Media Availability: Head Coach Brian Keefe, Tre Johnson, and CJ McCollum | 10.8.25
Hey, seeing it all. Um, but I think it’s just an exciting time, you know, being in DC, keeping the team here. Um, having, you know, really doing the back of the house stuff. We’re going to have new locker rooms and the players, coaching staff, medical staff, all that stuff. It’s going to be at the top of the league. Um, just shows the investment and ownership and the city has in us. Like, those are big deals. Like, just grateful, but excited to see it just like everybody else. Is there something that you’ve wanted in your office, the coaching offices in general that you got that you’re really excited about? I don’t really ask for much, so no. There’s been a lot of talk about young players asking older players questions and absorbing it and vice versa. Can you think of a specific instance thus far in training camp where you saw a player ask another player something and then work it into their routine? I probably can’t say anything specific because that stuff is just constantly happening, constantly dialogue. That shows I think that’s a good thing when teams are communicating and talking in a lot of different areas. So like it’s kind of a constant throughout the whole time. So it’s nothing real specific, but you do notice it for sure. Trey told us that he’s been given a directive to shoot. You know, he’s learning kind of what it means to be open in the NBA. So can you speak to that? Just kind of giving him the green light. Let it fly. I mean, he’s let he’s open shoot it. We want him to be aggressive. That’s what he’s here to do. Um, obviously he’s put a lot of time into his craft. So, when you have an open space in the NBA and it’s a good shot, take it. Indicate that he’s been a little bit passive so far throughout uh training camp. Do you do you see it? He’s been fine. Brian, I know. How do you guard you first, please? I insist. I know it’s only training camp. Um, but you with your experience in the league and the different types of players you’ve seen, is there an indicator, especially from the guard position of when the young players it starts to slow down from them that you noticed yourself as a coach? I think yeah, that stuff just happens over time. Um, you start seeing them be able to process decision- making. You know, even our guys last year, they played so many minutes. They were by the time of February and March rolled around, they were almost like second year players. So the game had become slower for them. They start recognize things, but that takes time. Um, most guys don’t really hit their where they really start seeing the game till like they’re in their mid20s at times. That’s why a lot of teams who win championships, there’s guys who are hitting their prime at like 26 to 28. So there’s a lot to learn. There’s a lot to process. But our guys have definitely, you can see the game is slowing down in some areas, but you’re always learning and growing. So you’re never quite there. even our older guys are still learning and growing. So, it’s all part of it. What would be key to generating paint touches this year? Um, you know, a can we get stops? Always starts with that, but you know, it’s how much thrust we can have getting into our offense and then creating an advantage and then using that advantage to get into the paint. Um, that’s what teams are trying to stop you from doing and that’s what offense wants to do. Obviously, those are basic things in basketball, but it’s usually the teams who play with a lot of force, the ones who can get there. It’s something we’re focused on, for sure. Brian, how do you and your coaches and your development staff remind young guys like Trey, Will, and even your secondyear players that things don’t necessarily go perfectly right away, if they ever do. In other words, to try to give themselves a little bit of grace as they as they start off their careers. Yeah, I think that’s a great question. I think we always and you guys have probably heard me at Nauseium talk about this, but we obviously focus on the habits and the process of becoming a good player, but I think one thing is you learn like you can you can you probably ask some of our older some of our older guys like the game is hard. It’s hard to play. Um and you’re constantly learning and you’re constantly it’s not always going to go perfect. um never does it for any team, never does for any player. So like there’s going to have to be how can you bounce back to the next play? How resilient can you be? I think those are all lessons that we’re trying to work on and how we train and putting pressure on them in practice. Um but just tell them to stay with it and find their routine. The hardest thing to do I’ve thought in the NBA is being consistent. It’s a hard league, a lot of games, a lot of great players. And I think those things is how do you prepare? How do you train? And how do you mentally prepare yourself? I think that’s those are the things that kind of separate people. Other than Alex Bal and AJ, was everyone a full participant in practice today? Uh, no. Malikite was out for today. And then with Alex and AJ, uh, what was their level of participation? Alex, uh, did quite a bit today. A little bit more. Um, AJ didn’t do anything to more stuff. Go ahead. Sorry. Did Alex do contact us today? He did some contact. Yeah. Do you have any goals for the team in terms of stats like rebounds per game and stuff for the upcoming season? Uh nothing specific in terms of like just the generic NBA stats, but we do have some that I probably won’t reveal that we like to keep track and see if we’re trending, how we’re playing the right way, but those are things that we’ll keep to ourselves. It seemed like you guys had to kick Trey off the court here just recently. Um, how do you want him and the other young players to balance wanting to get a lot of work in, but also taking care of their bodies? They he had already gotten his all his work in for the day anyway. So, like they just wanted to get that’s more just us joking around with him stuff, but pract practice was over. So, we that was more just teasing than anything. Uh, just looking forward to another opportunity to compete against somebody that’s not my teammates. Uh, should be the first time you guys walk into a new locker room. Um, I know you don’t have a frame of reference like the guys who played here last year, but what do you think about just the idea of new facilities and all that? Uh, like it’s just a good chance go somewhere else for a chance. What is that? Cap one. Yeah, I should say after the renovation. Yeah. So, I guess it’s going to be new for everybody then. I guess except for like probably the court. I think it’s going to be fun. Everybody’s hyping it up, saying it’s going to be good. It’s time to go see it. Trey, you told us about what you’ve been working on. Have the coaches given you any direction on what they want to work on with you since you got here? What they’re trying to tweak or tailor? Uh, I wouldn’t say it’s anything different because I’m talking to them about just what I see and what I want to work on and they kind of give me feedback. They’re kind of throwing in their kind of stuff and it’s kind of all the same stuff. Just shots inside the system. It’s mainly what we’ve been working on. What are some of the shots inside the system that you feel like you’re able to get to pretty smoothly at this point in time? I guess I think really just all of them. We working on them before and after practice. So I feel like any shot me just knowing the plays is really all it is. Knowing them from all all five spots. What does learning the plays in a system like this that’s less rigid and more kind of reactive look like? It’s a lot easier I guess I would say for myself just cuz you not really it’s not as many like plays. It’s really just know what to do if something happens. So it’s really just like domino effect. If this happens, you know what to do from there. So I think it’s just really an IQ IQ part and I got good faith in my IQ. So, it’s really been easy. Good example of if this happens, I’m supposed to do this. Like, if somebody cuts and pops to the top of the key, if I’m on the wing, I got to cut. So, it’s really just stuff like that. Now that you’ve had a week of training camp um under your belt, how do you feel like you’ve adjusted to the pace? Something that you had mentioned on media day, especially with the way Bub pushes the pace, how have you kind of adapted to the way you play with the way that you guys want to play? I don’t feel like it was more of just adapting. I just feel like I had to push myself to get in shape. So, kind of just Yeah. Yeah, when Bubbles’s on my team, I got to make sure I’m first down the court, beat him, and then also when I’m going against Bub, make sure I’m picking him up cuz I know he wants to go fast. So, if I’m picking him up full court, I got to try to match speed with him to slow him down. So, I feel like that’s what helped me just get into shape. How difficult is that really to do other than just like sprinting, getting to the spot when he is on the opposite team. Yeah, when he’s on the opposite team. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it’s very hard cuz you got to trying to pick him up, somebody is running at you full speed 94 ft and then guard him and then try to be the try to be the first guard down the court or get the ball in the outlet and you got to still push with the same pace that you were just guarding. So, it’s kind of difficult and you’re doing that the whole time. So, it’s a dead ball. I believe as well too. You had mentioned um adjusting to the defensive coverages here versus uh when you were in college. How have you felt that adjustment being made? It’s been good just talking with the coaches and then just talking with my teammates like everybody will talk you through it. Just making sure we all talking. But it hasn’t been too difficult. I’ve heard young players uh say they have to adjust to what constitutes an open shot in the NBA because the the length and the speed. You might not think you’re open, but you are. What have you noticed about that? The timing as a shooter and and knowing when to shoot, when not. Uh I’ve been just told to shoot more. I’ve been kind of passive. So, I feel like I’ve been trying to figure that out as well, just not to shoot because a late contest going to be contested all the time. So, I’m just knowing that if you get if I especially me if I’m able to see the rim and I’m able to get my body squared, it should be going up. Why just being passive early on? Just cuz if I feel like the defender’s too close like on as an offense, I feel like the defender is making the wrong move. So, it’s like me just figuring out what that is. And I’m a good passer and everybody knows I can score. So, if I don’t feel like I got the shot, I can also make a shot, find myself a shot inside the line. And that guy’s got to help. I have to take two dribbles inside the line. So, I’m able to find somebody else. Do you have any goals for like your uh like uh field goal percentage or any stats this year? I just want to shoot 90% from the free throw line. It’s probably it. Why is that? Cuz I didn’t do it in college and I should have been doing it. I’ve been doing it like my whole life and I got away from it in college. Coach Ke has talked about generating more turnovers, more deflections, that sort of stuff. Um, how’s that been going for you? Uh something I got to lean more into just talking with Bo about it because he was kind of the same way before he got here like guard kind of conser conservative just trying not to let your man score be there for a contest not really trying to throw the ball and that’s kind of how I used to guard but more getting up under guards using my hands using my length. So that’s just a little tweak. Why do you think for both of you guys you were more conservative guarding in college than you want to be now? It’s just the wolves that you guys were on the teams. Just because like it’s no need to try to steal the ball. I feel like if you playing good defense, they’ll give it to you or force you force them into a shot. So, I just felt that if I was using my length and I was always there and I always had a contest, there was no more I could ask for. How is that different than how you’re being told to approach the game now? Just applying more pressure, making the defense fill you more, picking more up at half court. You trying to speed them up more, forcing into a tougher shot early. for your learning process throughout this first 10 days. How beneficial is it that you’re with a group who is willing to ask questions, even the the veteran guys, but also it’s a group who is willing to give you guys the information with how young you are. I feel like that’s great. That’s great cuz we got guys like CJ still learning just like I am. So, it’s kind of it’s kind of cool to see that a vet is still learning. He asking the same questions that I got. So, and then he’s also giving me different bits and information. We’re just trading it back and forth because we both picking up on different things. So, it’s just good. We’re all learning with free throws. Uh the guy who we’re about to talk to, CJ, is one of the best free throw shooters in the league and it’s pretty cut and dry because it’s free throws. But, have you talked to him at all about his form or what makes him such a good free throw shooter? Nah, I’ve been trying to help him with his form lately. You know, he he missed he be missing the late the late ones. I’ve been trying to keep him keep him strong mentally. How does he react to that? Nah, nah, he’s doing good. He’s doing good. I need to get all the information I can from him. You guys are obviously a young team. Everyone’s learning how to to uh attack off the dribble. How can you guys generate more paint touches just by taking um it’s really the first one like the first attack we get the first help once we get kicked just keep moving the ball. The defense got to close out. Just attack. Know your strengths and if you if you’re standing there and you know you’re not the best shooter and it’s not nobody there. Attack right off of it. Somebody got to close out to you. You’ll either get a easy layup or somebody else going to have to close and we find a shooter. How has that process looked throughout the first week or so of camp and particularly in that scrimmage? What about the process, the driving kick, driving the opportunity? I feel like it’s been good, especially in transition. We’ve been getting out very fast, very quick just off of defensive stops or even through makes. We get down the court very quick. So, I feel like playing in transition helps a lot, too. Anything about the team uh surprise you yet or in general? I wouldn’t say surprise. I feel like everybody’s been doing their job, I would say. Have you both been going back and forth with each other a little bit? Yeah. Is that your playlist? No, that wouldn’t me. When u asks if you and Bub been going back and forth, you mean like with shooting or talk or talking? Well, a little bit of everything. A little bit everything. We go back and forth on the court and and uh workouts just everything. Just try and get up one up on the other. What does it look like in workouts? Uh, we’ll probably do the same drill. First to make a certain amount of number, first to make this many in a row or first. Yeah, first to a certain number for first miss or something like that. How important is it over the course of a long season? And I mean, you’ve been in the middle of long seasons, but college season’s a long season and in a different way to mix in some fun. Yeah. With with the grind. I feel like that’s all all the off the court things that we do as a team. like the little events that we might go to as a team or just going over somebody house and just chopping up playing the game together. I feel like those things help build the chemistry and so it’s not always just you going back and forth on the court, but you also have that time to build off the court. You guys play 2K mostly or I I don’t play the video games. I watch them. I trash talk. I’ll trash talk. You might be able to have something there. Just set up a Twitch stream. Yeah, I feel watching your teammates. Yeah, I feel like I feel like Bub Bub’s trying to get into that a little bit more. A lot of guys. Yeah, just trying to get to know everybody, especially him, right? He’s got a bright future. Um, calling sets for him. Just trying to figure out you like to go left, you like to go right, you know, when you get an ISO, like this is what I like. What do you like when you get ISO? Just to kind of understand spacing, timing. Everybody plays differently. And I don’t really watch college basketball at all. So, I judge them based on how they work, the movement, the questions they ask. So just being able to kind of have that dialogue to help each other. We’re calling sets. Just understanding like he went through summer league, right? He got to learn all the plays. I just got here. You know what I’m saying? So understanding the sets, the actions. If I go off right, what does that mean on the left side of the court? Just those little things that I think will be really helpful. We had obviously some scrimmages within practice and we were on the same team today and then we’ll probably have another scrimmage on Thursday. Um but it’s just helpful to have the dialogue and communicate like this is what I see, what do you see, what do you like. Um because in the game it’s all uncomfortable, right? The other team is trying to make you uncomfortable. So I want to be as comfortable as I can with with with the guys out there and I want them to feel as comfortable as possible in situations, right? Like late shot clock. I call your set if it’s your play. You need to be get the ball wherever you want the ball and you need to be able to get whatever shot you’re most comfortable with. So just being able to think about that while we’re running through the stuff and then if they call play for me like, “All right, this is so y’all know this is what I’m looking for. This is how I like the court to be shifted. This is where I’m probably going to go. These are the spaces I play in. if I get to here, this is where I would like for you to be just to kind of have that dialogue because it helps. With Trey, how have you you’ve been around a lot of rookies, obviously. What are your impressions of how he moves, how he works, and the questions that he ask? Well, he’s good, man. He’s got he’s got the goods. I think it’s just about the pace, figuring out your your pace because the NBA is different than college and it’s more space, but everybody plays so fast when they’re young. So, it’s like picking your spots on, okay, you explode out of these picking roles, straight line drive here, changing up your your cadence and your dribbling. It’s like a song, right? like you don’t want to just it’s not all heavy metal. It’s not all trap music. You know what I’m saying? Like it’s mixing up your cadence and he’s getting better at it and he’s going to learn and grow and develop and he’s really young. So his game now will be different two weeks from now, two months from now, two years from now. So it’s just about just communicating and watching and they all work hard. They all want to learn and they all want to be good. In your experience, CJ, how important is it for a rookie to give himself at least a little bit of grace? uh early on in his first season considering all the things that all the adjustments that need to be made. In other words, if someone want someone wants to be as great as he can be right away, but it r it rarely happens overnight. Yeah. It doesn’t You’re going to have great nights, man. You’re going to have some nights where everything’s clicking and you look exactly how they envisioned you looking. You’re gonna have some nights where it doesn’t come together. It’s a long season and you know, it’s travel, it’s the body, it’s the wear and tear, figuring out when to work out, when to go home. Like they basically told guys like don’t shoot, right? Like people supposed to go home and look he’s he’s going to shoot now. But I think it’s just about understanding it’s a marathon. Like each day you want to get better. You want to get better at rest. You want to get better at sleeping. You want to get better at your efficiency and your movements and your workouts. And then some days it’s not going to go as as planned. But I think, you know, looking at all the rookies throughout the league, there’s a wall that comes, there’s a sophomore slump that comes. And then once you get beyond that, I think the progress is just uphill from there. But I think he’s going to have some great moments and there’s going to be some times where uh he’s a little frustrated, but that’s what we all go through as as young players. You talk about the offensive system and kind of learning the plays. Does this scheme remind you of any that you’ve been with in the past? Some of it. Uh I mean different different names for the same actions. Um, thumb is it was elbow and it was elbow in New Orleans and Thumb was actually Thumb in Portland and I ain’t running that offense in a long time. But like a lot of the similarities and in the name Zoom we called try to get him to get off the court. Uh, Zoom Zoom here is was a different call in New Orleans. It was backside or whatever. But it’s, you know, I just got to get used to the names. Like I’ll call it the old name. Like we called it 77, they call it pickpic. So there’s just like understanding that I can’t call like the name of the players that I use in New Orleans, but they’ll look at me like what what is that? How do you guys generate uh paint touches as a young team and with so many players trying to learn how to get by their man? I think it’s just quick decisions. It’s not always beating your man with a dribble. Sometimes it’s attack and closeouts. Sometimes it’s being able to just shift the defense with a quick swing, a quick advance pass, uh little pinch post action where you play off of uh the bigs. We got good passing bigs and Sar and Tristan and AG like bags. They all can pass. So being able to play off them allow them to kind of um operate and you know initiate the offense of as well. Have you been in a situation with as many players three years or less of service? Um, New Orleans was pretty young, too, especially when I first got there. Trey was young, Herb was young, Jose, um, Z, uh, Naji, Dyson. So, it was, you know, very young. These guys are like 2005, 2006 maybe. So, very young, but uh, I see some similarities in some of them for sure. How how much of a balance is it from your standpoint from Chris AG, the amount of the group of veterans on this roster? How much of a balance is it to still want to impose your information that you have with them, allow them to come to you, but also still just be you as a player? Yeah, I mean, my job is the hoop. Obviously, you know, I’m going to help him and, you know, lead when I need to and give advice, but um coach’s job is the coach, so I let him do his job. They ask questions, I answer them. If it’s stuff that I see that I think will be helpful, I answer them. But outside of that, um, I think a lot of it is just absorbing. They see how I work. They see the preparation. They see how I play, the pace that I play at, why I do certain things. I may wave a guy through to hit the post and tell the guy to back cut on the backside. Like, and then I’ll talk them through like, this is why I did that. Like, I know they got a double here. You’re going to be open on on the cut. And if you’re not open, I feel behind. Swing swing. It’s a trade ball. So, just being able to like talk through actions is helpful. Trey said they’re telling him to shoot. Um, you know, he’s learning what kind of means what it means to be open in the NBA. Uh, what do you remember about that adjustment for yourself? Just remember the game was really fast. Um, three-point line felt far. Um, court felt bigger. Guys felt faster. They’re athletic. You would get to the rim and then the the closing speed was just different. Guys at the rim, the way it was is ref, you know, especially as a rookie, you don’t really get calls. It’s more physical. So, like those are the things I remember trying to adjust to. But now it’s just like it’s just second nature. What’s your overall impression of the organization since the time you’ve been here? They’ve been great. Um, terms of communication, organization structure, probably one of the most organized organizations I’ve been a part of in terms of the cadence of communication, the teamworks, everything that they use, resources that they have, staff is here all day. You know, they’re here like 7 a.m. until like 3, which is crazy. Um, food is great, nutritionist, you know, I did blood work early, so I got my vitamins, I got everything that I need, all the resources that you need to be successful are here. Um, and they care. I think that’s a a really important factor. There’s a huge care factor, not just on, you know, rotation guys and, you know, guys that make a lot of money, but they care about the two-ways, exhibit 10 guys, and you can see it in how they’re treated. Does that differ from what you might have thought about the Wizards organization before you came here, especially as someone who worked in the PA? um in in years past, yes. But in terms of the things that I’ve been hearing in the last few years, it’s been pretty consistent. You know, obviously I know some of the guys that were here um and they echoed a lot of the the same things that I’m kind of discussing now. A lot of the young guys have talked about the questions they’ve been asking you and Bob, Trey in particular. What’s the best question someone has asked you so far? Um footwork stuff. Uh, I worked out with with Keshan and we were talking about just footwork, why I go into things a certain way, how I explode off of screens and how I kind of like looks like I’m moving slow and then I just kind of like use the burst. So, there were some questions about pace. I was talking above a little bit about just being shot ready sometimes just standing up. I’m like, yo, you you save a half a second by just even if you just lunge forward, like you ain’t got to bend your knees, just lunge forward. Save a half a second on your release and it’s just into it faster. Yeah. And then Trey just talking about his pace. I’m like, “Yo, you just got to slow down. Slow everything down. You already got you’re already fast. You got the burst. You got step backs. You got floats. You got good feet. Slow things down and then everything kind of gets easier.” But I think they all they all ask really good questions. You’ll have to ask them what questions that they um feel we’re the best. You mentioned the resources. You guys will be walking. Ready to go? This might be the last one. Oh, okay. just the the idea of that, you know, all the the locker room and all the facilities at the stadium are going to be fully renovated once you guys go in tonight. What does that mean as a player? It’s nice to have, you know, what you need to be successful and then it’s on you to go do the work, but um resources matter, you know, ice tubs. It’s always nice to have, you know, a good weight room. Um obviously we have all the the data and the wearables in the world to be able to track, you know, how we’re moving and deficiencies and things like that. But um for me, man, I’m I went to Lehigh University, man. I I did ice baths and trash cans. So, all of this stuff is is better and different than what I uh needed and and utilized to get here.
Head Coach Brian Keefe, Tre Johnson, and CJ McCollum spoke to the media following practice.
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