1819-quotes

Pelicans.com

On final game of the season:
"I thought we played hard. We competed the way we wanted to and we played unselfishly. We played a lot of guys out of position. Elfrid (Payton) tweaked his ankle a little bit so I actually didn’t want to put him back in the game in that situation. I thought we competed to the end. That’s what we asked them to do and they did it."

On final message to the team:
"I told them that we’re going to be good next year and we’re going to make the damn playoffs. I said that and I mean that. I believe that."

On if Anthony Davis has been mischaracterized:
"I think he’s a great kid. He’s a very good kid. I think he’s a solid guy. (Inaudible) I think he got some bad advice. If you want me to just tell the truth, and I’ll leave it at that. But there’s nothing wrong with AD. He’s a good, solid guy."

On Jahlil’s first season with the Pelicans:
“Overall it was a very enjoyable experience. From the organization, the front office, to the coaches, to the fans. It was really refreshing for me just to be here and have just a positive year in the NBA. Extremely grateful for the opportunity and excited for next season.”

On what gives coach (Alvin) Gentry and the team the confidence that they can get to the playoffs next year:
“I think we just proved that we can compete with anybody in the league. We beat some of the best teams without some key guys. If everybody could be healthy, I’m confident with that. If we can do that, that’s our goal heading in to next season. I’m excited.”

On what he accomplished in these 8 games:
“I showed that I can be a rotation guy for next year and the future is looking bright for me. I showed that. Coaches loved what I was doing. GM Danny Ferry loved what I was doing. I went out there. I competed and I played with heart and everybody loved that.”

On what the difference will be with a greater opportunity here with the Pelicans this summer:
“It’s going to be good. I wouldn’t even say it is going to be different. It’s going to be good. I’ve got a feel for everything this season even though I came late. It’s a contract year for me and I gotta be ready for next season and I want to be competing in the summer.”

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Game 82: Pelicans vs. Warriors Postgame Quotes 4-9-19

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ON THE KEY TO WINNING TONIGHT IN SACRAMENTO

“I think the pace of the game. I thought it was at a really good pace. I think when we play at that pace we create threes. We shot 42 threes and I think most of that was because of the pace of the game. I thought Elfrid [Payton] did a good job. Obviously, Ian [Clark] shot the ball extremely well. Jahlil [Okafor] was really good. I thought it was a combination of a lot of things. The thing that I liked most about it was that we squandered away the lead away pretty quickly, the 16 point lead. But our guys just regrouped and came back and played real well.”

ON THIS GAME BEING A DIFFERENT SCENARIO THAN THE ONE IN PHOENIX

“It is, very much so. The thing that I said all along is that we hadn’t played well all the time, but these guys have played extremely hard and they played unselfishly. It would be easy after the Phoenix game to come up here and kind of go through the motions, but that’s not what these guys are about. They really wanted to win this game and they played that way.”

ON IAN CLARK’S CAREER-HIGH OF 31 POINTS

“He really has and tonight I thought he got off to such a great start and he shot the ball extremely well. Defensively, I thought he did a great job on Buddy [Hield], just all around pushing the basketball, passing the basketball. I thought we were really good. I thought Ian set the tone for us and he got us off to a good start and settled us in right from the start. That first quarter was really frantic, but it was going to be that way throughout the game. When one team shoots 101 field goals and the other team shoots 109, so that’s the kind of pace that we want to try to establish and that’s the kind of pace we want to play with every single game really.”

“I think just knowing who we have out there had to step up and it was a lot of fun. Solo [Solomon Hill] before the game let us know to go out there and have fun. We have two more games left, one now. We left the season on a high note and everybody went out there and supported each other. We had each other’s back. It didn’t feel like it was just eight people. It was fun.”

ON IAN CLARK HAVING AN AMAZING GAME TONGINT

“He’s been given a consistent opportunity to find his rhythm and his flow. He’s an amazing shooter, an amazing player all around. It feels good for me to see him out there and do that, but that’s no surprise.”

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Game 81: Pelicans-Kings Postgame Quotes 4/7/19

NEW ORLEANS PELICANS HEAD COACH ALVIN GENTRY

“I thought really the entire second half but more so the latter part of the third quarter and the fourth quarter we started playing too much isolation basketball. The ball wasn’t moving, we weren’t moving. Their defense was boxes and elbows and we were determined to drive it in and that translated to turnovers. We got them in a rhythm and obviously Josh Jackson started making shots and that was the difference in the game.”

“They had the same guys out there that we did so fatigue makes cowards of us all; you either play or you don’t. They shouldn’t have been any more tired than the guys they had out there. That isn’t an excuse. You try for the best shot and if you don’t make it, you’re going to go to overtime. You have the same approach as you had the entire game. We played well the first half, we had ball movement and did a good job and then we decided we’d become an iso team and that’s what we’re not.”

