Exclusive GAME# 57: PELICANS @ BLAZERS - FEBRUARY 21, 2020 - Quote Book

[SlyPokerDog]

Postgame Notes – February 21, 2020

New Orleans 128, Portland 115

Game No. 57, Home Game No. 27



TEAM

• All five of Portland starters scored in double figures for the seventh time this season. The Trail Blazers are 5-2 in those games.

• The Trail Blazers blocked nine shots and had seven steals while New Orleans had three blocks and eight steals.

• Portland shot 19-of-25 (76%) from the free throw line, while New Orleans was 20-of-33 (60.6%) from the stripe.

• Both teams recorded 48 points in the paint, and Portland outscored New Orleans in second chance points, 22-18.

• New Orleans was 45-of-84 (53.6%) from the field, while Portland shot 43-of-94 (45.7%). The Pelicans also shot 52.9% from 3-PT range, marking the first time this season they have finished above 50% in both FG% and 3-PT%.



PLAYER
• CJ McCollum led Portland with 27 points (10-22 FG, 3-8 3-PT, 4-4 FT), six rebounds and 10 assists in 37 minutes. His 10 assists tied a career-high (four times), and his seven first quarter assists tied a career-high for a single quarter.

• Carmelo Anthony scored 20 points (6-17 FG, 2-6 3-PT, 6-6 FT), to go with five rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block in 32 minutes. It was his 11th game with 20+ points this season.

• Hassan Whiteside finished with 19 points (9-16 FG, 1-2 FT), 12 rebounds and six blocks in 32 minutes. It was his 42nd double-double of the season, tied for the fourth-most in the NBA.

• Hassan Whiteside recorded at least six blocks for the sixth time this season, marking the most such games a player has had in a season since Whiteside recorded 12 games of six-plus blocks in 2015-16.

• Trevor Ariza recorded 13 points (5-7 FG, 2-4 3-PT, 5-5 FT), eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and one block in 35 minutes. It was his fifth game scoring in double-figures with the Trail Blazers.

• Gary Trent Jr. finished with 15 points (5-11 FG, 3-4 3-PT, 2-3 FT), one rebound, two assists and one steal. It was his fifth time scoring in double-figures in his last seven games.

• Nassir Little scored nine points (4-6 FG, 1-2 3-PT), to go with three rebounds and one assist in 18 minutes off the bench.

• Zion Williamson led New Orleans with 25 points (10-17 FG, 5-10 FT), four rebounds, three assists and one steal. It was his third straight game with at least 25 points.

• Jrue Holiday finished with 20 points (5-10 FG, 4-6 3-PT, 6-8 FT), two rebounds, nine assists and four steals in 31 minutes.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS

On overall thoughts on the game…

“Obviously they’re short handed, but I thought it was a good effort by our team, just probably better defense through the first half, thought we had a better effort in the second half. Even the final score, they led the entire game, but I thought we kept plugging away and they never really pulled away from us until the end of third quarter. That 9-0 run at the end of the third quarter really hurt us, a couple offensive rebounds, some bad offensive possessions hurt us, but bottom line is we found ways to score, but our defense still needs to get better.”

On CJ McCollum’s performance…

“I thought CJ had a very good game. In the offense he picked his moments to try and score, obviously double-digit assists, I thought he played the game the way it’s supposed to be played.”

On what areas defensively they could improve in…

“A little bit of everything. Transition, they’re a transition team, they shot it well, and quick shots, tonight three-point shooting hurt us. Whether that was our defense or their good shooting or good ball movement, I thought our pick and roll defense, particularly in the first half, they were able to pick that apart either with a roll man or finding somebody else with a pass. In the first half we did a good job rebounding, but it seemed like they made their runs when they did have a little spurt with their offensive rebounding.”

On if trying a zone in the third quarter was an attempt to disrupt NOP…

“No, honestly we play zone every baseline out of bounds. That was throughout the game, and then we just had one possession at the start of the quarter, we played one possession in zone.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

CJ MCCOLLUM:

Was the Pelicans’ three point shooting the difference tonight?

