And forty! The Pistons conceded their 40th defeat of the season on Saturday evening, beaten at home by the Wizards on the rebound after dismissing Wes Unseld Jr, with his assistant Brian Keefe acting as interim manager. Everything was not perfect, far from it, but the Washington players and staff savored this success, since they remained on 12 defeats in their last 13 matches.
Beaten for his first as head coach against Utah, Brian Keefe expressed his satisfaction at the end of this first success, both in terms of the result and the state of mind displayed by his troops.
“It’s obviously very cool. But most importantly, I'm really happy for our guys, the way they played and the confidence they had in each other.”, he rejoiced. “Our communication was excellent on defense. We put several players on the field to ensure the rebound. And when a guy was open, we made the right pass. I really enjoyed seeing our team do that.”
Defense as a credo
For a tough team, Washington actually did well by knowing how to take care of the ball (26 assists for 9 lost balls). Brian Keefe also appreciated the defense, particularly in the last act since Detroit was held to 19 points with only 6 baskets on 21 attempts.
“It’s a continuation of what we built the other evening,” added Brian Keefe in reference to the previous match lost to Utah. “We started to get a little more defensive activity in our last game, and I think that continued tonight. Defense must be our trademark, what we put our name on. I thought the guys were really competitive and fought hard. And these automatisms were excellent tonight.”
