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Moleskin Moments: New Orleans Pelicans vs. Indiana Pacers 12.23
Pelicans lost 96-84 against the Indiana Pacers, in the kind of game they can’t afford to give up. It was the Pelicans’ seventh straight loss against the Pacers. In an unimportant stat for the day, David West has never lost against New Orleans. The Pelicans saw no ball movement, and the Pacers were able to […]
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Pelicans’ Late Game Defense Seals 101-99 Victory over Thunder
Instead of starting this recap with words, let’s start with a beautiful, beautiful picture: This chart, my friends, displays the Oklahoma City Thunder’s shots during the final 5 minutes of the 4th quarter tonight. THIS is what many were expecting when Omer Asik joined forces with Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday in the Big Easy. While the […]
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Don’t Forget about Jrue
Jrue Holiday is having the best season of his career. Yes, he is playing better than when he was an eastern conference all-star in 2012-13. In fact, I don’t think it is even close. Despite having a career best year, there are still some fans who aren’t crazy about Holiday. I am not one of […]
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Moleskin Moments: Golden State Warriors vs. New Orleans Pelicans 12.14
The Golden State Warriors have been red-hot, led by Stephen Curry, who has been on video game mode for what feels like an eternity. With the New Orleans Pelicans short Anthony Davis, this wasn’t expected to be a close game, despite the recent impressive win against the Cleveland Cavaliers. But the Pelicans played a good […]
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Moleskin Moments: New Orleans Pelicans vs. Golden State Warriors (12.4)
The New Orleans Pelicans were hoping to ride some momentum from their victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder this past Tuesday. That didn’t happen, as the Pelicans lost 112-85. Even though the Pelicans played relatively well throughout the first quarter, they still gave up too many open jumpers throughout the opening period, and once they […]
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The Slow But Efficient Pelicans Offense
The New Orleans Pelicans this season, depending on where you look, are ranked 4th in offensive efficiency. It’s a big jump from last season’s ranking, and where the team has been under head coach Monty Williams—generally ranking somewhere in the middle of the league efficiency-wise. It’s a nice improvement to see, especially considering that the team’s […]
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Piecing Together the Pelicans Rotation Without Gordon
Eric Gordon is out indefinitely with a torn labrum. Depending on whether he needs surgery or not, Gordon could miss two weeks, or the majority of the season. He has started all 12 games this season, averaging 9.5 points per game on 39.8% shooting from the field, 34.1% from beyond the arc, and 1.2 steals […]
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Moleskin Moments: New Orleans Pelicans vs. Sacramento Kings 11.18
Monday night’s heartbreaker is the kind of loss that, as a fan, you have nightmares about. The kind of game you overthink about the implications of despite the fact that it’s only November. So coming into Sacramento to play the Kings on the second night of a back-to-back, the Pelicans were hoping to bounce back. […]
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Moleskin Moments: New Orleans Pelicans vs. Charlotte Hornets
So at this rate, the New Orleans Pelicans are asking a lot of me, based on the analytical stat of them being 1-0 when I attend their games. Playing against Charlotte Bobcats/Hornets, or Bobnets (the other rendition of that gimmick probably sounds too much like a curse/slur), the Pelicans were hoping to pick up a […]
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Pelicans and Mavs Post Game Observations
The Dallas Mavericks defeated the New Orleans Pelicans 109-104 in New Orleans this evening. The Pelicans came out slow letting Dallas get into the lane and free up Dirk Nowitzki and Chandler Parsons. It seemed the Mavs had this game all the way, even when New Orleans made an exciting 3rd quarter run. Much of […]
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The New Orleans Pelicans’ Most Intriguing Squadron
The New Orleans Pelicans’ addition of center Omer Asik answers a question that had no clear answer last season – who to start at center. A more uncertain question, however, is how minutes and rotations will be managed among the Pelicans’ three-headed front court monster of Asik, Ryan Anderson, and Anthony Davis. The default assumption is that two […]
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Why The New Orleans Pelicans Shouldn’t Play Transition Basketball
It isn’t a question of pace but of getting out in transition is something Mason pointed out to me on twitter the other day. I was saying that I think the New Orleans Pelicans will play with a slower pace because of the Omer Asik trade, but Mason was right: Transition is the correct word […]
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Season in Review: Jrue Holiday
The Acquisition It would be hard to start a Jrue Holiday season recap without first mentioning how he was acquired. On the night of the 2014 NBA Draft, the Pelicans traded the #6 pick (Nerlens Noel) and next year’s pick (which became the 10th pick after the lottery) for Jrue Holiday and the rights to Pierre […]
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Looking at the Pelicans’ Defensive Decline
In Monty Williams’ first season as head coach of the New Orleans NBA franchise the team’s MO was defense. That slow grind it out style led to a playoff berth, a 6 game series against the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers, and a defensive ranking of 10th in the league. Since that 2010-2011 season, […]
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Anthony Morrow emerges for the New Orleans Pelicans
I don’t even think about that [contract situation], I’m just trying to focus on winning these last few games. But I appreciate this opportunity because it’s been a blessing for me. — Anthony Morrow, April 6, 2014, The Advocate. Anthony Morrow came into the NBA shooting 46 per cent from three in his rookie season. […]
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Five Takeaways Monty Williams Will Take From This Season
To get this out of the way, Pelicans Head-Coach Monty Williams will be back next season. Whether you think he should or not does not matter, your opinion on this will not affect the outcome. Maybe after next season, but as of right now it bears little in the discussion of building for this basketball […]
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Game On: Pelicans @ Timberwolves
The focus could be on the New Orleans Pelicans attempting to win four straight games. I say could be because (as I said yesterday) this is all about Anthony Davis right now with his two dominant performances on both ends of the court. Tonight, against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Davis will have a a slightly tougher […]
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Game On: Pelicans @ Cavaliers
The Pelicans are in that precarious no mans land which NBA fans hate to see. Playoff, at least in the Western Conference, is a tremendous long shot—especially with the injuries New Orleans must still overcome. A bottom (top?) five pick might be even harder to attain given that the schedule eases up some and Jrue […]
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A Tale of Two Halves
It will surprise no one to learn that the Pelicans struggle in the second half of games—being outscored by a total of 40 points over the final two periods. I decided to look at the NBA.com/stats page and sort the splits by half. This is a high level look that focuses on the basic offensive […]
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Jrue Holiday Out Indefinitely with Stress Fracture in Right Tibia
Per the team: The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that Jrue Holiday has been diagnosed with a stress fracture in his right tibia. He is out indefinitely. We’ll have more on this (and the other injuries) once the dust settles, but his last 4 games have produced single digit scoring (4, 8, 4, 8 . […]