Alvin Gentry Media Availability – July 21, 2020
On his message to the team regarding the possibility of making a playoff push without Zion Williamson:
“I think the main thing that we’ve got to keep in mind is that, as I said, we had a stretch where we did well before Zion became, from a health standpoint, able to play. Obviously we would love to have him here and we would love to have him for every scrimmage and every game. If he is not here, then we have to have other guys step up. We talk about it all the time; it’s next man up. We have a deep bench – as we’ve talked about before, we have a bench that’s deep. Obviously those guys are going to have to step in and they’re going to have to play and they’re going to have to play well.
On how he plans to manage players’ minutes in the upcoming scrimmages:
“I think we’ll definitely ramp guys up. There’s going to be guys that play less minutes in the first scrimmage than they (will) in the second or the third. We’re not going to play anybody out there thirty minutes in a forty-minute scrimmage. The first scrimmage, I think you’ll see a lot of different lineups out there because of the minute-restriction that we’re – not really restriction, just the number of minutes that we would be playing guys in the first scrimmage.”
On the benches being spaced out and how that will affect his coaching in-game:
“I think it will be an adjustment. I don’t think it’s anything that we’ll worry about. We’ll still be able to communicate with our guys. It’s going to be a little different setup altogether, even for the coaches, but I think at this time right now, as I said the other day, everything is new to everyone here. This is not anything that’s an adjustment or anything. No one has ever been through this, so we will make the adjustments from the standpoint of social distancing and things like that, but we’ll still be able to communicate with our guys. I don’t see that as a problem.”
On if there are any benchmarks he’s like to see the team hit in their first scrimmage tomorrow:
“I think the biggest thing we have to do is that we have to concentrate on keeping the ball out of the paint. So one of the top, number one things will be dribble penetration…try to control the dribble penetration of Brooklyn. Then from there, we’d like to see some things offensively as far as spacing and ball movement and things like that. The big thing I’d like to see is that we have to be able to sit down and guard the ball.”
On if tomorrow’s scrimmage feels like the start of a new season:
“I think what tomorrow is, is that it’s an opportunity for our guys to play against somebody other than a player across from them that has ‘Pelicans’ on their shirt. I think right now, after going through the two weeks here then the workout at our place where we really couldn’t play or do anything at all, I think they’re just looking forward to just competing against another team and seeing where we are.”
On if the NBA hiatus was like an offseason for the rookies and how much their games have improved over the past few months:
“Well I still think, even playing the 60-something games we played, we still have a pretty good handle on the areas where they need to get better in. Obviously the whole situation with the maturation of your
body and the transformation of your body from a teenager to a 20-year old and then a 21-year old, that’s going to, in itself, make them a better player. But we just have to continue to understand that growth is going to be there. This is an unusual situation, but we still have an opportunity to pretty much understand what needs to be worked on and how they need to get better.”
On the level of contribution that Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Jaxson Hayes might have in the eight seeding games:
“I don’t know. I mean, obviously, we won’t know that until we actually get into the games, and start playing, and the adjustments we’ll make, and the number of minutes their going to be able to play. I think it’s important to understand that we like both of those guys and we think that they’re going to be really good players. Obviously, we think Zion’s (Williamson) going to be a really good player. We’ve got some other guys, very young players on our team in Lonzo (Ball) and BI (Brandon Ingram). So we think we’ve got a very good young nucleus of players and I think the thing that I try to say to those guys is, ‘If there’s something that doesn’t happen overnight, that still doesn’t mean you’re not going to be a really good player in this league. You just have to give it time to happen.’”
On if any player has improved the most since coming to the bubble:
“I think that Nickeil (Alexander-Walker) has had some really good practices. He had a really good practice today. I think Frank (Jackson) has had some good practices. Jaxson (Hayes) has been very active. Our veteran guys, obviously JJ (Redick) and (Josh Hart) and BI (Brandon Ingram) and those guys have been real solid. E’Twaun (Moore) has had his days where he’s shot the ball extremely well and done some good things. So I don’t think it’s one guy who jumped up at us, but I think it’s a combination of guys having good days and playing pretty solid. That’s kind of what we expected when we got here.”
