Media Availability – WAS vs. ATL: Coach Unseld, Kyle Kuzma, Tyus Jones | 12/31/23

Media Availability – WAS vs. ATL: Coach Unseld, Kyle Kuzma, Tyus Jones | 12/31/23

What do you think made the difference for them well I think the um uh they got going a little bit after we had that initial stretch um jumped up to a little bit of a lead I think we fell in a little bit of comfort and thought we

Were we were okay and then they obviously got going um didn’t seem to have the same level of intensity uh as the other night but to the to our guys credit you know they they kept playing down 15 with whatever 215 left able to just you know extend the game as as best

We could and you know give ourselves a chance 53 three-point attempts is a lot I believe it’s a franchise record what led to that well honestly the vast majority of them were pretty good you know and that’s just that finding that balance of great shots open open threes

Verse when you’re not making them uh you know get to the paint you know create uh something downhill uh so just finding that balance but overall I think the vast majority were were were quality when you talk about I’m not clear what you mean when you say talk about finding

The balance between good shots and like letting it fly or what do you mean there no I think I think um a lot of those were great shots as far as they were open you know within the confines what we’re trying to do they were in the

Right areas the corners you know they they were off of um some type of action so those in general you say are great now reading the flow if we don’t make you know a line share of them then you know we got to get to the paint we got

To get to the line find a way to you know get downhill a little bit put pressure on the rim um second quarter was really kind of the only time they got a big gap on you guys what why do you think you couldn’t kind of crawl out

Of the the deficit after well some of it was those you know those shots you know when you miss shots and you’re on your heels a little bit and they two guards put a lot of pressure on you you know schematically trying to you know keep

Them in WP uh Under Wraps um and they just you know ability to shoot but then put uh pressure on you by driving uh kicking uh um I think that got him going a little bit so you know the free throw disparity was one thing more so in the last probably

10 minutes when we had to foul extend the game but in general you know trying to get that ball under control was difficult uh Cory had his fourth straight game with at least 13 points um what have you seen from him that’s been good so far he’s been uh very aggressive

Like you know finding those threes and not to the point where you know he’s he’s taking bad shots but I think we’ve prioritized that for him and I think he’s taken a hold of it he’s also doing a really good job of driving the paint

You know getting to the to the rim you know getting to free throw line a little bit um finishing you know a little better you know in those small space areas so uh we’ve seen that a little bit all all year but uh that’s been great for his development and it’s like an

Added Dimension you know for his game at one point tonight he hit Gafford with a no look pass uh to the hoop for a for a nice dunk um do you think that off the bounce game of Cory is still a little underrated yeah for sure I mean it’s

It’s an area that he works on every day and um you know he’ll continue to improve in that area but he’s aware you know teams are going to you know run him off the line and he’s got to find covered Solutions playing you know downhill is one getting to the line is

Another but being a secondary facilitator off the bounce is probably a third and then for the second straight game Denny had a double double um what have you liked from him so far just the last two games his you know Pace in the half court his cutting and movement um

You know he’s made some great plays off the bounce you know Finding rollers getting below coverage um he’s playing with force and I think that’s important it’s going to help us to collapse as the defense and opens up a lot of things what was it like trying to scheme against Trey young

Tonight and you know how tough was it with how many times he got to the free throw line it’s it’s difficult every time you know he’s he’s a master drawing contact and um uh getting free throws he’s he’s been that his whole career um but he’s Shifty so keeping him in front

Uh you know you’re going to have to guard a ton of pick and rolles um we talked about that pregame that combination between him and capella um you know him and Johnson as well they seem to have found a little bit of a a rhythm uh but but getting in front of

The ball and staying in front you know not giving him angles you know then therefore you open up and now he’s initiating contact and get to the to the rim and or to the line um what you think made the difference today um I mean we were in the ball game

Um I think we just didn’t hit shots um we had a lot of great open looks um as a collective and you know sometimes they go in sometimes they don’t and um know we gave ourselves a chance most of the game was a ball game but um yeah was a franchise record for

Three-point attempts for the team and also for you individually um what was it like I guess playing that type of game uh I mean that’s just how the game was um a lot of times they were just you know sacking off a lot of teams you know

Recently have been just kind of waiting for me to drive into the rim um you know just opening it up for myself really um because I’m confident in my shot so who’s it was really just kind of the second quarter that you guys lost what do you feel like you guys were doing

Well with the rest of the game um playing with Pace moving the ball sharing it um I don’t mean how many assists we have 34 34 assists right yeah yeah I mean that’s good right so um you know probably could have got more stops um yeah what kind of did change in

That second quter uh they went on a little run and we didn’t hit shots I mean that’s I mean that’s the story of the game really so you know we shot was that from three 37 we shot 37 from three oh it’s not bad oh that was them 32 yeah

Exactly uh this is Cory’s fourth straight game um with 13 or more points what have you seen from him lately and how’s he been progressing just being Cory uh coming off shot ready letting it Fly being ready to shoot um hunting shots um you know when teams close them out

Hard run it get into the paint and ones like he’s playing this game he’s been playing his game all year so to your to your point he had that nice drive in and one and then he also had a play off the bounce where he hit Gafford with a no

Look pass for a dunk do you think the off the bounce game of him is still a little underrated uh I mean it’s only underrated cuz people I mean like people that don’t watch basketball or whatever probably you know but I mean I’m sure the Scout Reports say you know run him

Off but you know he can do things off the bounds as well so I mean I’m not really surprised you guys won on Friday I know you lost today but made a push toward the end what have you thought just about the way you guys have been playing

Um in recent weeks compared to the rest of the season I mean recent weeks okay um you know we got our whole team back a little bit now so um sometimes I feel like you know it’s been a little clunky with that you know obviously trying to

Get D in there and then him having a restriction sham back um you know introducing musky a little bit more because we haven’t played so so much with him this year so um yeah CZ you had a season High 38 tonight what do you think you did

Right um made some shots yeah May 7 threes took my time took took good shots so Bal tonight finished with two points and I think he hasn’t been able to get into double figures um you know for I think five out of the last six or something like that would you like to

See him be more involved in offense or is it just feeling the game out and picking the spots I mean it’s just him being aggressive you know um rebounding and pushing and going and um you know attacking close outs you know all those type of things that he he can do like

You know 17 minutes 0 for three like he should be more aggressive like know we we I tell him that all the time and um you know he’ll figure it out but you know definitely definitely more aggressive for sure do you think it’s tough for a rookie to sort of build a

Consistently aggressive game plan but I’m sure I’m sure it helps having veterans like you tell them to be more aggressive but is it hard as a rookie to kind of have that be part of your consistent game plan um yeah for sure because um it’s a mindset right like you

Have to like as a rookie uh I mean I never went through this but like I just kind of see like you know like you can get down to yourself real quick but um you know to have an aggressive mindset you got to like you know have it like a

Little bit you know and um you know that’s the only reason the only way you’re going to have like consistent confidence too you know what I mean so you know something he has to learn and just um know grasp so a franchise record um 533 what’s your take on that Wes kind of

Talked about finding a balance between letting it Fly and understanding but it’s not going in and he thought they were good shots yeah I think we made a couple early um and I I don’t think necessarily we took a lot of bad ones um but to to

Wes’s point I think it’s finding that balance of okay can we get to this can we get the same shot maybe um a little later in the shot clock if you know we pass up on it now see if we can get a better look get into an action um and if

There’s nothing there can we still get that same shot um I think trying to get to that a little bit more um but at the same time we were just uh we were being aggressive like we we were driving and kicking found um a lot of catch and

Shoot three opportunities and um I think those those are all shots that I mean everybody on this team that was was shooting them um is confident in like I don’t think anybody was missing you know threes that they didn’t feel confident in or that the next guy you know wasn’t

Confident in as well um so yeah U I think it’s just yeah finding that balance um but we make we make a few more of those um open ones and um it’s a different work you know it’s a different you know kind of narrative so uh you you

Got to live with it maybe um again figure out can we pass up on some of those early shot clock ones and get to it you know a little bit later in the shot clock if we can’t get something better um and just kind of go from there

What was it like trying to defend Trey young tonight without fouling yeah it’s tough he’s I mean he’s All-Star great player uh very crafty um High usage like there’s you know it’s ball screen after ball screen um which wears on the defense um you know they have also different looks um

Different ways of getting him downhill different actions um he comes off you know sometimes he’s coming off flares they’re in pistol action um so they do a great job of of kind of mixing it up uh for him um but yeah he can he can score

The ball at all three levels um he draws fouls really well um it’s it’s he’s a he’s a tough cover man honestly and it’s uh but then that’s just scoring the ball he’s also a dynamic playmaker facilitator um they got capella rolling for lobs they got shooting around them

So um you know it’s not an easy night defensively especially when they got guys making shots um they got play you know players around them as well so um it’s a tough cover uh just try to make it you know show bodies um try to get deflections try to make him take tougher

Ones um and yeah this was Cory’s fourth straight game with at least 13 points what have you seen from him lately that’s allowed him to get going and how has he been looking to you lately he’s been looking great um getting downhill scoring the ball in the paint um I think

That’s kind of been the difference um he’s more comfortable doing that right now um he works on that um everyone knows he can shoot um that’s part of the reason why him you know being able to get downhill is open cuz guys are trying to be there on the catch or running them

Off the line um and he’s making them pay for that so that you know having that balance is only going to help him again get more open looks because if you’re able to get downhill and score um teams got to guard that as well uh they’re not

Just going to continue to run you off the line when you’re making them pay for it by scoring um in the paint driving making plays so um it’s been good for us we need that um we need that scoring spark you know Off the Bench and um you

Know he he he puts the work in again he’s been working on it focused on you know he’s watching film um you know he’s working on different different moves different counters um when he does get run off the line so um I don’t expect it

To change and um but we also expect him to continue to knock down you know outside shots as well do you think that aspect of his game the the driving the off the dribble plays uh is still a little underrated I do I do just cuz he’s obviously known for shooting um you

Know he’s a known shooter um three-point specialist but um again we’re seeing the consistency now of him getting downhill finishing um you know he’s got a couple dunks things like that so uh it’s definitely underrated just because of how good of a outside shooter he is um

You know so kind of kind of is what it is we give him a a tough time about it but uh we’ll take it and again we’re going to need him to continue to to keep that up hey T I have your like larger season stats in front of me right now

And you’re you shot 53% from three this month in December do you feel like you’re shooting the best you have from deep in your career right now yes and no um yes and no I feel like I’m in a pretty good Rhythm right now um shooting the ball um continue to be more

Familiar with the system um and just building off of for that I know I probably sound repetitive like contining to say that but that’s just the the honest truth just week in week out um the more games I’m getting under my belt the more I’m just becoming more familiar

Um with the system knowing where my spots are more familiar with the guys like it’s still um you know in the grand scheme of things early um chemistry-wise so we’re still continuing to build and grow in that in that um aspect so yeah just getting more familiar um you know

We’re we’re in the thick of it now so game your game legs are are under you now um you’re in a good Rhythm so just trying to build off of that um then you got you know nights like tonight where I mean I’m 3 for seven from three but I

Felt like all four misses like I got to make those you know what I mean so um that’s just a standard I hold myself to still feel like there’s room for improvement um and plan on continuing to get better

Hear from Coach Unseld, Kyle Kuzma and Tyus Jones following a win over the Atlanta Hawks.

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