Notes from the Underground: New Orleans Pelicans Practice 12.19

By:
Published: December 19, 2014

After last night’s 99-90 road victory against the Houston Rockets, the New Orleans Pelicans had a short practice in preparation of tomorrow night’s home game against the Portland Trailblazers. Since last night, Tyreke Evans has had a MRI that’s revealed he has a bone bruise. Evans was seen taking jumpshots after practice.

Monty Williams on a statement road win:

“We’re exciting about winning a big game on the road. But that’s over with. We talked about that today. We focused on the style of play. We’re trying to create some consistency there. When you win games, it’s a natural occurrence to be excited. At the same time the NBA doesn’t allow you to hold on to that cause you got to get ready for the next one.”

On Tyreke:

“He feels a little bit better, but we don’t want to jump the gun in this situation, so we’re just going to list him as day-to-day.”

On winning last night without Evans:

“Guys just made plays. Dante was playing some [shooting guard] last night. He doesn’t play that. Austin was out there playing the [point guard] the majority of the game. I had all kinds of guys in different spots. So I think it was more of our guys just doing what it takes to win the game, not so much my planning. Our guys just stepped up when they needed to.”

On the ball sticking with guys on offense at times:

“It’s just a natural occurrence. Guys just have a lot of confidence in their own ability. What we’re trying to create a synergy of that and doing what it takes to do what’s best for the team. It’s not always a bad thing. We have guys that are pretty good on their own. But what we’re trying to do is mesh the two. So that we have what San Antonio has, they have the best balance of anyone. Of sharing the ball, but they have guys that have the ability to do it on their own.”

On Mekel’s release:

“We wanted to take a look at him. We thought he did a good job…We like him, a lot. And it doesn’t mean that we won’t bring him back. But at this point we felt like we’re going to go in a different direction. We thought he brought some really good stuff to the team. Kinda stirred the pot a little bit; even though we didn’t do that on purpose. Our guys have the understanding that we’re going to continue to tweak the roster to make our team better.”

On the comfort in the roster:

“I’m never comfortable [laughs]. I feel better about where we’re going, and the style. Doesn’t mean that we’re not in the lab, trying to look at options for our team to get better.”

Tyreke Evans on his injury:

“A little sore still. Take it one day at a time. I see the doctor after this; see if I can go tomorrow or when’s the next time I can go.”

3 Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.