Pelicans Head Coach Alvin Gentry
On tonight’s game:
"I thought we competed at a much higher level than we did the other day. You have to give Kemba (Walker) credit. He made tough shots and guys in his face on step-back shots. Over a 6-9 player, (those) are tough shots to make, so you have to give him credit."
On Julius Randle’s performance:
"I thought he tried (to put the team on his back). What happened to us early on is that we got good looks but we didn’t make them. I thought we pressed a little bit when we had them later on in the game when we tried to will them in. One of the things I think we have to do is just step up and shoot the shot. I thought moreso than anything – and that’s the same thing that’s been haunting us the past couple of weeks, the turnovers. I think we had 20 again tonight. When you have 20 turnovers, 19 to 20 turnovers I’m not sure. What happens in those situations is that the shooting percentage goes up, the points in the paint goes up, the fast break points go up…all of that goes up. I thought we played well defensively, but when you add all of that stuff in the stats change and it becomes very difficult. That’s 20 times that you don’t get a shot at the basket and once again, they’re not really forced turnovers. That’s just us trying to do things that aren’t there and that’s what is getting us in trouble."
Pelicans Forward Stanley Johnson
On what he saw tonight that led to his good scoring night:
“I think just my shots went in tonight. It was probably a better shot selection than it was last game and I just kind of let it come to me a little bit. I got some open ones, knocked a couple ones down, missed a couple, but just being patient in letting the game come to me and getting my teammates involved.”
On figuring out the point guard position and handling the ball more often:
“I just have to do a better job communicating with my teammates with what I see going on out there. My team is very capable of doing anything and everything and I think tonight we had that lull. I turned the ball over twice and it’s because I wasn’t communicating well enough with the team. For us to play well on offense, it starts with me because I have the ball in my hand and I have to do a better job of getting my teammates better shots and getting them in situations where they feel a little more comfortable than I was tonight. It was kind of the reason we had the lull when I was in there. Elfrid (Payton) does a good job of it, so I tried to emulate him as much as I can but it’s hard to emulate stuff like that.”