Pelicans Practice Notes and Quotes - April 3

The New Orleans Pelicans met with media after practice ahead of their game versus the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday, April 4.

Terry Kimble | Apr 3, 2023

Pelicans Practice Notes and Quotes - April 3 /

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New Orleans Pelicans

NEW ORLEANS -- Four regular-season games remain for the New Orleans Pelicans before a potential Play-In/Playoff scenario. Three of their four remaining games are at home, where they have the fifth-most home wins in the Western Conference.

Ahead of Tuesday night's game against Sacramento, the Pelicans held practice in preparation for the game. Here are some highlights from the media session.

Coach Green was asked about the buy-in from stars such as Brandon Ingram and CJ McCollum on the defensive side of the ball.

Coach Green: "It's important. Once again we're getting buy-in from the whole group. You guys said it, it's hard to defend in the NBA especially trying to guard somebody 1-on-1. Our team defensive concepts play a huge role in our ability to go in each night and feel like we can defend teams."

On whether or not Zion Williamson practiced today.

Coach Green: "No he didn't go through practice today."

Coach Green's thoughts on if anyone is playing better basketball the last 2-3 weeks than Brandon Ingram.

Coach Green: "I'm sure there are some guys playing extremely well, he's right up there at the top. Then you add the wins on top of what he's doing offensively, defensively, his passing and his rebounding, he's playing like one of the best players in the league right now."

Larry Nance, Jr. was asked how the team has maintained their high defensive ranking all year long.

Larry Nance, Jr: "Consistent buy-in from everybody. Obviously you've got our top end defensive players, you know who they are, but getting buy-in from guys like B.I. (Brandon Ingram) scoring 30 points a night and he's still playing defense. It's very rare you get your stars on both ends of the court playing and we've got ours doing that.

B.I. is playing both ends and CJ (McCollum) playing both ends. Anytime you get full team buy-in, no matter what the concept is, your going to have a good defense. As long as we continue that we'll be in a good spot."

On his thoughts on how Coach Green navigated the rough points in the season to get the team back winning again.

Larry Nance, Jr: "This is our second season together with this group, we're still gelling, meshing, and trying to figure out who we really are. There was a tumultuous point in the season where we could have folded and I think Willie's done a great job in instilling that resiliency in us that we kept fighting. Now we control our own destiny. If we win out, we're in the sixth seed..........Willie is the one that got it all started for us."

Dyson Daniels was asked how it's been as a rookie to be in high-pressure, high stakes games this last stretch of the season.

Dyson Daniels: "We know we're in a must-win situation so we've been going out there trying to win every game. There has been a little bit of pressure on us to win games. For me it's about staying consistent, playing my role, and doing what the coaches want me to do. Also staying aggressive. When I do that it helps our team."

On how he feels now coming off of injury.

Dyson Daniels: "After my last ankle injury it's taken me a while to get going just with confidence in pushing off, but the last few games I've start to fins my stride a little more. I'm making more plays and shooting the ball a bit better. I'm feeling good now so it's about making another push again. I'm trying to be the best version of myself I can be to help this team win games."

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