Derik Queen on first NBA game, containing Victor Wembanyama | New Orleans Pelicans

just how did you kind of feel out that first NBA minutes? Uh especially, you know, not a whole lot of training camp, but just getting out there and getting to the floor the game. Uh it was good just get to understand it. Uh like you said, like I was uh short of practice stuff. I didn’t I didn’t practice the whole training camp. So, it it was good just getting a feel of it. And with that particular team, they they play so fast, especially when they’re at home. How much is that kind of a adjusting to the NBA and how it is in this league? The pace and the guards are a the way they’re able to be with them down the court. I mean, it was something that uh I worked on with my condition and even the days we did practice, we uh we work on transition defense, so us keep practicing it and just trying to uh perfect it. I mean, we messed up a few times, but you just got to keep getting better and perfected. How do you think your wind was overall? Like, I think you played about 14 minutes. How much more do you think you have in the tank right now? Uh, I think my win was pretty good. Um, I probably had probably I say 10 more minutes, 10, 15 more minutes, something like that. Uh, but I I felt pretty good out there and just just trying to get better every game and just keep building. Nothing nothing surprised you with like the pace or anything in terms of just like being adjusted and and and you know, just playing at this level. None of that like you didn’t see you didn’t have any issues with that, right? No, no, no, no, not at all. I feel like I I was getting back um in transition and stuff. So, what did you think of uh Jeremiah’s performance? Been saying that Jeremiah he he nice when you took that charge. I mean, that was an advanced defensive move I think. Uh were you prepared for that? You knew he was that a scouting thing or No, I mean we knew he was going to go left and then I think I took some charges in college, but if not, I definitely took some in high school. So, it’s not like a it’s not like a new thing. Hey, like you said, it’s not new y’all y’all been watching Jeremiah since for you since summer league. But how crazy just a guy that young to have the amount of points that he has and just being under control all the time the way he is? Yeah. I mean, not much to say. He he good at basketball. Well, it don’t matter how old you is. If you if you belong here, you you belong here. And I feel like he belong here. And Derek, what did you see when the uh Grizzlies went on that 190 run in the third quarter where they really flipped that momentum? Um we was down four at a possession and her just came over was like felt like we was down 20. Like everybody everybody attitude just shifted and then like it it wasn’t the end of the world and then everything just kind of went downhill after that. But next time I think we’re going to be prepared and have better uh better energy and and it’s just us as like teammates as a collective group to just keep picking each other up. Is there any excitement for you just to open up at home on Friday, you know, first time playing in, you know, the Smoothie King Center in front of, you know, regular season game in front of fans like that? Yeah, I’m I’m super excited for it. Um another great opportunity. Hopefully we can bounce back and just keep building. And I guess what’s the preparation like when you know a guy like WMBB is coming to town when he’s such a freak with the height and what he can do out on the court. Uh I guess what’s the mental preparation like for that? Do the best you can do. Did you watch that game last night? Yeah. Uh I watch a little bit of the highlights. Uh what what makes it just so difficult when someone’s that big and you know they can handle a perimeter, they’ve got the size go like just being that like having that that you know that that those tools to do that like how difficult I mean I’ve seen him shoot over a lot I can test. Uh, so it was like there’s not much you can do but probably be physical but still he seven seven whatever and he still shoots you. So it doesn’t really we just got to do our best uh try to contain them show bodies and try to get as many steals on them cuz we probably not going to buy a shot. You’re like another example of kind of the the new evolution in the NBA with these bigs who can handle the ball out on the perimeter and make plays. How much do you kind of see that across the league or guys you see coming up in high school and college where these guys who are power forwards and centers used to play in the post now they’re playing out on the perimeter? It’s actually not a lot of us. It’s just like it’s just like whoever like who like Jokic for example. He’s like probably one of the best players in the league. So like that’s like it’s it’s not a it’s not a variety of us. is like a few others, but he’s like the like the main focus of like it’s not a lot of bigs that just go up, push the ball, start the break and stuff and do what he can do. So like it’s like it’s not really involved in like the game probably the game of course going to change. I mean it is going to evolve cuz the game going to change but it’s just I don’t know just like a God giving skills like it’s a thing that he probably work on or we probably work on. Unicorn in the game, right? Yeah.

New Orleans Pelicans forward-center Derik Queen speaks with the media after Pelicans practice at the Ochsner Sports Performance Center on Thursday, October 23, 2025.
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