Raptors 134, Wizards 125
Q. Tonight you got more of a look on the ball. As someone who initiates the offense, how did it feel, and how is that progression going for you?
WILL RILEY: Yeah, I feel like it's helping my game progress a lot, like, over time, just dealing with especially when smaller guards are guarding me. I feel like it's helping me progress, just tighten up my handle, making reads under pressure. I feel like it's a lot different than practice. I'm actually getting in-game reps. So yeah, it's been helping me a lot.
Q. I know you're getting more minutes lately, but you've had basically all of your best free throw attempt games in the month of February. What are you learning about generating free throws and what it takes to do that at this level?
WILL RILEY: Yeah, I know, like, because I'm one of the skinnier guys, guys are going to try and get up under me, try and be ultra aggressive with me. I can only use that to my advantage and just create off that, create off the bumps, that type of stuff. Guys are going to be super handsy. Just making reads off that to draw fouls. That's helping me a lot.
Q. I know it's been a progression with you having the ball in your hands. BK talked about after the Atlanta game and before tonight's game just you getting more comfortable with making the right reads and knowing where to put it. How much do you feel yourself in the course of a game starting to see things transpire quicker for yourself to make that right read, because BK has always said that you have a great IQ of the game and processing it?
WILL RILEY: Yeah, I feel like that's been a thing, like, my IQ. I feel like that's something that I haven't been taught. I feel like I just naturally have that.
Just combining that with my skill set, I feel like progressing over the year, getting stronger, I feel like all of that is a combination of my work and my effort, so I feel like just progressing throughout the year has been helping me, and Coach is starting to see that, and he's starting to put me in the right positions to succeed. He's pushing me to get better each and every day.
Q. Postgame you and RJ had a nice moment, said a couple words. What is it like, because there's not many of you in the NBA that are Canadian? What is it like going head to head with another fellow Canadian who potentially in the future you could end up as national team teammates?
WILL RILEY: Yeah, it's awesome playing against guys like that. Those type of guys helped pave the way for us younger guys who are Canadian. Guys like that, watching them when you're growing up definitely helps. He's a really good player, really good guy, as well.
Q. Piggybacking on the offensive progression, I know I've asked you about your background with playing point guard. With everything that's been happening the last couple games, do you see that possibly, like if needed, as a role you could possibly fill, just backing up as a point guard?
WILL RILEY: I feel like with me, any position that Coach puts me in, I'm going to try and win. There's not really a set position for me. I feel like whenever Coach puts me out there I'm going to try my best and do my best to help the team win.
Q. Where do you feel like you've made the biggest progressions since being in Summer League?
WILL RILEY: Yeah, I feel like making the right reads, my ball handling skills I feel like have just helped me get into the gaps, that type of thing. Just not forcing it as much. I feel like a lot about making the right reads has helped me.
Q. What have you seen in Tre over the course of the season? Obviously you guys came into the draft together. What have you seen from him?
WILL RILEY: Yeah, no, he's an amazing player, obviously. He's also, like, a really good teammate. He really wants to see guys succeed. He's always going to encourage guys, and he's going to also tell you when you're doing wrong, which I appreciate in a teammate.
He's a great kid. He's also just an amazing work ethic. He's always in the gym, always one of the last guys in there with me, and he's always competing, which I appreciate.
Q. Even in a loss, is there a certain positive takeaway you can have from tonight, scoring 19 against a bigger Toronto team with wings like Barrett, Barnes, Ingram?
WILL RILEY: Yeah, obviously it sucks that we lost, that type of stuff. But you can always take a positive out of it, just see the growth that our team has gotten. We played 11 guys tonight, so everybody got to show what they could do. Everybody got opportunities. It's just important that we're all growing as a team, as a unit, and I feel like that's a positive.
Q. I think you guys held a lead as much as 13 in the first quarter, and you guys beat Toronto earlier in the season. What are some ways that you can extend that out to the full game, that level of dominance and competitiveness against a team that is playoff bound like the Raptors?
WILL RILEY: Yeah, I feel like our energy kind of shifted a little bit, but I don't feel like we really played too bad. I feel like we were playing pretty good. They were just hitting tough shots. They were making the right reads. We could have been a little better at not fouling them. They got to the line a lot. Little things like that that just led to it. But I feel like we played pretty good basketball. They just made more shots than us.
Q. The other day, Tre was mentioning that you're getting more fluid every night. What's been clicking for you? What's been working? How have you been improving in that area?
WILL RILEY: Honestly, just staying after practice, asking questions, watching a lot of film has definitely helped me, just watching film with my coaches, my trainer, that type of stuff definitely helps. It's like getting in-game reps, just watching how guys move, how I move, and just being in the gym getting stronger. That type of stuff I feel like has helped my game come to the next level.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports