Willie Green recaps win vs. Philadelphia | Pelicans-76ers Postgame Interview 11/29/2023
Pelicans Head Coach Willie Green
On the Pelicans performance in each quarter:
“We had an awesome start to the game. Came out in the third quarter, and we continued to play well – we only ended up winning [the third quarter] by one, but, we played with the lead and continued to try to build it. Like you said, just got a little ragged down the stretch, and that’s what we have to learn as a group: that you work that hard, you build that lead, and it’s important to continue to execute no matter what the score is.”
On CJ McCollum’s return:
“It’s great to have CJ (CJ McCollum) back. We all felt it. His presence right away, his ability to space the floor with those guys, to make plays for himself and his teammates, his leadership on and off the floor. So, we’re grateful to get CJ (McCollum) back healthy.”
Zion Williamson "I don't think we have a ceiling" | Pelicans-76ers Postgame Interview 11/29/2023
Pelicans Forward Zion Williamson
On the team’s hot start to the game:
“We’re coming off two bad losses. We wanted to get back in that win category, so I think that’s what really got us going tonight.”
On CJ McCollum’s return:
“That’s my brother. CJ’s been a great vet to me ever since he came to this team. And I was telling him before the game, ‘hey man. It’s good to have you back out there.’”
On the team’s potential:
“Like I say all the time, we’ve got a lot of potential, but we have to fix some of the small nuances if we want to be a championship contender.”
CJ McCollum recaps win, talks recovery | Pelicans-76ers Postgame Interview 11/29/2023
Pelicans Guard CJ McCollum
On returning from injury:
“I was excited. I felt like a kid again. As a thirty-two year old, being able to play in the games after having to watch, after being injured, and the type of injury that it was, I’m just thankful I can play at a high level, and be able to work out and ramp up to returning to play the game I love and help my team.”
On watching the team while injured:
“They’ve been through the adversity before, in terms of starting off with losses, in terms of injuries, in terms of being in and out of the lineup—playing time. Everybody has their story and everybody has their journey, so, they’re battle tested. Guys have worked on their skillset. They’ve developed and gotten better. I think they’ve showed that everybody, from Dyson (Daniels) to Herb (Jones) to Jose (Alvarado) to Naji (Marshall)—everybody is kind of going through their own individual battles and collective battles as a team, and I think they’ve showed growth. They’ve showed maturity and the ability to overcome different obstacles in their lives.”
76ers Head Coach Nick Nurse
On finding out you were going to be without Joel Embiid 30 minutes prior to tip:
“We cannot use that as an excuse, and we won’t use it as an excuse. What put us in a big hole is we didn’t go out and execute our defensive schemes the way we wanted to, from the start of the game.”
On guys losing their composure on the officials in tonight’s game:
“It was a tough night in a lot of ways and that was just another thing that was tough for us to handle. We’ve got to be better there.”
76ers Guard Tyrese Maxey
On if he agrees with Nick Nurse’s comments on not performing defensively and digging themselves into a hole early:
“One hundred percent. Beginning of the first quarter, he (Nick Nurse) said, ‘we didn't follow what the defensive game plans were, and, because of that, we dug ourselves a hole.’ But then, once we started following game plans in the second quarter, we were pretty good. I don’t know if we won [from] there on out, but we lost the second quarter by five, it was probably close in the third, and we for sure won the fourth. You have to stick to the game plan, go out there and be aggressive from the tip.”
On if they can build from not giving up:
“You can, I guess…We’ve got some fighters on this team, so, we were never going to give up. We were never going to concede defeat. That’s not in our blood – these guys [or] this locker room’s blood. Guys went out there and fought. Kind of gave ourselves a chance at the end. Sometimes it happens like that.”