Willie Green Postgame Interview - Pelicans at Rockets - Jan. 31.
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00 >> Congrats, Coach.
00:03 >> Thank you, thank you.
00:04 >> You led pretty much the whole race, you passed by as much as 20.
00:07 What was different tonight versus the first two matchups?
00:11 >> It was similar in the fact that they're a tough team and they play tough and
00:15 they're scrappy, they forced us to have 17 turnovers, I thought.
00:20 We just continued offensively with our force and our pace,
00:23 got down the floor quickly, made quick decisions.
00:26 Didn't allow their physicality to disrupt us offensively.
00:29 And then defensively, incredible job by all of our guys,
00:33 holding them to 40% from the field and 29 from three.
00:37 So solid effort on both ends of the floor.
00:41 >> Jamie always brings the energy for you.
00:44 You said before he's a guy that'll lace him up every night if at all possible.
00:48 How important was he tonight?
00:49 And do you see different energy out of him when he has the ball?
00:53 >> He was fantastic.
00:54 And he and Seung-Goon kind of have that matchup going and
00:58 Seung-Goon has got the best of us, especially last game.
01:02 So JV, he was really locked in and focused on just doing what it took to win the game.
01:07 And he had big play after big play, especially in that second half.
01:12 >> Yeah, I mean in the fourth quarter, I think he had 14 going into the fourth.
01:14 You guys played during a lot.
01:15 Did you just see, all right, he's kind of got a rhythm,
01:18 we should really play through him here?
01:20 >> Yeah, it was one of those games where it's not broke, don't fix it.
01:24 Throw it to JV, throw it to the big fella, let him settle us down.
01:28 And then he creates offense.
01:29 He's getting a shot for himself, for a teammate, or he's going to the free throw line.
01:34 >> On nights when you know Zion isn't gonna be in the lineup,
01:36 does that change your approach going into the game of we just know we can get JV some
01:41 more post touches in this game, does it change that at all?
01:44 >> Yeah, it kind of forces us to do it, to throw the ball more to JV,
01:49 to create some offense for us.
01:51 But when Zion's on the floor, he didn't get as many touches down there and
01:57 rightfully so, Zion's occupying that space.
01:59 But tonight, we had him on the floor with mostly perimeter guys that can shoot and
02:05 space the floor and it allows him space and opportunity and he took advantage of it.
02:10 >> You guys had a really difficult January schedule, you finished the month eight and
02:13 seven.
02:14 What's just your evaluation of getting through these 15 games and
02:17 that eight and seven record?
02:19 >> Yeah, like you said, we knew we had a tough month ahead of us.
02:23 We still got a few tough games coming up, but
02:27 it's really a credit to our staff and our players for
02:32 continuing to just stick with it and continue to put in the extra work when no
02:37 one's looking and we'll take it with all the tough teams that we had.
02:43 We'll take eight and seven now, we know we could have been better and
02:46 we'll try to continue to improve.
02:48 But like you said, it's good to come out of this month with a winning record.
02:54 >> The game was close entering the fourth quarter, then y'all opened it with a 15-0
02:58 run, what was the key to y'all being able to really pull away there?
03:02 >> That group that was in the game, they did a great job of getting stops.
03:05 It was Najee, Jose, Jordan Hawkins, JV, might have been Dyson or
03:11 Travers with that group and they did a fantastic job getting stops defensively,
03:16 finishing the possessions with rebounds.
03:17 And then one of the concepts that we continue to talk about is
03:23 don't lose your pace, don't lose your force.
03:25 So whenever they rebounded, it was getting the ball down the floor quickly.
03:29 And we were getting open looks, we were throwing it to the post to Jonas and
03:33 he got us going.
03:34 >> Coach Conners talked about the pace, it was steady, it was balanced.
03:39 >> Yeah.
03:41 >> And was that contrived for you guys or just went with the flow like you said?
03:47 >> We think it can help us moving forward.
03:50 When we're looking at the tape and film in the fourth quarters,
03:54 that's an area that we can improve.
03:56 We started to slow down, we don't go through our execution with enough force.
04:01 So we have to continue to be forceful offensively, get in the sets,
04:06 get the ball down quickly if it misses, try to get early easy opportunities.
04:09 And tonight it was more balanced.
04:12 >> You guys put the game away, that trademark you have to read there.
04:16 Just what do you think,
04:17 Trey stepping into the starting lineup and the minutes he gave you all?
04:21 >> He was great on both ends of the floor, he competed.
04:24 And I love the fact that, and
04:25 he reminded me of this, that he got six rebounds tonight.
04:27 So. >> [LAUGH]
04:30 >> It's something that we're talking
04:31 about more and more with our wings and guards.
04:34 Doing a better job of rebounding from that position and
04:37 Trey had a huge part in that tonight.
04:40 Thank you.
04:42 >> Thank you.