Tag: New Orleans

Kirby Smart talks D’Andre Swift ahead of Sugar Bowl matchup

Kirby Smart talks D’Andre Swift ahead of Sugar Bowl matchup with Baylor

Georgia football coach Kirby Smart met with members of the media in New Orleans Tuesday before the Bulldogs’ second-straight Sugar Bowl on Wednesday.

Junior running back D’Andre Swift, who has been playing injured since the Georgia Tech game, is going to try and give it a go tomorrow, despite interest in the NFL Draft.

Swift has not made an official decision on the draft just yet, but here’s what Smart had to say on the running back’s status for game itself.

“I don’t know, we’re going to wait and see.”

“He’s competed, he’s done everything we’ve asked him to do. If he feels like he’s able to go, and go at 100 percent, then we’re going to use him. He’s done more this last week in practice than he did before the SEC Championship Game, that’s for certain, so excited to see where he goes.

The Bulldogs have been playing a bit of hush mouth on player’s status of late, but we will find out who exactly plays when toe meets leather Wednesday in New Orleans.

Dan Lanning’s full Sugar Bowl press conference transcript

Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning meets with the media in New Orleans

Georgia defensive coordinator Dan Lanning met with the media in New Orleans on Monday, ahead of Wednesday’s Sugar Bowl matchup with Baylor.

Here’s what the first-year Bulldogs defensive coordinator had to say.

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR LANNING: First off, just want to say obviously how honored we are as a program to be associated with a bowl as prestigious as the Sugar Bowl. This is truly one of the best ones. You can circle it on your calendar every year. You know you’re going to get everybody’s attention in the nation when you get to play in a game like this.

Luckily for me, was able to have a little bit of crawfish étouffée last night, which is always exciting and have a couple oysters. So probably the first time I stepped out of the hotel this week.

But this is one of those special ones. I know our guys are really excited. I know we have a tremendous amount of respect for Baylor and the program that Coach [Matt] Rhule runs and how prepared they’ll be. So we’re excited for a really fun game. Watch our guys go out there and go to work.

Q. Can you talk about the realities of not having J.R. Reed here and just what that safety position is going to look like without him here.

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR LANNING: The reality is that’s an opportunity. I love J.R. He’s done a lot for our program. Extremely excited for him and his future. But we’re excited for the guys that are here and what they’re going to do.

The reality is somebody is going to step up. It’s pretty common in this day and age that you’re going to get guys that get opportunities in games like this. We had a lot of young guys that got opportunities in this game last year. I think that was critical to their development and also provide you some insight to you as a coach with what you’ve got. We’ve got some really good players on our team. Excited to see those guys go perform.

Q. You were up here last year. We didn’t know if you were going to be the coordinator. A lot has happened. Can you talk about what this first season as coordinator has been like working with Kirby [Smart] and some of the things that this Georgia defense was able to do this season.

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR LANNING: Sometimes you sit back and it’s hard to realize the blessings that you’ve had all your life. There’s probably nobody associated with this program that feels as fortunate as I do to get to do what I do every day. We have outstanding coaches on the defensive side of the ball, Glenn Schumann, Tray Scott, Charlton Warren. Those guys are a pleasure to work with.

I get an opportunity to work with Coach [Kirby] Smart every day, and for me that’s really exciting. He’s a phenomenal coach. Since the first day I’ve got here, I’ve approached it like a guy that has a lot to learn. I’ll tell you this, he’s not afraid to teach me. So that’s exciting.

More exciting than that, we build our mantra on kind of being the noname defense. It’s not really about the players. It’s about us. It’s been about us this entire year. Our guys have gone out constantly and performed, tried

to play to a standard regardless of who the opponent is. It’s been exciting to see our guys embrace that this year. They’ve just done a really good job I think of attacking it each week. This game no different. The standard doesn’t change for this one either.

Q. Where did the noname defense idea come up from? Also, in this day and age of so many prolific offenses, how much pride do you take in the numbers that your defense has been able to put up this year?

