On the Wizards’ depth:
“Everyone is healthy, except Darius (Songaila), and he has been shooting after practice, which is encouraging. Roger Mason has played well. We have some good depth with Donell (Taylor) and Andray (Blatche). Donell brings some very good defensive intensity off the bench and Andray brings some great skill level to the court.”

On when the team anticipates making roster moves:
“We’ll make some roster moves before our trip to Chicago on Wednesday.”

On what he would like to see against the Raptors tomorrow:
“We’d like to show strong defensive principles. We need to stay organized and take quality shots on offense. We have to allow ourselves to work within our offense and not take quick shots. We have to take away their top three scoring threats, and we need to rebound well and not allow second chance points.”

On the center position:
“We had a very good practice today. We have been very competitive and very defensive-minded, and that is what we have been looking for from our bigs. We are looking for them to protect the basket in the lane and play physical.”

CENTER BRENDAN HAYWOOD
On his approach for the opening preseason game:
“My approach is to get ready for the season. We need to play hard, unselfish basketball, and run the plays through offensively. We need to work hard on keeping our focus defensively.”

On the Wizards’ defense:
“We have all stressed the importance of defense – from management, to the coaching staff and the players. We have worked hard and have concentrated on defense during training camp. We know that we can score, but the focus has been on defense all through training camp. We realize that if we want to take the next step, we have to improve on defense.”