Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry says guards Tyreke Evans and Norris Cole appear ready to make their season debuts in Tuesday night’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies.
Advertisement
Memphis point guard Mike Conley breezed to the basket for a left-handed layup – the southpaw’s strong hand – giving the Grizzlies a 111-102 edge with 1:22 remaining.
Gasol just dominated the Pelicans all night, scoring 38 points while pulling down 13 rebounds and dishing out six assists. Hopefully that starts a trend. It seemed that in the fourth quarter Cole always ended up with the ball and a shot when the Pelicans needed a basket and it didn’t work out for New Orleans. We have to find a way to do it. I thought there were some bright spots. Gentry said it was one of the few practices in which he could freely substitute players in and out game-like situations because of the improved depth with Evans and Cole returning.
Before Evans was injured, Gentry said Evans would mostly play at point guard.
And what I feared even more, Courtney Lee and Matt Barnes played well, giving Memphis other offensive conductors. The Grizzlies were 25 of 26 from the foul line. Gasol finished with 38 points, but it started with an excellent second quarter where he scored 14 points. It was his career high in free throw attempts (16, which he made all of) showing his ability to attack the rim.
“I think that one guy can’t win a game”. “But that’s not an excuse”. Every time we did come up with a defensive stop, they end up getting back. The game was not going to be won in the first quarter. Evans’ skill-set would allow a good mix of him and Cole handling point duties while both are on the floor, thus taking pressure off of both players. In his first game of the season, Norris Cole had 11 points but was just 3-of-12 from the floor. The Grizzlies’ team bus was delayed in traffic due to rain and late getting to the Smoothie King Center…. “We’ve got to do a good job of trying to control the tempo of the game offensively, that is moving the basketball and not turning it over”, he said.
Advertisement
“I thought they were a very physical team”.