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR LANNING: Yeah, I’ll be honest, I don’t really know where it came up. It just kind of came in the conversation one day in one of those defensive meetings that we have that, look, it really doesn’t matter what anyone else thinks outside of this room. What really matters are the people in this room.

We take a lot of pride in our performance, in everything we do. Not just the way we play, the way we meet, the way we present, the way we practice, the way we work. And it’s great that the numbers can reflect that. This year that’s awesome.

But our number one goal regardless of the numbers is the win. And I think our guys take a lot of pride in that. And a lot of times those numbers, they equate to wins. So when you’re doing things the right way, you get to win like we have been able to win here at Georgia.

So we take yeah, we want to hold our defense to a standard. We’ve been fortunate to hit that several times this year. But the number one priority for us always is that W. And I think what’s great about our players is they don’t care who gets the recognition. They truly don’t. They want to have success, but they all realize that individual success comes within team success.

Q. You were asked about J.R. Reed. You are missing a couple of other guys in the secondary. Who are some of the guys that maybe didn’t get as much playing time that you will have to count on more this time?

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR LANNING: Fortunate us we’ve played a ton of guys this entire season. I think if you go back and look, we probably had over 40 guys that really had significant roles for us in this defense. You’re going to see more. You’re not necessarily going to see new, but you will see more. You will see more Lewis Cine. You will see more Chris Smith, more Otis Reese. You will see some more guys but you’re not necessarily going to see new guys because all those guys at this point in the season have contributed to our success.

Q. Baylor is obviously a Big 12 offense, but they do it a little differently running the ball over 54% of the time. What kind of challenges do they present?

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR LANNING: First off, they are extremely wellcoached. They do a really good job on offense of mixing it up. They can carry tempo, but they can also slow it down. They have big tight ends that can block at the point of attack. But they are really big at wide receiver outside, and that’s a challenge. They make you play them honest.

If you want to take away the wideouts, they’re going to be able to run the ball. If you want to take away the run, they are going to be able to run the 50/50 ball outside to guys like [Denzel] Mims. They have shifty backs. And their quarterback is just a winner. [Charlie] Brewer is a winner. You think, okay, well, if he’s not in, somebody else is playing. Next guy comes in and has the success he had in the championship game.

They are really balanced, and you can’t pick one thing or another thing to take away from them because you’re probably pulling away from something else that you need to be able to do well.

You just watch them on film. You can see they’re extremely wellcoached, play really, really hard. They compete for the ball, and they don’t beat themselves. They’re a team that doesn’t beat themselves. So that sticks out.

Q. Is Tyrique McGhee here? If not, why not?

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR LANNING: All I’m speaking about are the players that are here. Got great respect for every guy that’s helped us throughout this season, done great things for us this season. But the guys that are here, those are the guys that we’re going to compete with.

Q. You have a lot of guys contributing who were not that highly recruited, especially at the level that Georgia has been recruiting the last couple of years. What does it take to develop a player like that? How much pride do you take? You have taken some guys who maybe either what you saw in them when you were recruiting them, regardless how many starts they had. How much pride do you take in being able to develop players?

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR LANNING: Probably not common to popular belief, we don’t really care how many starts guys have. That just seems to happen. But we focus on the overall player, what kind of person they are, and where’s their room for growth.

If we can take guys that are talented players but are eager to get better, those are the guys you really see develop. I think the guys that you are talking about in our program that have done that have really attacked it and wanted to get better. They come out of this program a whole lot better player because obviously Coach [Kirby] Smart is one of the best people doing it when it comes to development of players.

We have a lot of support. We’ve got player personnel staff. We’ve got a strength staff. We’ve got coaches. We got a lot of people that touch our players in our program. So at the end of the day, that provides a lot of opportunities for growth and we have some guys really taking advantage of that.

