Willie Green on win, record heading into All-Star break | Pelicans Postgame 2/14/24

Willie Green on win, record heading into All-Star break | Pelicans Postgame 2/14/24

Start coach uh look another wild one that’s three straight games though but the key is you found a way to win and that’s all that can it is I mean it’s a it’s a gutsy win um coming off a a long road trip a lot of elements play a

Factor but they’ve been playing well Washington’s been playing well they play hard they play together and you know we gave them some life and once you give a team life you know now their confidence is high and you know we had to grind to get this win but we’ll take it

When you know you get into a situation like that and it starts going back and forth and you start leaning on your main guys and Zion and CJ and Brandon just made some big shots down the stretch and that’s kind of what we’ve come to expect

Uh during this first stretch of the year we do expect it we expect those guys to carry us and close out games when they have to but I thought our second unit that small group that we went with they were huge um defensively switching screens being aggressive the physicality

That they brought they’re playing fast getting stops and um I thought the game in the second half they had the momentum and then it shifted back to us once that group touched the floor and then we went to our guys down the stretch and they

Close it out so like I said it’s a gutsy win you know we made it a little bit you know probably more difficult than it needed to be but at this time of year you just continue to stack wins to that point uh how much do you need Jose

Alvarado’s energy tonight we need it every night and tonight uh he came in right away and you can feel his energy and that’s what he does for our team and um he had a huge game for us when you when you know you have like eight days

Off and your 50 something games to the season is it is it hard mentally to like I guess be be president and be locked in as you want to be say that again like when you when you have a a really when you know you’re going to have eight days

Off like how hard is it to just be a I guess locked in mentally as as you’d like to be um it could be challenging but it’s why we’re professionals and it’s it’s what you’re here to do I think there were a few elements that played a

Role in sort of our our laps this game we’re coming off being away for seven eight days playing four games on the road our first game at home it’s always that first game is always a little tiring and um we got off to a great start didn’t finish the second quarter

Well and all those elements play a role in it we’re one game away from the Break um we’re playing against you know a team that we talked about it you have to respect them no matter the record um and credits our guys in the locker room is

You know maybe it should have been a a higher scoring game or further apart as far as the score but they got the win and that’s what counts and uh you mentioned it the most important thing is getting the win at the end of the day

But just when you look at this game not just this game but you know throughout the season kind of the ups and downs the inconsistency just what’s your feel on kind of where that comes from for this team and how it it just kind of shifts you know from quarter to

Quarter well I think we’re learning to grow with each other this group is still pretty young in terms of bi CJ Z especially our starters being on the floor together for this long in the season so you know along the way we’re we’re we’re starting to figure it out

But I think that plays a role in in some of the inconsistencies that we will see from time to time and we just have to stay committed to working the Kings out and we’ve heard you talk about this before kind of that coming back from Allstar break that Sprint towards the

Playoffs just the importance of your star players kind of setting that tone uh for when you know the games really start having that playoff F how important is that going to be for you guys the three guys you mentioned CJ Z NBI being those tone Setters you know

Once that playoff VI really kicks in it’s going to be extremely important for us um when we get back that’s the stretch run and as we progress with those games it’s it’s going to have playoff like atmospheres especially with um teams that are trying to position themselves for play off play in what

Have you but they those games are tough down the stretch and and those guys are going to have to set the tone especially starting on the defensive end and when they do that you know the offense it is what it is they can score on anybody but

It’s the defensive end that we really have to focus on and and just in general just what do you like about where you guys are right now going into Allstar break and where you feel like yall need to improve the most um I I like where we are in terms

Of we’ve been able to carve our WIS and put ourselves in a solid position as far as the standings is concerned uh we’re figuring it out as we go with our starting group and you know the Improvement is that we want to continue to be Elite on both ends of the floor

And it starts with our defense so coming back the focus is is that is against these top teams we have to have a defensive presence we have to continue to share the ball which we’ve done finish possessions um with rebounds defensively and and shoot open shots um

Which we did tonight and we a two Wills Point last year at the allstar break I think you guys were 30 and 29 this year you’re 11 games over 500 what kind of sense of accomplishment is that I know you haven’t won anything but how do you

View it in in those terms it’s a step in the right direction um each year we’re making improvements from you know my first year being here to last year and this year and one of the biggest improvements for us and I continue to say it is that we have a

Healthy roster pretty much healthy roster obviously we’ve had some had some guys be out but having the main guys healthy helps us and um we’ll come back and and get ready to go and I know Christian are ask about Jose but what about the shot the arm that

Naj’s given you guys since he’s come back from injury these last three games naji’s been really good for us uh his toughness his ability to get stops rebound make plays in the open floor offensively he’s knocking his shots down he he’s been huge for us especially with Dyson being out coach Brandon had

Another eight assist tonight that seven straight games with at least six assists for him kind of talk about how he’s embracing that playmaking by getting others involved like that he’s been fantastic in that area you know when he sees two guys on him he’s a willing passer and he’s trusting his teammates

And that’s what it’s going to take for us offensively across the board uh but seebi do it you know the other guys kind of fall in line all right guys enjoy thank you

New Orleans Pelicans head coach Willie Green speaks to the media following the team’s win over the Washington Wizards on Wednesday, February 14, 2024.

#NBA #Pelicans #NewOrleansPelicans
Latest NBA News & Pelicans News @ https://www.pelicans.com

New Orleans Pelicans Roster
———————————————–
Jose Alvarado #15 Guard
Dyson Daniels #11 Guard
Jordan Hawkins #24 Guard
Brandon Ingram #14 Forward
Herbert Jones #5 Forward
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

Subscribe to the New Orleans Pelicans YT Channel: https://bit.ly/PelicansSubscribe
Add the Pelicans Schedule to your Calendar: https://calendar.pelicans.com/
Latest Pelicans News and Updates: https://www.nba.com/pelicans
Latest NBA News and Updates: https://www.nba.com/
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PelicansNBA/
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PelicansNBA
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pelicansnba/
Find us on Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/add/pelicansnba
Get the App: http://apps.yinzcam.com/nba/nop