CJ McCollum on his scholarship program, Ingram’s big night | Pelicans vs Hornets Postgame 1/17/24

CJ McCollum on his scholarship program, Ingram’s big night | Pelicans vs Hornets Postgame 1/17/24

25 threes for yall I mean most in a game by a lot you know three more than You’ ever made in a game as a team um what what allowed that happen tonight I thought our Pace our Pace was great um yeah rebounded initiate the offense a

Lot um Kick ahe heads uh paint the greates we had some single side tag actions where we got a roller rolling and a good shooter replacing uh making sure you got a shooter at the nail with the nail help so that if they stunt um they stunting off a hwk they stunting

Off a Trey they stunting off me um herb is continuing to shoot the ball extremely well especially in the corner especially in the right corner um I shot the ball pretty well and I think for us as a team the faster we play easier it is to get threes but

Also the more stops you get the easier it is to get threes so I think there a combination of those things how uncommon is it for I guess a rookie like Jordan Hawkins to come in and just like have the shot making ability that he’s shown

He ain’t afraid he ain’t afraid at the moment um he’s a really good shooter he’s confident he works on his craft he’s got quick release and he’s a smart basketball player he knows how to find Open Spaces he knows how to shoot the ball when it’s open drive when it’s not

Um I told him we got to work on them travels but I think he’s um a product of hard work confidence and and all those things are meeting opportunity and um he’s showing what he has to offer and he’s showing why he won a national championship and uh bi’s numbers were

Down the past couple games coming into this one what did you think about just the way he started off with just the aggressive mentality in that first quarter yeah I mean he started off confident he played free tonight he was aggressive and I think he allowed the rebounding to kind of dictate his

Offense um and he didn’t hunt twos tonight he hunted threes and U I think his first seven field goals were were made threes which is a sign of his mindset into the game cuz you know he can get to the mid whenever he wants but I think getting them catch and shoot

Threes getting those dribble up threes kick out threes off offensive rebounds would be really good for him it’ll allow him to get to the basket and he still playm made he still got downhill and just you know played a played a really really good solid um all around game and

I think they missed out in like three or four assists he probably should have 14 assists tonight we got to talk to our people um who are registering uh our assist for us so U this is a night where some teams might have had 15 assists and

He he struggled to get 10 and I’m I’m taking one dribble laying the ball up I’m confused uh just just seeing the the the difficulty with some of the shot Hulk makes on the three-point line just just what’s it like seeing a rookie just with that level of confidence to be able to

You know take shots with guys hand in the face in transition feet not set and being able to make them yeah I mean I think a lot of it is his mindset his preparation he’s in the gym shooting a lot and um you gain confidence as you

Continue to have success and I think his confidence comes from the work ethic and his previous success and I think it’s it’s continuing to flow we encourage him to shoot the ball and um some of those shots he’s you know being guarded closely he’s still raising up the corner

Three that he hit was tough you know uh the close out was tight he sized him up and raised and I think that’s just um um a sign of how far ahead of the curve he is as a rookie to be able to move find spaces and take and make you know tough

Shots uh the team is four and0 when they when you guys shoot 43s in a game just in yeah um what does that say about the spacing just the attempts create and what you guys can kind of benefit from it yeah we’ve been preaching shoot Mar

3es for a long time and I think you know some nights we do it some nights we don’t and obviously you want quality threes you want the right guys taking threes and I think as we continue to figure out our rotation our patterns um what play calls we can generate threes

From I think you’ll continue to see it and um pin Downs you know going inside and out transition those are easy ways to get threes and as the season progresses um I think we’ll continue to get closer to 40 uh you teamed up with college Beyond to create a scholarship

Program here in New Orleans want to kind of talk about how they came about uh there a benefit under high school students but kind of how can they get involved yeah um great question I think you know there something that we had talked about for quite some time um with

My family with Ashley who handles all my offc court stuff just trying to figure out how to make a real impact um here in New Orleans um specifically this city understanding the variety of needs that are here as a person with an education background uh my wife having um too many

Degrees uh Masters and a doctorate being a dentist I think um one of the things that we had talked about historically was figuring out how to impact this community and understand challenges that many kids face when it comes to college and and just kind of brainstorming and figuring out who we could collaborate