NEW ORLEANS PELICANS GUARD ELFRID PAYTON 14 POINTS | 12 ASSISTS

“I guess we just got a little complacent, a little bit maybe. We kind of stopped doing what was working for us in the first half. They made some tough shots, Josh got it going for them. I don’t know man. We got away from that. They picked up their physicality a little bit and honestly, we didn’t respond in the best way. Like I said, they got hot, made some shots. We couldn’t stop the bleeding. We just got away from what we were doing. Got away from that ball popping around and it cost us.”

NEW ORLEANS PELICANS FORWARD JULIUS RANDLE 31 POINTS | 14 REBOUNDS

“Obviously we weren’t playing the right way the whole game even though we had a good lead in the first half. Too many mistakes, not playing hard enough so that led to them making a comeback. We didn’t come out with the right focus.”

“That’s the way I play every game, I match up with the bigs and I just try to be aggressive. They knew what the matchups were so they switched or when I had it in the post they drive so the guys stepped up and made plays and we just didn’t close it out.”

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Game 80: Pelicans-Suns Postgame Quotes 4/5/19

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."

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.”

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Game 79: Pelicans vs. Hornets Postgame Quotes 4-3-19

Pelicans Head Coach Alvin GentryOn third quarter:“They shot the ball extremely well and we didn’t. We were trying to play a little isolation basketball which is not what we’re good at. Our turnovers, you’re not going to win any basketball games where you’re in the thirties as far as points off turnovers. We ended up having 24 turnovers for 32 points. A lot of their points in the third quarter came off of turnovers. We had 12 turnovers at the half against a team that doesn’t really force a lot of turnovers. We just didn’t play very well.”

On Ian Clark:“He started well, but didn’t shoot the ball very good after that. It was just one of those games where we never really got into any kind of rhythm. I thought they played well. I thought (Alex) Caruso came in and changed the game completely. I thought (Rajon) Rondo shot the ball really well and was four-for-seven from the three. We just have to make sure that the things we talked about, gotta compete, gotta play hard, gotta try and execute. That’s what we have to do for the next five games, seven games, whatever we have left. We have to make sure we’re doing that.”

Pelicans Forward Julius RandleOn if it’s been tough on the team, especially against a team like the Lakers tonight, who have more of a veteran presence as opposed to the Pelicans who are battling through injuries with a young group:“I see why you could make that excuse but I don’t think our guys care or make excuses. We just have to be better as a team. Let’s move on to the next one. We got four more to continue to compete and get better and then head to the summer and get back to work. We’ll be alright.”

On reflecting on his time with the Pelicans and if this is a spot he could see himself blossoming in future years:“Absolutely. I have enjoyed my time here. From top to bottom, everyone has been great in welcoming me here. The people here are great. For sure, we’ll just have to get into the summer and see what happens.”

Pelicans Center Jahlil OkaforOn looking back at this game if the turnover were the biggest issue tonight in the losing effort:“Yeah it comes down to turnovers. Just careless turnovers. A lot of them were unforced. Just mental lapses that we had and I don’t know the number, but I felt like we gave up a lot of offensive rebounds too.”

With both teams tonight being out of the playoffs and having just a few games left, was motivation a factor right now:“I could see how it could be perceived as that but for us the guys that we have on the floor, we’re all trying to make our way in this league. We have a lot of young guys playing like me, Christian Wood, [Kenrich Williams], we’re all still trying to figure it out. We’re just trying to finish the season out on a high note but it defiantly felt a little weird tonight.”

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Game 78: Pelicans vs. Lakers Postgame Quotes 3-31-19

On the effort from the players tonight:
"Yeah, I thought we did good job. We kind of hung in the whole night. The only thing that is a little disturbing, is if you look at the fast break points – 27 is a lot, but when you think about the fact that they had 20 of those in the first-half, we did a good job in the second-half. I just thought we did a good job of hanging in and everyone we put in contributed in some way."

On the play of Christian Wood over the last two games:
"Well, I think he has been good offensively, obviously with 23 and 25 points, but I just think having a presence. You know he has length. He did not block six shots tonight, but he changed a lot of shots. His presence on the court where he is changing a lot of shots, he has done a really good job. The thing that I keep emphasizing for him is that the whole key for him is consistency."

On having so many guards out and having all forwards on the floor at one point:
“Yeah it was crazy. I mean, it’s kind of the story of our season and it’s no excuse. You just got to go out there and make the best of the situation and that’s what we did. I didn’t even know Darius (Miller) was out until I checked in and was like ‘where’s Darius at?’ so yeah it’s crazy.”

