Tag: Willie Green

Antonio Daniels: “What you have here in …

Antonio Daniels: “What you have here in New Orleans is, a lot was going on early on in the season, new pieces trying to fit in along with head coach Willie Green. And that’s a lot to take on early; 1-12, 3-16 is what this team started. And now, at that time, the talk was, ‘Let’s tank. There’s no Zion.’ Fans all said they should just tank the season. Even when you acquired CJ McCollum. I remember Stephen A. Smith saying, ‘Oh, I don’t know what they’re doing. Why would CJ McCollum want to go there? New Orleans ain’t going anywhere anyway.’”

Antonio Daniels: “And I’m a proud …

Antonio Daniels: “And I’m a proud believer, Etan, that the best coaches in this league are role players. You know why? Because they can relate to everybody from 1-to-15. If you’re a star player, you can’t relate to the guy who hasn’t played in six games or the guy who’s major inconsistent. Willie Green has started in this league, he’s been a sixth man, he’s been in situations where his minutes weren’t guaranteed and he’s also been in a situation where he hadn’t played at all. Tell me who on that bench he cannot relate to! And there’s nothing more important in today’s NBA than a coach’s ability to relate to his players. I don’t care about your defensive schemes, I don’t care about your X’s and O’s. If the players feel like you can’t relate to them, they will not play as hard for you. But the moment that they feel like you care about them as men, as fathers, as husbands — they will run through a wall for you. And I’m telling you, Willie Green has that locker room so engaged, because of the way that he handles himself throughout adversity.”

Eight years later, Paul and Green are …

Eight years later, Paul and Green are involved in another first-round series, only this time they are on opposite sides. In his 17th season, Paul helped guide the Suns to the NBA’s best regular-season record. Green, in his first year as a head coach, prevented a slow start from sinking the Pelicans’ season. New Orleans rebounded after losing 12 of its first 13 games to qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 2018. “It’s the craziest dynamic in this series,” Paul told The Times-Picayune. “I root so hard for Willie, for the city. When Willie got the job there, I probably had to be the happiest person. Because not only did he deserve a head coaching job, but the city of New Orleans deserved someone like him.”

Doc Rivers impressed with job Willie Green has done with Pelicans

Philadelphia 76ers coach Doc Rivers has been impressed with the job Willie Green has done for the New Orleans Pelicans.

PHILADELPHIA — There are a few connections between New Orleans Pelicans coach Willie Green and the Philadelphia 76ers. Green played for the Sixers for seven seasons (2003-2010), and he played for Doc Rivers for two seasons with the Los Angeles Clippers.

Green was a starter for Philadelphia in the 2008 and 2009 playoffs, and he was always a very smart player. It is why Rivers thought he would make a good head coach for the Pelicans when they hired him.

After a tough 1-12 start, Green rallied the Pelicans, who charged into the postseason after knocking off both the San Antonio Spurs and the Clippers in the play-in tournament. They are doing all of this without star player Zion Williamson who has missed the season with an injury.

“He’s been amazing,” said Rivers. “It’s funny; they were good when they were bad. That sounds nuts, but coaches know. When you play a team and they have a bunch of injuries and guys out earlier in the year and they’re young, I think we played them in the first game of the year, and you come away with that, even though you thought they might be bad, but they’re gonna be good. That was the thought walking away from them and that was all Willie Green. That wasn’t a team yet. That was all Willie Green.”

Of course, the Pelicans making a big trade to acquire C.J. McCollum from the Portland Trail Blazers helped, but Green did a terrific job keeping the players together. That is where Rivers has been impressed with him, and he believes they can be good for a long time.

“Obviously, they made a terrific trade, and now they have a second option or a first option, I’m not sure which option McCollum is, but when you have a 1-2 punch that they have with the way they run and play, they’re gonna be a good team for a long time,” Rivers finished. “Especially if they get Zion back.”

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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They text each other inspirational …

They text each other inspirational messages. They call each other regularly, sometimes in the middle of the night. Their families are so close they rattle off the names of each other’s kids as if they were their own. And more than anything, Green says the two share a level of honesty that both motivates and humbles each other. “We are cut from the same cloth, man,” Green said. “Number one, we are both God-fearing men. That’s number one. We are family men. We love hoops. And we are competitive. But we hold each other accountable. We are honest, direct and we learn from each other.”

The history between Green and Williams, …

The history between Green and Williams, as well as between Green and the Suns players, has created an interesting, if not unique, dynamic for the first-round series. Green not only knows how Williams and his roster operate, but he also brought with him to New Orleans much of Williams’ structure and playbook. “This series is like you know everything about them, and they know everything about you,” Green said. “We are going to be throwing haymakers, and they are going to be throwing them back. And it’s just going to be exciting. But I wouldn’t want it any other way.”