Magic 109, Wizards 97
Q. How was your ride home with AG last night?
BUB CARRINGTON: It was nice. A+ hospitality.
Q. Are you aware that you set a Wizards' rookie franchise record tonight for made threes in a game?
BUB CARRINGTON: I did not know that.
Q. How much does that mean to you?
BUB CARRINGTON: It's crazy. Hold on, let me let it soak in for a second.
Q. What were you seeing --
BUB CARRINGTON: It means a lot to me. I enjoy that record.
Q. What enabled you to set that record tonight? What were you seeing out there?
BUB CARRINGTON: I hit my first shot. Just felt pretty good today. So stayed with it. Didn't shy away from it. Just stayed aggressive, and it helped me out for the better.
Q. Two good games on back-to-back nights; as you stare down the end of the season, how do you hope to finish strong, and what have the ebbs and flows of your rookie season been like in that regard?
BUB CARRINGTON: Yeah, we hope to finish -- finishing strong for us is every goal that we kind of set for ourselves team-wise. If we wanted to be a top-15 defensive rated team in the league and we're not there, then that's what finishing strong for us is, getting top 15, things like that.
As far as the ups and downs goes, that kind of ties into it, as well. We struggled a lot defensively this year. We also had really good stretches defensively. Not necessarily personally but team-wise, finishing strong is locking in on our goals that we set at the beginning of the year.
Q. We've seen on multiple occasions Marcus actually demonstrating things to you during time-outs. What has that meant to you and what have you learned from him in those moments?
BUB CARRINGTON: Yeah, Marcus is amazing. He helps us a lot. He's just seen it before. He's just seen everything that we're going through. He's literally gone through it for the last decade. So he just has all that knowledge, all the experience to share with us and put us over the edge when a lot of other people might not get that advantage.
Q. Can you walk me through your mindset seeing no Jordan in the lineup, you get to be the main guy with the ball in your hands, and when the team needed a bucket, how did you answer that call?
BUB CARRINGTON: Yeah, with no JP, that's a big chunk of our offensive volume. Honestly didn't even know he wasn't playing until right around game time. Once I figured that out, I was like, shots got to go somewhere. I wasn't necessarily trying to fill his role, but I knew that I could be more aggressive with him not on the court. The coach allowed me to do just that.
Q. Career high in points, first 30 piece. How does that rank among your proudest moments in the league so far?
BUB CARRINGTON: It means a lot to me. A lot more than you guys would guess.
Q. Some of your buckets today came off the dribble, a lot of tight handle. What kind of work have you put in this season to improve your shooting off the dribble and really make it the core part of your game?
BUB CARRINGTON: Consistent work, I would say. I don't really go in the gym and work on a lot of different things. I kind of work on my same things, even the things I struggle with, or necessarily struggle with, I still don't necessarily even dial in on those things. I try to wait for summer or off-seasons to do that. I stick to what I know I'm capable of. I did it in high school and college a year ago, two years ago, off-the-dribble shooting, so I just work on that every time I'm in the gym.
Q. You talked about the team wanting to get to 15 in the defensive rating. Is that just example of a goal, or is that actually a specific goal that you guys have?
BUB CARRINGTON: Just an example of a goal. Yeah.
Q. You looked super comfortable on the ball. Are you looking forward to having more responsibility on the offensive end for next season, especially after this performance tonight?
BUB CARRINGTON: Yeah, I'm looking forward to showing a little bit more. Not necessarily because of this performance; this performance is just another -- it was just a product of me being on the ball. But yeah, next year I definitely hope to and plan to just kind of share that role with one of our other talented guards.
Q. I saw you do a jersey swap with Antonio Freeman out there. How did that come about?
BUB CARRINGTON: He played with my dad back in the game. From Baltimore. We've just got a lot of ties. It was due time.
Q. Going back to when I told you about the record that you had, are you going for the rookie record for the season?
BUB CARRINGTON: For most threes made? Am I going for it?
Q. Yeah.
BUB CARRINGTON: That would just be a record for this year, though, right?
Q. For the rookies, you'd have the most --
BUB CARRINGTON: No, I'm not necessarily striving for that, but if it happens, it happens.
Q. You talked about this a little bit earlier this year, but I'm curious later in the season as you get to the end of your rookie year, what does it take to draw fouls as a rookie?
BUB CARRINGTON: You can't. I'll just keep it out here with you. We just -- we can't. I'll just tell you that.
Q. You told me yesterday that the skill you improved on the most this season so far is getting around screens. How about on offense?
BUB CARRINGTON: Offense, what's the skill --
Q. That you improved on the most offensively this season.
BUB CARRINGTON: I would say kind of being more intentional with my passes, as in making sure every pass I make is a shootable pass, like, anybody can make any pass, but if you put it in a pocket for them to have a better chance at a better shot, that actually matters, and the numbers show that that matters. I've really been working hard just to make sure every pass kind of is in my pocket so they can shoot a good shot.
Q. What would you say you've learned the most just from being around Jordan Poole this season?
BUB CARRINGTON: I've learned how to manipulate your defender and how to basically not worry about him. Like JP never really sees his defender. He sees kind of the next play. Like in his head, everyone that's guarding him is already beat, and he knows how to beat them and how to do it effectively, so he's been really teaching me how to play with your defender, make them do what you want them to do.
Q. You've been taking your game to new heights, particularly as of late. Is there something that's been working overall well for you? What's been helping you continue to take it up?
BUB CARRINGTON: I would say I'm not necessarily doing anything outside of my game, outside of anything I'm not used to doing. I think it's just opportunity, opportunity and confidence that I have in myself and the coaches have in me. Like they're letting a 19 year old take 18 shots and play 36 minutes. A huge testament to my coaches and also to myself to take those shots and to make them.
Q. You were asked about shooting off the dribble. In addition to that, a lot of your threes tonight were in iso against bigger defenders. I think you hit a couple over Paolo. Is that something you've gotten more comfortable with over time, or have you been doing that for your whole career?
BUB CARRINGTON: My whole career. Just kind of in the moment. I'm not going to lie to you; I didn't really see it as a big guy-little guy type of thing. Just in attack mode, and it was working for me.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports