Willie Green recaps victory against Portland | Pelicans vs. Trail Blazers Postgame 3/16/24
Willie Green, Pelicans head coach
“That’s what we talked about at halftime: the first team that decides to play a little defense will have an opportunity to win this game. It’s a credit to our guys in the locker room who kept our standards high, and really came out in the second half and executed on both ends of the floor. It’s a difficult face-to-face. They’re a team that plays hard, they’re fast, and if you don’t overpower them, they can lose confidence.
On CJ McCollum’s performance:
“It was great to see CJ being aggressive, making some shots, and over the last three, four, five games, what have you, he was kind of missing the easy ones and he knocked them down today. That was definitely the difference in the game.”
Zion Williamson talks late game defense and rebounding | Pelicans vs. Trail Blazers Postgame 3/16/24
Pelicans forward Zion Williamson
“That’s what we talked about at halftime: the first team that decides to play a little defense will have an opportunity to win this game. It’s a credit to our guys in the locker room who kept our standards high, and really came out in the second half and executed on both ends of the floor. It’s a difficult face-to-face. They’re a team that plays hard, they’re fast, and if you don’t overpower them, they can lose confidence.
On CJ McCollum’s performance:
“It was great to see CJ being aggressive, making some shots, and over the last three, four, five games, what have you, he was kind of missing the easy ones and he knocked them down today. That was definitely the difference in the game.”
On Zion Williamson’s performance:
“He continues to stack his days and we see the results. Frankly, whatever he decides to do on the field, when he’s right, he can do it. Rebound is another element to this. You watch him get offensive rebounds, second chance points, defensive rebounds, triggering our break. He is playing very good basketball at the moment.
CJ McCollum talks about his performance and contributions off the bench | Pelicans vs. Trail Blazers Postgame 3/16/24
Pelicans guard CJ McCollum
On Zion playing the entire fourth quarter:
“It’s huge. He didn’t want to come out of the game. He said ‘I’m staying,’ and he competed at a high level, finished well around the basket, protected us defensively, and I think you see that continue to get into mid-season form as the season comes to a close.”
To force opponents to decide how to guard the Pelicans:
“It makes things very difficult. They have to choose their poison, you know what I mean? It’s hard for them to get close to our shooters. It’s hard for them to protect Z’s (Zion Williamson) paint. It’s hard for them to protect the paint when BI (Brandon Ingram) is driving it downhill. I think they make the right decisions on when to score, when to pass, and I think that makes the game easier for everyone. And then Trey (Trey Murphy) is going to get vaccinated. Naji (Marshall) will pick up the tempo and make shots. You have Jose (Alvarado) who is going to come in and change the game, and so on. So, I think it’s a collaborative effort where, offensively, we haven’t really had a lot of problems, and sometimes we can get stagnant, but we have the talent to solve them. I think it’s just about continuing to maintain our defensive identity, getting stops.
Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups
“I thought we played well, the biggest [problem] it was the turnovers. I can’t afford it against a very good home team. We knew that’s what they were going to try to do, try to get you to turn the ball over, so credit to them. They did a really good job, but being 31 points behind on turnovers, it’s especially hard to do anything with that. I thought we did a good job other than that, rebounds would be an issue for us, but we battled and did a really good job on the glass. It was just the turnovers.
On the close game until the fourth quarter:
“Yes, the turnovers hurt us, but it took us too long. Their defense also just picked it up in the fourth quarter. To start the first four or five minutes of the fourth quarter, we didn’t score.
Trail Blazers guard Dalano Banton
On his state of mind in attack this evening:
“I just play what coach (Chauncey Billups) teaches us: get to the paint, make the right read. So, I’m just trying to do that. It was working for me and he told me to keep attacking, so I stuck with that and had the confidence to [my] teammates to go down the slope. Like I said before, with the confidence to be able to make mistakes and try to get people to rely on you. Being a very young group, it helps, and match by match [we’re] trying to get more comfortable, trying to improve. Like you said, I’m going to come here.
On what he attributes to his improved three-point shooting since joining the Trail Blazers and if he’s ever made such a shot before:
“Not in my NBA career, but I feel like even when I was shooting in Boston, Toronto and some of my previous teams, I feel the same way I do now: I feel like I’m going to do everything fall. Sometimes it doesn’t come in, but I intervene, [and] I do. So, just trust the work you’re doing. I know how many shots I take per day. I know what I’m doing and I see myself doing it. So I’m just trying to imagine [it] come in and just be confident. Like I said, the trust of your teammates is very important. If they tell me to shoot, they want me to do it. So once you have that, you need to put it together and do it.