“Yeah, I think so. They hit a lot of threes – threes in transition, threes in the half court, threes on kick-outs. It made a difference in the game for sure.”


How did you feel about the way you guys played?

“I think we competed but I think just some lapses defensively. We fouled a lot in the first half. I think they shot like 28, 29 free throws in the first half which is too many easy points so we’ve got to tighten that up but overall, I thought we competed. Just didn’t play well enough defensively to win.”


You’re getting teammates involved- how do you feel like you did?

“I did a decent job. I had like five turnovers –too many turnovers, but outside of that, I thought offensively wasn’t the problem. Defensively was the bigger problem. We figure out ways to score, we always have, we’ve just got to tighten up at the other end.”


Is it more difficult losing to a team that’s close to you in the standings?

“Every loss hurts when you’re out of the playoffs fighting for position to make the playoffs, it doesn’t matter who you lose to. You just need to try to win as many games as possible, especially at home. It feels the same – it’s a loss to us. It makes it more difficult for us in the long run.”



HASSAN WHITESIDE

How did you feel about that one?

“We played a better second half. They hit a couple threes in transition and that put them up.”


They shot well from three -

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, guys was knocking it down. That made it tough.”


Coach talked about defense specifically – what do you need to do to improve?

“I don’t know, it’s not just one thing. I think it’s a team effort. It’s not just one specific thing that I could just tell you that would make us a better defensive team.”


How do you feel about the spirits of the team right now?

“I think they’re good. That was a tough loss but we can’t hang our heads. We’ve got another one – we’ve got 25 more games.”


You were guarding Zion Williamson a lot recently – have you figured out a way to slow him down?

“Zion, he makes it tough because he’s not really guarding me. I’m under the rim, he’s at the three point line and he’s just getting out and it’s tough for the guards to match that size. He’s bigger than everybody on the court and they do a great job of looking for him over the top and he jumps, he’s got like a 45-inch vertical, it’s unbelievable.


Does it hurt more to lose to a team battling you for the eighth seed?

Honestly it hurts just to lose. They beat us four straight times. We was missing guys both times but we’ve got to come out here and figure it out.”


Lillard said he may miss 3 to 5 games, do you feel like you’re in position to pick up wins without him?

“Yeah, you know – I know it’s going to be tougher for everybody. It’s going to be tougher for me, it’s going to be tougher for CJ because we’ve been playing a lot through [Lillard] and he makes a lot of decisions out there, but like I said, we’ve got to come out here and keep competing. We’ve got the first one under our belt, let’s move on to Detroit and get a win there. That’s a must win.”

 

[SlyPokerDog]

HEAD COACH ALVIN GENTRY


On his favorite thing from tonight’s game

I thought we did a good job for the most part of passing and moving the basketball. Passing up good shots for great shots. But we also went through a little stretch there where I thought we became a little bit too isolated and stopped moving the basketball. For the most part we did a good job there. I thought we did good defensively for a little while, but for the most part we started to get broken down and balls in the paint. That’s what we have to eliminate.


On the importance of the bench tonight

I thought they played well, I thought they played exceptionally well. Josh (Hart) has played that way for a while for us now, probably the last 12 to 15 games he’s been really good about the bench press. I thought he did a great job off the bench, but I thought it was a good team win. I thought Lonzo (Ball) did a good job with the pace of the game and keeping us running. Obviously, Zion (Williamson) did a really good job for us, especially in the first half getting us in the bonus and going to the free throw line. Other guys on the floor did a good job defensively. It’s the way we are going to have to play, the big thing for us is we don’t have to count on anyone, we just have to take care of business on our end and we will see what happens.


On the jump in assists tonight

I think at the half we had all the guys that were assisting at three. As long as we’re playing that way and moving the basketball then that means we are moving ourselves and the players are cutting and getting each other open, that’s the way we have to play.


