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Brandon Ingram: No Turning Back
I am analytical by nature. I’m a sap, too, but usually my analytical side is stronger. This colors how I watch basketball and thus makes me a bit annoying to watch games with. I rarely get caught up in the emotion of the game. Instead, my relentless muttering in games tends to be objective (and […]
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Thank You, David Griffin
A very long time ago, in a time where I was still athletic, my soccer coach pulled me off the bus after a game and looked me dead in the eye. We had just won a tournament and it was freezing cold outside. I could see his breath when he said: “you are the engine […]
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Summer League Game 3 Recap: What Just Happened?
Confession: I wrote this after 3 quarters. • Nickeil Alexander-Walker has some real confidence and a versatile game to boot. Aggressive player who is always looking to feed his guys, particularly his bigs. On the first play, he *unsuccessfully* tried to squeeze in a pass to Hayes. A play or two later, he was successful. […]
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Summer League Game 1 Observations
Some very brief thoughts on the Summer League game (writing as game is being stopped for earthquake, hope everyone is okay). No conclusions about players below, just some observations. • Frank Jackson had a very slow start and then heated up en route to 30 points on 17 shots. It was great to see the […]
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Things to Watch in the Pels-Warriors Series
Jrue Holiday at the rim Jrue is playing at the highest level of his career, mainly because of his newfound ability to finish at the rim. This can be attributed to multiple things: cleaning up his handle, more space to operate, an increased focus on finishing with his left hand, and an increased use of […]
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Discussing Hill’s Role
How to optimize Hill, and will he be in that role? Michael Pellissier: I think Solomon Hill is best utilized as a small-ball 4. Hill had the 10th worst points per possession mark in the league last season of guys qualified for the MPG leaderboard: he is not the “driver” or “slasher” he is sometimes […]
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Setting an Appropriate Bar for Rondo
I’m pretty good at talking myself into a hole. If we get Rondo I will riot. Silently and without consequence, but I will riot — Mike Pellissier (@MikePellissier) June 24, 2017 So here we are, now, with Rondo joining the Pelicans, presumably as a starter next to Jrue. This fits the “Jrue is best served […]
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Darius Miller Returns
Scott Kushner tweeted out that our old friend Darius Miller will be returning to the team in some capacity. At this juncture, it is unclear what sort of contract Miller has, but one of our writers will add to this post once there is more clarity. I can confirm former #Pelicans 2nd-round pick, ¤t Euroleaguer, […]
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Pelicans Scoop: Free Agency Addition
The New Orleans Pelicans are on the eve of free agency. Jrue Holiday will be meeting with the team first thing he can at 12:01 am Saturday, does that change our writers’ minds on him returning to the team? Will the Pelicans be active in free agency? And who will they target? We’ve got answers […]
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Is Jrue Holiday “Clutch?”
**All stats from NBA.com** Clutch is not what you think. It’s not what Skip Bayless thinks and it’s not what Biff from the bar thinks, which is, crudely, “is this player greedy enough to take every close game’s final shot at the expense of a more efficient opportunity?” I don’t care about that evaluation and […]
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Pelicans Scoop: DeMarcus Cousins Edition
The dust has settled a bit from the trade that shook up the NBA. Now that DeMarcus Cousins (and Omri Casspi) are in, and Langstong Galloway, Tyreke Evans, Buddy Hield, and a future 2017 first and secound round pick are gone, our writers give you their thoughts on the deal. Let us know what you […]
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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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Boogie and the Brow: Offense
New Orleans’s anemic offense may have just found its solution – by adding DeMarcus Cousins (referred to in this article as “Boogie”), the Pels have instantly gone from a bottom of the barrel offense to one featuring the two most talented scoring bigs in the NBA. It is a drastic change for a team whose […]
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Brook Lopez and Setting the Bar
Earlier this week, I wrote about the swirling Jahlil Okafor rumors and why I don’t think it’s a good idea for the Pelicans to trade for him. Yesterday, one of the targets I proposed for the Pelicans, Jusuf Nurkic, was unloaded to Portland; this might have taken Portland out of the bidding war for Okafor, and […]
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NOkafor: Why I Have Little Interest in Jahlil
Earlier this week, there were rumors that the Pelicans had interest in Jahlil Okafor. There were multiple proposed packages, involving assets ranging from this year’s draft pick to unloading Alexis Ajinca’s contract. I suspect the alleged package involving Ajinca + some protected version of the 2018 Pelicans pick is the correct one. For now, though, […]
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It’s Time to Play Diallo
The Pelicans are an okay team. Despite what their record indicates, the Pelicans have been perfectly average since Jrue came back on November 18th. My occasional Twitter meltdowns would indicate otherwise, but since Jrue played first game, Pels 14th in Net Rating and 6th best defense. pic.twitter.com/Riy6K9u7xP — Mike Pellissier (@MikePellissier) December 16, 2016 Given […]
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How Many Open Shots is “Normal?”
I never thought I’d say this, but the Pelicans finally have an average to above average defense. Not a great one, but one that isn’t an eyesore, and one that features quick, aggressive guards who move with actual purpose. There are a lot of variables that go into good defense, and one of them is how well […]
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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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Searching for Pieces
Offseason always feels like an eternity to me. After the adrenaline rush of free agency, we are exposed to the horrors of Summer League.. then we wait a few months and are rewarded with preseason pickup basketball.. I mean, NBA preseason games. There are a lot of projection models that are not, erm, high on the Pelicans […]
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Quick Hits: Random Thoughts
Follow @mikepellissier For someone who played 4 years of college basketball, it’s crazy to see the weight that some are giving to Buddy Hield’s Summer League and preseason performances. Buddy going 3-6 from deep in a preseason game means no more to me than him throwing up bricks in Summer League. I wrote about […]