Pelicans coach Willie Green knows how to get under Suns' skin in their playoff series
Pelicans rookie head coach Willie Green facing the Suns in the first round of the NBA playoffs is like two siblings competing against each other.
The younger brother knows the older brother's idiosyncrasies and physical traits better than anyone to exploit his weaknesses and defend against his moves with good timing.
After being one of Suns coach Monty Williams's assistants the past two years, Green's "local knowledge" of the seasoned Williams' system and his players is manifesting in how the Pelicans won Games 2 and 4 in this best-of-seven series.
The biggest example is Green's longtime personal and working relationship with Chris Paul.
Not only did Green coach Paul in Phoenix, but the two were teammates with the Los Angeles Clippers from 2012-14. A fellow guard, Green knows better than anyone how to prepare to defend Paul.
Green stuck the Pelicans' 6-foot backup guard Jose Alvarado and 6-foot-7 small forward Herbert Jones — former ACC and SEC defensive players of the year, respectively — on Paul to give him different looks.
“He just got in the game and kind of just tore the game up,” Green said with a chuckle about Alvarado in Game 4.
“The nine guys being aggressive defensively, getting underneath their skin, and he’s frustrating to play against, and that’s just how we have to play. There’s no other way. We have to play hard like that every time we step on the floor.”
Nicknamed "Grand Theft Alvarado" for his sneaky ways of getting steals, he's been face-guarding the "Point God" full-court trying stifle his attempts to set up the Suns offense.
“He’s a good kid, man. He plays hard,” Paul said after Game 4. “He found a way to get here in the league and he plays hard. He’s a really good energy guy.”
At the nine-minute mark in Game 2, Alvarado tried to creep from behind Paul and steal the ball in the backcourt after New Orleans missed a shot and the Suns rebounded. Paul found Alvarado and waved him off, which looked like he was swatting at an annoying gnat in his face.
After Paul mirrored his Game 1 fourth-quarter takeover in Game 3, Alvarado wouldn't be denied. He stole the ball from Paul from behind in the fourth quarter, which led to a Brandon Ingram-assisted layup by Jones to put New Orleans up 107-91 with 2:37 left.
Alvarado then knocked the ball out of Paul's hands on an inbounds pass from under the Pelicans' basket, then smothered Paul to cause an eight-second violation in the backcourt.
“Couldn’t wave me off of that one,” Alvarado said. “I got him — that’s one thing I wanted to do, actually. I got him on my list.
“He’s one of the best guards out there. It’s all love. No disrespect. But I’m going to be there. I ain’t running away from no smoke. It’s nothing personal. I’m going to stand on my own. I’ll pick up fullcourt, make the game difficult for him.”
The screaming New Orleans home crowd energized the Pelicans in their 118-103 victory in Game 4, the biggest victory margin of this series.
One of Jones' two steals in Game 4 was on Paul in the fourth quarter. After his takeovers in Games 1 and 3 leading to Phoenix's wins, Paul finished Game 4 with just four points, 11 assists, three rebounds and three turnovers.
Jones also contributed 13 points, three assists, and three blocks which were all from punching down Suns' 3s.
''We were trying to be more disruptive and more physical," Jones said. ''I feel like that's been a huge part of our game, especially in the playoffs. You've got to play with a little more fire.''
The loss of Devin Booker in Game 2's third quarter obviously gave New Orleans an advantage to win, 125-114, on April 19. He averaged 28 points through the first two games before he was sidelined by a mild right hamstring injury.
But the younger, less playoff-experienced No. 8 Pelicans have pressured the top-seeded Suns using their length and strength of Jonas Valanciunas (averaging 15.0 points, 16.0 rebounds this series) and backup forward Larry Nance Jr. (8.8 points, 5.8 rebounds) to take advantage when Ayton and JaVale McGee shift and switch out of position to guard smaller defenders.
“The games we’ve won, it’s pretty obvious we’ve handled it pretty well," Williams said to the media on Monday. "(In Game 4) in the first half, I thought we did a good job. In the second half, it wasn’t necessarily the pressure, it was a lot of the antics and physicality I thought hurt us a little bit.
Williams added about their Game 4 loss, "A lot of this stuff comes down to making or missing a shot. There were times where we got into our offense we’d had a wide open look, we just missed it. I gotta get our guys thinking and playing the way we’ve played all year long, and that’s just to hoop and let it fly. And there’s a freedom with that that I haven’t felt consistently with our team.”
That lack of freedom was caused by the Pelican's physicality and relentless outrebounding the Suns, 191-142. In Game 4, Phoenix also matched their series-high 12 turnovers in as they had in Game 2, and shot their lowest 25.9% from the 3-point line in the series. The Suns shot 36.4% during the season, and are down to 29.3% as the Pelicans have stretched their defense. In Game 2, Phoenix shot 37.1% from deep compared to the Pelicans' 56.7%.
McGee told reporters at the Suns' pregame shootaround before Tuesday's Game 5 he likes the playoff physicality from the Pelicans. But he doesn't believe they are much different than the Suns.
“Just running the same plays and knowing all the plays, that’s about it," McGee said.
"But everybody has a video camera and everybody can download the game, so everybody knows everybody’s plays. I don’t feel like it’s that much of an advantage, but definitely the intricacies and the little trick plays probably Willie already knows are gonna happen."
Have tips for us? Reach the reporter at dana.scott@azcentral.com or at 480-486-4721. Follow his Twitter @iam_DanaScott.
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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: New Orleans Pelicans coach Willie Green knows how to annoy Phoenix Suns
