Highlights From Anthony Davis and Monty Williams Talking World Cup and More

For the first time since they won gold with Team USA at the FIBA World Cup Pelicans head coach Monty Williams and superstar power forward Anthony Davis met with media in New Orleans for a 22 minute press conference about their time with the national team. The presser touched on a few different things so below are some highlights from the two Pelicans.

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Davis on the difference between the 2012 Olympics and the World Cup: 

"In 2012 I was kind of like the 12th guy, taking everything in working and competing to the highest level with the best competition internationally. It was fun. That was the first time ever winning something to that extreme. Of course I won a national championship but to win a gold medal there are a handful of guys who can say they won a gold medal, and to do it at 19 was a great experience. I think this time I was a lot more involved. I was looked upon to be one of the guys who got the team going and bringing that energy and effort offensively and defensively. It was fun and if I have the chance to do it again I definitely will."

Davis on how the experience helped him grow: 

"I got better, not just as a player but as a person. Hanging around the guys and the coaches you are going to get better regardless of if you are playing or not. The way we worked we didn’t work that long at practice but when we did step on the floor it was all about working hard and making sure we kept our heads on straight to win a gold medal, and having coach there knowing what I need to work on for the season was even better because we got a bit of a head start on the season. We kind of used that time as well to prepare."

Davis on new teammate Omer Asik and if they talked at the tournament: 

"He told coach that he just wants to rebound and defend and so I didn’t believe it. Then coach called me over there and he said it again so I looked like the Kool-Aid man when he said that. He is going to be a great player for us. Be able to defend bigger guys and rebound the ball. He does a great job of staying out of foul trouble and being able to run the floor so he is going to be a big, key part for this team and I am excited to get started."

Williams on how he grew as a coach: 

"I learned how to deal with elite players. I got this reputation on how tough I am on guys and I think the one thing I learned from Coach K, Mr. Colangelo and Coach Boeheim, they didn’t push it down my throat but I think I learned, is that I have to trust my guys more. I thought I did it a little last year in letting Tyreke play more of his game but that was the thing I pulled away from this situation. The whole experience was giving guys a little more freedom to play their game and not hamstring guys. I think I did it a little bit but it is something I am still working on. I think I was a little tough on him his first year, he won’t admit it but after his first year he was like this guy is crazy. Then his second year I was like ‘ok it is time for you to go,’ but I think I can be a little better at that and I saw that a lot this summer."

Williams on what that meant for during the season: 

"I think when guys work on their game you have to let them play. And that is my biggest thing, if you don’t work on it don’t expect me to go out there and let you do it. Because my responsibility is to the team but all of our guys work, our culture is set and it is something I feel I can really improve upon, not making our guys worry about if they are taking a bad shot. I may know it is a bad shot and they know it but we can discuss it the next day in film where it will get discussed."

Williams on the roster: 

"I don’t think any coach in the NBA is happy about their roster but I am excited about what we have. We have added guys that I feel like compliment the way I want to play. Omer is a defensive center that rebounds, plays great position defense and has a high IQ and has great drive and character. Getting Jrue and Ryan back will be like signing two free agents and so Jrue is one of the better defensive point guards in the league who plays both ways. So I am excited about our roster. That doesn’t mean I am not always trying to figure out ways to get better. I think our bench, we have to figure out how much depth we have, we don’t know. Then our starters have to do a good job of gelling in the time that we have."

Williams on if he kept contact with his Pelicans staff: 

"I would watch like Serbia or Slovenia and write a play down and take a picture of it and send it and I was like man these phones are pretty cool. I just stayed in constant contact with those guys. They let me know how the gym was going, who was in the gym, rotations, minutes, who is going to be in this position, the depth that we think we may have, all of those things were part of our discussions. Even though I was with the National Team my responsibility is always here first and I didn’t want to lose sight of that. Our coaches here did an unreal job keeping our gym going and it is popping and has been popping since July."

Williams on the future of Davis on Team USA: 

"For him it is whatever he wants to do. For these guys it is a huge commitment and that is an understatement. I think it is whatever he wants to do. At his age, he is 21 and has accomplished a lot with the team and has equity with the team so if he wants to play on the next four or five teams I am sure they will have him. And if he wants to he will go down as one of the better players in the history of the game as far as the US team is concerned because not many guys got a chance to start as young as he did and get a gold medal. LeBron and those guys got started right away but didn’t get gold, he was blessed to get a gold right out the gate and then lead a team to the gold in the World Cup. I think it will be on him as to what he wants to do. All those guys like that stuff because they get all those Tweet followers overseas and they like that stuff. So I am sure he will want to do it even more."

Obviously there was a ton of good stuff to come from the presser but the things that really stuck out to me where things that Williams mentioned. If he is really going to loosen the reigns a bit and let his young team run and play the Pelicans could be an absolute blast to watch this year. Also his comments on Davis having a shot to be one of the best USA basketball players of all time were spot on and combined with Davis’s own words made me feel like Davis has plans to stick around for at least one more cycle. For a press conference just focused on the World Cup there was some nice information to come out, even if Monty shut down a few questions for being “media day questions.”