ALVIN GENTRY, PELICANS HEAD COACHOn the message to his team following the loss:"I think our big problem right now is that we can't seem to close games. We play even or we play a little bit ahead,but come crunch time we've got to be able to make shots. We've got to be able to come up with stops, we've gotto be able to make free throws. For some reason we haven't been able to do that this year very often, so that'swhy if you look at the point differential it's not very much at all, but we put ourselves in a position where we justcannot close games. We've got to do a better job of closing out games."
On controlling LeBron James tonight:"When you play this team right here the bottom line is that LeBron is going to control the whole game down thestretch. He has done it his whole career and he is the best in the business at it, and that's not necessarily scoring.He just makes the right play every single time. He finds the right guy, he manipulates switches, he does it all.You've got to put yourself in a position where you can't do that. Because if you let LeBron control the game, downthe stretch he is just going to do it every time. Like I said he is the best in the business at it."
On how the team can turn things around in late-game scenarios:"I'm not sure right now. I have to look at this again and really observe and figure it out. We're getting good shots.We've got to make them, obviously. We can't have blown defensive assignments, not in the last two or threeminutes of the game. We've got to have some of the bounces bounce our way. We've got a ball down there,we've got three people down there, LeBron comes up with it and he ends up getting fouled. Those are the kind ofthings that I think some kind of way we have to eliminate."
ANTHONY DAVIS, PELICANS CENTER
On the team's 15-18 record:
"We're just not closing games. We had a lot of open looks tonight [and] missed them. Actually, in our last three losses we had a lot of open looks and [we're] just not making them. I know we still have guys out. I think when we're healthy, we're a much better team. You know, we haven't had a chance to play with our full lineup since our first four games. It's tough. Guys are playing a lot of minutes who usually don't play a lot of minutes so it's a lot on them."
On the positive reaction he received from STAPLES Center fans:"I don't put anything into it. My job it to focus on the New Orleans Pelicans and try to help this team win.Obviously, I'm not doing a great job. We're losing. We lost three in a row. I have to do a better job of trying tofigure out how we can put some more wins together – especially down the stretch. Knowing that the ball isprobably going to come to me late game, doing a better job of finding my teammates and putting them in aposition to score ... That's all I'm focused about. It's cool to have fans everywhere you go, but my job is about thePelicans right now."
JULIUS RANDLE, PELICANS FORWARD
On receiving a warm welcome by fans in his STAPLES Center return:"It was a nice gesture, just being able to reflect back on my four years here. It was a good thing. It was exciting.I'm appreciative."
On younger players stepping up:"Kenrich [Williams] was great. He does all the dirty work. He plays hard, rebounds - all that type of stuff. He wasgreat. Frank [Jackson] too."