Q. Who’s the one player showing the most progress from the beginning of the year to now that’s impressed you a lot?

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR LANNING: Gosh, that’s a really hard one to pick. We’ve had a lot of guys that have done really well. One guy sticks out to me at least from my position group is Azeez Ojulari. His comingout game last year was this game. And he has just continued to work and push himself throughout this year to get better and help us.

But it would be really hard to single out one guy. You look at our guys on defense, there’s a lot of guys that have played really well and gotten better throughout the season.

Q. I know you don’t like to talk about yourself and deflect, but this going to be part of it. If you could expand more on Azeez [Ojulari]. He is one of the seven semifinalists for Freshman of the Year. What made him the team captain? He’s the first Kirby [Smart] has ever had. I guess it was, last year Kirby was talking about you and said you did some things outside the box. He has been a coordinator a long time. Can you elaborate a little bit on something maybe you brought that impressed Kirby or some principles that you bring to the game?

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR LANNING: First off, on Azeez, what makes him different, he’s the kind of guy that will get up in the room and he does it by showing you, not by what he says. I think that’s something we have challenged Azeez, Hey, man, you could be more vocal. You have earned that opportunity. What he does, he just rolls up his sleeves and goes to work every day. That’s what Azeez has brought to our program and what he does. I think when you set by example, when you lead by example, that’s a really good way to lead.

That being said, I know Azeez knows there’s a lot of opportunities for him to get better. And I think he’s excited to attack those areas for growth.

I don’t think you could single me out from a standpoint of doing something outside the box. I think every one of our coaches on the defensive side of the ball really look for and this is more credit probably to Coach [Kirby] Smart, from a standpoint of he doesn’t want to be cookie cutter from a standpoint of defense.

We’re going to find things that are going to make us better. If we need to change the way we do a defensive meeting, if we need to bring excitement to a different piece of practice, if we need to get guys running around with the ball in between periods so we can strip at it, to work on takeaways, whatever it is that we can do different, Coach Smart is willing to do. He’s really afforded our defensive staff the opportunity to go look for different things that can make us better. He’s probably at the forefront of that as much as any other person on our staff when it comes to making changes.

Q. There have been reports that Robert Beal put his name in the transfer portal, but he’s here practicing for the Sugar Bowl. Can you say if he still plans on transferring or he plans to stay with the team?

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR LANNING: I can’t speak to Rob. I know he’s here working with us this week. Excited to see what he’s doing. But, no, I can’t speak to that.

Q. Did you all you talked about the noname defense thing. Did you all kind of by design I think you played I counted about 24 players in a regular rotation. I think J.R. [Reed] may have been the only guy that stayed on the field all the time. Did you all by design say, We’re going to make up for not having that one star, whatever, by embracing our depth and attacking it that way?

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR LANNING: I think what we really set out to do at the beginning of the year is identify the guys that were ready to play and contribute to our team. And what we didn’t want to do is have guys that we felt like could play on the sideline for us.

So if you had the ability to have a role for us in this defense and you were ready, what we’ve said from the getgo is if you’re good enough, you’re old enough. It really doesn’t matter how old you are. We’ve had a lot of guys we felt like were good enough and we could find roles for them. When we were able to find those roles, those guys excelled and did a good job depending on what we felt was best for us to take away the team we were playing. A lot of guys embraced those roles, and that equated to a lot of guys playing. So we want to reward guys that work hard and are ready to play.

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James Coley’s full Sugar Bowl press-conference transcript

Read James Coley’s full press-conference transcript from the Allstate Sugar Bowl

Georgia football offensive coordinator James Coley met with the media on Sunday in New Orleans before Wednesday’s Sugar Bowl against Baylor.

Here is the full transcript from the session.

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR COLEY: We came here the day before yesterday and we practiced at our facility, and our guys showed up with a lot of energy, a lot of juice. It’s been really fun coaching this group the last week and a half.

