CJ McCollum talks his performance, bench contributions | Pelicans vs. Trail Blazers Postgame 3/16/24

CJ McCollum talks his performance, bench contributions | Pelicans vs. Trail Blazers Postgame 3/16/24

I think it was five at halftime um just what allowed you guys to to put that one that one away in the second half I think we just focused more on our game plan discipline U understood our Personnel how to close out taking better angles communicating a little bit better and I

Think defensively um preventing Second Chance opportunities and getting out and running offense um I think we held to 39 points in the second half which is you know more of our defensive identity when you’re coming off of you know like emotional win like you are last night is

It is it hard to like Lo in on defense for 48 minutes is that like I I would say that you know back toback are difficult mentally and physically but um this late in the season everybody’s a little bit more fatigued everybody’s a little bit more run down but you know we

Got something that we want to accomplish as a team and these are the type of nights where you got to just figure out a way to you know kind of push through the fatigue through the mental exhaustion and and do what you can to help your team win I think everybody did

A great job of stepping up a lot of guys that hadn’t played in a while um contributed um Earl was ready to play as always true professional um jot played 30 minutes tonight Naji uh 23 Minutes tonight they were all great and obviously um our starters in Trey um did

A terrific job of you know being able to maintain leads being able to you know you know play through a couple of their runs and and figure out a way to uh to get a win that we needed uh for you was it just making shots that you’ve been missing lately tonight or

Was it you know a different approach you took yeah I I’ve had a a lackluster a couple weeks of just missing open shots and just not not playing at a high level that I hold myself to and just getting back to the lab working on my craft and

Watching film figuring out how I can you know be efficient and and and assertive um Z pull me to the side after the game against or during the game against Clippers like I just I need you to be aggressive I need you to be Portland CJ

I need you to umore to score it’s like I need you to score I need you to shoot he’s like we’ll facilitate you got to shoot and I was like all right say no more I got you bro so just trying to be aggressive trying to pick my spots and I

Think you know we got a lot of talented guys a lot of guys who um create gravity in terms of you know double teams be getting double Z’s getting doubled team is always we of them JB gets doubled you know what I mean so just just trying to

Pick my response and be aggressive and I think some of it was just me missing shots and then some of it was just me not being aggressive or assertive enough I think tonight um I got back to the basics and play better and uh you Ubi

And Z all had 20 tonight uh Trey had 20 as well when when y’all three in particular are making shots with that starting unit what does that kind of do to opposing defenses when it’s really hard for them to decide who they going to try to stop yeah it makes it very

Difficult they got to pick their poison you know what I mean it’s it’s hard for them to close CL out on on our Shooters it’s hard for them to to protect the paint on on Z it’s hard for them to protect the paint when B is driving getting downhill and I think they’re

They’re making the right decisions on when to score when the pass and I think it makes the game easier for everybody and then you got you know Trey’s going to get shots you got naj’s going to push Tempo and make shots you got Jose is

Going to come in and change the game and so on and so forth so I think it’s it’s a collaborative effort to where you know offensively we really haven’t had that many issues you know sometimes we get a little stagnant but we have the talent to figure it out I think it’s just

Continuing to keep our defensive identity getting stops cuz then the game is fine right we don’t got to call plays we just running Z’s getting dunks guys getting to the rim we getting transition threes and um the game becomes really easy when you get stops CJ it’s known

That the best players bring it on both ends can you talk a little bit about what you’ve seen from bz say over the last six weeks or however long it’s been where you know we’ve seen them really bring it on both ends I’ve seen a lot of

Growth in in the mindset and the approach and the preparation and them wanting the challenge of guarding different guys from Zar and kawhai to uh bi he’s guarding Jared Allen he was guarding Don I mean he’s guarded a lot of different guys and um I think that’s

What we want you want them to compete at a high level on both ends and there’s an accountability that kind of goes across the board to where you know guys playing 35 36 minutes a night huge offensive load and they still taking a challenge defensively there’s no excuses for other

Guys to not be giving forth the same effort so I think um it sets a really good precedent for our team that you know collectively for us to be great you know our best players got to defend too and that includes myself as well and in tonight’s game was it really noticeable

For you guys guys that you were missing just herb Jones’s energy out there yeah herb is always talking though so he’s talking on the bench he’s constantly um staying involved staying engaged and encouraging us and um that’s just the type of guy he is you know y’all think

He’s quiet but he really not that quiet is it um same subject just without him on the court is is there a bit of an adjustment maybe early in the game to playing Team defense without what he does individually and direction for sure I mean he covers up a lot of our

Mistakes um with his Pres with his ability to to cover space close outs um communication I mean you seen him getting dunks and lefts when we looking around like where’s her you know what I’m saying but I think we picked it up in the second half we communicate a lot

Better and you know that’s you know we missing one of the best if not the best defensive player in the league guy who can make threes he’s shooting 42 or 43% on threes finishes well around the basket he’s in like top 10 you know e field goal top 10 finishing wings I mean

He’s he’s having a great year and showing his versatility hurts he’s missing Larry tonight too another guy who’s great defensively uh vocal can switch rebounds well pushes the tempo a great connector for us an offense and a finisher um so I mean that obviously hurt but I think in those moments it

Gives other guys an opportunity to show up and it really shows your team depth and that’s why it’s important that guys are always ready to play okay CJ thank you for your time manate it y’all heard it man

New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum speaks to the media following the team’s win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday, March 16, 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