2k25 NBA Summer League Media Availability: Wizards vs. Hawks

2k25 NBA Summer League Media Availability: Wizards vs. Hawks

did you feel like kind of halftime was a second chance for you to kind of get re acclimated with the feeling yeah for sure I mean I think I did a better job in the second half you know uh just figuring things out uh getting used to the you know the Rhythm so yeah and then obviously just getting used to the speed of the NBA obviously the blocks were there the defense was there right away kind of uh how are you adjusting to the speed of this I mean I feel like you know it’s a up and down game but you know that’s that’s the way we’ve been practicing for more than a week so I think I’m adjusting pretty nicely how did your confence game I mean you know obviously you know when you see shots falling uh you know you want to take more so uh you know I feel like I was trying new things out you know and uh and you know getting to know how to play with my new teammates what do you think of B’s performance I think BB was really good you know it was really impactful really aggressive and uh you know I can’t wait to see the rest of the games intentional not really I mean I was just taking what the game was giving me so uh yeah I was just you know making good reads out there what’s the St to you terms of that HB yeah I mean I feel like it’s uh like our team is position L you know and uh they won’t really everyone to play in every spot so they really put an emphasis on that coming into summer league um you know what are some of your personal goals experience just getting better you know just you know showcasing my talent getting better and getting used to playing with my teammates they set this up as one versus two you know he’s over there right now was it nice to get a win in that matchup and and what you think of his game I it’s always nice to get a win but you know I feel like it was more of the Hawks versus the Wizards you know and uh I think he did good and uh you know I hope we have a lot of more matchups coming up today um defensively how was it for you dealing with you know not defensive three seconds having a lot of space out there how was it for you it it looked like you’re very comfortable in the first game yeah I mean I think it’s even better you know uh like way more space so I can really you know showcase my my ground covering skills so you know I really I like that role that block off the back did that get you going a little bit it seemed like I mean you know I feel like you brought energy to the team but uh you know I wouldn’t say that moment gave me gone do you and Zachary ever talk about what it’s going to be like for you two moving forward and maybe like tonight was like the first stepping stone toward much bigger things for you too especially as your careers keep going on yeah I mean uh you know we do talk you know sometimes but uh we don’t really talk about what our future is going to look like I think we both really focused on the dayto day and getting through Sumer league today I know at overtime you played a lot you I mean with the ball you have I mean you’re on the ball dribbling to as well how do you feel like that’s going to start to develop and more people are going to see you you I mean you know with the ball in your hands and being able to knock the three ball down yeah I mean you know I feel like my game is very versatile and uh you know I get more rest on ball uh with the Wizards so I really got to take advantage of them and really you know keep getting better at it they give you the total green out here I mean they’re telling you to shoot from anywhere you want I mean as long as you make them you know like I’m sure if I miss every of them uh they they’ll tell tell me something else but uh you know as long as you make shots uh things are going good yeah I mean it depends on what coach wants at the end of the day but uh you know I think it’s going to be a lot of different you know um matchups and you know we that’s definitely something that we might run this year as aook you think you’re going to play four or five more like or I obviously both probably but which one’s more natural do you think I mean I feel like more hybrid role you know I don’t really see myself as being a fully outside player uh Nei a fully inside player so you know just taking what the defense gives you and uh you know adjusting to every play stretch there was a 25 second you had three blocks um what was that stretch like for you I mean like just protecting the rim you know like uh you see your opportunity you just jump and get the ball it’s pretty simple you know so uh I just did what I had to do you have any nerves at all today putting the Jersey on the first time in this game and all that or no I mean a little bit you know of course it’s summer league so um I feel like you get the excitement butterfly is more than nerves I I’ll call how much do you enjoy I mean I love it you know I feel like getting blocks is really something that helps you your team uh as long as you get stops you know whatever happens on the offensive side you know you’re you’re backed by it because uh you’re getting stops so I think it’s really important coach toer said the one thing he wants you to do is be more vocal um I guess what’s that process been like for you yeah I mean for sure you know I feel like we can always talk more uh you know as a group and especially me you know I think I can you know um always do a better job at communicating and that’s something I’m going you know work on been watching the French team at all