They embrace everything. We got a new coach on the staff, and he’s brought a lot to the table. And they’ve really opened their — welcomed him. It’s just been a fun time with this group of kids and the coaches.

But appreciate everything that the Sugar Bowl committee has done for us with regards to accessibility to where we got to go and the practice yesterday was smooth. It was smooth as smooth can be.

Q. You already mentioned Coach [Matt] Luke. We asked a couple players yesterday, and all they talked about was Coach Luke’s energy. How much energy does he actually bring to practice?

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR COLEY: Man, I thought I had a lot. It’s fun coaching with him. It’s a lot of fun because he really enjoys it. I mean, you can tell it’s his passion. And, of course, he was a head coach and he’s done this for a while. He’s running up and down the field, celebrating with the players. He’s coaching them hard.

He’s always teaching. We can be in a staff room and he’s teaching the staff. So, he loves the game. He’s got a great feel for people, and he’s got great knowledge about the offensive line and offense, period. So, it’s fun having him around.

Q. Isaiah [Wilson] and Andrew [Thomas] are no longer, guys going to the NFL. How does that affect things on the offensive line? Who starts in their place?

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR COLEY: We have got guys who are working in that rotation. You got Cade Mays. You got Jamaree Salyer. You got [Warren] McClendon, freshman, who’s been practicing really hard. So those guys played great for us this year. But Cade and Jamaree also played in those spots. So we’re excited to see them get their opportunity.

And I’ll tell you what, they’ve really had fun and they’ve really worked really hard these last several practices. It’s fun watching a kid jump into a row, embrace it, work at it, and you start seeing them improve, improve every — I don’t want to say every play. But as every period goes on in practices and the practices flow on, you start seeing them get into their — I say groove again but getting into their niche.

It’s been fun watching those two guys. And Warren has gotten a lot better. He’s taken a lot more reps with good-on-good.

Yeah, it’s a challenge. I know those guys are going to go out there and play their butts off for Georgia.

Q. Offense has been a big topic of conversation at Georgia this year, some of the issues that have kind of gone on. I want to get your take on how things have went. Talk about some of the problems and how you are going about trying to address them moving forward.

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR COLEY: Everybody knows we’ve — everybody’s talked about the play on the outside and the questions on Jake [Fromm]. You know what? I’ve got to do a better job, first and foremost. Starts with me, right? So, I’m looking at myself hard and criticizing myself and busting my tail to get that end better.

And then we do have to put some pieces in place for a quarterback in the pass game. We’ve got to put some pieces in place up front for the running backs. So, it goes down to players. And that’s the bottom line, right?

How do you get your players better so they can reach their full potential? That’s what we’ve been fighting all season long to get better at, working really hard at — bottom line, got to score points. How do you score points with conditions or what you have or the injuries you’re working with.

It’s been tough and ultimately it falls on me. It’s our job to get it better.

Q. After you were promoted to the job, how much were you able to install and run the system you want to run as opposed to continuing [Jim] Chaney’s system and/or running the system that Kirby [Smart] wants to run?

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR COLEY: I don’t really see it as the system that Kirby wants to run, or we’re forced to run this certain system. As a staff, we sat down and we said, what gives us the best chance to beat certain teams with the players we have? And that’s the plays we’ve called to put our players in place. We’re still a pro-style offense, and that just gives us the flexibility to do a bunch of things.

And, again, it’s who you have out there and who you’re trying to feature. So, what gives you the best chance: Giving the ball to the tailback who’s a really good player or throwing the ball to a young guy who may not be ready for that moment yet? You know what I mean?

I don’t think what I want to do has been held back. What I want to do, I’ve done. It’s been none of that.

Q. I think to count six or seven receivers, I’ve lost count how many guys you have hurt. Kirby [Smart] called it a merry-go-round of receivers. How challenging has been it to devise a scheme around player talent? You said in the fall the scheme would be devised around player talent. When the player talent is constantly changing, how much have you had to change from week to week to scheme around that talent?

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR COLEY: You call plays. You sit there, we can all get in a room. Everybody in this room, we could put a game on and all figure out what plays would be great against that defense. Who’s going to make those plays, right? Who’s going to run that precise route? Can we have a formation set that’s going to give us the same look that the other team had because they’re respecting certain players.

I think we were very different from last year to this year because of the departure of the receivers we had that are now playing in the NFL. And I think we’re different from, I would say, the first quarter of the South Carolina game till now because of the injuries to a player like Lawrence Cager. And I think that all affects the quarterback sometimes, right?

You’re moving your pieces around to give yourself the best chance to win, to score enough points to win, to score more points than the other opponent. And when you do have injuries — for example, the SEC championship game, right? We got two of the three starters are out in the first quarter and you’re ready a little bit low.

Now you got to figure out: What’s the emergency plan from the emergency plan? And you have one set; and you have to deal with the elements of the game, what they’re doing to you and how you’re going to respond with guys that are new at those spots. It’s tough. It’s our job, though. It’s my job.

It is. It’s a difficult will thing to scheme around. But it’s what we do, and it’s what we get paid to do. And we got to do the best we can.

Q. When you look at the body of work of Jake Fromm for this season, what do you attribute to the different production? Is it simply a matter of injuries?

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR COLEY: I believe so. If you look at the stats, everything is around stats, right? And my job and the job of the guys that work with us on offense is to figure out how can we improve a player’s performance. And Jake’s performance, I would say, with Lawrence Cager in the game was something like — he was at 71% completion for the season. Lawrence Cager is not in the game, he’s what? It’s a lot lower. Has he regressed, or has his stats regressed, right? I would say stats regressed.

I’m around Jake every day, coached Jake. I was his quarterback coach last year. If anything, he’s sharper because of the multiples that he’s had to deal with, with new guys in the line-up. He’s sharper because of it.

But it gets you at times. It looks like you’re not accurate when a guy is running a bender across the middle of the field and he keeps it vertical and you think he’s bending and the ball ends up being short and you end up going, This guy threw a terrible ball. Or the guy is running a ten-yard stop route and he runs it at 12 and it’s a low throw, right?

But that’s not all the time. It’s just — it happens when you get injuries. You get guys in the game that haven’t played in a while or it’s their first chance and they are a little nervous and they take their routes a little deeper than where they should be. It ends up looking like the guy was not playing as good as he was a year ago.

 

When you’re playing quarterback, you are sitting there, sometimes you’ve got to deal with the guys that are playing around you. You almost have to adjust your game to them.

I think Jake is still the same Jake. I think he’s done a great job with his attitude, how he comes to work every day. He’s not fazed by stats. He’s not fazed by a production in a game that he probably — he knows he did all he could do to give us a shot.

Coaching him for two years now, I’m very proud of the kid. I’m watching him in practice this week and last week. Man, you are talking about a person that comes in with a great spirit to complete and to affect others. It’s unbelievable.

Q. What level of participation do you expect from D’Andre Swift in this game? And when he’s not in the game, how do you see the rotation at running back? How does that affect how you call the game?

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR COLEY: Sure. Man, D’Andre Swift, he’s working really hard to get healthy. You guys know he hasn’t been healthy 100%. He’s practicing hard. We’re all supporting him through this because it’s tough. He really — in his heart, he’s a part of this team. He’s a leader. He’s one of our leaders.

If he is unable to go, we’ve got a good stable running back there. James Cook and Zamir White and Kenny McIntosh have all practiced really hard and embraced the role of “I’m the next guy in.”

And those guys are embracing bigger roles than just playing the backfield. As you guys saw in our game at SEC championship game, they played in the slot. We motioned them in from the backfield to the third receiver in a set, to the first receiver in a set. They did a bunch of stuff. So, they’ve had to cram in more than just running back at times. They’ve played outside as receivers.

So I’m excited to see those kids play. They’ve worked really hard, and they’re ready for this opportunity.

