little bit, and he's driving it. He's reading the game well in those areas for sure. He's getting better with that.
Q. What did you think of the rim protection tonight?
BRIAN KEEFE: I don't think anybody's rim protection was good tonight. Too many lay-ups, too many stuff at the rim. That was the main part of the game.
We just never got our defense into the game. A great offensive team like this, that's not good enough. That's all I got.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports