Alvin Gentry Media Availability – July 19, 2020
On the rookie’s development over the course of the season:
“Well, I think so. One of the things that has happened especially with Jaxson (Hayes) as a big guy, especially in screen-and-rolls, and – those are the toughest adjustments I think you have to make as a big guy in the league, guarding screen-and-rolls – and one of the things he’s gotten much better at is that in our screen-and-roll defense, the big has to be able to guard two at once: guard the ball-handler as well as his guy rolling to the basket. He’s done a much better job so far of being able to pick up the nuances of understanding what to do in those situations, so I feel like he’s gotten better. I think Nickeil (Alexander-Walker) has improved from the standpoint of being able to contain the ball. If he’s going to be on the floor defensively, our number one thing is that we have to contain the basketball, and he’s done a much better job since we’ve gotten here and practice, of being able to contain the ball some. Zion (Williamson) was getting better just overall defensively, from the standpoint of understanding rotations and things like that. So they’ve made improvements, and we’ll just have to see when the actual scrimmages and games start how much that plays into it.”
On why the NBA was so successful in getting the players to buy in and resume the season:
“Well, I think – well, you would have to be here to totally understand, but I think they met so many times with the players association. I think that the safety-first thing really resonated with the players. If you were here, I think you would understand it much better from the standpoint of, they’ve taken every precaution you could possibly ever take. The players’ safety is the number one thing here, and I think the players, everything that they asked for, everything that they tried to make them understand, the NBA tried to do it. So they felt pretty good about coming back and actually playing. They wanted to get back out and play, I think if you ask most of the players here. I think the biggest thing was that they felt safe coming here after everything that was done, and if you ask the coaches and any other staff member that’s here, they’ll tell you that they’ve created a very, very safe environment here. Just from the standpoint of checks and balances in all situations: to get into the hotel, to get into the place to eat, to riding on the bus, to coming to practice and the way practices are set up. I think you guys are going to be pleasantly surprised when you see the arena and the way the games are presented, because I think it’s going to be very satisfying to everybody out there.”
On the biggest challenge of only having a month to prepare for regular-season games:
“Well, I think as you said, it’s just the idea of being in basketball shape. I think our guys, from a conditioning standpoint, came back in pretty good shape, but to get your basketball legs under you and feel comfortable in not just a 40-minute scrimmage, but a 48-minute game…I still think that takes a little time. So it remains to be seen how they react to a 48-minute game, but I think as coaches we’ll play a lot more guys and the rotation will be a little different anyway. I think we’re in a situation where we’ll have to see. I don’t think anyone’s going to really know until we actually start playing those games, but the guys are really excited about it and I’m sure as we play one game, two games, three games, there will be an adjustment where it will be pretty good.”
On the importance of Derrick Favors in the lineup:
“Well, because I think he’s a really good anchor for your defense. He’s a very smart player. He’s very good at playing pick-and-roll. If you look at his number pick-and-roll wise, that’s a big key to having a good solid defense in this league, I think. He has the ability to make those plays and (he’s)a good
rebounder and just a smart, smart player. Our guys have a lot of confidence in him, so when he’s out there it gives our overall group that’s on the floor with him a lot of confidence.”
On his approach to coaching scrimmages and if he feels that they are more of an extension of practice or a game-like situation:
“I think it’s going to be a little bit of a combination of both. We’re going to work on some things and probably play some combination of people who we would not normally play in a regular-season game, but we’re trying to find out some things about some of the guys that we have and the rotations and how they may work in certain situations. We will use these scrimmages as a gauge to those rotations and how exactly or how efficient they are. I think there’s a little bit of a combination of both. We also want to play good, solid basketball.”
On the importance of having an energetic bench while playing games without fans:
“Yeah. We talked about this over a month ago, really, before we even knew exactly how this was going to work. We talked about how important the bench is going to be, and the enthusiasm from the bench and the pick-me-ups from the bench are going to be important. I also think the way they have this whole thing set up, and the way the arena is set up, I think it’s going to be a lot different than anyone anticipates. It’s going to be a good atmosphere in the arena, when everyone sees the way they have done this and when you mix in what technology we have and everything that is going on, it’s not going to be a situation where we’re in an arena and we’re dribbling a basketball, and you can hear it because there’s no one there. They’ve set this thing up – I went through it yesterday, they’ve set it up to where I think it will be pretty exciting for the fans and really exciting for the players, also.”
