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An Underrated Aspect of Holiday’s Return
Last Friday I wrote about how Jrue Holiday would help improve the Pelicans’ pick and roll game. Well, it’s been a handful of games so let’s look at how that turned out. Note: These stats are through the game against Charlotte. The table below really says a lot Holiday has a higher point per play […]
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A Holiday Weekend – How the Former Allstar Will Immediately Help the Pelicans’ Defense
During last week’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers, the best word David Wesley and Joel Meyers came up with to describe Jrue Holiday’s offense was “smooth.” After the game Alvin Gentry praised the “flow” of the offense throughout and even went on to say it was their most complete performance of the season. Yes, […]
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In the NO Pod Ep 270: With Jrue comes Wins
After a disappointing loss against Orlando, the Pelicans welcome Jrue back to the fold and immediately win a back to back! Really! They won some games! So, Michael and I spend a lot of time talking about how bad our Small Forward position is. THEN we talk about the good stuff. While harping on Dante […]
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Late Early Observations
The New Orleans Pelicans played 12 games without Holiday and 1 game with him. It’s as good a time as any to look at what we’ve been looking at. Davis is not only one of the best players in the NBA, he’s on a mission to prove it. His good performances have, of course, been […]
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Ranting and by the way, Anthony Davis isn’t helping the defense much
Before I get to the one little stats tidbit I noticed this week, I do have to express my frustration. WHY THE HELL CAN THIS TEAM NOT STAY HEALTHY?!?!? WHY IS EVERY PIECE OF GOOD NEWS FOLLOWED BY A KICK IN THE NUTS?!?!? WHY DOES EVERY FREE AGENT THIS TEAM SIGNS PROVE INCAPABLE OF PLAYING UP […]
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3-on-3: New Orleans Comedy Edition
What’s up Pelicans fans! Chris Trew here – I scooped up three comedians who all perform at the New Orleans comedy venue The New Movement and grilled them with the same three questions. Questions that dig deep into the psyche of the squad. Questions that matter. Questions that nobody (literally nobody, probably) is asking. Questions to […]
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In the NO Pod Ep. 269: The Return of the Jrue
Michael and I get to do a pod after a win!!! So instead of being 100% gloomy, we get to be 75% gloomy! That’s not entirely true, as we get to talk Jrue returning and what that means, what Tyreke could mean to the team, and what is the missing piece for the squad. Enjoy! […]
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Handling The Pressure
The New Orleans Pelicans, for the first time in a long time . . . a very long time . . . quit last night. The team will deny it. The players will deny it. The organization will deny it. A number of writers and fans will deny it or ignore it to grind irrelevant […]
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The Weak Link
We are now 8 games in and the Pelicans have as many victories as I have Buddy Hield jerseys. (Maybe this is what is holding us back, I’ll test this and get back to you). The lack of success has the fanbase in a tizzy. Who do we blame? The coach? The players? The GM […]
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Going small isn’t helping during crunch time
The Pelicans have been in a lot of close games this season. Only the Spurs game was an outright blowout, and the Pelicans have now logged the second highest number of “clutch” minutes (defined as last 5 minutes, within 5 of other team) in the league. Obviously, with zero wins, the team hasn’t exactly been […]
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A Small Defense of the Defense
I am among no small number of people discussing the defense of the New Orleans Pelicans. I have said some good things and bad. Jake has said the same here and on his Locked On Pelicans podcast (which you need to check out). McNamara has said more bad than good, while Ryan seems ok with […]
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The Cavalry
Significant injury has again beset the New Orleans Pelicans, this time striking Lance Stephenson. Stephenson suffered a groin injury in the Suns game, or possibly after, but was diagnosed as an injury where surgery was the best option. The Pelicans have waived Lance, whose contract is both partially guaranteed not terribly high in terms of […]
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The Process and the Losses
The New Orleans Pelicans are not off to a good start as measured by wins. They are 0-6. Just so the point of what I’m saying below is not lost, I just want to come right out and say: While there is a ton to pick on, there is one simple fix that would have […]
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4 Thoughts Through 4 Games
The Pelicans have started the season a demoralizing 0-4 despite playing two very winnable games against the Denver Nuggets and the Milwaukee Bucks. In both games the Pelicans put themselves in position to win but in both cases they couldn’t “get over the hump” to pull it out. The Pelicans have paper thin margins for […]
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Stats Highlights, 1st Week
*Sample size disclaimer — 3 games have been played, meaning the sample of data that we have to work with is extremely limited. However, the phrase “small sample size” in basketball is often misunderstood as “the data is useless.” The data isn’t useless — you simply can’t extrapolate with it. Statistics are still useful to describe what has […]
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In the NO Pod: Ep 268
Michael and I talk about the first three games of the season. We try to find happy things to talk about other than Frazier and Davis . . . and fail. We pretty much can’t get away from the badness, whether it’s Hill, Galloway, Ajinca, Hield, Asik, Jones, even Stephenson. It’s bad. But I do […]
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What Is This Process?
I decided to talk to Jason about the team building the Pelicans have done in the AD era. This was started just before the season and went through today, which makes the academic rambling perhaps a little more interesting. Nick: Jason, a new season is upon us, and excitement is in the air. Let’s put […]
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An Early Regular Season Look and a Theory
I think I think . . . Davis never wavered. The headlines were stupid this summer about him taking a step back, as these were from some experts on things who were also inexpert on Davis. Remember, the fact that many . . . but not all . . . national writers have zero sources […]
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In the NO Pod Ep 267: Opening Night!
Michael and I stand agog at what we saw from Anthony Davis in the season opener. We talk about what questions we had about him we saw laid to rest in this game, what questions we still have, and then try to pick a Non-AD MVP. We also pick LVP, talk about Lance a lot, […]
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There’s Always All-Star Weekend
Before Brett Dawson (@BDawsonWrites) left for a regular gig in Oklahoma City (and a big congrats to him), I discussed the 2017 NBA All-Star Game with him. Opening Day for the NBA with an off day for the New Orleans Pelicans seems the perfect time to remind everyone that the city, and the NBA, won […]