It was a Wizards Wednesday for the Junkies, who broadcast live from the Entertainment & Sports Arena on the day before the Wiz open their 2024-25 season against the Celtics – and before their final practice day, the guys had head coach Brian Keefe sit down with them for a little season preview!
This is going to be Year 2 of however long the process takes to turn the Wizards around and build them back into a winner, so while yes, excitement abounds about the basketball on the floor, it could be another tough season when it comes to the standings.
“Our guys have put a lot of work in through the offseason, a lot of training and preparation, so we’re excited for them to get opportunity to go compete against another team,” Keefe said. “The way we approach things is pretty simple: we're learning and preparing how to win, to build something sustainable, so winning matters to us, but we want to do it the way that's gonna build something that's gonna be lasting, that's gonna be sustainable, and done the right way. We can play a style of game that may sneak out wins but won’t lead to something that’s built long-term, so we wanna build a style on both ends of the floor that's gonna be sustainable for playoff basketball. We gotta build that day by day and that's gonna take some time.”
So what is it that they’re building?
“Defense is going to be something that our organization carries and that we wanna hang our hat on; we think those are the things that leads to something that's sustainable,” Keefe said. “And then the offense is gonna be obviously a little bit analytically driven, but it's gonna be ball movement, pace, we shot a good amount of threes last year, so that type of thing. We’ve added some size and versatility to the roster through the draft and free agency, so we have guys who are defensive minded and that's an important characteristic we want for our group.”
Alex Sarr being selected No. 2 is a perfect example of what they’re looking for in building blocks.
“The defensive versatility, his ability to a protect the rim, but also guard on the perimeter and guard multiple guys, that’s our first focus with him,” Keefe said. “His offense is gonna be coming around; he's a good decision maker, he can put the ball on the floor and will eventually be a very good shooter in this league, but the defensive versatility was the thing that stood out. His ability to make a big imprint on that in the game for his size, pretty impressive, obbviously gonna be some learning going on for him as he learns the NBA and guys he's playing against, but that was the thing that stood out.”
Take a listen to Keefe’s entire visit above, as he also discusses Sarr’s evolution this summer, Bilal Coulibaly’s expectations in Year 2 and expectations for some others, and more!