Hoop District was at practice, the Wizards' first extended one (around two hours long) in weeks. Here is what John Wall, Bradley Beal, and Scott Brooks had to say about the “best time of the year” according to the head coach.
John Wall
On what the Wizards worked on in practice:
“It was great. Scrimmaged for a little bit, went over a lot of their [Atlanta’s] plays, different coverages to guard those guys in, a lot of defensive coverages.”
On not making the 2016 playoffs:
“Once you get the feeling of it, you don’t ever want to miss it again. It was tough missing it [the playoffs].”
On his advice to players who will be playing in their first postseason:
“Every possession matters [Beal echoed the same sentiment], that’s it. I remember, I didn’t get back on one play in the first quarter and Trevor Ariza cussed me out my first time [in the playoffs].”
On how he feels:
"Great, perfecto. Yep, been getting a lot of treatment every day and doing the stuff I was doing before I had it. It feels way better, 100 percent.”
On the MVP debate:
“It’s going to be interesting. Russ broke records and had a heck of a season; did something that nobody thought was going to be accomplished. And James has won over 50 games and almost averaged a triple double. I think it’s just those two that are really in the race. Other guys like Kawhi, LeBron, Isaiah, me are up there, but those two guys have had remarkable seasons. Just got to see what happens.”
On if he is curious on where he finishes:
“No, because I ain’t finish first so I still have some climbing to do.”
Bradley Beal
On if practice was different today:
“It’s go time. The real season starts now. I think we are all locked in.”
On his memories from Atlanta series in 2015:
“We’re still salty about it regardless if the teams [personnel] may be different. Last time we were there, that’s the team that knocked us out. It’s kind of a little vengeance type thing.”
On if winning the division and getting home court was the expectation last season:
“Yeah, yeah. We always set that goal for ourselves going into the year. Last year we fell up short of that, fell up short of the playoffs, period. That’s kind of a reality check for us last year. Just knowing that we cannot just show up and play. Just turn it on with a certain amount of games left. We have to close out the year the right way, and we did not do that [last year]. This year, we did a better job of focusing on what’s at hand and what we wanted and holding onto it.”
Scott Brooks
Brooks on what the Wizards worked on in practice.
“We had a great film session. Our players were locked in. We got on the court and worked on a lot of things that we felt will be very important to have success in this series. Focus on how we need to continue to play. … Overall it was a great day.”
On pushing Wall to be better when first meeting him, while he was in the hospital following knee surgery last year.
“He accepted it. He accepted to be a better basketball player. To be at his age, a three-time All-Star, at that point [before the season], is pretty remarkable. Statistically he has improved and you can’t argue that. Just from the leadership responsibilities, this is his team to lead. He’s done a good job.
Other notables:
Brooks, as did Wall, said that Washington’s key to avoid turnovers against a top turnover forcing team like Atlanta will be the team’s offensive spacing.
Brooks foreshadowed that Markieff Morris will spend time playing the backup center position as a small ball unit without Ian Mahinmi in at least the first two games of the series.
Ian Mahinmi (calf) and Sheldon Mac (calf) sat out of practice. Mahinmi was wearing a compression wrap around his calf, while Mac is day-to-day, but is wearing a walking boot. Mac said that James Johnson, a black belt, kicked the “s***” out of his calf in Game 82 in Miami.
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