On Zion’s impact

The thing with him is he just fits in. It’s not like we call a ton of plays for him or anything. Our guys do a good job in the flow of our offense to try to find him. Obviously, we like any match up he has when he’s got the ball on the block. Smaller guys he can back down, the bigger guys he just faces up and I think his first step is as good as anybody’s as far as getting around. And he’s unselfish, a couple of times they came to guard him, and he just threw the ball right back out to Nicolo (Melli) and he made a couple of threes.


On Zion’s defense tonight

It was okay, the bottom line is that he guarded the guy that made challenged jump shots. I thought he did a really good job of keeping him out of the paint. He made him a jump shooter which that was our goal from an overall standpoint of a game plan that we were going to do. At the end of the day the guy he guarded shot six of 17 so to me I think that’s fine. He’s going to have some matchups where guys are going to be a little craftier because of experience and all of that. For the most part he does a good job of just keeping the guy in front of him and making him shoot jump shots.


On improving Zion’s ability to put the ball on the deck

He’s going to get much, much better at that. That’s what he’s spending most of his player development time doing right now is being able to put it down. I think the big thing for him is eventually I think teams will start to double team him and he’s got to be able to pass it out of double teams. That’s something that he’s working on, but as I said he’s three months past his 19th birthday. He’s now played 10 or 11 NBA games. He’s a quick learner, he wants to be really good, and he wants to be really good within our team and to me that’s the most amazing thing about this kid is that he wants to be really good, but he wants to do it within the framework of what we are doing as a team.

 

[SlyPokerDog]

Zion Williamson


Thoughts on playing against Melo (Carmelo Anthony)


He’s Carmelo, his resume speaks for itself. He’s a crafty player, for him to not be in the league for a few months, I don’t know the exact time period, he’s still a great player. Its always tough for me to matchup with players like that but I love the challenge.


What do you think about another game with thirty-five plus assists as a team?


I think its great for us. It gets started moving in transition, especially when Zo (Lonzo Ball) gets it, I think we all just kind of break free and find our lane. Everybody’s unselfish so we always make that extra pass, I think as long as we keep those assists numbers up we’ll be fine.


Do you consider this an important game against Portland tonight as you guys are battling for the eighth (playoff) spot?


Honestly, for us at this point I think every game is important. It’s really like a college season now for us like every game matters so, we take a loss, it’s a big loss for us. We got to come ready to play every game, lock in, can’t have no slow starts and if we do, we can’t dig ourselves in a big whole.


Was getting to the free-throw line an emphasis for the team tonight?


Honestly, I don’t know. I think I just draw a lot of fouls. My teammates say I get vet calls, but I don’t know about that yet. I think when we get to the free-throw line, its one thing to get there but we got to knock them down.


What have you learned in your first month in the NBA?


I’m learning the pace, when to do things and when not to do things, I’m starting to get my legs back under me a little bit, I’m learning my teammates, and also the travel. Even though I’m a rookie and people think I’m doing good, there’s so much I have to learn. There’s always something I’m learning from JJ (Redick), E’twaun (Moore), Jrue (Holiday), Zo, Derrick Favors, just so much about the game and things I’m learning I feel like by year four or five I will have them down.


How important is it for you to focus on your off the dribble game?


I think its very important. I think when people watch my film at Duke, I did that a lot. I think its just a matter of me becoming more comfortable and getting my legs back because I tried those moves in a couple games earlier and I was fumbling the ball or turning it over which was frustrating but I think as time continues my handle will get back.


What did you think about the two-man game between you and BI (Brandon Ingram) in the first half?


I think it was great, I just looked at him and told him “it is me and you” and just feed off each other. He’s a great player, he can get to the basket well, hit the jumper, knock down the three. As a teammate, I’m just trying to do whatever I can to make his job easier.

 

[UKRAINEFAN]

HEAD COACH TERRY STOTTS


“

“No, honestly we play zone every baseline out of bounds.

Thanks, coach. That's nice to know if I am scouting your team!

 

[hoopsjock]

Thanks, coach. That's nice to know if I am scouting your team!

It never works either, lol.