New Orleans Pelicans Head Coach Willie Green
Going into the fourth, just took a huge punch from them. How did you guys collect yourselves after that happened?
You know, the biggest point in all of this, and I talked to the team about it, is keeping God first in everything that we do, and giving him the glory when we have an opportunity, especially on this platform, and that's what it was, just having faith in each other, staying connected, knowing that we took their best shot, and we're only down 10 or what have you points going into the fourth quarter. Guys just fought, and we're so proud of that type of effort, and that win tonight was big time.
Your season as a whole has been an insane ride. How good does it feel knowing you're going to the Playoffs?
It's an unbelievable feeling. So grateful for Mrs. Benson and Griff and Trajan and Swin, our coaching staff, our medical team, our performance team, and then our guys. They're great. That's how you withstand tough times is with character, and we have extremely high-character individuals in our organization, and it's been a joy to go at it with them.
What did you see in Brandon to start the game? Seemed like he just had a different kind of look in his eye in that first quarter.
Brandon Ingram is the truth. He just brought it. He had that look in his eye from the time we got on the plane, shootaround. He's been locked in. He has been waiting for this moment, for this type of moment. His preparation is off the charts. This summer he went six, seven hours a day. He believes in his teammates. He's just all you want and more in a player, in a person.
After this exhilarating victory, how do you ride this moment into the Playoffs?
Right now we just focus on enjoying our night. Phoenix is definitely going to be a challenge. We know Phoenix, I know Phoenix well, but I'm not there yet. I'm not there yet.
You've talked all season about the resilience your team has shown, the toughness they've shown, but what's it like seeing this from such a young team coming up in these moments and responding on this stage?
It's incredible. Once again, these guys, we keep God first in everything that we do. We try to treat each other with respect no matter what our record is, and every day that they come in the gym, they compete, and that's from top to bottom, all of our players, all of our staff. We just stayed with it, and it's incredible to see the results, so we're extremely happy. A lot of work to do tomorrow, but definitely going to enjoy this one.
A lot of times when teams are trying to make that leap, they have to make baby steps. How much does it help you this team now gets to play in an actual series, and what can that do for the franchise moving forward?
It's going to be great for us. We're looking forward to lacing it up on Sunday against Phoenix. I don't want to say that -- I didn't know what was going to happen this season in terms of like where we were going to be, but I definitely believed we had a chance to do something special from the very beginning that I got here, and this team reminded me a lot of Phoenix, young, hungry, but high-character guys. The future is bright.
New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram
Larry was saying that he could tell on the flight here or shootaround you had a look in your eye. How locked in did you feel coming into this game?
You know, these two games in the play-in I've been very locked in. Just trying to know everything about the other team, figure out what they really, really do well and trying to figure out how I can be effective on the offensive end.
My approach is just trying to be the aggressor and trying to make sure that my team is -- our guys are being the aggressors, too, on the offensive end and defensive end and just staying consistent throughout the game.
Considering how this season started, how good does it feel to a couple months later, you guys have made it all the way back and you're going to the Playoffs?
We've been resilient. Willie stayed positive throughout the season, no matter if we won or lost, and we continued to worry about ourselves, how we can get better, how we can continue to build wins for the organization, and knowing that this isn't just for this year, this continues to go on, but we stayed in the moment and continued to get better.
You took a huge punch from the Clippers in the third quarter, down 10 going into the fourth. How did you collect yourselves and get back into the game in the fourth?
Guys stepped up. Trey Murphy was big in that fourth quarter, maybe even in the third quarter, just defensive rebounding and knocking down shots. We're going to need that from him as we continue to go on, for him to knock shots down, be ready and continue to learn the game. Larry Nance came in and was really, really good on the offensive and defensive glass and making smart decisions. We needed something from everybody today.
Willie said after the game Brandon Ingram is the truth. We've felt all season long that you can tell he really believes in you. Does that give you confidence? How does it make you feel knowing you have that bond with that coach like that?
Yeah, it's a great feeling. I get to tell him whatever is on my mind, whatever I feel in the game, and he gives a good response every single time and he listens. It's great to have that, and the continued dialogue. He makes me a better person and a better basketball player, so we continue to keep going.
We heard you talking a little bit after the game, but what does it mean for you to have your first opportunity to play in the Playoffs and get to show what you can do on that stage?
To God be the glory. It's our time. All the work that we've put in every single day, all the work that we've put in this summer, we finally get to showcase it on the biggest stage. I'm excited. I know my teammates are excited. Willie is excited. You should see Jose dancing behind this screen right now. I know he's excited. It's going to be fun.
We got to hear the speech on TV, but what were you thinking heading into that fourth quarter, the words Willie said to you guys in the huddle, just looked like a different type of attitude, different type of passion than what we're used to seeing from Willie. What were you thinking when he was giving that speech?
That we've got to win this basketball game. That's the only thing that's going through my mind. How I can be effective in the last six minutes in the game, how I can be aggressive, make the best decisions on the basketball floor. Everyone bought into that. Everyone on the floor made good decisions on the floor. We were really good on the defensive end, and we just executed our offense.
