Pelicans-Nets Postgame Quotes

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New Orleans Pelicans head coach Willie Green and Pelicans players recap the team's home game against the Brooklyn Nets on November 12, 2021. The Pelicans fell 120-112 to the Nets despite a fourth quarter surge.

On what he said to his team about what it takes to win games:
"I thought our competitiveness went to another level. We started the game competing, had somewhat of a drop-off in the third quarter, and then we just took it to another level. That's how we got in the game and took the lead. I believe, we took the lead by one or two or something like that. So we have to do that every game, and we can't wait until we're down 20 points. I told the team the same thing."

On what was seen from the bench overall tonight and if it was a step in the right direction:
"Yeah it is. Our guys, once again, came in (and) they played together (and) they played with force. We all competed. We shared the ball. We had 26 assists. A few too many turnovers against this team. Once again, our margin for error is really small. So we have to take care of the ball and get quality shots every time down the floor. For the most part we did that, but we're playing against a team who offensively, is one of the best in the NBA.”

On what he saw from the team in the fourth quarter:
"I think it was really big. The guys that were out there, (our) coaches kind of challenged them. Trey Murphy (III) and Jaxson Hayes, Herb (Jones), they had some really big plays. Trey’s rebound with the and-one type thing, just is a microcosm of how he needs to play, and what he needs to do. Obviously, he can shoot threes, but to be able to affect the game like that. Just the way they were playing – Nickeil (Alexander-Walker) was doing a great job defending the ball, (and) that’s how we have to play the entire time."

On raising his own momentum in the fourth quarter:
"I got a couple shots. I missed way too many easy ones, but just being aggressive. I watched some film with Casey Hill, on the Dallas game, and last game I passed up a few threes. Especially the way the team is built right now, I need to be aggressive and take those shots. I was able to see a few go down, (but) I just wish I was able to get a couple more in the second half to get up. Like I said, the way we were able to play in the fourth quarter, the young guys really showed the starters how we need to play with that effort and that intensity."

On his impact on the game when his three-point shot isn’t falling:
“Coach Corey Brewer challenged me after the Dallas game to just impact the game and show why you want to be on the court (and) how you can help the team. There are times where my jumper just isn’t falling, but I still have to help the team. I feel that offensive rebounding is something I can really do because I’m a great athlete, and I’m long as well. So once my jumper starts really clicking with all of the stuff I can do, (my) impact on the game is going to be really scary.”

On learning from coach Corey Brewer and his success in the league:
“One hundred percent. I definitely try to be a sponge and just listen to what everyone has to say because they’ve been there, and they’ve done it before. This is only my first year, (and) I haven’t done anything, so just listening to them and making sure I stay ready is something that I’ve always been trying to do.”

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Pelicans vs. Nets Postgame Quotes 11-12-21 | 2021-22 NBA Season

On the core veterans setting the tone tonight:
“That’s the way we approached it, really. We wanted to pick up where we left off. We thought we were playing good basketball. I thought we did a good job, defensively, right before the hiatus came about. I thought all the veteran guys did something at some stage tonight. They were in very limited minutes and really didn’t get the rhythm that they would necessarily have in these situations, but we just wanted to get out there and we weren’t going to play guys very many minutes. We’ve got two more of these scrimmages coming up, and I think you’ll see the numbers and the minutes increase a little bit to try to get ready for the regular season.”

On having Kenrich Williams healthy and back on the court:
"Well, it's good to have him (Kenrich Williams) back. It's really important. He just gives us extra possessions. He'll come up with a couple of really good defensive plays that you saw on the charging foul he got late in the game, but it's good to have him back on the team. Just his energy is infectious. I don't know if 'infectious' was a good word to use in these situations, but he is. It's good to have him back. It really is."

