Alvin Gentry sat down with Fletcher Mackel of WDSU Sports on Friday and answered several relevant questions. In addition to describing why New Orleans chased Frank Jackson in the 2017 NBA Draft and hoping Jrue Holiday’s offseason workouts at the Pelicans practice facility are a good sign, the head coach talked at length about DeMarcus Cousins.

“Do you like this term or dislike this term: Boogie is a point center, kind of like {Nikola} Jokic was in Denver for Coach Finch?” asked Fletcher.

“I think so,” responded Gentry. “He’s a tremendous passer, a very good three-point shooter. If we could take away the two bad ones that he shoots every game, he could probably get close to 40%. He shot 36%, and he is a tremendous passer. I think that our cutting and our easy baskets got a lot better when he got here.”

The head coach went on to add that new assistant coach Chris Finch would aid in making the Anthony Davis and Cousins pairing more potent.

“The thing that I really admire about Chris, and I did a lot of research on him,” said Gentry, “is that he took those guys {in Denver} and put them in a situation very similar to what we can have here. Two big guys that can pass, two big guys that can step out onto the floor.”

In addition to sharing his excitement for the strategies discussed about incorporating the Pelicans two All-Stars together, Gentry was effusive in his praise of Cousins weight loss efforts.

Winners are made in the off-season! We have just reached week 5! From week 1,3 till now @juliusrandle30 explosiveness, reaction, muscle endurance, and cardiovascular vo2 max has changed drastically! Keep working hard brother we are almost there! #magicmike A post shared by Amoila Jamil Cesar (@amoila_cesar) on Jun 14, 2017 at 6:36pm PDT

“I would say that I was pleasantly surprised. I just saw him last week, three days ago actually. The thing that he’s done and the work that he’s put in, this is something he’s done himself. He contacted the guy after seeing — I think Julius Randle is going to be a real selling ticket for this guy — if anybody looked at social media and saw Julius Randle, the forward from the Lakers, he had a before picture and after picture. After just four weeks of training with this guy, it was tremendous.”

Gentry continued, “When I saw DeMarcus, his body looked great. He invited us to his house for lunch; he’s eating really healthy — he’s got a chef that he’s hired. I was really, really excited about what he’s taken from the standpoint of trying to get himself ready for the season and obviously he feels like this is a very important season for him.”

Below is Fletcher’s full interview with Alvin Gentry for your viewing pleasure.