Pelicans Head Coach Alvin Gentry: On tonight's game: “I didn't think we started the game the right way, with the right attitude. I thought we were going to be content to exchange baskets with them. If you're going to be content exchanging baskets with this team, you're probably going to struggle, because they're really good offensively. Especially the two backcourt players, obviously. Then I thought we locked in and decided that we had to play like we've been playing and that our defense would be the thing that initiated our offense. I thought we did a good job of getting the lead and then we came up with four really bad possessions in a row and that put them right back in the game. Then we didn't start the game in the third quarter the right way. It was like we played in segments, and you can't play in segments. We had a good segment where we got back into the game and then hit a big shot, but obviously it was nullified by an offensive foul and then I think they scored nine straight. For us, we just have to be who we are and I didn't think we played that way tonight.”
On his team's rebounding: “You're probably not going to win an NBA game if you get outscored 23 to two on second chance points. You give up 12 offensive rebounds, they get 23 second chance points, which means they're scoring every time they get a rebound. That puts way, way, way too much pressure on your offense, because you're not running out and you're not getting easy baskets you're taking the ball out of the net. When you do that, you don't have any kind of advantage as far as the flow of your offense, because they're back in their set defensively.”
On whether his team needs more of a group effort rebounding the ball: “A lot of rebounds are hustle plays, they're there for either or. The 50/50 balls they came up with. We don't have that kind of margin for error where we can give up 23 to two in second chance points and beat many teams, really.”
Pelicans Forward Anthony Davis: On opponents' offensive rebounds: “We've got to box out. Some of them you can't control when it just came off wrong but most of them you've got to box out, put a body on a body and go get the rebound.”
On if the Blazers had more hustle tonight: “They just played harder than us. We started out the game letting them do what they were doing and you can't do that on the road. Then we came back and if we got the lead, we'd kind of slack off again and we couldn't settle it in the third and then in the fourth we kind of gave them a run at the end so they made big plays and we couldn't get stops.”
Pelicans Guard Tim Frazier: On the ovation he got when he was announced pregame: “It's a great feeling, man, I had a great time here in Portland. It feels like I was here for long time but really I was here for a short time period of time, the fans here, the people here are amazing and it's a great city, a great basketball city.”
On his in-game intensity with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum: “It's just competitive nature. When you go out on the court you want to win for your team. I did the same thing when I was for Portland and I took it here to New Orleans. The fans don't see that we used to get into it a lot in practice but it was practice so you didn't really see it but we just try to push each other and make each other better.”
On Coach Stotts: “He's a great coach, man. I think the biggest thing besides his coaching and the basketball IQ is that he's a great man. You can come to him about anything, he was always there when I was down or I wasn't playing or if I had any questions, if I needed anything he was always there to help me out. It's a great birthday present for one, I appreciate coach Stotts, he was the one few people to give me opportunities. People always bring up the Atlanta game when he just let me go out there and just play. Every time we would play Houston he'd find some way to get me in the game because he knew my family was there. Coach Stotts is a great man.”