Q. What do you see from Baylor’s defense? Especially the three-man line that’s produced so many sacks.

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR COLEY: Well-coached group. When you watch them on defense — we spent some time analyzing what they do and how they affect other teams. They are well-coached and their kids, they play with a high motor. They know what they’re doing. They have got great skill set. Those three guys up front, they know how to use their hands. They have great get-off.

The biggest thing that you notice from them outside of their talent is they’re always playing hard, always playing hard. Because this is them. Those three guys up front — and they do a great job with scheme to make you feel like they’re giving you all this room but they’re not. They swarm the ball as an entire unit.

Pretty impressive group up front. You can see why they’ve had the success they’ve had in that league, which you great a lot of great offenses in that league.

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Watch: Georgia football players visit New Orleans hospital

Georgia football players visit New Orleans hospital

The Georgia football team has been actively prepping for Wednesday’s Sugar Bowl in New Orleans of late, but took some time to visit the kids before their game on Monday.

Take a look at this video captured by WSB’s Zach Klein, which captures all the emotions. Wow, what an experience. Props to the Sugar Bowl committee for having the players do this.

Georgia football coach Kirby Smart updates status of Brian Herrien, Tyler Clark for Baylor

Georgia football coach Kirby Smart updates status of Brian Herrien, Tyler Clark for Baylor

Georgia football coach Kirby Smart briefly met with members of the media upon touching down in New Orleans on Friday.

Smart told reporters that sophomore running back James Cook would be available for next Wednesday’s game, after being arrested earlier this month, but avoided commenting on the status of others.

It is highly unlikely Herrien plays in the bowl game and we are now beginning to think Clark will be out as well, though that has not been confirmed.

However, we will have a better understanding of who’s ready to go during the practices this weekend. Stay tuned to UGA Wire to find out more throughout the week in New Orleans and on the trail at the All-American Bowl in San Antonio.

UGA football coach Kirby Smart provides update on RB James Cook’s status for Sugar Bowl

Georgia football coach Kirby Smart provides update on status of running back James Cook for the Allstate Sugar Bowl

Georgia football running back James Cook was arrested earlier in the month for driving without a valid license and carrying an open container of alcohol, per the Athens-Clarke County Police.

However, head coach Kirby Smart confirmed the sophomore running back can play against Baylor in the Sugar Bowl, after touching down in the Big Easy on Friday.

Cook will give the Bulldogs some much needed talent at running back for the game, with senior Brian Herrien likely out and junior D’Andre Swift’s status also up in the air.

UGA Wire will provide you with more updates as we get them.

Watch: Georgia football lands in New Orleans for the Sugar Bowl

Georgia football has landed in New Orleans for the Allstate Sugar Bowl game

The Georgia Bulldogs have officially landed in New Orleans, Louisiana for the Allstate Sugar Bowl against Baylor.

The Bulldogs will play the Bears on January 1st at 8:30 pm, after a disappointing loss to Texas in the Big Easy last season. Will the Dawgs come out motivated enough to earn the victory? Only time will tell.

Regis Prograis buys mother new house for Christmas

Some fighters buy jewelry after a big fight. Some, like Regis Prograis, buy their mother a new house.

Regis Prograis had a special surprise for Mom on Christmas Day.

The junior welterweight contender gave his mother a key to a new home.

“Just bought my momma a brand new house from the ground up,” Prograis wrote on Twitter. “She had no idea what kind of Christmas gift she was getting. We made her go through a few loops but she finally got her key.”

The New Orleans native is coming off a close decision loss to Josh Taylor in a thrilling World Boxing Super Series final in London. Despite the loss, which also cost him his title, Prograis significantly raised his profile and earned a career payday.

He is expected to be back in the ring in the spring, according to his handlers. 

