Raptors - 106, Wizards - 82
Q. How hard is it to come into a game on a losing streak and play against a team that's hot like Toronto is and try to switch that momentum in your favor?
KYLE KUZMA: How hard is it? I don't think it's that hard. We haven't came out with energy a lot of the year. So I think it's really irrelevant for a team that's hot or not because we've done it versus teams that are hot and teams that have been losing too.
Q. I asked Coach about the starts and how it's another game where you guys found yourselves down by double digits early on. What can the team do differently to start games?
KYLE KUZMA: We've got to figure something out. Expecting different results doing the same thing is insanity. So we have to do something different.
We lost 15 straight. It's not acceptable, not acceptable.
Q. How tough was it to deal with their physicality tonight?
KYLE KUZMA: We knew coming into the game that they were going to be physical. That's their MO. Toronto Raptors basketball ever since I came in the league has been that way regardless of who's coaching there, who's playing.
We knew that they were going to come in and be physical, and we haven't been physical, and that showed. I think it showed with how we scored less than 100 points again. Not necessarily getting into offense, not getting into a flow, and they did a great job of doing that to us.
Q. You mentioned not scoring 100 points again. How much of that can be changed by shots just falling, and how much of it goes deeper than that?
KYLE KUZMA: I think it goes much deeper. Yeah, shots have to fall, but at the same time, we have to play with a rhythm. Clearly, it's not working. Nobody likes to lose. Nobody in this locker room likes to lose. I know the coaches don't like to lose.
We need to as a collective try to figure out something that's different because 15 losses is not cutting it.
Q. Is the difference something that's off of the court, like more team building, or is it --
KYLE KUZMA: No, it's all on the court. You play basketball games on the court. We lost consecutively, so it's everything. It's on the court.
Q. What would you recommend as the changes?
KYLE KUZMA: That's not my job to say to you guys. That's not my job.
Q. Other than Head Coach Keefe, who can be relied on in the locker room to be a voice sort of in this tough stretch where the losses are starting to stack up?
KYLE KUZMA: I mean, everybody talks. Everybody talks. It's about doing your job at the end of the day. You can talk. You can have a voice. You can Kumbaya, you can coddle, but at the end of the day, we've got to get a win.
Everybody feels it. You guys feel it. Fans feel it. It's not even fair to them. Regardless of what we're trying to do, we have to try to come together and get a win.
Q. Is it an effort issue? A cohesion issue?
KYLE KUZMA: Probably a little bit of both. Definitely a little bit of both. Definitely effort because at the end of the day, schemes or not, we're on the basketball court.
Also, it's the coaches' job to put us in the best position, and we have to do that with cohesion together, players and coaches, and do it for 48 minutes. Yeah, we have to.
Q. With the team trying to develop a winning culture, how difficult is it to do that when there's effort issues?
KYLE KUZMA: Say that one more time.
Q. With the team trying to develop a winning culture, are the effort issues something that have to be eradicated for that to happen?
KYLE KUZMA: Yeah, for sure, definitely. We're on the court. We need to play with a lot more effort. That's only half the battle.
Guys are not trying to not make shots or trying to play defense, but it's really not about talking. It's about like we have to do it. We have to figure out probably a different way to do it because it hasn't worked.
Q. Where's your frustration level at at this point in the season?
KYLE KUZMA: Frustration? Obviously losing sucks, so you're going to be frustrated with losses. That's natural, if you're a competitor at least. So, yeah, I am pretty frustrated. I think we all are.
Don't clip that up and make it crazy, please.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports