What Jose Alvarado Said After Shootaround Before Facing The Oklahoma City Thunder

The New Orleans Pelicans guard took questions from the media.

Jose Alvarado / New Orleans Pelicans

Jose Alvarado, the Pelicans' tenacious backup guard, took questions from the media after the shootaround before taking on the Oklahoma City Thunder.  

Basketball Defense Strategies: "It just comes down to guard you are. Like, so, like you say, you got a lot of different players that called iso, and we just got to guard the yard and protect the basket." — Jose Alvarado  

Thunder's Success: "Great season, obviously, you know, number 1 in the West, new for no reason." — Jose Alvarado  

Challenges of Playing Without Zion: "You know, it's gonna be tough without him, but we know we can pay for the win." — Jose Alvarado 

Trey Murphy Photobombs Jose Alvarado / New Orleans Pelicans

Pelicans' Confidence Before the Big Game: "You know, we've been rolling. We played good on the road, and there's going be a fun one today." — Jose Alvarado  

Approach to Physical Play in Sports: "There's nothing broken on playing. I mean, like I said, the way I play out, I'm pretty sure I'm probably going get, you know, hurt somewhere somehow just in the fact of how hard I'm going, and I'm okay with it. I take care of my body really well. So and I'm I'm ready for it. Whatever." — Jose Alvarado  

Basketball Defense Strategy: "We got some great defense, and we were ready for the challenge."— Jose Alvarado 

Embracing the Intensity of Playoff Basketball: "OKC has a reputation of having a pretty tough playoff crowd. I'm excited. You know, I grew up watching Westbrook and KD, and to play as an NBA player is amazing. So I'm excited about this one." — Jose Alvarado