NBA PLAY-IN TOURNAMENT: PELICANS vs CLIPPERS

April 15, 2022

Tyronn Lue

Postgame Press Conference

Pelicans 105, Clippers 101

Q. What can you say about the season you guys have had? Been a roller coaster.

TYRONN LUE: I think it's been an unbelievable season for our guys, everything we had to go through. Like our fans staying loyal, continuing to support throughout the whole season.

Tough situation tonight ending the way it did. But for the guys in the locker room, like, scrapped, the way we competed all year long. No matter who played, was in the rotation, who was in and out. It's most disappointing for those guys in the locker room who have fought and clawed all year. We have to hold our heads high. Some great things to be proud of. Get ready, keep rebuilding and get ready for next year.

But we're not disappointed at all in these guys in the locker room. Like I said, every single night they gave me everything they had. Our coaching staff was phenomenal all year long making sure guys were ready all year and stayed the course, no matter if you played 10 games, missed 10 games. We plugged guys in, guys were ready to play.

That's the culture we want to build here, the culture we want to set. I'm happy and proud of our guys for the season we was able to overcome all year long.

Q. Is this the roster you want to see come back --

TYRONN LUE: Everybody. We get our main guys back. I mean, we can be dangerous. Health is part of it. We got to stay healthy, continue to work. Like I said, right now we got what we got.

Proud of our guys in the locker room. Nothing to hang their heads about. So it is what it is.

Q. What sort of big picture implications do you see? This group, they've had to hold the fort down without two guys.

TYRONN LUE: It's very promising. I think when you get Kawhi and P.G. back healthy, Norm. We had to play a full season instead of playing five, six games, whatever, four games. This team can be pretty special.

But it's all about health. Our young guys, T. Mann, Amir, Luke, Zu, all those guys have a chance to develop and play meaningful games. They played big for us. Our veteran guys we already talked about with Marcus, Nico, Reggie have brought to this team.

The best thing is about health. We got to get back, get back to the drawing board. But I'm very excited for this group, the guys coming back.

Q. You had a six-game lead over the Pelicans for eighth place. Is it hard not to be a little bit frustrated that you're in this position at all right now?

TYRONN LUE: I mean, it is what it is. We knew that coming into the season.

Like Willie Green has done a phenomenal job. Just where he brought his team from, where they're at now, how he got those guys to believe, the job he did. They brought in C.J. Grip did a good job bringing in C.J., another leader for that team that can score the basketball. Brings a calmness to the team.

I thought we did a good job of putting ourselves in position to make the eighth seed, have a chance to play two games, win one. You don't like to see it end like that. We knew the play-in before the start of the season. But it's tough.

Q. The young guys got a lot of play this year that will help them develop. What can you say about Reggie, Nico and Marcus? They carry a lot of load.

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, I mean, just their approach every single day I think was huge for this team and for our young guys to see how they came to work every day, the message they were delivering. Just teaching these young guys how to work, what it takes to be a pro. Every day they brought that. So that's all you can ask from your veteran guys and your veteran group. They did that.

The young guys came along. Like I said, they matured. They had to mature very fast considering the circumstances. Our bench was great. Like I said, Bledsoe was great for us, Serge was great, along with Justice. Those guys were great for us as well.

We building the right culture, going in the right direction. Our next step is we just got to stay healthy at some point hopefully.

Q. You've been to a Conference Finals every time you've been a head coach. Is it going to be super weird for you the next few weeks?

TYRONN LUE: Yeah, I've never not been in the playoffs as a coach. As an assistant, as a head.

It's tough. It's tough. It's going to make me stronger. I've been through a lot worse. I am disappointed in us not being able to make the playoffs, no matter who was playing.

It is tough for me. It will be something that's different, something I never experienced before. Add this to the list, I guess (smiling).

Q. You mentioned describing breakthrough moments this season, the talk you had with Reggie mid-season. Are there other moments that come to mind about defining the season?

TYRONN LUE: I probably say the Washington game, being down 35, showing who we really are every single night, just continue to keep fighting till the horn goes off. That team was able to come back and win. Our young guys played unbelievable. The job Luke did and Brandon Boston and Jay Scrubb was out there. Our young guys. The effort they put forth even in a game that seemed like there was no way we could win. They competed till the end and they won that game. That was a big moment for me.

Q. You're down 10 at half. What did you tell the team? You went small, turned the game around. What was the conversation like at half? What was the plan from there?

TYRONN LUE: I grabbed Zu right when we walked through the tunnel, told him I was going to start small. I didn't think I wouldn't play him at all. I knew I'm playing small against Valanciunas and Jaxson Hayes. They had trouble matching up with us, getting back in transition.

We were down 10. Ended up going up 10 at the end of the third quarter. So the communication... I thought we had to get stops, get out and run in transition, attack early, which I thought we did.

Then I thought our guys got a little tired. (Indiscernible) on some jump shots. We didn't continue to keep attacking. Then they hurt us on the glass. Their bench came in. Murphy had huge stones to come in and make those big shots they needed when they were struggling to score the basketball. Alvarado came in, changed the pace, got a couple offensive rebounds that were meaningful.

Larry Nance was huge for them, seven offensive rebounds, something we struggled with all season long, rebounding the basketball. He was able us to hurt us with those rebounds.

Q. Have you already talked to everybody or is that something that's going to happen over the course of the next few days?

TYRONN LUE: It's going to happen over the course of the next few days. Let guys come down. I know it's a disappointed locker room in there. Like I said, those guys in there have nothing to hang their head about.

Just stay positive, stay with it, be proud of what we did, what we was able to accomplish. I know we didn't make the playoffs, but considering all the things that went on this year, very proud of our guys.

Q. Besides health being a big thing, are there any other areas you think this team needs to improve on to take the next step?

TYRONN LUE: Well, not in position to talk about it right now. I just think, I mean, when you get Kawhi back, top five player, P.G., a perennial All-Star, your team changes tremendously. Guys who have taken on bigger roles this year who have never been in this position before, they can kind of fall back into their original roles.

We could be very different with those two guys back and those two guys healthy. Like I said, with Norm being able to get us up on track, learning the plays, our system, what we're trying to do. We can be special.

Thank you.