On what about the Pelicans’ offensive style suits his game:
“They like to play through the big – as you see like Julius (Randle) had it going tonight. They like to play through them so it helps me out a bunch. The offense gets to go through me and I get to swing to the guards and you have guys like Elfrid (Payton), you know, he wants to throw lobs – get you involved. It’s good.”

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Game 77: Pelicans vs. Kings Postgame Quotes 3-28-19

Pelicans Head Coach Alvin GentryOn Frank Jackson’s injury status:“I don’t know, we’ll worry about it in the next couple of days. It’s really unfortunate because for him all of these games are really important. He will go through the concussion protocol and we have nothing to do with it. He has certain baseline things that he will have to pass and hopefully we’ll get him back so that he can play the last four, five games, I don’t know. Maybe (he will) miss one, I don’t know. We’ll just have to wait and see.”On Christian Wood:“He’s a talented guy and we think he’s talented. You can see some of the things that he can do. He’s not the – he has no idea what we’re doing, just to be brutally honest. He has the talent that he can create things and do things. Six blocked shots, I mean that’s pretty good on any level. Like I said, we’re going to play it out and continue to play hard. I like the fact that we kind of came back and got back in. The big thing for us is that we’re just not finishing shots at the basket. Like tonight, we had another 14 misses right at the basket. Those are the kind of things that can either stop runs or create separation for us. We just haven’t been able to do it.”On if the players are still fighting and showing up to play:“Yeah, we could have easily just called it a night tonight, but we didn’t do that. I think we have some real pros on our team. They are going to continue to play. I didn’t put Elfrid (Payton) back in because obviously he decided to play with his wrist in the situation that it was and I just didn’t see any reason to risk an injury in his situation. I think we’re still playing hard. It’s just unfortunate. You can see we had three straight baskets that were halfway down and then just came back out. Then Ian (Clark) shoots a wide open three that’s halfway down and then comes back out, but those are things that happen to you when you’re going through what we’re going through. We’re still going to continue to play and we’re still going to continue to compete. That’s the big thing for me.”

Pelicans Forward Julius RandleOn what the team is doing to keep motivated and keep the young guys fighting:“You’ve just got to be professional. You go about your job the right way, try to do the right things every day, play the right way. And, you know, you try to let the rest take care of itself. I think the big thing for us is to keep playing hard, keep playing together, and we can live with the results.”On how the team has to adjust to having players out with injury:“There’s been guys in positions that they are not maybe necessarily used to, more responsibility for guys. You know, we have been down a lot of bodies all year so this is really nothing new from my perspective, but you’ve just got to keep rolling.”

Pelicans Forward Christian WoodOn getting a chance and what he thought of his performance:“I definitely think I got that chance and I definitely think I made the most of it. You know, I said before, beginning of the season I know you guys have seen on social media and stuff that all I need is a chance and you know I’m taking advantage of the opportunity.”On getting thrown out there while still learning the system and still being able to produce:“I definitely got a little lost out there on the floor some plays, but here and there, you know, I like to – the way people play

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Game 76: Pelicans-Hawks Postgame Quotes 3/26/19

Pelicans Head Coach Alvin GentryOn tonight’s matchup:“You [have to] be able to score against this team. Obviously we didn’t shoot it to the percentage that we needed to shoot it to stay in the game. They made 21 three’s, we make seven, that in itself is such a wide discrepancy in the three point shooting that it’s hard to do. I thought early on we had turnovers and one thing you can’t do is turn the ball over against this team. It’s tough enough as it is guarding (James) Harden. That being said, I thought for the most part we did a good job on them, obviously with the score the way it was I don’t know how hungry he (Harden) was to try to go get baskets. One of those games we didn’t play very good and they played well.”

On how hard it is to finish games like these:“They’re hard anytime you’re in a situation like this, but I think for us, there’s a bigger picture. At some stage, I don’t really care what the score is it’s all about doing the right thing and execute what we’re trying to have you do out there on the floor. Being in positon defensively like we’ve talked about, and those are all the things that I start to look at when the game progressed and a situation like this when the game is out of hand.”

On Christian Wood:“I don’t think you can tell a whole lot on tonight. He’s bouncy and can get up and down the court. He’s athletic and as we play more games we will play him in more minutes. We’ll play him more in a position and a situation where I think he can be successful.”

Pelicans Forward Stanley JohnsonOn having it going offensively tonight and what was working for him:“Man, I didn’t really think so, but I’m just trying to keep figuring out where I’m supposed to be on the court. Yeah I’m still trying to figure it out. I can’t really – I need to watch the games. I got to do a little bit better picking my spots, when to drive the ball to the rim, but I think I can be a lot better still – just look back at it and see what I can do better.”

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Game 75: Pelicans-Rockets Postgame Quotes 3/24/19

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1819‑quotes