New Orleans Pelicans Head Coach Alvin Gentry:
(On being up early, then letting the game get away…)
“We just got to play better. It’s that simple. There is no secret formula. We have to do a better job of protecting the ball. We have to walk to the line and make free throws. We have to stay within what we are supposed to do from a game-plan standpoint and we have to execute. They’re not going to beat themselves. They’ve never been a team that’s going to beat themselves. If you’re going to turn the ball over in crucial situations, then you’re going to have a hard time beating them.”
(On what led to the turnovers…)
“We made bad decisions. We were trying to hit grand slams when all we need to do is hit singles. We need to just move the basketball, and let the game come to us. [We need to] stop trying to force the issue. We have to get back to being who we are and that’s being a team who moves the basketball and makes elementary school plays — and then execute. That’s how you win games in this league. That’s exactly what they (the Spurs) just did. No fancy, great, kind of plays — they kill you with execution, and that’s why at the end of the first half they had one turnover, because they execute and get shots. That’s what we need to do. We don’t need grand slams. We don’t even need doubles. We need simple singles that get us to the next pass and the next cut. We’ve got to get away from all of these home-run plays because inevitably what it does is that it costs you against a team that has a high basketball IQ and that’s not going to beat themselves.”
(On how he will convey the importance of limiting turnovers to his team…)
“Tell them to make the simple play. That’s the way you convey it. We don’t need to make great plays. We are a good basketball team and when we move the basketball — we had seventy assists in the first two games. Now, we’ve gone away from moving the ball and making simple plays and that’s what we’ve got to get back to. I don’t care who is out or this guy didn’t play, or that guy didn’t play. We have to be who we are. And, who we are is a team that moves the basketball and finds the open man. It doesn’t matter who that open guy is. We have to get away from trying to make great plays. Great plays will get your ass beat against teams like this.”
New Orleans Pelicans Guard Jrue Holiday:
(On what the Pelicans can improve upon moving forward…)
“I think you try to figure it out. We made a lot of mistakes, especially early. We came out hot, but made a lot of mistakes. I think the frustration just comes from turnovers and giving such a big lead so early.”
(On what was working for him personally tonight…)
“Just screen and roll. I think with Anthony [Davis], they always attract to him, leaving me wide open for a mid-range. I know the game today is going away from mid-ranges, but I can still shoot them, so I’ll take them.”
New Orleans Pelicans Forward/Center Anthony Davis:
(On the Pelicans not playing basic basketball…)
“We’re not playing defense, we’re not guarding anybody, we’re making the game hard on ourselves. It shouldn’t be this easy (for the other team). It’s hard to score buckets in there and it’s so easy for them on the other end. We’re not physical. We’re not stopping anybody one-on-one. We’re just not playing basketball. We need to go back to the basics of guarding your man. We’re just trying to do stuff on our own offensively at times. We started the game pretty well, moving the basketball, sharing the basketball, and as the game went on we start trying to do stuff on our own. They made a lot of tough shots, but we got to be able to make free throws. We got to make free throws, we got to sit down and guard somebody and we got to get back to running.”
(On his leadership role and telling the team to get back to basics…)
“We just got to do it, we know what we’re doing. A lot of times the game is a lot of “my bads.” We can’t have that. We can’t have a lot of “my bads” especially with a team like the Spurs who execute to perfection, so we got to get back to what we were doing. We have dropped five in a row. We started the season great, but we got to get back to what we were doing, moving the basketball, playing for each other. We showed it in the second half but we were down 20 [points], everything has to be damn near perfect. We had some costly turnovers at the end. We can’t dig ourselves a hole and expect to come back when we have 16 turnovers and we’re not getting attempts at the rim.”
San Antonio Spurs Head Coach Gregg Popovich:
(On the Spurs defense in the last two games…)
“We competed. We’re still trying to figure each other out and a lot of guys are trying to figure out the system, but the competitiveness was really good and that covers a lot of things. ”
(On forward LaMarcus Aldridge’s defense against Pelicans center Anthony Davis…)
“Yeah, they are two great players and they went after each other. Sometimes they score on each other and sometimes they stop each other, but it's what you expect -- two competitors that were physical and played solid.”
(On the Spurs defense coming together so quickly as a team…)
“Well, I’m not of the mind that it has come together yet. It takes a while, but they are doing everything they can to learn it and I couldn’t ask for more as far as people allowing us to coach them.”
(On forward Dante Cunningham’s play thus far this season since joining the Spurs…)
“So far, Dante [Cunningham] has been not exactly a surprise, but we didn't expect him to be playing all these minutes and he’s taking advantage of the opportunity. I think he’s been really good for us. He sets the tone defensively. LaMarcus [Aldridge] goes under the bucket, and Dante is picking up people who are really good shooters, or good one-on-one players, and he’s done a great job. I’m sure he wasn’t expecting to play all these minutes either, but he’s been an important piece of a couple of wins.”