CJ McCollum on what makes the Thunder difficult | Pelicans vs. Thunder Postgame 1/26/24
Fourth in defense just what makes them a tough defensive team um they they got length they athletic they switch a lot they got a good good rim protector um in jet they got active hands they get a lot of steals get out and run so I think it’s a
Combination of those things and and how much of tonight was they’re just a good defensive team versus stuff you felt like you guys could have done better I think it was combo too many turnovers um had too many we had too many as a team 20 something turnovers led to a lot of
Points uh a little stagnant tonight I think it was a little out of sours tonight what are you seeing there in some of these games where where bi is kind of lower his field goal attempts or just the teams are kind of defending him and where I guess y’all can kind of help
Him find more shots oh yeah we have to check out the film but they did a good job of trying to deny pressure and sending some devils off the second dribble so just got to try to figure it out tonight was a weird game um I think
It was a weird game for everybody just he not playing but we got to we got to get better at you know being able to to have more movement and continuity in our offense when when one of those guys isn’t out there guess do you just have any feel on
Some of these games where it’s just such a wild swing where you go from 150 to 80 or these games you go from 20 something threes to like 8 the next game is there anything just a long season some days the ball go in some days it don’t it’s a
Lot of basketball and a lot of days so sometimes it happens it’s unfortunate that it’s happened you know a few times but guys are still working we had a great you know couple practices um and tonight it just didn’t happen for us CJ could you expand on that saying it was a
Weird game was it finding out the time you was kind of today off some with that I mean the way we played two games ago was different right Z had the ball a lot um pushing Tempo playing through him a lot and then you know he doesn’t play
Tonight so it was just a different game um we just got to we got to be better we we didn’t we didn’t play well we turned the ball over uh I got to do better with some of the play calls um spacing wasn’t great we had some pretty good looks on
Some of our driving kicks we just didn’t make them but um it’s unfortunate that we didn’t we didn’t play well tonight and CJ you guys suffered through I think the worst quarter for you was in the second where you had seven turnovers miss all the three pointers you guys
Took I think it was five was was it difficult to bounce back from that why is it kind of difficult to bounce back from when you guys do get knocked down I think we just miss shots and when you miss shots and you don’t get stopped
Uh I think it’s snowballs we was only down nine at halftime 51 to 60 it wasn’t a bad game defensively uh we didn’t take advantage of transition we didn’t take advantage of um some of our opportunities to run on misses and um I think our offense was so poor it hurt
Our defense some tonight just a slightly off topic uh Booker had 62 tonight Luka had 73 another 7 point game just what do you make of uh uh the offense in the league today and how it’s changed over time guys are really good and you know
If you can get 10 to 15 free throws uh helps you establish your Rhythm and if you’re a really good scorer then you can you can find yourself scoring 40 50 or 60 especially with the way the offense has played today the tempo pick and rolls isos and some of those teams you
Know they Lucas got the ball the whole game book is 20 25 points in the first quarter he’s going to be real aggressive and get downhill and then their team does a great job of finding them and and and empowering them to score and I know
Like a a common I guess media talking point is like oh well you know defense isn’t being played but do you feel like it’s more so thats are just stretched out def comp I mean you look at Dallas they got four Shooters in a in a rolling big who
Dunks so um they got a lot of guys that are threats pick and row Lucas you know he’s hitting 8 n threes on step backs get to the free throw line you know 15 times uh you hit a3s and you get 15 free throws it’s a lot of points right there
And adding some layups so I think it’s a combination things the pace is faster than it’s ever been before points per game is up um free throws are slightly up but not not crazy but if you know how to get fouls and if the refs can give
You you know the benefit of the doubt then you easily establish a rhythm early in games and and hope you’re really good basketball player you know how to manipulate pick and roles you know how to play angles and I can see how some of those guys are getting 50 or 60 cuz
They’re really good and um their usage is really high and it’s it’s built around them scoring CJ I know it’s only been a couple games but what are your thoughts on Larry starting third quarters out of the half whatever it takes for us to win games I I’m indifferent about it um I
Just want to win so if that’s what’s going to help us great
New Orleans Pelicans guard CJ McCollum speaks to the media following the team’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday, January 26, 2024.
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Jose Alvarado #15 Guard
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3 Comments
Sure enough, the performance is stable and never disappoints. When he encounters a little defensive intensity, his performance will be poor. A 33-year-old veteran sometimes plays like a rookie.
The defensive level is poor, opponents will drool after watching it, and the passing ability is not very good.
What kind of team would give a player such a big contract? Other general managers basically think this is a garbage contract.
Should have kept kira Lewis he's faster has more athleticism and can shoot the ball along with plays better defense than CJ McCollum every time CJ McCollum go up against an elite point guard he get roasted like fried Chicken š this off-season they need to do a better job with replacing CJ McCollum he is the weak Link in the pelicans defense and how do you shoot 9 – 36 from the field and you practice shooting everyday along with turn the ball over 20 the New Orleans pelicans fans deserve better than that
Chet