P.J. Washington Rockets Postgame 1/26
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00:00 >> Tight game there at halftime, then got away from you in the third quarter and
00:03 felt like maybe some of the frustrations with the fouling, Houston making,
00:08 I think the first 11 shots in the quarter kind of boiled over.
00:10 How do you, I guess, learn from this and
00:13 not let maybe some of the stuff like that seep into the play?
00:18 >> I was frustrated because we can't invite the rest for when we play.
00:21 We basically let them do whatever they want in the second half,
00:26 obviously, but a good first half.
00:28 And then in the third quarter, at the end, they ran up a couple of shots and
00:33 got a 12 and just a bad basketball from there.
00:36 So we gotta do a better job being professionals and being ready to play.
00:41 >> TJ, coach talked about how this wasn't really playing on effort.
00:45 He still thinks this is the right group of guys in this locker room.
00:47 What's kind of your perspective after the loss like tonight?
00:51 >> We gotta find a better way to play game basketball, obviously.
00:55 So we did good in the first half, and second half, we just, we weren't together.
00:59 We were all for ourselves, and it showed.
01:01 >> PJ, you've been in the league for a while now.
01:04 You've been through the ups and the downs.
01:05 What's, I guess, your biggest piece of advice for the young guys that are maybe
01:10 playing in roles they're maybe not quite ready for because of injuries, and
01:13 they're getting this deep into the season, playing three and
01:15 four nights and stuff like that?
01:17 What's the mental aspect of that?
01:19 >> You gotta be prepared.
01:21 This is not an easy league, and I think this league is easy.
01:23 So we're playing professionals at the end of the day, so
01:26 we gotta know everybody's tendencies, everybody's strengths, and
01:28 everybody's weaknesses.
01:29 And you gotta do a better job of just being professionals.
01:32 So we got a lot to work on.
01:34 >> They hit 30 or 40 shots in the second half.
01:38 When you hit that number, what goes through your mind?
01:40 >> It feels like we just gave up on that game, so it's unacceptable.
01:45 44 points in the third, and 39 in the fourth, so we can't really get it.
01:49 >> And then for you guys, obviously, at that time of year,
01:51 we start hearing rumors and stuff about potential people.
01:54 Obviously, Terry got moved a couple days ago.
01:57 But you guys, how do you put that aside and
01:59 make sure you still come out here and play the way you should and
02:02 the way you want to?
02:03 >> At the end of the day, we got a job, and that's to come out here and play.
02:07 We can't worry about things we can't control, so
02:09 we gotta just focus on what we can control, and that's our play.
02:12 And we're gonna do a good job of it tonight.
02:15 >> You're around the half season mark, a little past that 43, 44 game.
02:18 What do you take from it, from the first part of the season going forward?
02:22 What's the mindset here?
02:23 Obviously, it's to win.
02:24 What else, other aspects, are you pulling into that?
02:27 >> For us, we can't make those two spot shows.
02:30 When we play bad, we play bad.
02:31 Tonight, we played horrible, so for us, we gotta just be better than that.
02:34 We don't have no prayer hours.
02:36 We had a lot of injuries, a lot of whatever going on.
02:39 But at the end of the day, things gotta change, and we gotta be more focused.
02:44 >> PJ, there's obviously been some spots where you guys have shown flashes of
02:48 what you guys can do.
02:49 Obviously, in Minnesota,
02:50 what can you guys take from the game in Minnesota that needs to happen more often?
02:54 >> We moved the ball, we played consistently,
02:58 we played better defense than we played tonight, and we won the game.
03:02 So for us, it's just, we gotta do the simple play, and
03:05 just play simple basketball.
03:07 >> Thanks, guys.