Willie Green talks CJ McCollum, upcoming games against Knicks, Pacers | New Orleans Pelicans

Willie Green talks CJ McCollum, upcoming games against Knicks, Pacers | New Orleans Pelicans

Any update on CJ CJ went through a full practice um he’ll be he’ll still be day today you know we want to see what he feels like tomorrow um see what he feels like I have to shoot around and go from there it feels like he’s trending in the right

Direction he is he’s trending in the right direction yes were you surprised he was at that point already of like go through full practice Yeah I was um but he does a great job of all all of the off the court work that he puts in and

With his PD and with our performance in medical and the treatment he gets he he’s really diligent so uh it’s good to see him progressing Andy well I know it’s 20 something games left but is it is it already starting to feel like you in playoff mode kind of just how close

The race is in the west and everybody jumbled up together like they are it’s definitely it’s definitely um you know you can feel the the the games being meaningful you can feel every game that there is is high stakes um so it’s a fun time of year and uh you want to put

Yourself in a position to to be able to play in the postseason and for us it’s about taking care of business well you have any new thoughts on perhaps after rewatching last night’s game on the way at Finish especially yeah I do um I felt like you know look don’t want to take

Anything away from Chicago I thought they came in and they were physical and um they made plays in the fourth quarter to win the game but I also felt like um we we gifted a game away and uh we made just silly mistakes um unforced turnovers and we didn’t come up with

With a few 50-50 balls towards the end and things like that are we have to be better at the simple that’s what that’s what our message was to the group we have to be really good at the simple and if we are we walk away with those games

With with with wins did you ever think about a challenge on any of the D rozan calls I did I did and well we got our group that just watching the computer behind the bench and they said they didn’t think it was a would have been a good call for me so

But it’s tough to it’s tough to it’s tough to referee him it’s tough to guard him you know he’s he’s doing like he’s sticking his arms out and like seeking contact it’s tough but all the people who were sitting around me last night were asking me why he gets those calls and Zion

Doesn’t what was your answer I told him I didn’t know I was gonna ask you I’m asking you uh we we’re all asking ourselves the same thing um I said it last night I’ve said it a few times the consistency for me is the is the main issue is that

Um if that is a foul it should be a foul if they slap down and they hit your arm it it should be what it is and so I um when I look at the stat sheet and I see D roen shoots 14 free throws and Zion only two that’s concerning that’s

Really concerning and for us we we we have to continue to um play through it we have to acknowledge that we feel like it’s happening but we we have to play through it we can’t allow it to stop us from going to the next play and you know

It’s going to make us more mentally tough but it it it’s definitely some frustration with that really have we got to a point where yall have had to kind of address to the league yet or send TI to the league or we have we have we we’re doing it

Consistently after games that we feel there was some some situations that maybe that you know they need to look at so we’re doing that part of it now it’s about us not allowing it to affect our play is it for you to have conversations with Zion maybe figuring out a different

Way to be effective because if you’re not going to get the cause you’re going to have to do something that otherwise is also productive yeah we we we’re definitely talking about it and you know maybe he needs to do the same thing that James Harden the rozen does I’m not sure but

You know he should be getting those calls and um we’ll keep playing we’ll keep playing we’ll keep staying together uh we we can’t allow it to demoralize us as a team uh but hopefully it changes Willie how did uh Brandon respond after be in the lineup for the first time in a

While last night know he’s a little fatigued third and fourth quarter last night but uh it was good to have him back good to have him back on the floor uh he made some big plays for us you know he also made some mistakes like the

Rest of the guys but it was great to have him back on on the floor with our guys and you know hopefully we can continue to progress yeah he SP today like is he good now like is he yeah he was good he went through a full practice

And so he was good to go today coach are you hesitant to burn a challenge unless you feel like it’s something that’s almost obvious yeah I am I I I you definitely want to be sure about the the first challenge because it could be early in the game and it could be a

Simple possession challenge which doesn’t take points off the board or Point put points on the board or save a file so with that first one you want to be as sure as you can um so that you can get it back and maybe use it for later

Well are you always kind of relying on those guys behind the bench for that or I there sometimes when you’ll be like no I’m overriding this I’m overriding what they say I look I Look to them first and then there’s times that I can see it

From myself on the on the big screen and when I can see it for myself and I and I’m for sure how challenging how long does it take for a guy to get that kind of clout in the league do um it didn’t take long um you know maybe a couple

Seasons so coach a couple questions first how hard has it been to keep your money in your pocket given how hard it is with these free throw issues um you guys are just staying on the on these free throws right now I’m trying to keep my money in my pocket if

Y’all change the subject change the topic I to real for you uh back to back coming up against the Knicks and the Pacers going on the road what are the bigger challenges with those two teams it’s the same that we’ve we’ve seen the last couple games the Knicks are a

Physical team they execute on both ends of the floor they good defensively um we got to bring it on their home floor last season we didn’t have a good showing there and then you got Indiana after that fast spread you out shoot threes these going to be two tough

Challenges for us but we look forward to them having NY back really good for us we we glad to have n back uh brings a ton of energy for us another one of our big wings that can defend that can shoot and that can handle the ball and

Initiate plays for us you have a lot of good guys on this team he seems like you brings a little edginess to it do you you like that I love it I love it he does he brings the edge and you know it’s just who he is and so he’s not

Trying to be anything outside of who he is but you got to be care care you cross that line with it than

New Orleans Pelicans head coach Willie Green’s post-practice interview from Monday, Feb. 26 ahead of tomorrow’s game at the New York Knicks during the 2023-24 NBA season.
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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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