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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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Quotes, Stats, and Moleskin Moments: Pels Lose A Tough One to the Rockets
The New Orleans Pelicans (37-34) suffered a huge loss to the Houston Rockets (48-24). The Pelicans lead by as many as 17 in the second quarter, but went into the half only up by 3. Later, they trailed by as many as 11. Stats that really stick out: The Pelicans gave up 62 points in […]
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Game On: Pelicans take on Rockets
The New Orleans Pelicans (37-33) takes on the Houston Rockets (47-23), in a game with major playoff implications. The two teams have been heading in very different directions of late. The Houston Rockets have won four of five, moving up to third in the conference, and only 2 ½ games back of the Memphis Grizzlies. […]
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Learning the Hard Way: Late Game Defense
“The thing that I liked about it was our guys felt bad about the execution down the stretch, and about the way we won. And I had to bring them back a little bit. This time of the year, playing playoff teams, it’s going to be a fight. Any way you can get the win, you take […]
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The Horror: Pelicans Blown Out in Oakland
The New Orleans Pelicans were blown out by the Golden State Warriors in Oakland last night. With a starting lineup’s worth of players missing (Jrue Holiday, Ryan Anderson, Anthony Davis, and Omer Asik all out, and Tyreke Evans’ pulling a walking dead for 15 minutes), the Pelicans look disjointed, and saw the Warriors pull away […]
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Moleskin Moments: Pels Sneak Past Bucks
1Q 9:16. @PelicansNBA came out strong, making jumpshots and taking advantage of the offensive glass. 7-0 Pels 8:56 Lots of dribble hand-offs from the bigs to guards early. Momentum carrying them out of the traps that over-aggressive Bucks. #Pelicans 10-0 All it takes is one shooter to start making shots for this offense to open […]
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Game On: Pelicans v. Bucks
With a win tonight, the New Orleans Pelicans can reclaim the eighth and final playoff spot as they take on the Milwaukee Bucks. The Pelicans hope to rebound from their 118-111 double overtime loss to the Denver Nuggets on Sunday. The Pelicans recently beat the Bucks 114-103, behind Anthony Davis’ 43 points (on 17-23 shooting.) […]
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Moleskin Moments: Pels Lose Double Overtime Thriller to the Nuggets
The Pels didn’t attack Ty Lawson as much on defense as they did in their 99-92 victory over the Nuggets earlier this month, with Evans nor Gordon attacking him on the block tonight. The Pels gave up 64 points in the paint, despite Davis’ nine blocks. The team also had 19 turnovers that led to […]
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Super Sunday Match-up: Denver Nuggets v. New Orleans
After playing seven games in ten nights, the New Orleans Pelicans (36-29) had four days off, and now return to action against the Denver Nuggets (25-41). The Nuggets currently lead the season series, 2-1, though New Orleans won the last meeting, 99-92, at Denver behind Tyreke Evans’ 22 points, seven rebounds, and seven assists. Evans, […]
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Recap: Pelicans Topple Nets
The New Orleans Pelicans thoroughly defeated the Brooklyn Nets 111-91. The win makes it three straight for New Orleans (5-2 over the last ten days, 9-2 over their last 11 games) and puts the Pelicans in a virtual tie with the Oklahoma City Thunder for the eighth and final playoff spot (the Pelicans hold the […]
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Breaking Down Omer Asik’s Defensive Game Winners
Earlier in the season I broke down the game winning shot Tyreke Evans had against the Toronto Raptors. Last week Omer Asik decided he wanted to win the Pelicans a game against the Raptors as well. Except this time he did it on the defensive end. Asik wasn’t content with just one game winning defensive […]
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Moleskin Moments: Pelicans Out-Ugly Nuggets for the Win
The Pelicans have been finding ways to win since Jrue Holiday reaggravted his injury, and Anthony Davis and Ryan Anderson both went down against Miami. Winning home games when role players like Luke Babbitt and Alexis Ajinca are having career nights is one thing. Winning on the road when none of those new rotation players […]
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Anatomy of a Win (And Watching a Winner Being Built.)
When the Miami Heat vs. the New Orleans Pelicans was picked to be the ESPN game, I doubt they had yesterday’s game in mind. Anthony Davis and Chris Bosh both being out, and with Dwyane Wade going 4-16 from the field. This all of a sudden didn’t look like a game “where amazing happens.” But […]
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Optimizing Omer: Part 2
In Part 1 of this series, I outlined Omer Asik’s role, which is to defend, rebound, and protect Anthony Davis. He is accomplishing this role, yet is subject to a high degree of public criticism. Now that I’ve gushed about Omer Asik the defensive player/rebounder, let’s visit Asik’s offensive game, which has some very visible […]
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Optimizing Omer: Part 1
How quickly we forget. After consecutive seasons of atrocious defense, the Pelicans are in the midst of a defensive revival. It’s not that they’re fantastic – they rank 21st in Nylon Calculus’s defensive efficiency rankings – it’s that they are far better than they were last year, particularly when they play their better units. Yet […]
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Evaluating Project Asik-and-Destroy
For two years, the Pelicans struggled to find a center to play next to Anthony Davis. Last season, the Pels featured the 3 headed monster of Withey, Stiemsma, and Ajinca. Before that we had Robin Lopez, whom a lot of people apparently feel quite strongly about. For better or worse, none of these guys fit Dell […]
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Starting Slow and Finishing Weak
Through the first month of this season the Pelicans have hovered right around .500. We’ve seen some good, some bad, and unfortunately, the surprisingly unsurprising happened and injury has again thrown a wrench in the team’s playoff plans. With Eric Gordon now out for the foreseeable future, the Pels’ problems become larger and fixing them […]
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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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Some of My New Orleans Pelicans Claims After 5 Games
In the past couple of weeks, I’ve raised some points and made some claims about the New Orleans Pelicans. Let’s do quick check-in after 5 games, see what’s happening. About the Spurs Game Turnovers: The Pelicans did in fact keep up their protection of the ball (11 v 18 turnovers, 11% v 16% TOV%). Shooting: […]
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Pelicans Go BIG Against the Magic
For 69 beautiful seconds in the 4th quarter last night, the Pelicans line up featured the three-headed monster of Davis, Anderson, and Asik… at the same time. The gigantic lineup included Gordon and Evans at the two guard spots and resulted in a steal, 2 trips to the line, and a turnover. All right, fine! […]