Willie Green - Rockets at Pelicans Postgame Interview, 2/22
Willie Green - Rockets at Pelicans Postgame Interview, 2/22
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00:00 [BLANK_AUDIO]
00:03 >> All right, coach, we're gonna start this off on the defensive end.
00:06 I know that's where you wanna start.
00:07 First play of the ball game, Herb Jones with a deflection.
00:10 You got the steal, the lay in, and you really never let out with all the turnovers
00:15 for us to finish off defensively.
00:18 >> Yes, Herb was fantastic tonight.
00:20 Six steals, deflections, rebounding the ball.
00:25 He fueled our team defensively and it allowed us to get out and transition.
00:30 We had 29 fast break points, so really good effort from all of our guys
00:37 defensively, holding this team to 43% from the field and 105 points.
00:41 So solid by our guys.
00:44 >> By the way, they gave Herb another steal.
00:46 He's got seven.
00:46 >> Seven, okay.
00:47 >> Yep, so he set a career high tonight.
00:51 JB, played really well against the Rockets last time out.
00:55 It was almost like he continued what he did in that Houston win.
00:59 Had nine rebounds, almost had a double-double at halftime,
01:01 but continued his post presence and just was really solid against them.
01:05 >> Yeah, JB, he was great for us.
01:08 We wanted to feature him early by trying to throw the ball to him.
01:12 He got Seung-hoon in foul trouble.
01:14 He was excellent, rebounding the ball, made good decisions from the post.
01:19 And when we throw the ball to him, it allows us to get clean looks.
01:23 Either he's scoring or he's kicking it out for teammates, and
01:26 we're making good plays from there.
01:28 >> Zion had the block advantage, we come on the defensive plays from him.
01:31 I mean, how does that help you all when he's being as active as he was on
01:35 the defensive end tonight?
01:35 >> We're seeing Zion get better and better as the season progresses.
01:42 And really on the defensive end, to your point, the blocks,
01:45 moving his feet, staying in front of guys, contesting shots.
01:51 Love the fact that he had ten assists.
01:53 So he had an all around solid game, but his plays like that,
01:57 you come over, block a shot, Herb getting steals,
02:01 guys coming up with big rebounds, 50-50 balls.
02:04 It allows us to get out and transition once again, and
02:07 that's some of our best basketball.
02:08 >> Yeah, and then his night offensively, how do you think he did?
02:12 Finding that balance between, I'm gonna go score the ball,
02:14 I'm gonna give my teammates the ball.
02:15 >> I thought he was great.
02:18 And this is what happens when we put the ball in his hands, especially early.
02:22 He's finding CJ, he's finding Trey, looking for Herb, JV, whomever it is.
02:28 And then he has moments where he sees something that he likes and
02:32 he'll continue to attack it.
02:34 But when he's playing like this, he's tough to stop.
02:38 >> And just seeing, talking about Zion, he's talking about how much he's looking
02:42 forward to kind of being in these type of games this season.
02:46 How much do you kind of sense his excitement about this being a part of
02:49 this structure and kind of showing the world what he's capable of?
02:53 >> He's definitely excited about the opportunity in front of us.
02:56 And we're all excited to be in this position, and
02:59 we're grateful to be in this position at this time of season to have Zion,
03:04 healthy, BI, pretty much the majority of our team.
03:08 And now it's on us, it's on us to continue to work together and
03:14 look at areas that we're having success.
03:18 And then the areas that we can improve, we try to get better in and
03:21 keep stacking up wins.
03:22 >> And obviously, Herb's gonna get seven steals every game.
03:25 But when he's playing the way he plays tonight,
03:28 the way he played tonight, do you think it's fair to say that you guys just are
03:31 a different team when he's making an impact than what he did?
03:34 >> Herb brings it every night, he really does, on both ends of the floor.
03:41 We're never questioning his effort, but he has nights like tonight where he's
03:46 guarding everybody and getting steals, getting deflections, getting blocks,
03:52 rebounding the ball, shooting the ball well.
03:54 We can see how important he is in this group.
03:59 >> Really, the Stars really carried the day, but
04:02 they especially stood out in that third quarter.
04:04 You guys came out really strong.
04:05 What stood out to you most about those first few minutes of the third?
04:10 >> Well, the sense of urgency that the starters came out with to start the quarter.
04:14 We've had a tendency to have leads and come out at halftime and sort of be flat.
04:19 But it was a different mentality tonight.
04:22 I thought CJ was great.
04:24 He hit big shot after big shot.
04:25 He made big play after big play.
04:27 We talked about youngness.
04:29 And even though Trey struggled, he found it a little bit and
04:32 stayed with it throughout the course of the game.
04:34 But kudos to those guys coming out in the third quarter
04:38 with the mentality to dominate the game.
