One of the toughest things players on a losing team have to do in an elimination game is to speak with the media. John Wall and Bradley Beal did just that as they spoke with the press after Friday's Game 6 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. The video is embedded above, or click here to watch from Monumental Network.
Here are some tidbits of what they said:
- Both felt that the Wizards didn't make progress from last season overall because of the result: A second consecutive loss in the second round. I think he is being a bit harsh on himself, but the Wizards made progress overall, which we'll talk more about over the next several days. Wall was proud of how the Wizards played in the three games that he sat out, and that also made his decision to come back and play a bit easier.
- Wall answered a question about whether the Wizards learned anything from the Hawks in the playoffs that they didn't know in the regular season. He said that there wasn't anything different from what he saw before.
- Beal and Wall answered a question about having a chance to play alongside a veteran star like Paul Pierce. Both gave him credit for the confidence he instilled in them, as well as the example he set in practice. Beal also credited Pierce for teaching him to trash talk better.
- Toward the end of the interview, Beal answered a question in regards to Marcin Gortat, who suffered flu-like symptoms before the game.
In short, both Wall and Beal were taking this loss pretty hard, and you can definitely see it from their body language. There certainly will be some changes in the offseason around them, but overall, both players improved from last season. With the House of Guards leading the way in D.C., the future is bright indeed.
If you want to see Randy Wittman's postgame presser, click here. He is also pretty optimistic about the future too.