Gentry apologizes to GM for saying Pelicans were out of playoff race
After a frustrating road loss to the Rockets where the Pelicans blew a six-point lead with just under three minutes remaining and were outscored 13-2 the rest of the way, New Orleans head coach Alvin Gentry angrily announced that his team had no shot a making the playoffs.
"We come out here after every game and we talk about, 'Well, you know, we're still in the playoff race.' No, we're not. We're not," Gentry said after the game, via ESPN's Justin Verrier. "What we are is, we're a team that -- when we have an opportunity to do something, we didn't get it done. So that is the bottom line."
The Pelicans are 23-37 on the season, and are 6.5 games back of the Rockets for the eighth and final playoff spot in the West, so what Gentry said may have indeed been factually correct. But you never want to see a head coach give up on making the playoffs when it's still at least mathematically possible, which is why Gentry apologized for his remarks a day later.
"Yeah, I was emotional. I would say that I shouldn't have said it. I'm not afraid to say that," Gentry said. "But at that time I was just so frustrated. That's why it's good that I wait a while to talk to [the media]. Sometimes, it doesn't subside enough that you still say emotional things.
"But it was a frustrating loss. The last two have been very frustrating. We've played good basketball after the All-Star break. You just want to try to continue to win and you hope you get a little momentum, because through all that's ever happened, there's still not enough separation that you're completely out of the playoff picture."
Spurs shut down #Pelicans in final minutes, post 94-86 win: https://t.co/zPtGVbk0Sc @NBAonTNT pic.twitter.com/FJC4zsXFgf
— Jim Eichenhofer (@Jim_Eichenhofer) March 4, 2016
Gentry also apologized to Pelicans GM Dell Demps for the outburst, according to a report from TNT sideline reporter Craig Sager during Thursday night's game between the Pelicans and the Spurs -- which resulted in another New Orleans loss.
It's worth remembering that Gentry was the associate head coach for the Golden State Warriors last season, who finished the year with 67 regular season victories and an NBA title. He obviously didn't expect that same level of success in his first year with the Pelicans, but it's understandable that the losing would begin to wear on him as the playoffs become more firmly out of reach.
