Our house it has a crowd
There’s always something happening
And it’s usually quite loud
Our mum she’s so house-proud
Nothing ever slows her down
And a mess is not allowed
Our house, in the middle of our street

— Madness, Our House

News

The New Orleans Pelicans gave a tour of the under-construction Pelicans Practice Facility they are constructing near the current location of the Saints Practice Facility. In fact, I loved this heavy machine that they’ve using for the construction project. This has been a long time coming, and it should benefit the team . . . just not in the ways that many are touting.

Also, the Bensons celebrated the reopening of Harrell Stadium at 8600 South Claiborne Avenue. The NFL Foundation, NORD, Chevron, and more contributed to the renovations of the facilities at Harrell and other locations. At Harrell, the changes included improved basketball courts and installation of the turf from Super Bowl XLVII.

Around the Site

On In the NO, a Milwaukee writer joins the podcast to discuss Brandon Jennings.

Mike treated us to a review of each day of the Combine (1, 2), and a Missing Piece that looks at 5 plans the Pelicans can follow this offseason.

Also, we are throwing a watch party at Tracey’s for the Lottery, which start at 7:30. We’ll be there early to take advantage of the specials on wings and drinks.

Don’t forget to RSVP on Facebook by clicking here.

`Voices’ of the People

The beauty of the pelicans offseason is that they have sooo many different things they can explore to make this team better! We can all agree to that!! WE disagree with players to get BUT WE can all AGREE that their is NOTHING better that PELICANS Basketball!!

— KingJewelz

The new facility has to help attract players most because it signifies stability with an owner that is investing in the team. Stability and ownership had to be a concern of players. Now that the state-of-the-art facility is being completed (everyone likes shiny and new), it will obviously have some bells and whistles that other training facilities lack (at the moment). Plus its connected to the Saints training facility which is unique because no other team is owned by the same owner of the pro football team in that city. Who do athletes admire more other than rappers/musicians? Other athletes. It’s unique in the sense that it will create one big “Benson bond” with the football players, the basketball players and the administration all in one place bumping into each other constantly. After all iron sharpens iron. I believe it is a drawing card.

— LaNative

Am I wrong to feel like Bledsoe could be just as good, if not better than even the 3 players we want in the draft? Also, something I like about Bledsoe is because he probably won’t be amazing scorer it’s possible his contract won’t be as high as maybe it should be.

— JayDogon

42 Sense

With the lottery coming up (remember the party!), I wanted to go remind people of some mythbusting we’ve done around here regarding the lottery and the draft and some basic facts.

First, the drafts are independent. The Hornets winning last season has nothing at all to do with the Pelicans winning or not this season except through the record the team finished with.

Second, there is no evidence of tampering of any kind in the Lottery. It might sound cute and all to say how Benson bought the pick or Stern hooked whoever up, but it’s really all nonsense.

Third, there really isn’t any evidence that picking early in the draft helps a team win a title. Rather, the title teams collect talent from those teams who draft it. So, more focus on building a culture of winning and less hoping for the dice to come in.

If the team does well in the lottery, fine. If not, fine.