Wy and and gr I did watch them today yes I did what what’s your impressions been are they going to be able to take out Team USA or what I hope they will I hope they will but we’ll see how comfortable are you dominating a game defensively I mean I feel like I’m pretty comfortable with it you know it just depends on you know how the the game goes and uh you know you can’t really dictate how he’s going to go but I think that’s something that’s always important I think the best thing about tonight was the first quarter we came out they outscored us they out they were physical they out hustled us they got 50-50 balls and our guys came in regrouped and battled adversity and to me that’s why we were able to find that next play mentality in the fourth quarter when we needed to get stops we need to get scores and uh to have that type of mentality is Big Time and I think in this type of environment the tougher team who figures out how to not take a bad possession on offense the defense and not to take a bad possession on defense to offense those teams are the ones that figure out how to win so we did it tonight Impressions above getting the game started with that Victory and the tone that that set for the rest of the team yeah I think I think the awesome thing about his game was that early on they tried to speed him up and they kind of su they were successful in that and then he figured out how to settle down handle the pressure run the team he figured out how to get us organized which is a big responsibility and then on those possessions when he identified uh a guy being back in a coverage or he had some clutch shots and to me I think that was big but when you look at the box score 25 assists that meant the ball moved and uh we did a really good job caring the sugar and we got to keep doing that the thought process on using Alex as a facilitator as much as you I I think it was what his capabilities are right and I think his talent is so extreme and his versatility is I mean we saw SE some some tremendous passes from him tonight right what did he finish with four assists four assists for Alex tonight right and I think what he does a really good job of is recognizing coverages and finding those obvious passes so he wanted to put him in those situations challenge him and I loved when it was difficult for him to initiate I loved when it was a challenge cuz that’s going to help prepare him and I loved when they were pressing key in the back court and and trying to speed us up because it’s only going to help them down the road and uh you know to see those guys respond was great usually when the number one and number two overall pick play against each other’s a ton of expectations how did you feel he handled tonight I thought Alex handled it tremendously um and I I’ll take a step back he finished with four block shots four re four assists seven rebounds you know I obviously you know four for 12 but he hit those two threes really smooth right so we saw his versatility and as a team when we look at their box score holding them to 38.7% from the field was huge 28.2% from the three-point line was huge and then getting those stops and those rebounds when we when we needed to was big and he was the anchor of all that uh if you notice tonight we were in coverage with him at times we were switching with him at times and we need to learn how to play around him a little bit because over rotating on defense if he’s got a small on him it’s going to be a difficult shot like let’s not over rotate and compromise our Shell let’s stay home and let Alex guard a guy when he’s on Gilligan’s Island because I feel really confident with that forever how long you guys use him here in summer league what do you want him to gain or what do you want to see out of him this time to be honest with you I want to see him get more vocal I think that’s probably the most important thing for the first 5 minutes of that game while they were being more physical than us we were also very quiet and so for Alex to continue to grow uh cuz he’s a very smart kid he has to be vocal with his teammates right he has to recognize coverages he has to have conversations with them during dead balls to identify compromised uh coverages by the opponent and ways we can exploit that and I think that him and Bub kind of they they they figured out a connection as the game went on which was really good and then uh Alex bub and key they also have a strong connection already between them what I was really proud of is some of our vets came in and kind of there were the glue like they connected the dots and then we were able to push through and get the win what do you think about Kean yeah kean’s feel is is outstanding the best thing that happened to him tonight was they put the little guys on him and tried to speed him up right uh we did see him make some outstanding passes at important times he’s got a really good feel and it’s only going to get better if he’s challenged in those situations but he hit that big three that was huge uh it was it was a great possession where the ball moved you know we hit bub on the slip we make the one more to the corner and I think that we’ve just got to continue to play that brand of basketball talk about chemistry among the rookies but what about one of the guys one of the camp City goo wizard Justin champ and his game and how he’s also being able to help some of these young guys along yeah Justin is uh he’s a firecracker right like he he’s he’s intense he’s physical uh he’s got a very unique skill set on both sides of the ball it was really good to