Willie Green talks Jonas Valanciunas, upcoming Toronto Raptors game | Pelicans Practice 3/4/2024

Willie Green talks Jonas Valanciunas, upcoming Toronto Raptors game | Pelicans Practice 3/4/2024

Well you talked about it a little bit after that last game but you know JV did play at all the first game against p in the second half um you know gave you a really nice game in the second game um what have you just thought about you

Know him and his his role this year and how he’s kind of handled those fluctuations and things like that he’s been fantastic um everything that we’re asking them to do try to have more spacing um sacrificing because you know the Zion is he’s coming down the lane he’s coming

Into the paint making himself available offensively defensively he’s sound uh and then our communication he and I the rest of the coaches his teammates constantly talking about game to game what’s the plan JB he’s been he’s been great this season what you thought about just you know how he’s doing things

Defensively you guys are asking him to do he’s he’s a true professional you know you you sit down with him you talk to him you show him what to do or how you want things done and he goes out and works on it and he Implement implements it inti practice in

Games I know you guys talked about how great it was to have Jose back for the the last game um it seems like there’s been a bunch of times this season where the ball comes off the rim and there’s like three guys on the other team going

After it and he’ll come up with a loose ball do you ever wonder like how does he always seem to come up with all of those loose balls just keep doing it no that’s that’s kind of who Jose is he he he um he makes things happen on the

Floor he he’s going out the 5050 loose basketballs he’s diving on the ground he’s getting steals timely SK steals he’s taking charges he’s our energy guy so whenever it’s a Time on the floor where like you said you see two three guys and then out of the pack Jose has

The ball um is kind of what he’s done his whole career and we’re glad to have him on our side I think W has been one of the bigger things you guys have had to deal with not having a lot of it but three- game Road Trip no backto backs in

That time SP how much does that help it’s helpful it’s definitely helpful uh and then the main thing for us is you know try to be sharp with our execution and practice and shoot around make sure we have great carryover going into games knowing that after the game you don’t

Have another one you got a day to recover day to watch film get some more work in but these games where they spread them out they’re helpful they make the trip a little longer but they’re helpful in terms of being ready to play each and every game initial

Thoughts about Toronto and what you got to look out for you know a tough team you know a hard-nosed team they made some changes putting the ball in Quickly’s hands a little bit more Andre Barett I mean um is it Andre Barett RJ Barett RJ bar RJ

Barett is going to try to you know be aggressive getting to his left hand so the main thing for us with with these these games coming up is you know have respect for our opponent and understand what what we’re playing for and go out and execute on both ends of the floor

Kind of on the same page as the rest you guys had a lot of time off in between games how have you taken advantage of that know just try to be balanced we had a good day off where everybody had a chance to get out recover as I say fill

Your cup do things that you want to do and then we had two really good practice days and then now we’ll we’ll get on a plane head to Toronto and get ready to play but it’s kind of how we’re able to balance having that much time but it’s

Good at this point in the season it’s kind of good to have some time where you can recover and rest especially coming out of the break we had um five games in seven days five games seven days something like that so you in the the Zion a couple of times lately what’s the

What’s their view on the the Zion 3 I’m loving them you know anytime I can get free sneakers I’m putting them on so uh you know I got some some Zion I got some B I got some CJs on the way uh and it’s really just supporting our guys with

With uh Scotty Barnes out for the Raptors you kind of have to be ready for them like small lineups and stuff like that it seemed like their last game they started basically like four guards yeah we we we have to be ready to your point

Um they can play small um they can also put oen at the five he’s picking and popping shooting threes so we have to be ready to make those adjustments and uh we will we’ll we’ll we’ll be ready and and the big thing for us is to not let

Our guard down respect our opponents go out and take care of business as you come down the stretch here can you feel maybe the energy shift a little as everyone goes full year as you come down like this last playoff push last few you know regular season games I mean what’s

The excitement energy like we can we can feel you can feel the shift in the in the league right now you can definitely feel it feel it with us here in practice practice is more intense guys are locked in and it’s just that time of year

Where you know teams really 11 12 on up they’re all playing for something and um you know we we like where we are but you can definitely feel the energy shift and and it’s a fun time of year what makes this team different I mean the last

Couple years you guys have had the E and flows of it and you’re still in a position where you can fight to not be in the playing tournament what is it about the energy shift this time around that feels different I think to your point is the position that we’re in this

Season you know last season I think we might have been fighting to get back into the play in after losing guys through injuries and this year we’re we’re we’re trying to take another step forward which is you know six and above and and not have to fight to make it to

The playoffs but know that when the season ends you know we have a solidified spot so that’s that’s the energy shift with us that’s our focus and you know we we want to continue I know it’s a cliche but just take it one game at a time

New Orleans Pelicans head coach Willie Green’s post-practice interview on Monday, March 4, 2024 at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center.
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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
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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