Monumental Sports Insider Talks Brian Keefe Wizards Hire

Monumental Sports Insider Talks Brian Keefe Wizards Hire

[Music] and we’re joined Now by our pal Chase Hughes from the Monumental Sports Network Chase of course covering the Wizards uh what’s up dude how are you not much doing great I was actually just listening to you on my way home got stuck in traffic and of course that’s when the news breaks that they’ve hired Brian Keef as their full-time head coach that’s how it always goes as you well know yes no so I was gonna ask uh kind of tongue and- cheek but I guess I’ll ask seriously because I guess I know the answer now because now you know you work for Monumental Sports and you can’t just call it Michael Winger be like I know I know we’re kind of separate because I’m media and you’re doing the basketball thing but like bro can you give me a heads up like you don’t you don’t get nothing here come on yeah I mean I I kind of knew that it was going to happen this week um but you know I was just at I was just in the office someone could have told me that it was going to happen during my commute home but that would have been nice alas alas well thanks for listening and now thanks thanks for calling as as we say uh here in the business uh what is your reaction to the news I mean very simply to start Chase like this is you know you heard what we we’ve been saying and what the callers have been saying it’s not the sexiest move at all we kind of anticipated in many ways this would happen um why do you think it happens why do Michael and will make this move and and what do you make of it well I’m not surprised I think it had become a foregone conclusion and the reason why I felt that way is because uh at the end of the season you know I thought Brian Keef had done done a nice job and had sort of met the criteria that Will Dawkins and and Michael Winger had set forth um but it wasn’t until I started talking to people around the league in in the first few weeks of the offseason that I really kind of gathered that it a lot of people around the league thought that Brian Keefe was going to get the job that you know people that maybe would have been interested in the job uh in other circumstances um felt like you know no one outside the organization um you know was the favorite compared to Brian Keef so he was the favorite all along and I think it makes sense uh why because going back to the guidelines that Winger and Dawkins set um you know when they promoted uh Brian Keef to the interim job they said that they were happy with the individual development of their players but they wanted to see a more competitive team overall and it took a little while but I think Brian Keef got them there and by the end of the season they had some of their best wins of the year uh with him at the helm and defensively they were better and I think accountability was a big reason why they made this move because um you know he showed that he could hold players uh accountable and you heard it from them that he’s got a very blunt sort of uh straight shooter type communication style and I think the move that uh epitomized that was putting Jordan p on the bench you know that’s the type of accountability that we haven’t often seen with the Wizards to put a star player on the bench like that and he was the guy who was able to make that move and bring the best out of Jordan pool after doing it so we’ve heard stories like that obviously throughout about the season Chase but you know I think that when you’re a head coach as as you well know having covered not only uh you know the Wizards like you have but having covered uh Major League Baseball and all the different things you’ve done over the years in your career here in DC head coaches managers whatever it is whatever that top coaching job is across the sport you have to have a big picture Outlook of how your team is going to operate how would you say Brian Keefe handled that part of the job because we know he’s a great player developer that’s why he was the lead assistant and why he’s got the resume he’s got but how did he handle that part of the job in the back half of the Season well I think he he matches their timeline in the rebuild overall you mentioned the Player Development that’s a a big part of it and the accountability factor I think can help them set the type of culture that they want to have uh is sort of the foundation for the future so him being a firsttime head coach but also being experienced also having the track record of working with all the great players he’s worked with over the years I mean Kevin Durant among them this past season really sang Brian ke’s Praises in a press conference saying that you know he owes a lot to Brian Keef and so I I think all those things uh made him uh the right guy for the job and the fact that he is in experience as a head coach um I think fits the timeline because um they’re going to bring a lot of young players into this program and he’s the right guy now but he also may be able to grow into the right guy when they need uh the type of coach that can help lead them to the playoffs and contend for uh the bigger things that they hope to compete for down the road so I would say that that the track record of Player Development and also um the fact that he’s not someone who’s been a head coach at a a really high level before I think he sort of fits the timeline of a young roster trying to build things from the bottom up when you look at this roster there’s obviously going to be some changes over the next couple of weeks at the very least there will be uh an influx of young Talent number two pick number 26 pick and or however they they reorganize themselves in the draft there’s always trades around this time of year there’s obviously free agency coming and some pretty big decisions tus Jones probably being the the most notable there for a player that’s got to decide whether or not he’s coming back when you think of kind of Keith’s style of play and and some of the things that that obviously goes up to to Will and will has talked a lot about style of play like what is this team what are the holes and how does Brian Keefe fect that conversation well I think they want to be much better defensively than they were last year and that’s where he kind of fits in um I think they they changed the way that they defended last year after he took over there was less switching there was more um on ball responsibilities and I think they’re going to be able to help themselves in the draft this year because aot you know for whatever has been said about this draft class A lot of the guys at the top a lot of the players that are in consideration for the second overall pick um you know defense is a big part of the of why they’re top prospects in this draft class and so I think you know whether it’s a rim protector or another uh Wing defender or someone who can stop the ball in the perimeter at the guard position there’ll be more pieces to work with and you know guys like Denny Abdi and balow kabali will have more help on the defensive end and I think Brian Keef will be tasked with a sort of putting it all together so I I really think they offseason like this was obviously first order of business in some respects but a lot of it hinges directly on what they do with the second overall pick because whatever player they pick whatever position they play that’s going to dictate their needs at that position moving forward and it might dictate a lot more than that because it’s going to be you know by far the biggest resource they’ve spent so far on building this roster from the ground up so they’re going to make sure that that player has every opportunity possible to play a lot of minutes to take a lot of shots and to have their strengths maximized so that will be up to Brian ke but I I would point to the defensive end as where they can maybe start building something next year Chase Hughes Monumental Sports Network with us here on the Hoffman show uh just this just in uh Chase’s colleague Jason Smith he’s very tall he’s going to join us coming up at 6:30 to react to the breaking news that Brian Keefe uh is the next Wizards head coach uh the interim now getting the full-time job uh so wrapping up uh with you here Chase uh for for Keith the the biggest thing he needs to accomplish in 2024 in the 2025 2425 season is what like what is in your mind the the definition of success in a year where the record is still not going to be the primary driver and even with that said last season was not what anybody in the organization as Winger and Dawkins told us after the year what they wanted it to be how do they make next year’s season ending press conference different I think produce a good Baseline for whoever the second overall pick is that player is going to be so important for their future obviously you want to see guys like Denny obdi and balal Kali continue to build on what they’ve done Cory kissper all their young guys you know Jordan P hopefully if he’s on the team can have the success that he did down the stretch of last year but that second overall pick is going to become you know really the centerpiece of their future so if that player can come in and you know have an all rookie campaign um and show some signs of of being a a real Difference Maker down the road I think that would make the season a success on its own but certainly seeing all those young guys take steps forward uh would quantify and qualify as a a great and successful season Chase Hughes be talking about this and writing about it for a Monumental Sports network uh Chase appreciate your time on short notice man and a safe drive the rest of the way home if you’re not there yet absolutely thanks for having me that is Chase Hughes everybody this is the Hoffman show on the team980 and the Odyssey app

Monumental Sports Wizards Insider Chase Hughes joins The Hoffman Show to talk about the hiring of Brian Keefe as the franchise’s next head coach.

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