Alvin Gentry Media Availability – July 23, 2020
On his comfort level with where the team is at, one week away from the first seeding game:
“It’s a little funny because last night I thought we did some good things, but obviously Brooklyn is missing a lot of players. But I did think that we did what we had to and executed the way we needed to. Obviously it will be a much (more stringent) test against Denver, so we’ll have to see then. We’re trending in the right direction, I think, from the standpoint of the way we passed the basketball. We did not turn the basketball over very much; we had three turnovers in the first half. I thought we did a good job of moving the basketball, and defensively we were pretty good in every area except we’ve got to get a little bit better at our close-outs.”
On the team’s recovery and how the players are feeling physically after the first scrimmage:
“Well, number one, no one played really a lot of minutes last night. The younger players did, but Jrue (Holiday) and those guys played less than 15 (minutes) or 16 or something like that. So it was really hard to say. I think we’re in pretty good conditioning, but obviously you won’t know that until we get into a game where they’re going to be playing in the rotations that we would usually play and then we’ll have to see how it is. I think everybody’s kind of in the same boat here.”
On his satisfaction with the Pelicans’ ball movement last night:
“We’re a very unselfish team, so it’s not a surprise that we moved the basketball. I just thought we did a really good job of making quick decisions moving the basketball and then creating better shots. We had good shots, but we created better shots with our ball movement.”
On if the rookies had a tougher time than the veterans during the hiatus:
“Yeah, but I think it was challenging for everyone. No one has ever been through this. This is the first time in the history of basketball that anyone ever experienced this, so I don’t think it was just the rookie players. I think the veteran players…they struggled with, ‘How much do I do? How much work do I do? I’ve got to try to stay in shape, but I’m basically doing it on my own.’ So there was a lot of things that I think were challenging, not just to the young players, but to every player in the league. The younger players, I think the thing with them is that they tried to stay in shape and tried to keep themselves in a conditioning situation that they felt like, when they came back, they wouldn’t be behind. As to what that is, I don’t think anyone was familiar with that. So we’ll have to see how it works out, but I think those guys did put in work during the hiatus and we’ll have to see how it goes.”
On if any players had a hard time finding a place to get shots up during the hiatus:
“I don’t think so. I think, for the most part, the guys that wanted to get some shots up eventually found places where they could do that.”
On E’Twaun Moore’s performance last night:
“Once again, it wasn’t a surprise. That’s kind of who he is and that’s the role that he’s played for us since he’s gotten here. He’s been a guy that can come in and score the basketball…good three-point shooter as well as pretty crafty when he’s taking the ball to the basket. So all of those things, he kind of did yesterday…which is what we expect of him, really.”