04:40 We had a little lapse, and I talked to the group about it,
04:42 when they brought in their substitution guys.
04:46 But we did what we needed to do to win the game, and that's important for us.
04:51 >> Got another Herb question for you.
04:52 It seems like Herb is becoming more vocal.
04:55 We're seeing more emotion from him from the court.
04:57 Is that almost an important step for him to elevate his game to become
05:01 kind of one of those key guys out there in the court that everybody can feel his emotion?
05:05 >> I believe it is, and that's the next step for our group.
05:09 In general, it's for all of those guys to be uncomfortable enough to be vocal and
05:19 have those communications and conversations on the floor where they see something,
05:25 they're talking about it before I even get to the huddle.
05:28 And we're starting to see that more and more with this group.
05:30 And that's the beauty in having a team, keeping them together for
05:35 going on our third season.
05:37 >> Coach, your team is now four and one when B.I. doesn't play, and seven and
05:40 four when Zion doesn't play.
05:42 Just talk about how the role players are stepping up to a larger role to get
05:45 victories, even when one of you is farther out.
05:47 >> Well, it's a credit to the work that all of those guys put in.
05:51 And Trey, Najee, Hawk, Matt, Jeremiah, Larry.
06:00 We trust putting these guys on the floor, Dyson, who's out now.
06:03 But we trust putting our guys on the floor.
06:05 And our coaches do a tremendous job working with them, watching film.
06:10 And there's no letdown.
06:12 You put guys on the floor, they understand the moment.
06:14 And what we ask for is effort.
06:17 Give us effort, compete every play.
06:19 We'll make some mistakes, but as long as we're doing those things,
06:23 it usually comes out in the wash.
06:25 >> Did you get a sense of whether the chipping the slate was just division
06:29 five or something in particular in general?
06:32 How do you weigh, I guess your guys rally or
06:36 respond when that kind of stuff happens?
06:38 >> Yeah, it's part of the game.
06:41 And I think it was a little frustration based on the score.
06:46 We were up pretty big.
06:47 But for us, it's being the more mentally tough team in between the lines.
06:53 And no matter what happens, we're not backing down from anybody.
06:57 But we also need to be smart in those moments which we were.
07:01 >> Coach, I wanna combine a couple of things that you referenced earlier.
07:06 You talked about the mental toughness and
07:08 also how the players step up and raise an anger.
07:10 It seems like every time you guys turn a corner,
07:12 there's some kind of adversity to get through.
07:15 Not having a B.I. coming back on the All-Star break, but
07:18 the team finds a place the way it does.
07:19 What does it say about the growth and development you guys are having?
07:22 >> Well, that's part of an NBA season.
07:27 Most teams at some point are gonna deal with guys being out here and there.
07:32 And when you face that type of adversity, we talk about it as a group.
07:38 But those are preparation meet opportunity moments.
07:41 And as long as guys are preparing, they're working with the coaches,
07:46 we're getting on the floor and practice and we're bringing it.
07:49 That carry over into the game, we're seeing it,
07:51 especially at this point in the season.
07:53 And that's what we wanna see from our group.
07:55 >> There was a moment in the second quarter where Herb, Jonas, and
07:58 Zion had their own mini slam dunk contest.
08:01 After being on the road for so long,
08:03 what's it like feeling the energy here after something like that?
08:06 >> It's great.
08:07 It's great playing in our building in front of our fans.
08:10 I think our guys get pumped up to play here and you can feel it.
08:16 You can feel when Z's on a break, Lob, Herb's coming down the middle, JV,
08:20 the fans, they get us going.
08:22 So it's always fun to play on our home floor.
08:25 >> And what's it like kinda getting that rhythm back after being on fire before
08:29 the All-Star break and now having a week off and coming back?
08:32 And clearly you guys didn't lose much of a step at all.
08:35 >> We had two really good practices before tonight's game.
08:40 And I'm pleased with the carry over that we had tonight.
08:45 This is a really good win coming out of the break, like you said,
08:48 like you mentioned.
08:48 And we wanna continue to build from here.
08:53 >> Speaking on kinda building off of that, obviously you had a long break, but
08:57 now you're going into back-to-back games with Miami having a long break.
09:02 How do you think you can bring the same energy or
09:03 more tomorrow, especially with Pinocchio?
09:07 >> Well, yeah, that's the challenge, is being able to win a game like we did
09:12 tonight, and then have a quick turnaround and be ready for
09:16 a tough opponent coming in tomorrow night.
09:20 And so we'll get off our feet and get back here tomorrow, watch film.
09:24 We'll have a walkthrough and get ready to go again.
09:27 >> Thanks, Coach.
09:30 >> Thank you.
09:31 >> Appreciate it.