On Nickeil Alexander-Walker's performance tonight:
"I thought he did a good job. I still think that he'll get better and better and better. The one thing I have to convince him of is that he's got to stop being so hard on himself with the mistakes that he made. Everyone makes mistakes, and I think what he's got to do is that he's got to learn to play through those mistakes, but I thought he did a really good job tonight of starting that process of being able to play through his mistakes."

On playing their first game without fans, but instead with all of the digital boards:
"I don't know if it was distracting. It was different. I think it's going to be – when they put the virtual fans up there, I think it will be a little different because I think it will be more of an atmosphere very similar to having people in the stands, but I didn't hear any complaints from our guys. No complaints about the shooting situation, or the lighting in the shooting. So, I think it's going to be one of those things that in a couple of games the guys will adjust to."

On how important it was for the Pelicans’ leaders to come out and set the tone tonight:
"Very important, just to get a good feeling. We’ve been off for a while, practicing against each other. It just felt good to go practice against someone else and compete against someone else and just try to see where we stand. We just wanted to keep getting better in our first scrimmage game, one of three, so each game you’ve got to keep getting better and better.”

On getting used to the new game environment and what kind of adjustments he had to make for this game:
"For me, it’s just basketball. It’s kind of easy to play that; it’s like playing your whole life, playing outside, playing in gyms with nobody there, open gym. So it was just fun to go out there and just hoop and have fun.”

On how the team played offensively and the shot selection tonight:
“That’s something we’ve been practicing and it definitely looked good tonight. Definitely looked like everything we’ve practiced – driving, kicking, getting to the basket, getting to the basket and laying it in, seeing the shooters on the outside, so we definitely carried things over from practice.”

On how great it felt to play another team:
“It felt good to get back out there. We’ve been beating up on each other for about 10 days straight, so beating on somebody else, playing somebody else, it’s fun for us.”

On where he thinks the defense is at and is it easier to hear teammates in a fan-less environment:
“We still have a long way to go. Of course everyone is young, everyone is getting to know each other, for a lot of us it’s out first year together. Everything is coming together, we’ll get better as time goes on. Our defense looked good tonight. We definitely did everything that we’ve been working on, so we’re making progress.”

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2019-20 NBA Restart Scrimmage: Pelicans at Nets Postgame Quotes 7-22-20

On tonight’s game:
"It was a good team win. We had guys come in and contribute. We had a couple of guys that got a little nicked up. We play tomorrow night, so we didn’t want to use those guys if we didn’t have to. I thought the bench came in and did a really good job. Nickell (Alexander-Walker) played well, E’Twaun (Moore) played well, Nico (Nicolo Melli) played well. We had a bunch of guys contribute, and when we needed to close the game I thought Brandon (Ingram) did a great job of just closing the game."

On the team's ball movement:
"We’ve got a very unselfish team. Any time we get to the 30 assist mark, I think we had 35 tonight, any time we get to that number we have good ball movement which means we are creating good shots. Usually when we do that we shoot the ball pretty efficiently."

On Jaxson Hayes’ play:
"He’s been really, really big for us with knowing exactly what he needs to do on the basketball floor. He’s been setting screens, rolling fast, dunking the ball whenever he gets it and finishing strong. He’s been really, really good for us pretty much all year."

On the team's recent performances:
"I think the confidence is growing. The game is slowing down a little bit and we’re having a sense of urgency on the offensive and defensive end to come in and be the aggressor all night."

On tonight’s game:
"The team wins, we knew we had to guard them, and that’s what we did, and in the fourth quarter we came out with the win."

On the future of the team:
"I’m excited to see it, for me it’s more about defense, I don’t really think offense is a big problem for us, especially with this guy (Brandon Ingram) had a clutch game for us, so defense is a big thing."

On Jaxson Hayes:
"Jaxson’s come a long way, I think every rookie just comes in and has to adjust to the League.  He’s adjusted very well, he’s been giving us big minutes."

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2019-20 Game 39: Pelicans at Knicks Postgame Quotes 1-10-20

On sharing the ball:
"I think Jrue (Holiday) wants to have a primary ball-handler out there so that he can be a slasher and a cutter, and obviously Brandon (Ingram) can go get his own shot and seems to hit the big shot that closes out games for us. I thought E’Twaun (Moore) was great; when we were struggling and down nine, he was the guy who got us back over the hump."

On Lonzo Ball’s performance:
"Lonzo had the pace of the game exactly where we wanted it. He managed to push it and create open shots. I think he’s been playing well for us. He played exceptionally well tonight. He’s put in a lot of work on his three-point shooting: before practice, after practice, he’s spent a lot of time doing that, and you saw the results tonight."

On how comfortable he feels in these last few games:
"I’m just getting my legs back. I’ve been out for pretty much nine months before I got here, so I’m just trying to do what I can do to help my team out, and the defense is picking up as well."

On how fun it was to finish the fourth quarter the way they did:
"I mean the fourth quarter was big. We knew we needed a strong push to get the win and we came into it down. Credit to our defense – we picked it up and offense followed."

On how he thinks the team performed overall:
"As a team, I think everybody did their job. They took the open looks that they had and many guys were very aggressive on the offensive end. E’Twaun [Moore], Lonzo [Ball] were really aggressive with scoring the baskets and distributing for others so it was really good to see. Jrue [Holiday] is always good on both sides of the basketball, so it helped a lot."

On Lonzo Ball’s performance:
"It’s exciting to see the work pay off. Everything he does in his routine, and his repetition to come out here and fulfilled a good game tonight."

On his thoughts on tonight’s game and making big shots:
"It was a big energy game. They came out playing hard and they were playing short-handed so they were playing (hard). In the fourth quarter, I saw the score and was like, ‘We need to pick it up.’ So it was good to make some shots and help us build a lead."

On what he did to get himself going on the offensive end:
"I tried to move and tried to stay active. They did a good job of switching low and up, so I tried to stay active and keep moving…try to get them to lose me in between. I got some open shots and was knocking them down."

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2019-20 Game 34: Pelicans vs. Rockets Postgame Quotes 12-29-19

On what you learned about your team this road trip:
"Well we’ve been playing well defensively this trip. We hung in and I don’t ever think we gave up. Going back to the Golden State [Warriors] game, we made plays and had shots that just didn’t go in. But, I think they showed resilience. We never let anything bother us and we just stayed the course. We’ve been able to control the ball and keep it out of the paint for the most part. When you can do that in the league, it takes care of a lot of problems. The other thing is I think we’ve had people challenging threes. [Nikola] Jokic creates so many mismatches, but I think for the most part we made him shoot challenged threes and I thought that was the difference."

On the entire team stepping up and the game truly being a team win:
"Well, that’s who we have to be. In order to be good, we have to be that good defensively and as you said, I thought everyone contributed at some stage. You know, Lonzo [Ball] made a big three out of the corner. BI [Brandon Ingram] made a big shot for us with the shot clock winding down. Jrue [Holiday] came up with a big offensive rebound. I thought D-Fave [Derrick Favors] was great. I didn’t even look at his line and I couldn’t tell you what he did or how many rebounds he had. I just thought he did a great job of controlling the paint. But, [Nikola] Jokic is a heck of a player. If you have him shoot 8-20, you’ve done a great job. And he [Favors] has been really instrumental since we got him back. He’s been the guy that’s been kind of the consistency in what we’ve done defensively."

On Brandon Ingram:
"He’s been real good for us. I mean, I’ve known him since I’ve came in the league, so all three years. The first year he was not as confident in his shot. Last year he grew some confidence, and this year he’s been lights out. I mean, he works at it. He’s going to the gym late at night. It could be 11:00 at night and he’s in the gym getting shots up. There’s no surprise he’s shooting the ball as well as he has this season."

On what this road trip means to the team:
"It was huge for us. We definitely would have liked to come out 4-0, but it was good, and we beat some good teams. It was great bonding. It was a long trip, but it felt good to go out there and get wins, hang out with the guys, hang out with the families, and just become closer."

On Derrick Favors:
"He's huge man. You can't really see how much of an impact he has. For him to be able to guard [Nikola] Jokic, 1-on-1, and hold him to what he held him, that's nice. That dude over there is good. For him to be able to do that and then help us out defensively, and at the same time, be able to score. We ask him to do a lot, but he's doing it."

On Derrick Favors having five assists:
"Smart player, he knows how to play the game. He's been in the league for a minute. For him to make those plays, we really need. His trust in us to knock down those shots is pretty key. Always making great decisions."

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2019-20 Game 32: Pelicans at Nuggets Postgame Quotes 12-25-19

On the defensive issues:
"We weren’t talking defensively, which has been our Achilles heal all season. We have one guy guarding two and usually when that happens, this is a very very good basketball team. I told you guys before, with or without Giannis [Antetokounmpo] they are a very good basketball team. They have guys with the ability to step up. [Eric] Bledsoe, I thought, he played probably his best game of the year coming from what I’ve seen…I think [Khris] Middleton is just Middleton. He’s one of the guys, one of the great mid-range shooters of this game. I thought he did a good job. Every time I thought we made any kind of run at all they seemed to go to [Middleton] or Bledsoe, and they came through."

On how to communicate better:
"We just have to keep working on it. This is a quiet group. They don’t talk a whole lot anyway. They’re they quietest group I’ve ever been on. Even on the plane, in the locker room, they’re not a real bulky group, but we do have to get them talking on the court. We do have to have them communicate on the court. I mean when we do, we’re pretty solid. I thought we did a good job in the second half of communicating. We only had three breakdowns. When we’re trying to come back from 20-28 point deficit, these little things…it just takes away that much more from us."

On how to get the players out of their comfort zone:
"Well we got to get them out of it. That’s why we stop practice every day and say, ‘Hey we’re going to do this until we talk to each other, until you talk, until you talk about the screen, talk about the switches, talk about things like that.’ That’s the only thing I can think of. If anybody has any suggestions, I’m wide open."

On how to improve offensively:
"We have to talk. And I know that sounds simple, but I think there are personalities on this team that aren’t talkative by nature and when you’re on the court you have to talk. We have to be better with that."

On how to talk more on the court:
"That’s what we’re trying to figure out. You certainly can, I think, bring out extroversion. I maybe mentioned this a while ago, but I do think that energy, talk and effort, those things are contagious in the same way that sort of the negatives of those are. You know, in terms of apathy and being lethargic, I think those things are contagious. There’s an energy that you have to bring to a group and the group sort of feeds on either one or the other, whether it’s negative or positive."

On the quietness of the team:
"Yeah, I think it’s just characteristics, really. We’re not really like, ‘ra-ra’ type guys. I guess sometimes that can translate into the court, but we’ve got to do better with that. We all have to step out of our comfort zones and be louder and talk and communicate, so that we can stop teams from scoring and doing what they want to do."

On why defense hasn’t come together yet:
"I mean, we are pretty young and it’s a new group. You can’t use that excuse forever, but I feel like we have to get to something and do it well and do it consistently, and we’re not really doing it consistently right now."

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2019-20 Game 25: Pelicans at Bucks Postgame Quotes 12-11-19

On tonight’s offensive struggles for the Pelicans:
"You’ve got to be able to score and we couldn’t get the ball in the basket tonight. At the end of the third quarter, they were shooting 39%. We gave up eight threes in the fourth quarter and they shot 55% so we were – we never had the opportunity to really kind of make a run at it because you’ve got to be able to get the ball in the basket. Obviously, we were coming up with stops. They missed 50 shots. You’ve got to be able to convert and it wasn’t like we gave a ton of offensive rebounds up – we gave up 10 offensive rebounds. There’s 40 shots – I mean there’s 40 possessions out there where we have to try to score. We just struggled from the field, we struggled – we missed 12 layups. We missed 21 shots in the paint so you can really good defensively, but you have to find a way to put it in the basket. We didn’t get it in the basket tonight."

