Heat 120, Wizards 94
Q. Breaking the franchise record, how much does that mean to you?
JORDAN POOLE: A huge accomplishment. It was a goal at the beginning of the year. Really dope. Really dope accomplishment. A lot of hard work went into it.
But credit to the coaching staff. Also credit to my teammates, obviously, for the opportunities to get up these looks, but also the opportunity to play my position, which is a pretty big difference between this season and last season. It was definitely a goal of mine, and want to find a way to break this one.
Q. Sounds like AG and Coach Keefe kind of made a speech after the game in the locker room. What was the scene like?
JORDAN POOLE: It was dope. It was cool. Authentic, genuine. I think our team does a really good job of -- through the midst of our season, wins or losses, just being able to appreciate individual accolades throughout the course of the season. I want to say Marcus hit 1,000 threes a couple games ago, and Malcolm, I think he might have got like 12,000 points earlier in the season. Just being able to come together as a team and appreciate the individual work and success that you have, that's really cool. They do a really good job, and appreciative of that.
Q. BK said postgame, I think his quote was rain, snow, sleet, sunshine, whatever, you're always in there working on your craft, working on threes. Because of the fact you're already so good working on threes, why do you not get complacent? How do you prevent complacency?
JORDAN POOLE: There's a lot of people who did it better than I have so far, and I feel like I'm years behind when it comes to just reps and time spent in the gym. I feel like I'm playing catch-up. That's kind of my motivation. It doesn't help that I was with Steph and Klay my first couple years, as well. It's definitely a motivational tactic that I use that I'll always have. Just not being complacent, not being satisfied, but also just the grind of progression, seeing results, and just working on the things that I don't feel like I'm as strong at and just adding to my game.
Q. The word on you is that if anything you spend too much time in the gym if that's possible. Don't you feel like you put in more than enough? If there is such a thing as enough hours on your craft?
JORDAN POOLE: I need more than 24 hours in a day. Give me a couple more hours. I just love the grind. Honestly, I love being in the gym. I love seeing the ball go through the hoop. I love challenging myself in ways to just continue to make me a better overall player, and you can't do that if you're not in the gym. It's kind of been something that guided me throughout my career for sure.
Q. What did you learn about the art of three-point shooting playing with Steph and Klay?
JORDAN POOLE: Oh, that's a good question. Find what works for you and stick with that. Not everybody is the same. Not everybody shoots the same. Not everybody has the same workout routine, but as long as you're consistent and you put yourself in game situations, go game speed, it's a pretty good recipe for putting yourself in a good position, just those two things alone right there.
Q. How would you say you've changed since you've got to D.C.? Obviously last season was more up and down, this season you broke a huge franchise record. How would you say you've grown throughout that process?
JORDAN POOLE: In terms of my game?
Q. In general, too.
JORDAN POOLE: Well, in general I'm definitely more settled, just being in the city, being around the people in the organization, getting more comfortable. I'm a pretty unique person so I'm not the type to just open up right away. But I think now just kind of the interactions that we have with my teammates, coaching staff, employee staff just in general, it's just a lot more connected. Feels more natural, which I'm okay with. Just because D.C. as a city is the same way; they're not like open arms, welcome you right away. It's kind of like, all right, let's see who he is, what he does. He almost has to give us a reason to cheer for him, and I think this year I was able to do that.
But in terms of my game, I told Coach BK, this doesn't happen if he doesn't put me in a position to play my game, and I think that was a big, big, big thing last year. That took a lot of people to kind of understand, and it ended up coming out later in the season, but during the season it was kind of like, why isn't he playing up to his level or this or that, but I think from the start of the season, I've been in a position where I'm playing my true position, getting guys involved, playing my game.
We've got a nice continuity when it comes to our offense in general. It's just been pretty natural. I think this is definitely the version that is most comfortable and most settled when I get going.
Q. You won a championship. You got a big contract. You hit a big buzzer beater for Michigan when you were in college. This accomplishment, setting this record, where does it rank?
JORDAN POOLE: This is probably third. I'd go championship, college game winner, franchise leader for sure.
Q. What was the reaction in the huddle after you hit it?
JORDAN POOLE: Everybody on our team is so cool. They just kept it player, congrats, Jordan. I think everybody just has known the last week or so, a couple days, that we were getting close, and then just in the time-out everybody says congratulations. We have a really good group of guys, so very appreciative, very thankful just to be around them every day and just good, positive energy. It was dope. It was cool. A lot of congratulations. It was dope.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports