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Dissecting the Defense
Stop me if you have heard this before – the Pelicans have a lackluster defense. If you follow me on Twitter, you’ve certainly heard the bemoaning for weeks. If you don’t, you maybe noticed the Clippers waltz into the Smoothie King Center and leave shooting almost 60% from the floor. That’s nuts. The Pelicans […]
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Winning Without Davis
If you want to win with Davis, you need to win without Davis. — Me I don’t understand. I simply don’t understand what is so hard to understand. Day after day I see chatter about the team, and so much of it is so irrelevant. Blah blah shooting, blah blah rotation, blah blah standings, blah […]
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In The N.O. Episode 9: Defense, Davis, and Andrew Harrison?
Shamit and Mason discuss what’s wrong with the Pelicans’ defense, how much blame AD deserves for the team under-performing, and react to the Andrew Harrison addition as the news breaks. Listen on iTunes Listen on Spotify RSS Feed Direct Download Blue Wire Network
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In The N.O. Episode 8: The Roller Coaster Continues
Shamit and Mason discuss the Pelicans recent string of losses. How do you stop turnovers? What is defense? What happened in the locker room after the Celtics loss? Tune in and find out. Listen on iTunes Listen on Spotify RSS Feed Direct Download Blue Wire Network – this looks new, doesn’t it? (You’ll also notice that […]
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10 Takeaways Through 10 Pelicans Wins
We’re officially past the 20% mark of the NBA season, which means it’s late enough to begin digging into certain trends and early enough to jump to conclusions about unsustainable starts (both good and bad). The Pelicans have won 10 games so far, so here are 10 takeaways from yours truly regarding what we’ve seen […]
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Pelicans Scoop: Systemic Concerns
Do you have any systemic concerns around the team? Shamit – Defense is a concern at the moment but I think it is a symptom of changing personnel. With injuries and experimental rotations, it is difficult to establish consistency and an identity on that end of the floor. I do believe it will […]
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Pelicans Scoop: 15 Game Temperature Check, Wizards Players
ESPN just released a report saying Washington is willing to hear offers on all of their players including Beal and Wall. Would you go after those two and what are you willing to give up? Shamit – I said this before for Paul George, and I will stick by it for Beal – you […]
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Pelicans Maintain Flight Path Despite Rotation Disarray
Photo Credit: Andrew Smith Through 13 games, the Pelicans sit at 7-6 and in a 3-way tie for 9th place in the Western Conference. They are also 10th in the NBA in Net Rating per Cleaning the Glass’ stats database (which removes “garbage time”) at +3.1 points per 100 possessions (6th in the West), and have […]
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In The NO Episode 7: Perfect Pelicans No More
In the latest episode, I brought on a couple of guests to help look both backwards and forwards. First, I chatted with Andrew Lopez of the Times Picayune/NOLA.com about the Pels’ recent string of losses. After that, Brett Dawson of The Athletic joined the pod to preview Monday night’s Pelicans @ Thunder game. Listen […]
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Taking the Initiative
This week, New Orleans Pelicans General Manager Dell Demps was called “a lousy general manager” by former NBA Commissioner and contemporaneous proxy owner of the New Orleans Hornets David Stern. This produced reactions all over the NBA, including the local media and the New Orleans Pelicans themselves. I want to address a few things about […]
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Working Smarter and Harder
Fatigue makes cowards of us all. — George S. Patton, Jr, War As I Knew It If you just look at the number of games or minutes played by the New Orleans Pelicans in the 2018-2019 regular season, you are left with the impression that the sample size is small, and that no conclusions . […]
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Gentry Needs To Find Out Now If The Three Bigs Can Play Together
When Julius Randle unexpectedly became a free agent on July 2nd, the Pelicans put in a call to his agent half expecting to get blown off. They had no cap room left, and only had the mid-level exception to offer to the 23 year-old unrestricted free agent. Even in a slightly depressed market, guys like […]
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Thoughts on the Ajinca-Johnson Trade
Just before the start of the season, Alexis Ajinca was traded to the Clippers for Wesley Johnson. It was a straight up deal with no other assets changing hands. The trade, I think, is potentially very helpful, but not for the knee-jerk reason, which is “The Pelicans got a player who can help them more […]
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The Offseasons Loom
“Then out spake brave Horatius, The Captain of the Gate: To every man upon this earth Death cometh soon or late. And how can man die better Than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers, And the temples of his gods.” — Thomas Babington Macaulay, Lays of Ancient Rome Summary This is not […]
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Ian Clark Looks to Build on Great Finish to Season
July 2nd was certainly the climax of the New Orleans Pelicans 2018 offseason. Rondo and Boogie went to the West Coast, Julius Randle chose to team up with AD and Elfrid Payton came home. A day that we will look back on years from now, as one that forever changed the direction of this franchise. […]
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Let’s Be Real About Rondo
Some have characterized Rondo going to the Lakers as a “big loss” for the Pelicans. They cite his stats, his relationship with AD, and his intangibles as things that the Pelicans will find it hard to replace. He allowed Jrue to play off the ball, they will say. He was a great guard for the […]
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All Dell Demps Deserves is the Chance to Succeed . . . Or Fail
Dell Demps is entering his 9th season as General Manager of the New Orleans Pelicans, and what a journey it has been. When he first arrived in 2010, a new coach was just hired without his input and the term “ownership turmoil” would be a vast understatement. As if that wasn’t enough, rumors were swirling […]
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Do The Pelicans Need To Save Cap Space for Julius Randle?
It was all smiles at the introductory press conference. Julius Randle spoke about making New Orleans his home long term, and Dell Demps spoke of Randle as if he was a core building block moving forward. And while both men were being authentic, the NBA’s pesky little salary cap could put a thorn in the […]
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How Much Hype Can One Man Randle?
By Rick Stone As one door closes, another one opens. The New Orleans Pelicans might have lost DeMarcus Cousins in Free Agency, but the overall fan base has not waivered. Excitement comes in the form of Anthony Davis’ freshly recruited big Julius Randle, that has joined the Pelicans on a two-year, $18 million deal. The […]
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Trade Targets III: Setting Up the Next Trade
Some people play checkers, others play chess. Dell Demps plays chess. He might not always win, but he’s always playing chess. Most NBA fans are in a rush to judge every move in a vacuum. They rush to analyze a move the second it is made. But, in reality, each move is a domino that […]