Pelicans-Lakers Postgame Quotes

Pelicans.com

On the difference between the first and second half:

"We made a few adjustments at halftime and challenged our group to be more disciplined as we were all over the place. To their credit, they came out and punched us in our mouth right away. We hung in there and were resilient the whole game. The goal was don't try to get it all back at one time. We are down 20, but it's just one stop then one score at a time. We are so proud of that group in the locker room. That was growth."

"I just think he has been preparing for these moments. Played in some G League games and the hard work in the gym working on his craft. He has just been improving as the season progresses. We have been getting him into some games that he is getting acclimated to the rhythm of the NBA. We needed all of his 21 points tonight. We are proud of him but he works at it."

On what changed in the second half for the Pelicans:

"We just came out with a lot of energy, we just played together, we shared the ball, and I just got to thank my teammates. Without them, I wouldn't have been able to do any of that stuff. Coach Green told me before I got in, 'Look, we got nothing to lose. Just go hoop,' and it put a lot of confidence in me and made me settle down a lot. I really appreciate him for that."

On his third quarter and what sparked that offensive outburst:

"I mean, I always have confidence in myself. My teammates got me the ball, and I was able to deliver for my team. I'm just glad we got a win, man. It feels really good, especially in this playoff push."

“All glory to god, man. I'm really lost for words right now just because I've been out for three weeks, and to be back and win in this fashion with all my brothers, it's special man. I don't even know the question you asked, it's just special.”

“You know, you play long enough, you finally make some shots, and Trey Murphy (III) made some shots tonight. He was big for us. On the offensive end, he did a really, really good job, but on the defensive end, he was locked in too, rebounding the basketball, getting it to the right guys, and being shot-ready. He played like a professional tonight, and we hope he keeps going.”

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Pelicans vs. Lakers Postgame Quotes 3-27-2022

New Orleans Pelicans head coach Stan Van Gundy and Pelicans players recap the team's season finale against the Los Angeles Lakers on May 16, 2021 at the Smoothie King Center. The Pelicans fell 110-98 to the Lakers and finished the 2020-21 NBA season with a 31-41 record.

On his assessment of his first season with the Pelicans:
“There is some good and some bad. We came a long way defensively…from next-to-last in the league before the All-Star break…I don’t know what it ended up, but for most of the time until we got guys hurt, we were the top-seven or eight defensive team in the second-half of the year. That is a tremendous improvement and I felt good about that. I think that one of the biggest things is – and as a coach you certainly look at yourself, because you can look at every single play, but particularly the second half of the year – our inability to win the close games [was a big one]. We lost games that were decided either in overtime or by three points or fewer, or one possession games. We were in ten of them and lost eight of them. As a coach you are going to question every single decision that you made down the stretch in every one of those games. That was a big, big frustration, and then the other thing I think is we had long stretches of games where we were an outstanding offensive team. As I said, in the second half of the year we had long stretches of games where we were an outstanding defensive team. We never really, for any stretch of games in the year, of any length of time did we put together offense and defense. We were either playing really good offense and really bad defense, or really good defense and pretty bad offense. I guess the positive of that is that we can go in and certainly show them – as we get into next year, we can certainly show them what we look like playing good offense, as good as anyone in the league, and we can show them what we look like playing really good defense. That is the positive, but somehow, we have to find a way to put it all together, and I clearly must do a better job at the end of close games and so do they. Become more disciplined, make better decisions…so we all have a long way to go. I think as a coach, quite honestly, I am not happy. I think that, in terms of a record, we should have had a better year and so as coach you are not going to feel good about that, and I am pretty self-critical. I will outline a lot of areas that I think that we need to get better and we will start attacking those. How I would characterize my first year? Some things were good, but overall I need to do a lot better job.”

On his postgame message to the team:
“I just told them I appreciated the way they hung together and supported each other throughout the year.”

On not giving up down the stretch and battling in all the games late in the season:
"I mean, I think this team has been amazing all year. We had some important guys out with injury, so it was just another opportunity for other guys. Everybody was working really hard, did all year. I think everybody shows up ready to play; not just today, all season. So, I think like coach said a couple times, one of the positive things about this group is the resiliency we have. Even tough losses, even with a lot of guys out, we kept fighting, kept believing in us. So something really good, something special, and I'm really excited to be around those guys."

On getting extended minutes to show what he can do:
"I mean, I'm really, really happy with the season. I'm really happy with the opportunity that I had. I'm going to be truly honest, it was really hard for me. You know I’ve got to be a little patient, but I bet on myself, I tried to work hard. I tried to always keep a smile and keep believing in myself, and keep listening to my teammates, my coaches, and Stan (Van Gundy). At some point I knew my opportunity would come, so I just tried to use it, play hard, and have fun. I'm just really happy to be around these teammates, this group of guys, the front office. Everybody was amazing. You guys too, and it's how I felt from the beginning. You guys are my family, and my teammates too."

