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Omer Asik’s Contract Incentives
When news first broke that Omer Asik would be signing a contract extension with the New Orleans Pelicans, it was originally reported as a 5-year, $60 million deal. That estimation was quickly proven to be an overstatement, as the deal’s total value and length continued to trend downward. Before getting to what the incentives in Asik’s contract […]
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Maximizing Roster Output – Time for a Rotation Change?
First, a word of warning: the last time I suggested a rotation change, it involved benching Eric Gordon last November, which looks hilariously bad in hindsight. I clearly jumped the gun on that one, not allowing him enough time to get out of his early season funk (though he didn’t really do that until returning from injury […]
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How to Prematurely Evaluate a Head Coach Hiring
With about two and half weeks now passed since the Pelicans announced that Alvin Gentry, the lead assistant coach for the newly crowned NBA champion Golden State Warriors, would be the team’s next head coach, there has been sufficient time to gauge the reaction to the hire from the fan base. Overall, the response has been a relatively calm one, […]
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The Pelicans’ Roster Under Gentry – What to Expect Next
First, Alvin Gentry. Soon after, Darren Erman & Robert Pack. The core of an excellent new Pelicans coaching staff is now in place, and with that being the case, the natural next question is how the upcoming free agency period will be affected by these changes. Below is a player-by-player look at what the Gentry hire could mean for the […]
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New Orleans Pelicans Season in Review: Jimmer Fredette
Allow me to start out Jimmer Fredette’s season review with this player comparison table. Time to play a little game I like to call “guess that player”! If you guessed “the same guy”, you’re right! Player X is Jimmer Fredette in his most recent season before coming to New Orleans. Jimmer finished the 2013-14 NBA season doing […]
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New Orleans Pelicans Season in Review: Ryan Anderson
Ryan Anderson’s 2013-14 season was unfortunately cut far too short as a result of an in-game collision in early January with the Celtics’ Gerald Wallace. Prior to that accident, though, Anderson was having the best shooting season of his career, hitting about 41% of his 3-point attempts to go along with a career low turnover rate of […]
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The New Orleans Pelicans’ 2015 Salary Cap Situation
With the New Orleans Pelicans’ 2014-15 season now officially at an end, it is time to start thinking about the summer and where the team stands within the rules of the salary cap. Our resident expert, Jason Calmes, will likely go into more detail later in the offseason, I thought it would be a good idea […]
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The Dawn is Coming
On March 31st, I booked a flight back to New Orleans landing at 7:20 PM on April 23rd to surprise my mother for her birthday on the 24th (today). At the time of my purchase, the Pelicans were 2 1/2 games back of the 42-32 Thunder at 39-34, so having the opportunity to also attend New Orleans’ […]
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Learning from the Warriors’ Losses
The Golden State Warriors finished the 2014-15 regular season with 67 wins and 15 losses, easily the best record in the NBA this year. That level of dominance certainly makes the Pelicans’ chances of victory appear bleak, as teams experiencing that level of success generally don’t possess many weaknesses. The beauty (pain?) of facing a team with […]
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Pelicans Scoop – The Final Playoff Push
Some of the Bourbon Street Shots writers discuss five key questions heading into the Pelicans’ final three games of the regular season, tied with the Thunder for the 8th and final playoff spot. 1) Other than Anthony Davis, who has been the biggest key to the Pelicans’ recent push to sneak into the playoffs? Mason […]
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The Pelicans’ Surprisingly Reasonable Path to a Top-10 Defense
As we all know, the Pelicans have again endured countless injuries which have again derailed the team’s quest for its first playoff berth since Chris Paul left town. Despite this recurring theme, New Orleans has maintained a top-10 offensive rating this season (hovering right around 105 points per 100 possessions), a remarkable feat when you consider who the […]
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Pelicans Fill Backup PG Void with Trade for Norris Cole
The Pelicans entered the day with few expecting them to make any sort of move at the 2014-15 NBA trade deadline. Around 2 PM, Dealer Dell struck again, as he was able to turn John Salmons’ $2 million expiring contract into a serviceable backup point guard, nabbing Norris Cole from the Miami HEAT in a 3-team trade with […]
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The Quest for the 8th Seed: Western Conference Playoff Tie-Breakers
ESPN’s playoff odds formula currently expects the Pelicans, Thunder, and Suns all to finish with 44-38 records. Obviously, these projections move from day to day as the games are played, but at some point, we have to start asking ourselves: what if something like this actually happens? What are the various tie-breaking scenarios at play? Wonder no […]
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New Orleans Pelicans’ Mid-Season Report Card
With the New Orleans Pelicans’ season now officially halfway complete, it is a good time to take a look back and see how the team has fared relative to expectations. In this relatively high-level post, I start out by putting things in perspective with the team’s first half schedule, followed by player/coach grades accompanied by both quick notes to […]
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Pelicans Scoop: First Trimester Review
1) What are your general impressions of the Pelicans after 30 games? Are you disappointed, satisfied, or somewhere in-between? Mason Ginsberg: Satisfied with the offense, disappointed with the defense. Despite gripes from many about how the offense has been run thus far, the fact of the matter is that the Pelicans have been a top-10 […]
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Time for a Change in the Starting Lineup?
After the injury to Eric Gordon, Coach Monty Williams untimately settled on a Pelicans starting lineup of Jrue Holiday, Tyreke Evans, Luke Babbitt, Anthony Davis, and Omer Asik. The prevailing idea, here, was to find a way to still effectively space the floor for guys like Tyreke and Jrue to have room to get into the […]
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Tyreke Evans and the Elusive Free Throw Line
In almost every way, Tyreke Evans is producing at the same high level this season that he reached last year. From a statistical perspective, Evans’ rebounds, assists, and steals are down ever so slightly from last season, and his blocks and turnovers are pretty much the same; hardly enough in total to cause concern over […]
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Pelicans Scoop: Eric Gordon Injury Impact
A few of our writers give their takes on what impact Eric Gordon’s torn labrum will have on the New Orleans Pelicans. 1) If it were up to you, who would you replace Gordon with in the starting lineup? Do you think this is what Monty will do? Mason Ginsberg: This may be a dark […]
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Anthony Davis: Destroyer of the Basketball-Reference Play Index
The Pelicans are now 10 games into the 82-game NBA season, sitting at 6-4 after splitting a road back-to-back in Portland and Sacramento. The biggest single contributor to New Orleans’ winning record, of course, is the incredible play of Anthony Davis. While trying to measure just how great he has been so far, we can point to lots of raw […]
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The first-ever showdown between the Charlotte Hornets and New Orleans Pelicans
Tonight the Charlotte Hornets face the New Orleans Pelicans. The last time the Hornets played in New Orleans was April 14th, 2013. The first time the Hornets played in New Orleans was October 30th, 2002. That game was against the Utah Jazz, who used to be the New Orleans Jazz. The New Orleans Jazz last […]