James Borrego on clutch situations, injury updates | New Orleans Pelicans

James Borrego on clutch situations, injury updates | New Orleans Pelicans

Just check just checking. When you look back on the game from last night, what were a couple of the things that you pulled and and went over emphasized today? We did a lot of end of game. Did our first end of game practice today? Area of growth. Keep putting yourselves in those positions and now you got to close. So, we’re at the goal line and we got to figure out how to close and it’s maturity, it’s execution, it’s poise, it’s confidence. Um and then making sure you know guys know where they need to be and coming and it all comes down to the details there. So um that’s probably the the most detailed end of game practice um I’ve had in a while. It’s been a minute. So it felt good though. It felt good. Felt good. Uh we felt the pain of last night. We owned it. Come back in. We get back to work. Um that’s the beauty in this team. Nobody’s hanging their heads just back to work today. So, a lot of good stuff on film. I saw 47 and a half minutes of basketball that I really liked and um you know, I just love what this group’s doing and we just got to continue. James, how much can you draw on your time in Charlotte? A lot of your teams very good in uh clutch minutes. Even though even some poor teams, right, overall win loss records, but you guys still were either 500 or better in clutch minutes. What was the difference over there? Yeah, I think those last one, my last three years, we were fourth in net rating or at least, you know, top top 10 at least. Um, really high in the offensive clutch, you know, scenario. So, I’ll lean into that more. I just haven’t had a lot of time to go there. We’re just dealing with more foundational stuff, identity stuff. The more time we have together now, we can we can lean into the details of what I call the margins. This team’s got to dominate the margins. That’s the goal right now. dominate the margins after timeout, end of quarter, end of game. Uh those situations we want to dominate and it’s very doable. This is not rocket science. You just got to put some effort into it, some focus into it. Um you got to give it attention. You got to put, you know, and sometimes those are uncomfortable conversations and moments, but you just got to deal with it. And uh I’m very confident this team can get it. No doubt. I’ve seen a younger, more inexperienced team do it. this team is more than capable of having that. How do you simulate end of game without the same pressure of hey, game is actually on the line, you know, we got four minutes to play, whatever it is. You how do you simulate that practice? We did it as well as we could today. I mean, it’s it’s literally you’re simulating that pressure. You can’t go back into the you can’t recreate the the moment entirely, but you can raise the level in a two-minute game, one minute game. Here’s the scenario. Like today we did multiple situations. 30 seconds to go, we’re up to. What does that look like? Down to put them in these scenarios and do it till you like what you see. Make sure we’re all talking about it. What we’re looking for and try to replicate it as much as possible. You can’t you can’t get the pressure or the stress level as high as you’ll get, you know, tomorrow night or in a game, but you can certainly simulate it as best you can. How much do you like these playing these teams back to back like this? Just quick turn around get get to play turns again tomorrow. I like it from a prep standpoint. You know, you’re not like you just saw them, you know, the game plan. Let’s go do it better. And you make a few tweaks, few adjustments. It feels more like a playoff series, which you kind of like. Um, so I like them. I like going right back at same, you know, same team and see how our guys respond. Do you have any injury updates? like was Herb able to take part in any practice? Jordan Pool, Carlo, uh P and Herb were not, you know, in the in the practice stuff today. Uh Carlo did a little bit more today. I believe he’s going to be questionable tomorrow. So, he’s close. Hopefully, we get him back tomorrow, if not in the next uh couple days. Did y’all get any more clarity on Zion’s injury like way? No, no clarity on that. I can assume I I I’m assuming the the Golden State game. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah. Assuming that. Uh but I don’t have any clarity there on that. But we got a game plan for him. He’s aware of it. You know, we’re moving forward and he’s going to put the work in and you know, we’re going to get him back. We saw him out here today like he was in good spirits and smiling and everything that he was great this morning. Great spirits. Pumped the team up. Gave us great life. you know, was excited about our efforts last night. You know, he was a part of the film session, too. He spoke up a number of times. He’s in it. I expect him to be a vocal leader on this team. JB, what’s DeAndre doing for your young guys? We just saw him. He’s talking. You hear him talking. He’s always working with Derek Queen, getting in the ears of other players when they’re on the bench. Yeah, he acts like an assistant coach. He is. He’s an extension of our staff. Maybe I should put him on staff, you know, but he’s probably making more money, you know, in the player role probably, right? So, he’ll probably take that paycheck, but I’ll still use him, you know, as an extension of the coaching staff. He’s got a great voice, you know, wisdom. He’s got a great way. The guys respect him. Um, so it’s like having another coach out there on the floor. It’s it’s it’s awesome. He probably does more than I even know to be honest with you. In those huddles, he’s probably saying more stuff than I even know about. So, um, I love that about him and he’s he’s brought a real uh spirit of curiosity to our program. you been with Train Herb now for three years. Um you’ve been through a playoff series with them. They have expectations to win. Just what kind of conversations have you had with them on on how they’re taking this this season? Keep pounding the rock. Nothing changes. Keep pounding the rock and not be it may not be in your first year, second year, third year, but it’s coming. Just stay with the process. And when everybody else is doubting you, when everybody else is losing their heads, you stay the course and keep pounding away. And as I said last night, the reward will be there. You just got to keep believing, keep pounding, not giving in. And it’s tough in this environment when social media and, you know, fans and friends and family and co-workers are doubting. You got to stay the course and believe. And it’s my job to help them do that. and they got to lean into that even through the uncomfortable moments. Um, that’s really where your character is built and that’s what we’re finding out. These are high character individuals. You just cannot give in. You got to keep standing and keep moving on and on to the next play, onto the next day, onto the next year. And you just got to keep pounding away and eventually it’s going to turn.

New Orleans Pelicans Interim Head Coach James Borrego speaks with the media after practice in the Ochsner Sports Performance Center on Dec. 3, 2025.
#pelicans #nba #neworleanspelicans
Latest NBA News & Pelicans News @ https://www.pelicans.com

Subscribe to the New Orleans Pelicans YT Channel: https://bit.ly/PelicansSubscribe
Add the Pelicans Schedule to your Calendar: https://calendar.pelicans.com/
Latest Pelicans News and Updates: https://www.nba.com/pelicans
Latest NBA News and Updates: https://www.nba.com/
Like us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/PelicansNBA/
Follow us on Twitter: https://twitter.com/PelicansNBA
Follow us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/pelicansnba/
Find us on Snapchat: https://www.snapchat.com/add/pelicansnba
Get the App: http://apps.yinzcam.com/nba/nop