Pelicans Head Coach Alvin Gentry:
On the loss:
“I appreciate those guys in there because I think they play for all the right reasons and I think they compete like crazy. Unfortunately for us, they made a couple of big shots and we didn’t. But I like the fact that we came out of the lockerroom being down 14 and fought our way back and got ahead. It’s still a loss and we don’t gain anything from it other than the fact that I know that these guys are competing night in and night out. Obviously, missing AD (Anthony Davis) is a big part of what we do, everything that we do, so that’s a tough thing to go into the game, but we did. We played hard, we competed, we tried like crazy. Had a couple of tough breaks, and shots that would normally go in for us. We just didn’t shoot the ball well.”
On difficulty closing the game:
“I think we got shots, and we just didn’t make them. If you go back and look, some of the shots we got were good shots. Those are the ones you’ve got to make in the last three minutes of the game and we just didn’t make them. Obviously, if we don’t make them it puts pressure on your defense. I thought our defense was fantastic, played the whole game, and I don’t think they shot 40 percent. You’ve just got to find a way offensively to get a few baskets.”
On needing another scorer other than Anthony Davis:
“Not one other scorer, we’ve just got to execute. We’ve got to execute and we’ve got to try to get the ball in the basket. That’s not one guy, that’s a team effort right there. We just couldn’t get to the point where we had the shot and were able to step up and make the shot.”
On Terrence Jones:
“He’s been good for us. He’s been very good for us. I thought he competed great, and I thought he did a good job on (Serge) Ibaka, other than he got strung out a couple times on some three point shots. But I thought when they went head-to-head, and we threw the ball into the post, I thought he did a good job. He went to the basket and scored a few for us. I thought he played well.”
On third quarter defense:
“We play good defense guys. We were 28th last year, we’re 12th this year. Our defense has been good. Where we suffered is that our offense hasn’t followed suit. We were a pretty good offensive team last year, now we’re 27th. That disparity doesn’t work when you’re 27th offensively and 12th defensively or vice versa. It’s got to be somewhere in that same upper area, but it can’t be that much of a discrepancy.”
On whether there’s enough offense on the roster other than Anthony Davis:
“We have plenty. We’ve just got to get the ball in the basket. I think we work hard. And as I said, we got shots that we’re capable of making, we’ve just got to step up and make them. I don’t have any complaints about the way we played. I think our guys did a good job. And as I said, we don’t gain anything from it because it’s still a loss, but I love the fact that we’ll compete. It doesn’t matter where we are, what we do, we’ll still compete.”
Pelicans Guard Buddy Hield:
: (on playing without A. Davis)
“It was difficult. We played hard as a group. We lost the game in the last three minutes of the game. We didn’t make shots at the end. Having Anthony not out there that was kind of tough. We needed to keep making plays like we did earlier. I think we fought hard as a group as a team, but we just didn’t get shots like we needed to. That is how the game goes sometimes.”
“I am just trying to do whatever to help my team win. Making plays, drive and kick and that is what you have to do to make plays. I was pleased with our effort today.”
“I am just trying to do whatever to help my team win. Making plays, drive and kick and that is what you have to do to make plays. I was pleased with our effort today.”
“Losing is not in my DNA, but we have to stay positive and stay patient and we will get it turned around. We all lost close games. Look at our record and we could be 6-5 or 7-5, but we lost close games so we will get it rolling. We just need to find a way to get over that hump. I like this team and we just have to keep moving the ball and sharing the ball like we did today and things will be great for us.”
“He (Terrence Jones) is special and he played hard. He basically put the team on his back in the third quarter, stepped up and made shots. He was terrific.”
Pelicans Guard Terrence Jones:
“I was just trying to be aggressive and make plays for my team and try to make sure we still had that flow as if the best big in the league was still playing with us and without him it is very tough for us to keep that normal flow of offense when he is in there. I just wanted to come in and be aggressive and make plays for us.”
“I wanted to go off the dribble and try to use my quickness and versatility to try to make plays for myself or hit the other big or open guard. We were just a couple plays short. We fought to get back into the game and had a tough time with it and keeping them from scoring with our turnovers. Besides that we pretty much fought back into the game any way we could and just fell a little short today.”
On Who Mentors Buddy Hield:
“There’s a couple guys, coach, E’twaun (Moore), and some of the other vets on the team. Coach (Alvin Gentry) and I will be watching tape on defense tomorrow, and he will chew me out. All of that makes me good though, and I learn from it every day that I’m around those guys. So I just try and listen to what they have to say, and try and improve my game.”
(on second half defensive adjustments)
“I think we just had that will to win and that fight. I think everybody out there turned it up an extra notch and pretty much went out there with the mindset they didn’t want their man to score. Everybody was flying around and helping and it looked real good in that third quarter. If we could just fight like that for 48 (minutes), I definitely think we could come out with a lot more wins.”