Pelicans Head Coach Monty Williams
On tonight's game:
“We have a resilient group that hates losing. They hate the feeling of letting each other down or letting me down. We have this tendency to bounce back when we don’t as well play as we can. When you lose the way that we lost last night, it leaves a sick feeling in your stomach. I did expect us to play with a bit of passion and with a chip on our shoulders tonight. I didn’t know that we would come out and have the defensive quarters like we did tonight. Especially in the third quarter defensively, which has been a big deal for us. We made adjustments to switch on the pick-and-rolls. Our defense stepped up when we made some substitutions. Jrue Holiday led us. He was saying some things to the guys.”
On the Grizzlies:
“It’s too early in the season to try to make assessments on any team, unless you’re undefeated. I’m sure they are having an adjustment period like we are. You go through that when you have so many new players and a new coach.”
On Anthony Davis:
“We never knew where the work was going to lead to, but we knew he would be better. To what degree? Only the future holds that answer. He worked all summer. He was in New Orleans and with the Olympic team. We give credit to the coaching staff, who was with him every step of the way.”
Pelicans Forward-Center Jason Smith
On tonight's game:
“It feels really good to get the win. Especially against a playoff team. The Grizzlies are really good team to get a win over. We played good defense. We didn’t have to take the ball out of the net as much. We had good transition and we had good movement of the ball. Our defense held true tonight. We held them to only 18 points in the first quarter. We have been here before. We had the lead at halftime, but third quarters give us trouble. We knew we had to go out and be motivated to have a good quarter. Coach Monty Williams just tells us to get better every day. We just have to go out there and execute on offense.”
Pelicans Forward Al-Farouq Aminu
On tonight's game:
“It does feel good to get the win. We have a good group. We didn’t finish the game like wanted to, but we will take the win. It took mental toughness. We have a young team and mentally we were in it from the beginning to the end. Every day we are looking better. Anthony Davis has come out here and has realized where he is most effective. He just goes out there and lets his talent take over. Everyone gets more comfortable the longer that you are in the NBA. It is very respectable the way he works when this is only his second year in the league.”
Pelicans Guard Eric Gordon
On tonight's game:
“I think we played really good defense, which gave us great opportunities in the fast break. We did that all night and never let down defensively. We were knocking down jump shots and getting layups. The more we do that, the easier it becomes. It breaks down the opposing teams. It really helps our chemistry. It was a good night for us.”