On how he would summarize his season and what he learned:
"It was a good year, learned a lot. It was one of the toughest years obviously, with COVID and all that, but everybody taught me along the way from when I first got here…on the court, off the court, how to take care of my body, training. I learned a lot, and I just can't wait to instill everything I learned from this past year and what I learn in the offseason going into next year."

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Pelicans vs. Lakers Postgame Quotes 5-16-21 | 2020-21 NBA

“They’re doing a really good job. I mean they really are. Second unit against second unit, they’ve done a very good job. They’ve played with energy. Hard to argue with any of those guys. I thought Jaxson (Hayes) was outstanding tonight.”

“I thought we pretty good defensively tonight. I mean again, part of it is they don’t have a lot of their guys, but they shot the ball well tonight. They shot the ball from three a lot better than they normally do. It’s not like they can’t make any shots. They shot it pretty well. I thought our defense was pretty good, yeah.”

On Brandon Ingram's night from a shot-making standpoint:

"That's Brandon. I mean there ain't anything else to say. That's BI. He's very capable of doing that pretty much anytime he wants, and I'm just glad to see him doing that, being aggressive. We expect that out of him."

On how hard it is to score at this level on a consistent basis in the NBA and how to achieve it:

"I guess for somebody in my position, since I have the ball in my hands a lot because my coach and teammates trust me, I could just shoot a lot and get 20 points, but my teammates and coaches know that's not the game I want to play. I want to get everybody involved and try to hunt for the best shot, so getting those 20 points, like I was saying, some nights it's going to be tougher. But on nights like tonight when there's a lot of ball movement, BI's doing his thing, it really opens up the game for me. So that's how I do it."

On putting the game away and sustaining the good stretch in the third quarter:

"I think it kind of took us to earlier in the season when we were finding out that there's little spots in the game that put us away, and understanding that we can do that to other teams. Staying in it because we knew we were hanging in. It's just that there was a stretch that would take us out. So trying to make sure that, during those stretches, we're applying pressure and we're on the attack and being the aggressors."

On how much losing the 17-point lead against Portland is helping the team recently:

"I think it's helped tremendously…I mean just what we've learned from it, how we've grown, and understanding (we) never want to be there again. (We) never want to see a lead go from 20 to 11 and nine to four. You want to see it go from 20 to 30 or 20 to 25 and make sure that we're sustaining it and playing all 48 minutes."

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Pelicans vs. Lakers Postgame Quotes 3-23-21 | 2020-21 NBA

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On matching up with Anthony Davis:“Yeah, we’re familiar with him and he’s a tough matchup. He got them off to a good start and he even made the three-point shot, but I still thought we hung in the game... Just really tough. I thought we played well. I thought we tried to take the ball to the basket. We had 68 points in the paint and we shot seven free throws, but AD [Anthony Davis] was big and Danny Green did a good job of making big shots and getting separation. But I still thought that we continued to play.” 

On the performance of Lonzo Ball:“Zo [Lonzo Ball] has been playing well. He’s done a good job with the pace of the game and pushing it, and he’s done a good job of getting the ball in the paint and not finding somebody and just finishing himself, so I think he’s in a good place. I think he’s played well for us the last five or six games.”

On Lonzo Ball’s increased aggressiveness offensively:“Well I think the key thing there is the aggressiveness you’re talking about. I think he’s been really aggressive. I think, like I said, he’s done a great job of, on makes and misses, of getting the ball and pushing it and trying to create some early offense for us and he’s been really good at that.” 

On what’s been contributing to his impressive offensive performances lately: “Like I said, I’m getting healthier. My body feels good, my confidence is where it’s supposed to be and the sky is the limit from there.” 

On matching up against the Lakers:“I mean you’ve got Bron [LeBron James] and AD [Anthony Davis]. It’s going to be hard for anybody. They’re a big team, they rebound the ball, they push the pace on the offensive end. It’s a tough matchup.”  

On what he’s taken away from his time with the Lakers:“I enjoyed my time here [as a Laker]. This is my hometown so I love playing in front of them and unfortunately, I was hurt both years, which is terrible for me, and I know, for the fans, but I wish them the best.”

On playing against the Lakers for the first time:  “It was cool. I met up with some people that have been here since I got drafted so it was good to see them, but it would’ve been good to get a win tonight.”       On Lonzo Ball’s play on the offensive end of the court as of late:   “Well he’s a big piece of what we’re doing to progress in each and every game. Him pushing the pace and knocking down his open shots and him having the intermediate game going a little bit, I think it’s been big for us to just keep on going and I think we’re trending in the right way.”    On what it meant to have the Lakers faithful showing love for him and his fellow former-Laker teammates: “I appreciate the fans! The fans get us going every single night and for it to be the opposing team to give us some love like that, I give respect and love to them also.”

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2019-20 Game 35: Pelicans at Lakers Postgame Quotes 01-03-20

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