Hawks 131, Wizards 116
Q. There was a couple stretches where you and Marvin were cracking guys and then it flowed throughout. What type of pride do you take in bringing that energy and allowing it to throw through the rest of the team?
JUSTIN CHAMPAGNIE: Yeah, me and Bags, we talk about it, me and Bags, especially with rebounding, how we can be a little bit more effective for the team. But yeah, I'm super prideful when it comes to that. You guys know that. I try to go out there and give my energy and let my energy kind of flow and let everybody eat off that.
But I think the biggest thing is just being in there and showing the fight on the glass and on the boards. I know I'm undersized sometimes. As a team we're undersized. But I think if you go in there and just fight, the rest of the guys kind of get the gist and follow along.
Q. You play bigger than you are; is that just your mindset, or where does that come from?
JUSTIN CHAMPAGNIE: I mean, when I was younger, I used to play the 5, like in high school sometimes. I'm kind of used to playing a little bit bigger and guarding bigger players. But it's really just a mindset. I think in my head, like you're not going to out-hustle me. That's just my thought process when I'm on the court.
I try to go out there and put as much energy and use my abilities to kind of get around people, whether that be jumping, my speed or whatever it may be.
Q. What looks different for you guys when you have moments like the third quarter where the rebounding is a strength and then the rest of the game where it's not?
JUSTIN CHAMPAGNIE: Yeah, I think when our rebounding is a strength, it makes it easier to get out of a run. We need the ball to get out of a run, obviously. We've got great players in transition, where we rebound and we can just get ahead and get easier shots, and when we don't rebound, obviously it's harder to do that because we're giving them second-chance points, the pace of the game slows down for us, and we're giving the other team second-chance opportunities.
Q. What allows you guys to rebound in the moments when you do?
JUSTIN CHAMPAGNIE: I think it's just the intention. I think you've got to be intentional with the rebounding, especially going into games where we know we're going to be shorthanded, and we're not the biggest team out there. I think just going into the game with the mindset of we're going to crack people on the glass and the guards got to come in and grab the rebounds.
Q. BK was just telling us how you've earned a lot of minutes this season. What do you feel like you bring to this team that maybe gives a different dynamic and something valuable you bring?
JUSTIN CHAMPAGNIE: I would say my hustle. I try to keep things really simple when I'm on the court: Shoot threes, play defense, rebound, block shots, do little intangibles and little dirty work that most people don't want to do. I think that's just my biggest attitude and what I bring. Just my energy. I try to let people feed off my energy. I try to come in the gym every day with a smile on my face trying to be positive, trying to uplift people, and try to just get the energy for them like that.
Q. There's some new faces on the team this year. How do you feel like everyone is meshing together so far?
JUSTIN CHAMPAGNIE: I think everyone is meshing together pretty well. I think obviously we're still a young team so we've got a ways to come when it comes to the schemes and being fully prepared, but I think everyone gets along pretty well.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports