Media Availability: Interim Head Coach Brian Keefe | 01/25/24

Media Availability: Interim Head Coach Brian Keefe | 01/25/24

Well first of all you know tough day emotionally for all of us here um I know a lot of people in this room have known Wes H Soul Jr for a long time he chose me to be on his staff I I you know that’s a privilege to do that and I took

That very seriously um he’s a great man a good coach um but even better person I know you guys have all experienced your time with him it doesn’t really get anybody for him so my heart goes out to him and these are emotional days uh unfortunately is part of our business um

I am humbled by the opportunity that before me uh that Michael and Will Dawkins Michael Wing Dawkins have bestowed upon me and we have to be better um we have to own that that we’re part of the what happened so we had to look inward we had I had to look inward

Myself and challenge as group to be more competitive better defensively and we’re going to be looking for growth but that has to start first with me and those are the things that are running through my head right now um but you know obviously a tough day for sure I think um another first

Question would be I don’t know if this is the best question for you but what changes I mean do you plan to alter the scheme the trade deadlines coming up there could be change on the roster like with the coaching change Michael and will were talking about just a change in voice

From your perspective what do you want to do differently um I’ve been really just focused on today like it’s been a lot to just to get through today and what I want our group to be for tonight is I want us to be competitive um to fight a little harder

Uh to share the ball um we’re going to get into schemes and coverages as as we go along because that’s what we do as basketball coaches but you know we’re part of something that didn’t work so we had to look internally and that starts with me and

I’ve told our players that like I have to be better and I’m challenging them to look inward too because we have to do this as a group I know you can’t do this alone I’m going to have a lot of support by a lot of people but I think that’s

What we’re looking for this last 39 games is growth there’ll be some experimentation not I wouldn’t say experimentation Discovery it be the better word of how we can big out better things with our lineup have our guys grow as a team I think those are the things that I’ve been thinking about for

Sure Brian you know better than anybody how different those 12 in are yes it um but I know you’ve also I’m sure given thought to if I ever get a chance this is what I’m going to do this is this I know this is what I want my team to look

At look like and I wonder if regardless of the situation are there some kind of non-negotiables that you know I’m going to demand this if I ever get a chance to be a head coach um yeah I mean obviously we all have those thoughts along the

Ways and you you said it that’s a the 12 in is a big move uh I am not running from that um I’m going to embrace that and look at this as an opportunity to grow the team and to grow myself I think I already mentioned David that you know

Defense has to be our calling card uh we have to see Improvement on that um that’s going to be my force and I’ve always thought that I mean basic tenants of the NBA like I I like unselfish basketball I like spacing I like making the simple play but our

Focus right now for us is we got to see growth defensively so that’s an area that I have background in um for sure over the years but I’m going to challenge our group to be better um and we have to be hey coach uh you mentioned you know

Improving the defense as one of the tenants of what you want to bring for the remainder of the season so and I know you said you’re only focusing on today and it’s been a whirlwind but in terms of maybe tinkering with the lineup especially late in games will that look

Different going forward in order to improve the defense on the floor the X’s and O’s and the scheme stuff we’re going to get into and that stuff is very important um but that’s going to be a work in progress like I said I I found out about this probably the same time

You guys did so we’re wrapping our head with what happened today um tough day emotionally for a lot of people but we’re looking now for growth and you’ve mentioned some you know there will be you will see things done differently because we’re all different people doesn’t mean it

Anything else other than that so yes you will see my influence as the team as it grows um that will be Discovery in different lineups different schemes for sure and but with the bent of growth and competitiveness you know we want to see our group competing at a high level and

We’re going to try to put our guys in situ ations to do that and learn about our group and learn how we can improve as a team I think we’ve seen individually a lot of guys have improved this year right I think that’s been a great part of what’s happened but now I

Think we got to see the collective come together more I think that’s a big thing for me BK you’ve had your hands in the development of bow all season long what does the rest of this season looked like for him with you now being his head coach it does not change uh

Uh I’m still going to be right there with him just like I would be with all of our players now I’ll probably take on a more of a role with all of our players in terms of their overall development I’m a believer that people can get better and how you do that is

You you love them but you challenge them and I’m going to do that with our guys and I spoke to them about that today like we’re going to show that we care for each other and how we do that is by holding ourselves to a a shared standard

It’s not my standard like it’s a standard that we hold together so like for a guy like Bal I’m going to keep pushing him and he knows that and that’s not going to change but now maybe I’ll have that more with each member of the team a little more hi Brian uh

Competitiveness seems to be a a key goal you’ve mentioned it as did um Winger and Dawkins how can you guys draw that out of the team I think we got to look in the mirror yeah you you we were part of a problem so I think that’s what I think I

Addressed at the beginning is that we have to own that first we have to say we have to look Inward and say what can I do better and I’m not going to ask anybody to do anything without asking my those questions first um so that’s what I’m going to do

And then I think that leads to us doing that as a group so we’re going to look inward we’re going to look where we can get better we’re going to have hard conversations and I think that’s very healthy but I think that’s how you improve in this league um and we’re not

Going to run from that coach U obviously winning and losing sometimes affects culture sure um is there anything that you may have learned or throughout the process uh not just on the negative side but good things as far as keeping the culture where you need it for sure yeah

I’ve I’ve been part of some situations like this before and I think you can learn something in every situation and I think the one thing is can we dig our feet in and become more resilient can we draw closer instead of anything else happening you know it’s easy to pull

Apart when things aren’t going well but I’m excited to tackle that and go after that to see our guys become tougher minded become stronger um not run from them this we had to we have to be honest where we’re at this is why you know I’m sitting here today let’s be

Honest we can’t run from that and we got to look ourselves like all right let’s let’s dig into this let’s get better today and that’s what you this organization is about and I know that know Michael Winger and Will Dawkins we’re not going to skip any

Steps it’s going to be about the process and how we do things and how we look at things and those things will lead to momentum changing things and winds will come because of that but we’re not some of you guys probably know me in this room we’re not going to skip steps we’re

Going to we’re going to stick to the process and we’re going to really dig in on that Brian with this being such a collaborative effort since will and Michael have gotten here and this being hour maybe eight for you yeah um how much are you going to utilize the

Experience that you also have on the front of the bench with DV JB and Mike Miller and I am absolutely going to use our staff to their their com we have a very accomplished staff guys with lots of unique experiences and different backgrounds uh I told them all today I

Want them to challenge me I’m a very direct right to the point person I would expect them to be that way with with me uh and I think that’s how you grow and I think you’ve heard me say that you know it’s about how do we

Grow this team we just got to have honest conversations with each other and our staff starts with our staff uh we got good people here who really care about our guys who want to pour into our guys I think that’s that’s our Focus going forward I will definitely rely on

Each one of our guys specifically the guys you mentioned too hey uh coach you said you found out this morning or earlier today um so just in terms of the game specifically tonight you know how do you get your guys focused with all this craziness changing going on today and how do you

Uh you know what kind of message you give to them just to to use tonight as you know the the start of this journey moving forward for you guys I I think you had to identify that we’re all human and that something happened to a person

We care about and that’s hard um but this business is you have to move forward that’s the great thing about the amount of games we have in this league is that you have to constantly be moving forward I’m looking forward for our guys to accepting that challenge tonight and

Going forward it’s not just tonight but tonight yeah let’s let’s let’s lay some up let’s go and then how do we improve going forward but um players are really resilient I’ve learned I’ve learned a lot from players over the years they they teach you more than probably you teach them and a lot

Of these guys there’s a reason they’re here um they’re resilient guys and I have great faith in their ability to be that here for us for sure coach did you look at this Jazz team who uh kind of hit their stride uh recently have you had time to really look I follow them

From afar I I’m I’m a San Antonio guy so I know will hardy a little bit so I kind of keep track of him from afar uh I know how well they’re playing I have great respect for the Jazz organization and how they operate um and they have obviously progressed since the beginning

Of the season but I gotta really dive into my guys tonight this is about us tonight I got one more for a guy that was a video coordinator to start there’s been a few of you guys roaming the sidelines what’s the one thing you took away from

That part of the game that you still apply today very lucky to start where I started I I just mentioned it I started in San Antonio a long time ago um and I got to see the best in the world do it Greg papovich Tim Tony Manu a lot of guys who

Were Ultra professional guys and you learned that I think you heard me say the the skipping the steps you don’t like the habits The Habit building those are the things that carry you through through the tough times because this game is hard to play I’ve always

Believed that it’s hard game to play for these guys playing is really hard a lot of pressure on these guys but if you can continue stack good habits build every day and how you handle yourself those things are going to carry you through so I never forgot that being from those

Guys when I was a little bit younger um so those those things you don’t you don’t forget that for sure

Interim Head Coach Brian Keefe spoke to the media prior to our game against the Utah Jazz at Capital One Arena.

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