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From scrub to sub: Pelicans’ Darius Miller is a bench weapon
As if he were the protagonist in an ancient epic, small Forward Darius Miller was released from the New Orleans Pelicans on November 30, 2014 and has now emerged as a top reserve player in his first season back with the team that let him go. Miller struggled to crack into the rotation in his […]
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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%), […]
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Pelicans’ injury curse strikes again, but don’t freak out
As I prepared to make my personal debut for Bourbon Street Shots, the all too familiar voodoo curse that comes in the form of injuries came for starting New Orleans Pelicans point guard Rajon Rondo’s soul. At this point, the injury bug practically feels like a mundane right-of-passage for anyone that joins the Pels’ roster. […]
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42 Sense: Season Behind
In advance of the New Orleans Pelicans kicking off the 2017-2018 Season against the Memphis Grizzlies on October 18th, I’m going to share some thoughts on several areas of interest. To start with, we need to look at how we got here. Business The Pelicans sit among the smallest markets in the NBA by every […]
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Overreacting to the first Pelicans preseason game
After a long (very long) off-season we finally had our first action of New Orleans Pelicans basketball. With so much conjecture as to how well the team will perform this season, it was nice to be able to see some substantive play. And we all know that whatever happens in the very first pre-season game […]
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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 […]
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Why the Pelicans Shouldn’t Sell the Gulf for Paul George
On Monday, Michael McNamara made a well-reasoned case for the Pelicans to pay whatever price it would cost in order to bring Paul George to New Orleans next season. He makes this suggestion despite knowing that there is a reasonably high chance that George still leaves when his contract expires next summer. The appeal of […]
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Pelicans Plan Becoming Clear with Chris Finch Hiring
Now that the New Orleans Pelicans have confirmed that head coach Alvin Gentry and general manager Dell Demps will be back with the team next season, some of the uncertainty around next season fades away. Yes, Jrue Holiday may or may not be back with the team next season, and there is still the manner […]
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Pelicans Off-Season Q&A: Looking Backwards & Ahead
Earlier this week, Rafał Kamieński (a writer for Pelicans.pl, a polish website dedicated to covering the New Orleans Pelicans) asked me a few questions related to the key decisions awaiting the Pelicans this summer. He translated those answers into Polish and then posted them on his site, but you can find the English version below. […]
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An Easy Way to Improve the Offense
Did you watch the video of the Houston Rockets bench laughing at Andre Roberson missing free throws? I did and I laughed. But then I was hit with a fear…what if this was the New Orleans Pelicans? Think about it for a second. The Pelicans have two bigs in Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins that […]
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Anthony Davis made healthy progress during the 2016-17 season
When incredible talent and radical injury misfortune intersect as precisely as they have in the career of Anthony Davis, the organization overseeing it all is bound to get swept up in a bit of what you might call “back-and-forth”. The Pelicans’ success during Davis’s career (longer than you might think at this point) has been […]
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DeMarcus Cousins and the New Orleans Pelicans Offense
After the initial jubilation wore off from the New Orleans Pelicans trading for DeMarcus Cousins there was one big question: Can Alvin Gentry coach two bigs? On the surface it’s a valid question to ask. Gentry made his name coaching the 7 Seconds or Less Suns, and got the Pelicans job from being the mastermind […]
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The Jrue Holiday Decision
Almost immediately after the New Orleans Pelicans traded for DeMarcus Cousins there was talk of the Pelicans finally having their own “Big 3.” Cousins, Anthony Davis, and Jrue Holiday. And while Cousins and Davis have shown why they are All-Stars, Jrue Holiday hasn’t played as well as expected. And with a massive payday looming this […]
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What the Offensive Gelling Looks Like
The New Orleans Pelicans are 5-1 over their last six games, and look much better compared to where they were right after the trade for DeMarcus Cousins. A lot of that has to do with the offense, and the Pelicans’ newest All-Star big man starting to gel. And the addition of “Michael” “Instant Grits” Jordan […]
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Let the Tank Crash: Root for Wins
As the New Orleans Pelicans enter the final 12 games of the season they remain in the weird limbo of the NBA. Outside of the playoffs (currently 4.5 games back of the 8th seed) and not bad enough to have a realistic shot at a top 3 pick (the first round pick they owe Sacramento […]
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Why Are the Pelicans Struggling on the Glass?
The DeMarcus Cousins era for the New Orleans Pelicans has not gotten off to the flying start many thought would occur. Struggles abound in multiple areas, and while some make sense as the Pelicans figure out the kinks others are a big surprise. None more so than the Pelicans defensive rebounding struggles. Pre-trade the Pelicans […]
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Musings on the Start of the Boogie and the Brow Era
On the surface the early returns for the Pelicans after the DeMarcus Cousins trade haven’t looked good. For a team with playoff expectations a 2-5 record after acquiring and All-Star isn’t going to get fans excited. But I wouldn’t say things are as bad as the record indicates. There’s definitely bad in there, though. But […]
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Pace is Good and Pace is Bad
It’s been one game since the Fire-Ice combo took the court for the first time. It resulted in a 30 point loss to the Moreyball Rockets, so now it’s time to make sweeping conclusions. Just kidding. Sort of. The Pelicans posted a poor offensive rating in their first game Anno Boogie, but I came away […]
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The Pressure Cooker
[[Everyone please give a warm welcome to the newest member of the Bourbon Street Shots team: Brendon Kleen. Enjoy his first post for the site and give him a follow on twitter at @brendonkleen14]] A blockbuster trade like the one that just brought DeMarcus Cousins to the New Orleans Pelicans is being covered nationally like […]
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Jrue-th or Dare: An Early Look into the Pelicans’ 2017 Off-Season
When Anthony Davis first signed his max contract extension, all that some people wanted to talk about was the Pelicans’ franchise officially being “on the clock.” As in, the challenge to keep him in NOLA for the duration of his athletic prime and beyond, rather than just the extent of that contract, began on that day. Ever […]