The ‘ets arrived in New Orleans last night for a pre-season game, leaving behind the “Rock” part of their team in Houston. However, even without Dwight Howard and James Harden facing them, there was some informative things happening on the Pelicans end of the floor.

A list:

• The shooting was a thing of beauty.  Against scrubs, but I love threes.  Love them.
• Ryan Anderson looked . . . well, a little heavy.  He might need another few months to get in game shape and sport that chiseled physique we are used to.
• Holiday has always had a loose handle for a lead guard.  Beverly ripped that handle off and beat Holiday with it.
• Despite that, Holiday looked pretty good defensively himself, and the team adjusted by letting Gordon, Fredette or Rivers help freely on advancing the ball against Beverly’s opencourt pressure.
• Anthony Davis!!
• Terrence Jones was once ranked higher than Davis in various High School rating systems.  I think he might still be pissed that Davis’ reputation is so much higher than his now, because his aggression ramps up when he plays the Pelicans.  He was eager to go head to head at Davis, and wasn’t so bad at it.
• Kosta Papanikadsfojasdfhwljar is 24 with a deadly old man’s game.  Fearless, good enough handles, and clever with his finishes against superior athleticism.  He was involved in two of the funniest moments on the court – an under-hand flip shot under Anthony Davis’s armpit that spun in, and a slow-break (fast doesn’t describe Kosta) attack at the rim that Davis swatted and then waved dismissively at Kosta without looking at him.  He should adopt that for use more often.  As good as Mutombo’s finger wag.
• Jimmer’s excellent shooting is nearly offset by his inability to stay in front of any driving guard.  Still, the Babbit-Fredette-Rivers-Anderson-RandomTallDude second unit was a wonderfully entertaining amalgamation of poor athleticism, quick passing, and raining threes.
• Gordon looked solid.

Was fun to watch real basketball again.  Even pre-season.

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