For you personally, how do you enjoy playing with those teammates, and what did you see as the ceiling for this team from your perspective?
This team is different. We get a chance to be together off the floor and really like each other and be around each other. I think that's why we play so well and we're so loose on the basketball floor. I haven't been around a team like that since maybe high school where we all got young guys, even some of the older guys are just really in tune with what we're doing. It's fun. It's fun playing with these guys and trying to gut out and get wins. We really play for each other.
Pelicans guard CJ McCollum
One of the first things you said when we got here is have y'all seen Brandon Ingram play lately. Was tonight an example of the level that guy can get to?
Yeah, he's one of them ones. He's a special player. He gets to his spots. I'm just thankful -- obviously I get to play alongside him and I'm happy about that, but I'm glad the world gets to see how good he truly is. I think oftentimes if you don't make the Playoffs people kind of forget about you or underestimate your talent. Now he has the chance to play on the biggest stage, and he showed tonight how great he is. He can get to his spots, get to the rim, he can make plays. Defensively he's active, engaged, can initiate the offense, 6'9", 6'10" and now he gets to play on the biggest stage and I'm happy for him.
Brandon seems like a guy that guys who play the game really appreciate what he can do. Do you think there's anything to that?
Yeah, I think it's just a skill set that he has and it's a skill set that he's worked on and developed from his time at Duke to now. He's a completely different player. Obviously more polished, more physical, more methodical with his movement, dribbling into his spots, the footwork, finishing around the basket, his playmaking. I think his IQ has kind of elevated and evolved. I think now you're kind of getting the best version of him every night and you're starting to really see the work ethic and everything that he's done up to this point coming to fruition.
As a vet when the Clippers are kind of throwing that punch, obviously we kind of heard what Willie was saying in the huddle. What do you try to say to those guys or what are you trying to do in those moments to settle the team down and into the fourth quarter to get things back on track?
Normally I'd be talking a lot, but I'm battling some stomach issues so I didn't really talk a lot. I was just trying to catch my breath. Normally I would just tell the guys to understand it's a long game. I think I talked about it before the first play-in game. We're going to be up, we're going to be down; they're going to go on a run, we're
going to go on a run. It's more about how we respond to it. I think we level responded well. We didn't pout, we didn't
put our heads down. They got up by 14, they were executing and they were getting into us, they were getting to the free-throw line, they were playing off of their fans, and we didn't allow that to affect us and we kind of steadied the ship and finished the game.
What did you think about the way the guys responded in that fourth quarter after that punch that the Clippers delivered in the third and just being able to march your way back and get back into it late in the game?
Yeah, it's a sign of growth and maturity from a young group, which is surprising that you see that type of growth and maturity. Usually teams lay down and fold. I talked about it after one of our shootarounds how a lot of times when a team is facing an elimination game, they begin to let go of the rope, so to speak. In the tug-of-war they kind of let go and fold, and I thought that we did a great job of holding on to the rope and continuing to fight. It's like a tug-of-war game, continuing to fight, making sure that we're competing and making sure that we're defending, not giving up second-chance opportunities and then executing a little bit better offensively, and I thought we did that down the stretch.
It wasn't just a young team kind of in this moment, it was a young coach. This was Willie's first experience doing this, and he said matching wits with Ty Lue felt like a heavyweight fight at some points. What did you think about the way he kind of rose to the moment in that fourth quarter and matched the adjustments Ty Lue was throwing at you guys?
No, I thought he handled himself well. He showed great moxie, he challenged us, challenged me specifically to be more aggressive, more methodical, and I can appreciate that and respect that, and I think him having played for so long he understood the importance of this moment, he understood what this moment meant for our team and our young players and our franchise and our fans, and we want to really take advantage of this. We've got a long summer ahead, and we can rest in the summer, but right now we've got to fight and do what we can to kind of continue to extend our season.
I wanted to ask you about the two guys off the bench. In just the time you've been here you've seen Trey Murphy make a huge jump. What did you think of the way for a guy in his rookie year to be able to come through the way he did in the fourth quarter?
I think that shows the work ethic and preparation. He's been in and out of the lineup, he's been in the G-League some. Sometimes he's in the game, sometimes he's not played some in the first half, then didn't play a lot in the second quarter, then Coach throws him in. That's a sign of trust but also him being ready. He'd catch-and-shoot, got some offensive rebounds, got to the free-throw line. It gives us a different dynamic because of his ability to shoot, and I think the other team recognizes that. Tonight he stepped up and made some great plays for us.
As far as Larry goes, he's only been playing with the team less than a month. What did you think of just for him to be able to do what he did tonight?
He was great. I think that the first time out he told me, I'm here. I said that, I said, well, if I'm not going to show up, you have to. He did a great job of being aggressive. He was rebounding. He was athletic. I think he's just getting more comfortable, too, understanding he's coming off an injury where he wasn't able to practice, he learned a new offense, new city. We're both away from our families. So there's a lot of different variables that make this transition difficult. I think he's kind of settling in, finding his rhythm, finding his basketball rhythm and getting more comfortable playing this spacing. Tonight he was huge. Without him, we don't win this game tonight.