3 things to watch in Thunder’s game against New Orleans Pelicans

The Thunder will look to bounce back from their loss Wednesday against the Portland Trail Blazers

The Oklahoma City Thunder gave up a season-high 136 points in their loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Wednesday, marking their fourth loss in the last five games.

At 6-11 this season, the Thunder are in a rebuild, but they have had some bright spots. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has shown promise as a second-year guard, averaging a career-high in points (18.8) and rebounds (5.1). Chris Paul has posted some of the best 3-point shooting numbers of his career.

The Thunder will play the New Orleans Pelicans at Chesapeake Energy Arena on Friday at 8 p.m. EST.

Defensive Communication

Each of the Trail Blazers’ starters scored in double figures Wednesday, with Damian Lillard scoring a team-high 27 points.

The Thunder didn’t defend the 3-point line well, as the Blazers shot 46.7% from deep. Paul spoke on how the Thunder’s defensive communication has to improve.

“We gotta be better, we gotta be better,” Paul said, per Fox Sports Oklahoma. “We gotta communicate better. I think early in the game, I was late on all my rotations, but we gotta be better. And if we get better defensively, I think we’ll start seeing different results.”

Friday’s game will mark the second meeting between the Thunder and the Pelicans. The Thunder won the first game 115-104 in the season series Nov. 2. That game was a quality one defensively for OKC, as it held New Orleans to 42.6% shooting from the field.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander needs a scoring boost

Gilgeous-Alexander started his second year with a jolt, as he averaged 21.0 points per game in the first 10 games of the season.

The past five games, though, Gilgeous-Alexander has been in a minor slump, averaging 14.8 points. Gilgeous-Alexander’s 3-point shooting numbers have been down as well. The first 10 games, he shot 40.9% from the 3-point line. In the previous five, he’s shot 35.7%.

With Gilgeous-Alexander still being a young player, he’s going to have slumps like the one he’s in now. Point guard is arguably the hardest position in the league to consistently perform at a high level on both ends of the floor.

For Gilgeous-Alexander, this game against the Pelicans might give him the scoring boost he needs. The first time these two teams played this season, Gilgeous-Alexander scored 23 points and shot 3-of-5 from the 3-point line. The performance was one of nine times this season that he scored 20 or more points.

The Thunder need better 3-point shooting

The Thunder started the season shooting well, but in this recent stretch, they’ve struggled to make shots from behind the arc.

In their past five games, they’ve shot 35% or better from the 3-point line once. That was in a 130-127 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. During their most recent win, a victory over the Golden State Warriors, the Thunder shot 34.4% from the 3-point line.

Though the Thunder are below .500, they’ve been able to stay in games for the most part. Their largest loss was when the Indiana Pacers beat them 111-85. OKC also posted its third-lowest 3-point shooting numbers of the season during that game, shooting at a 24.0% clip from deep.

The Thunder have been able to compete in part because of their 3-point shooting. Paul is one of their best shooters, as he’s shooting 39.2% from the 3-point line. Danilo Gallinari leads the team in 3-point percentage, shooting 40.4%.

OKC had success shooting threes the first time it played the Pelicans this season.

The Thunder shot 40.5% from the 3-point line during that game, and it’s one of six times this season they’ve shot 40% or better from beyond the arc.

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Shy Tuttle gets first NFL interception in Saints victory

Shy Tuttle gets first NFL interception in Saints victory.

ATLANTA — Former University of Tennessee football player Shy Tuttle has had a solid season as a rookie in the National Football League for the New Orleans Saints.

The defensive lineman, who entered the league as an undrafted free agent, reached a career milestone on Thanksgiving night against the Atlanta Falcons in a 26-18 victory in a prime time showdown.

Tuttle picked off Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan in the third quarter. It was Tuttle’s first career interception and helped New Orleans avenge an earlier 26-9 loss to the Falcons in New Orleans on Nov. 10.

Tuttle also assisted on a tackle for the Saints, who host San Francisco on Dec. 8 in a key game for playoff seeding. The Saints are 10-2 in 2019.