see him have success offensively but the big key is is that he stepped up to the challenge defensively on Risha he was physical I I think early in the game our coverage were a little bit sloppy but the more we got comfortable in those coverages steering our switches being physical I thought we really did a good job a lot of fun know basketball itself is a fun sport especially when you love it and especially when you do it at the highest level so you know feel like I’m having the most fun in the world right now we’re just getting to know you do you do you have any butterflies at all before this game that Ben kind I mean you’re going to say that you don’t but everyone does I mean it’s natural but like I said earlier like when you you know when you know you got that trust in yourself you know that you’ve been here before or no I actually have not been here before but when you know that you like you hooped for this you trained for this you know it’s it’s kind of like that butterflies kind of turns into confidence one of the things that Will Dawkins said on the T telecast is that you’ve been very vocal in all the practices leading up to this is is that accurate and what what is your style that way just trying to be a leader you know I I came here to play the guard position the guard position you got to be vocal so coaches been stand on me some of my older guys have also been helping me throughout that uh just trying to keep me active Keep Me vocal just cuz I have to be that one of the leaders on the team you know what was it like seeing that first shot go down uh it was great I know I I it was a little shaky I felt like I Ain really hold my follow through like that but it went in so are you surprised at all about Alex with the pick and pop and the pick and roll and how creative he’s gotten I mean I know he played in Australia so this is probably your first time seeing him oh not at all I mean well I mean I haven’t seen him before I became a wizard but you know we’ve been practicing the last few weeks so well since I ass signed I’ve been practicing with him so I’m not surprised at all I’ve seen how he can shoot to cover up the ball so that’s just we expect I told him to pop he kept trying to roll I’m like BR just get the three see like you were really just talking about your leadership bro you’re 18 years old you about to be 19 soon but you first thing you said was leadership I think that goes a long way what did you start thinking about that instead of you know getting to the io so bag all that you talked about being a leader I think that that kind of saves what kind of game and type of person you are just talk about that I mean like I said earlier at this level everybody can hoop you know it’s what it’s what what else can you do so I feel like that what else I can bring is leadership especially being from the guard position especially being like a coach’s son you know always kind of having I feel like a knowledge of the game so I’m going V vocalize it and try to bring that to any team you were really scrapping comfortable out there but now that you got this game under your boat what did what could you take away moving forward um at this level it’s physical you know you got to adjust to it you got to adjust to the speed of the game but like I said I got one under my belt kind of see how it’s going to go and it’s only should only up be up from here you were really scrapping for rebounds especially in the second half was that just your will to win yeah yeah yeah I kind of proud myself on uh being like a rebounding guard I feel like I kind of always been that so just kind of carrying it over what um what are your impressions of Alex as a Defender oh uh I I knew he could defend but I didn’t know he could like really like you know get after it like that I’m super like impressed and uh super proud of him that he went out there and competed like that you mean in the perimeter perimeter interior all that I feel like he got it all Bob Justin champen was sharing some words with you later on in the game if you don’t mind what was some of the wisdom that he was helping you down giving me like how to like get off the ball quicker how to if they pressure you get by him just kind of being like that older voice to Mee since you know we have that pit connection so I’ve already kind of knew him so he’s always kind of been in my ear and I really appreciate him appreciate him for that do you have family here I do my immediate family is here M Dad grandar yeah yes my immediate family we sitting actually watching your dad watching you play Rather impressive about how he’s able to sit there is so stoic and watch you play at a high level has he always been that way no and he wasn’t even stoic today he going to try to fake like it but no he sh every time I’m playing but you know I appreciate him making this trip um across the country you know he from Baltimore and stuff so that he’s always going to be at every game and I you know I love him for it reason for Kye just last question the Kyrie probably the only rookie that’s wore the Kyrie today you got a more what made you do that to where the Cs I love Kyrie I feel like kind of I’m not going to get into you know everything that he’s kind of been through but I love Kyrie I love the way he play and I always love to shoot so I’m going rock with him thank you bro sh

Coach Cody Toppert, Alexandre Sarr, and Bub Carrington spoke to the media following the Washington Wizards 94-88 win over the Atlanta Hawks in game 1 of NBA Summer League.

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