With um College Beyond made sense um they have experience doing things like this we want to specifically Target U New Orleans we want to specifically Target a demographic of people who um are sometimes put in position um to do what they have to do not what they want

To do and um we’re excited to be able to to help alter or change the trajectory of you know 10 kids um who are here they can register online there’s there’s a link that I posted and I’ll be posting again and I think we have our our press

Event January 22nd but just excited to be able to get back um I’m thankful to be able to play a sport at a high level and be able to um take care of my family and this game has given me a lot of opportunities and I think um for me it’s

About really just taking advantage and and doing what I can when I can to help other people and I was fortunate enough to get a scholarship to play basketball so I didn’t have to you know worry about the the finances behind it but my wife and so many others are forced to take

Out loans and kind of go through that process and I think for us if we can alleviate some of that stress and some of that pressure on on some kids and their families then why not try to do that so I’m excited about the impact that we’re going to have directly on

Those on those kids and their families you know for the foreseeable future and Beyond and really excited about you know some of the stuff that they’re going to be able to accomplish um some of the stuff that I probably didn’t have when I was in college in terms of the

One-on-one a mentorship and just being able to kind of have someone with you every step of the way um going to college is difficult call it’s hard um and I I think that I’m really excited about the impact that we’re going to have and there’s a lot of stuff that

We’re going to continue to do for this community um outside of that that I’m excited about as well CJ obviously a lot of guys were hop from three tonight what do you particularly like about that pairing Off the Bench with Trey and Jordan what kind of facet can they provide for you guys

Moving forward uh I mean the space is is really important the the recognition the shot recognition the team has to have for them obviously Trey’s got extended range um Jordan can shoot from far out but he’s tolling the line similar to Ray Allen and I think

Um Z on Ball B on ball me on ball being able to make that extra pass being able to drive and get downhill and see them um it’s it’s a comforting feeling when you when you’re throwing it to somebody who can make six seven8 threes in the

Game somebody that’s you know 40 50% you know depending on the streak maybe 50% right now in his last I don’t know how many attempts and the the defense is aware too you you do The Scouting Report you understand you know makes and misses you understand streaks and I think for

Us it’s about continue to compete at a high level and utilizing all our um our guys uh strengths and advantages CJ of course of record 25 made threes tonight by the team but the biggest Roar of the night came when Zion clamped down on Lam the corner what do you think of that

That was a good play man he accepted the challenge lamelo is obviously a really good player and for us to be successful as a team we got a guard we got a guard with five and I thought that was uh indicative of how the night was going

And CJ I asked U Willie this but just want to get your take on it who does Jordan like remind you of as far as when you watch a play are there some players that play man I think it’s I mean he’s only played what 30 something games so it’s

Hard to give him a a comp right now but I mean he went to Connecticut so it’s easy to say Ray I think he’s got a little bit of Rip Hamilton in him more three obviously rippers you know two chess action you know floppy pin downs

And stuff but like really good sound uh technique sound footwork quick release his release might be quicker than rips um but I would say those are some natural two guard comparisons but I’d have to go back in the archives and watch some of the old school two guards

Because of his game and um I I said he wear a t-shirt like Chris Lofton you know Chris Lofton back in Tennessee but uh I think he’s you know he’s his own individual player making a real good name for himself and he’s doing things the right way so

New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum speaks to the media following the team’s win over the Charlotte Hornets on Wednesday, January 17, 2024.

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New Orleans Pelicans Roster
———————————————–
Jose Alvarado #15 Guard
Dyson Daniels #11 Guard
Jordan Hawkins #24 Guard
Brandon Ingram #14 Forward
Herbert Jones #5 Forward
Kira Lewis Jr. #13 Guard
E.J. Liddell #32 Forward
Naji Marshall #8 Forward
CJ McCollum #3 Guard
Trey Murphy III #25 Guard
Larry Nance Jr. #22 Forward
Jeremiah Robinson-Earl #50 Forward
Matt Ryan #37 Forward
Dereon Seabron #0 Guard
Jonas Valanciunas #17 Center
Zion Williamson #1 Forward
Cody Zeller #44 Forward-Center

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