Media Availability: Brian Keefe, Kyle Kuzma, and Tristan Vukcevic | 04/04/24

Media Availability: Brian Keefe, Kyle Kuzma, and Tristan Vukcevic | 04/04/24

Uh yeah we got down a little bit there in the third and then hey credit to our guys in the fourth quarter we made two runs we made a run that cut it to two they built it back up and then we made some substitutions and we cut it to five

At the end so our resolve and stick to this um was good that’s the stuff that we want to see not happy with not winning the game but we stuck with it and we stayed together through tough times and that’s one you want to see from your team and your group what did

You um think of that zone that seemed to really catch them flat footed in the second half especially a couple times yeah changed the rhythm of the game um they were hurting us inside a little bit made him shoot a little bit more on the perimeter made him a little more

Stagnant uh that was a big effect for US helped us get back in the game Brian what did you see on your defensive boards was that simply the Excellence of Davis and um yeah they they hurt us on the second chance points we got a rebound pretty good tonight but

Uh you know Davis is a is a handful it’s like I said we had we weren’t doing it collectively in the first half um thought the Zone helped us out we rebounded out of that pretty well uh but yeah the rebounding did hurt us tonight aside from the resolve and the

Resilience what were you happy with uh we shot the ball really well like we shot the ball well from three you know we turned it over probably more than we had liked but I thought our intentions were there we were trying to make the right play sometimes we just

Made maybe an extra pass that wasn’t there that shouldn’t have been made and we could have shot it but like we shot the ball well the resolve and the spirit to come back though was the thing that stood out to me um that we made those

Two runs to get us back in the game and that’s a good good thing for our group just want to check in on Denny I assume the migraine is related to that tough elbow he took from uh yes uh yeah hopefully he’ll be okay but yeah he took a pretty good

Shot hey coach what did you see from uh Tristan on the defensive end when he was guarding Anthony Davis what a great experience for him right first start um playing against you know high level player I thought he did pretty good uh he was really effective in our Zone

Using his length um we’re learning about him every day what his skills and what his strengths are so this is a great period for him to get these experiences and he and he played really well like he’s he’s being a big contributor to what we’re doing on the court I’ve been

Very pleased with him would you say that his confidence uh shooting the ball is higher than the average player that you’ve coached in your day uh rookies specifically you know this guy’s been a professional so he’s this is not you know something like it’s a different league but he’s

Played in a very serious professional league so he came in here ready to play and with confidence and uh we’re happy I said before like that he chose to be here with us and we’re happy about his development I know it’s early yet I know you’re still learning him but what are

Some of the areas of improvement that the team will direct to him in the off seon obviously just getting used to the physicality of the NBA game the size and the strength that stuff is he’s going to grow with with time as he gets more into our development system but you know

He’ll learn our system our schemes like he’s you know he got thrown here at the end of the year and he’s picked up stuff really well on the fly with not a lot of practice time I’ve been really impressed with that but just getting more comfortable with everything that we’re

Doing that will pay off over time mention Reb obviously there’s I thought we could have gang rebound a little bit more we’ve been rebounding really well um so let’s I think I say this a lot it’s never just one person he got a little bit of his own misses

Sometimes too so like you got to fly in there and put bodies on bodies guards got to help out the bigs uh we’ve been pretty good in that area that we weren’t as good tonight thank you everybody yeah after playing sloppy uh most of the game being able B to uh get

Back um credit a lot of those guys um JC did a great job uh Jared Butler Patrick ball and AG um when they were in they they really made that run and a lot of those guys are tired um playing in the g- league the other day so um you know

They did a great job of really getting us back in the ball game U to an extent and but we just didn’t have enough to close um you know ad was on the boards all night affected us as aot a lot being small and um outnumbered a little bit

Already but um we we showed a lot of fight um resilience and um you know Tall part of building that type of culture so what sloppiness would you have like to see cleaned up um we just had uh turnovers um started with me I had four

And then um we just had a lot of um easy baskets for them not getting back in transition first half they scored 19 points in transition uh really allowed them to you know stay afloat and have a little leag going into a half because we played pretty well um outside of that in

The first half and then um it’s too many dunks easy dunks guys coming down the middle of the lane uh doing what they want so um I think it was a good Learning lesson so Kyle does it ever get old to face your former team uh never man um you

Know I love those guys over there um Brian ad I mean that’s really the only two people over there um yeah I’m put thr ruy in there too cuz that’s my guy but um it’s always fun playing against him and competing um I learned so much

From them guys um you know taking a backseat earlier in my career um to really Propel me to who I am today so um just nothing but love for both of them we’re we’re learning about Tristan as we’re watching him uh what are some of the things that you’re learning about

What he can do and where he needs to grow uh he just needs get stronger honestly but that boy can play uh he’s smart uh you could tell that he’s been in Europe he’s a European style player plays the right way understands spacing um competes I think that’s a big

One and um he he he knows when to space the floor and shoot and um take solid shots so very impressed uh by seeing him so early we know yes he’s been a pro but even with all that said to come in here with three weeks left in the season and

How tough is that even for someone who is a is a pro as he is I mean yeah he’s a pro um like but you know just understanding the game you know playing in Europe a lot of those guys know how to come in and contribute a lot uh

Recently um if you look around the NBA like the European Talent International Talent uh just because the brand of basketball is much different from here and um playing right away is the emphasis but um it’s very tough and especially for how young he is to come

Over here pick things up in fly um I seen it the first day when we had him in um I want to say Chicago and in the film session he just came to double because we were doubling Demar um mind you this isn’t Hotel you know and he came over to

Double Demar and then just ran week side like we’ve been trying to get guys to do that all year and he was just picked it up on the fly so um I could tell right away he was a high IQ basketball player um so it’s great for him Ballroom yeah

