Author: Mason Ginsberg

  • In The N.O. Episode 11: A Look Upstream and a Dive into the Trade Pool

    Shamit and Mason head out on the Oregon Trail to talk about fording potentially treacherous Rivers, hunting Bucks with limited ammo, and visiting the community’s trading post. Listen on iTunes Listen on Spotify RSS Feed Direct Download Blue Wire Network

  • In The NO Episode 10: Scrutinizing Schemes, Rationalizing Randle, and Theorizing Trades

    The Pelicans continue their up and down trend, so Shamit & Mason are back to talk about it. What are the Pels trying to do schematically, what is preventing them from achieving sustained success, and how should Julius Randle fit into the team’s short-term and long-term plans? Tune in to find out. Listen on iTunes […]

  • In The N.O. Episode 9: Defense, Davis, and Andrew Harrison?

    Shamit and Mason discuss what’s wrong with the Pelicans’ defense, how much blame AD deserves for the team under-performing, and react to the Andrew Harrison addition as the news breaks. Listen on iTunes Listen on Spotify RSS Feed Direct Download Blue Wire Network

  • In The N.O. Episode 8: The Roller Coaster Continues

    Shamit and Mason discuss the Pelicans recent string of losses. How do you stop turnovers? What is defense? What happened in the locker room after the Celtics loss? Tune in and find out. Listen on iTunes Listen on Spotify RSS Feed Direct Download Blue Wire Network – this looks new, doesn’t it? (You’ll also notice that […]

  • 10 Takeaways Through 10 Pelicans Wins

    We’re officially past the 20% mark of the NBA season, which means it’s late enough to begin digging into certain trends and early enough to jump to conclusions about unsustainable starts (both good and bad). The Pelicans have won 10 games so far, so here are 10 takeaways from yours truly regarding what we’ve seen […]

  • Pelicans Maintain Flight Path Despite Rotation Disarray

    Photo Credit: Andrew Smith Through 13 games, the Pelicans sit at 7-6 and in a 3-way tie for 9th place in the Western Conference. They are also 10th in the NBA in Net Rating per Cleaning the Glass’ stats database (which removes “garbage time”) at +3.1 points per 100 possessions (6th in the West), and have […]

  • In The NO Episode 7: Perfect Pelicans No More

     In the latest episode, I brought on a couple of guests to help look both backwards and forwards. First, I chatted with Andrew Lopez of the Times Picayune/NOLA.com about the Pels’ recent string of losses. After that, Brett Dawson of The Athletic joined the pod to preview Monday night’s Pelicans @ Thunder game. Listen […]

  • Q-Pon Coupon Trade Candidates for the Pelicans

    Last week, I wrote about the Pelicans’ $3.85 million trade exception obtained via sending Quincy Pondexter to the Bulls last summer in a move to clear salary. In it, I mentioned that the team would likely only use it if Boogie ended up elsewhere and the Pelicans didn’t sign-and-trade him for a player (or players) […]

  • How to Use the Pelicans’ Q-Pon Coupon

    The NBA free agency period is fast approaching, which means that the Pelicans’ front office members have probably hardly slept recently. As is the case for most seasons, there are a great deal of variables at play; as such, the team has surely built out a multitude of scenarios, flowcharts, and other far more technical […]

  • Jesse Brooks stops following Bourbon Street Shots on Instagram

    Even though there are no meaningful games to cover, the NBA off-season can be one of the most eventful and entertaining parts of the league. There’s the draft, NBA Summer League, and, of course, free agency. I’m not talking about NBA free agency. I’m talking about NBA blogger free agency. During the summer months, NBA […]

  • Film Study: Pelicans’ Transition Defense

    Earlier this month, I shared the biggest issue holding the Pelicans back from competent defensive metrics: their transition defense, specifically after missed shots. However, that article only covered the “what”, not the “why.” So why are the Pelicans having so much trouble stopping opponents from scoring after their own missed shots? Speculation based on eye […]

  • The Pelicans’ Defense: Lost in Transition

    It is no secret that the Pelicans have really struggled in preventing opponents from scoring this season, but simply stating that fact gets us no closer to figuring out why. The team’s high turnover rate obviously plays a part, but there is more going on here – thanks to some new stats coming from CleaningTheGlass.com, […]

  • Can the Pelicans’ Hot 3-Point Shooting Continue?

    Thanks to an incredible recent surge, the Pelicans are up to 6th in the NBA in 3-point percentage (38%) while putting up about the league average number of attempts on a per-48 minute basis (29.6). Leading the charge are wing players E’Twaun Moore and Darius Miller who are shooting a combined 47% (!) on the […]

  • Rajon Rondo and the Pelicans’ Struggling Defense

    Whether you want to use the “eye test” or the actual numbers, it is clear that the Pelicans have benefitted from Rajon Rondo’s presence on the offensive end of the court. The team’s offensive rating with Rondo on the floor is 6 points per 100 possessions better than when he is on the bench (106.1 […]

  • Anthony Davis Considered “day-to-day” due to Adductor Strain

    The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that All-Star big man Anthony Davis will be considered “day-to-day” after suffering an adductor strain on Friday night in Utah. Obviously, this news is a major sigh of relief for the team, as many were concerned that the MRI results would show something far worse given Davis’ initial response […]

  • NOLA 3-Point Club to Hold Next Fundraiser Dinner on December 5th

    Disclosure: My father donates his time to this organization, serving on its board of directors. No one on the 3 Point Club’s Executive Committee or Board of Directors receive any kind of financial compensation for the work that they do for the organization, nor did Bourbon Street Shots for the publishing of this post. We simply like to take any […]

  • Anthony Davis’ Change in Shot Selection – Fluke or Trend?

    There aren’t many things to gripe about regarding Anthony Davis’ offensive game, but one of them may be his affinity for long 2s (two-point shots outside of the paint). Last season, Anthony Davis attempted 572 such shots, accounting for 40% of his total attempts for the season. He made 245 of those long 2s (42.8%), […]

  • How NBA Draft Lottery Reform Could Impact the Trade Deadline

    The new NBA lottery reform provides the same draft odds for the worst three teams and smooths out the odds of the remaining non-playoff teams. Here are my thoughts on one potential impact it may have – how certain teams approach the trade deadline. First things first, do not get things too twisted. Bad teams […]

  • Pelicans Assistant Coach Chris Finch Discusses New Role in NOLA

    This morning, Chris Gordy of Sports 1280 in New Orleans interviewed the newest member of the Pelicans’ coaching staff, Chris Finch. (The full interview can be found by following this link or scrolling to the end of this post.) He touched on a lot of interesting topics, from how he got the job with New Orleans […]

  • Pelicans May be Ready to Trigger NBA Hard Cap of $125 Million

    Over the past week or so, Jason and I have published multiple articles on how Jrue Holiday’s contract impacts the Pelicans’ salary cap situation, even suggesting a possible player to target given the inherent restrictions. The Pelicans’ planned course of action for the rest of the off-season became clearer today due to an unexpected finding. […]