On offensive opportunities tonight and Luka Dončić’s performance:
"They’re good looks, but you’ve got to step up and you got to knock them down and we just didn’t do that. I thought the game started well, the pace of the game was good, we had good ball movement and then we just couldn’t get the ball in the basket for really the last three quarters. That’s a really, really good team with a great player on it. He (Luka Dončić) pretty much carried them tonight. Anytime they needed anything done, he did it and that’s without even playing the fourth quarter. So he’s a tremendous player and did a great job tonight. 33 points, 18 rebounds, from that position is pretty impressive."

On what he thinks went wrong tonight offensively:
"[We] didn't make shots. I feel like we some good shots but we couldn't put them in the basket."

On if he feels there is a lack of energy from the team:
"I feel like the energy gets low when you go in. I think we got some good shots, but again that kind of depletes you."

On how difficult this losing streak has been and what the major issues are:
"Some of the same issues, but some are different. Teams play different line-ups. Sometimes it's first half, sometimes it's finishing games, sometimes it's coming out in the second half. A little bit of the same and a little bit different."

On what he thinks went wrong tonight offensively and what was difficult:
"It was pretty difficult. We got the looks that we wanted in most cases, we just have to step into them and knock them down. I think in our last few games we haven't finished well around the rim either. I think if we can have a little more of a sense of urgency on the defensive end we'll be fine."

On where he thinks the team's confidence level is:
"I think we are fine. We are getting the stuff that we want to get. We just have to step into it and knock the shots. I missed shots tonight. A lot of guys missed shots tonight that were good looks for the fourth quarter so we just [have to] continue to stay together."

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2019-20 Game 21: Pelicans vs. Mavericks Postgame Quotes 12-3-19

On the final sequence:
"We were going to try to run JJ (Redick) off a screen and back off, if not, we were going to try to get the ball to Brandon (Ingram) to try and dribble and create something. AD (Anthony Davis) just made a great defensive play."

On Jrue Holiday’s effort on both ends of the ball:
"thought he did a good job. At the end of the day, LeBron (James) made some tough shots down the stretch but he’s been doing that for 17 years so it’s not any different than any other team that he would play against. I thought we did a great job. We competed at a real high level. We just got to be able to come up with some plays. I thought the only thing that bothered me a little bit was that, I thought when we get in those situations we start going a little bit too much into isolation. We stop with the ball movement, and the cutting, and the moving of the basketball. I thought they did a good job of locking in on us. If you’re going to play one-on-one basketball you have to be able to get the ball and beat them."

On how he feels the team handled the Lakers tonight:
"I thought we handled it well. I thought we played hard. I thought we executed the game plan. There was the one stretch at the end of the third where we had the fifteen or seventeen point lead and [The Lakers] were able to cut it down to 8 really quickly, with just a couple of possessions. Other than that stretch, I thought we were great all night."

On how he thinks Jrue Holiday performed against the Lakers:
"Jrue [Holiday] was awesome tonight. You come to expect that form him. He’s a great player, and obviously we witnessed some greatness tonight."

On how he thinks the energy and atmosphere of the game was:
"I thought it was a great atmosphere. I thought the energy was our way for the beginning of the game. I thought the way we came out and played was really well especially in the first half. The whole game…I think toward the end of the game we had some execution issues but we still gave ourselves a chance to win."

On if he thinks there is something that is keeping the team from closing out successfully:
"I feel like when you execute in a game and you see the results of that execution, that builds character, and that also builds confidence. Doing that in a big game like this would build our confidence…I think…and we would get used to closing out games. I’m glad we were put in this situation, they are the best team in the west and it came down to the last thirty seconds."

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2019-20 Game 18: Pelicans vs. Lakers Postgame Quotes 11-27-19

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