Yep CH just wanted to ask about your shoulder is this the soreness something you’ve just been dealing with on and off and how are you kind of managing it yeah oh you know the training staff been doing a great job management uh with me

Um you I think I heard it at the end of January so um they’ve been doing a great job just uh keeping me available so uh I mean he’s a listener he listens to everybody um he’s a sponge and um you know um it’s it’s funny watching them

It’s always fun to watch rookies come in the game and uh play against their Idols you know uh whether it was tonight his first opportunity playing Bron or ad the other night seeing Giannis for the first time and know I believe he’s Greek as well so um it’s real fun just to watch

Young young players with their first opportunity to play these stars in this league it’s uh you know just brings back a lot of me memories for me um being young and same thing happening so thank you guys Tristan uh you had another really good game and you had to

Battle foul trouble so what was the key to uh navigating that um the key was to not get in not get more fouls it’s uh you know I I felt some some fouls I didn’t do some fouls were bad fouls by by my part like the first

One um you know I should just watch film and see what I can do and what not to do so next time I’m uh I don’t know I don’t get in foul trouble Tristan what was it like when you learned you were gonna have the task of guarding Anthony Davis and and lining

Up against him and helping out with defense on the bra all of that your what is this like third or fourth Wizards game yeah fourth fifth yeah so I kind of figured out myself yesterday when uh when Bagley got got got injured and then

Uh today I you know I just watched a lot of film I I called the Frank Kaminsky uh he was my teammate and I asked him hey you got some tips on how to guard uh how to guard ad so I asked him he told

Me some uh you know uh what to do like where to push him where his strength so yeah do you call him a lot for yeah in general you know we play like the same position pretty much kind of like the same player you know uh pick and pop

Five and you know he’s been in the league for seven eight years so it’s a you know it’s a guy that you know is helping me you have shown so much of your range and versatility even in just the few games that you’ve played with these guys what have kind of the Wizards

And I don’t know if you’ve had conversations with the front office but what have they said that they’re excited for you to bring what do they want you to show and and kind of prove about your game I think spacing the floor was that was the main thing space on the floor as

A fiveman think uh yeah that and then like with my experience in Europe and like playing with the players i’ I played in Europe being at there at such a young age like with Real Madrid and partisan like just to bring like an a different set type of IQ different type

Of basketball and like a fresh air I would say to to the team so yeah here in the United States even teenagers spend a lot of time in the waight room training yeah uh it’s said that in Europe there’s not as much of that how much weight room

Work have you done in your career up to this point well not as much I’ve done in this two weeks for sure Europe is more like you know five on five uh textbook basketball uh plays so you be practicing for like what like two three hours so

Like when that’s done like your body is just too tired to to do weightlifting and I think Tai who’s uh doing a great job with me he has helped me and uh I felt I’m getting stronger and bigger even though I’m here for like what 10 15

Days and you know that’s a big uh next step for me like my my body my weight and everything I think this summer The they’ll do a great job in getting me prepared for next next season one of your new teammates gave you a really good compliment saying that

Your IQ is really really good and he talked about a a ballroom kind of walkth through in Chicago in the hotel okay something about maybe these guys can help describe it but something about moving on the weak side Rosen do you recall that kind of anecdote or anything

That you that whole story I mean not really but it’s like I just uh like the te like I said before like the teams I’ve been in in Europe and like the coaches I’ve had they’re the best coaches in Europe uh Pablo lasso and Angelo so like just being with them

Every day like opened up my like IQ and like my vision of basketball so you know that helped me in just like reading the game better it’s not like I sit at home and you know uh think about it it I think comes more naturally of like just

Being around these type of people and just thinking ahead at the moment just you know thinking like even a second earlier than other people is a big Advantage let’s say like yic is a great example so it’s like something that I’m still learning I don’t think I’m perfect

At that but you know I still have room for improvement so yeah Tristan you’ve been playing against grown men for years now just for your time in Europe do you find that you are ahead of your time in terms of just not getting Star Struck playing against players like LeBron and

Anthony Davis yes so the first time when I saw that I was like damn you know it’s it’s LeBron like a month ago I was like watching him on TV and you know now I’m here and I’m starting against you know to match up against ad and LeBron so like the first

Glance is like wow but then like once tip off starts it’s just it’s just basketball I don’t care who’s in front of me uh I just you know try to play my game and do the best I can when we ask Brian Keef about you he often says that

They’re learning about you as you go they’re learning more about your game what about your game are you trying to make clear to them if that makes sense what are you trying to prove to them that you’re good at that’s a secret no uh I just like like I said

Before spacing the floor playing with the playing with my IQ like thinking the game and uh just playing playing the game I love so that’s like the thing I’m my head is mainly like pointed to has there been anything about this very brief MBA experience so far that um

You’ve seen that you weren’t expecting that I wasn’t expecting uh not really I mean I was watching the NBA I had a teammates that played in the NBA so they kind of like told me how it is how everything like is different here than in Europe so like

Coming here I didn’t come in here like and I was here for summer league too so it’s not like I it’s like the first time coming here so um so yes not it was it’s okay I cu how many languages do you speak fluently four which one English English Serbian Greek

Spanish and Swedish just Swedish I I understand I can’t really speak it but we’re getting there we’re getting there step by step and you picked up English how as well uh like school so my dad played a he was a professional basketball player in Europe so just us always moving like

My mom said the best thing is uh to stay like in an international school so that’s where I got my English from studying in English thank you

Interim head coach Brian Keefe, Kyle Kuzma, and Tristan Vukcevic spoke to the media following Thursday night’s matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers at Capital One Arena.

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