Author: Jason Calmes

  • Eric’s Suggestions for the Pelicans’ Offense

    ((Below is a post from a fan that I, personally, both agree with and am thankful for. Via comments here, I asked Eric to write something for the community to read rather than simply point to a lack in our coverage. He did that. Not many people would, and for that, I am grateful. Not […]

  • New Orleans Pelicans @ Sacramento Kings: Open Thread

    The New Orleans Pelicans tip against the Sacramento Kings tonight at 9:00 CT, and the game is in Sacramento. The game is on 105.3 FM, Fox Sports New Orleans, and NBA TV. The Kings are 6-4 while the Pelicans are 5-4. The Pelicans are clearly coming off a horrendous loss in Portland following a total […]

  • Notes on the New Orleans Pelicans’ Collapse in Cleveland

    Monday night, the New Orleans Pelicans lost to the Cleveland Cavaliers 118-111. The Pelicans entered the fourth quarter down 6, but got to within 2 points with just under 4 minutes left to play. Still, the game ended with the Cavaliers raising the differential by 1 in the quarter. The real issue, however, was not […]

  • 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: […]

  • New Orleans Pelicans @ San Antonio Spurs: Yellow Ledbetter Open Thread

    The New Orleans Pelicans tip against the San Antonio Spurs tonight at 7:30 CT in San Antonio. The game is on 105.3 FM, Fox Sports New Orleans, and NBA TV. Both the Spurs and Pelicans are 2-2. Digging more deeply into the shallow pool of games played by each team yields very little insight, sadly. […]

  • New Orleans Pelicans Top Charlotte Hornets, Eric Gordon Bottoming Out

    The New Orleans Pelicans played their first ever game against the Charlotte Hornets 100-91, and it was all it promised to be: fun, silly, entertaining, full of bad basketball, filled with chances to see Anthony Davis do his thing, and well worth the price of admission. Going back to the questions posted pre-game: Can Alexis […]

  • Charlotte Hornets @ New Orleans Pelicans Open Thread

    The New Orleans Pelicans host the Charlotte Hornets in a battle that proves to be much more interesting than a collision of 1-2 teams in different conferences normally is. First, the Pelicans have lost two division games in a row after a strong showing against a weak Eastern team. Dropping a third game to the […]

  • Omer Asik and Defending the 2-Point Shot

    I get it. I get the three-point thing. I get why teams do it (it’s efficient, adds entropy to the offense). I get why analysts grab onto it with a white-knuckled grip (it’s efficient, it’s pretty, and it’s a very, very easy analysis). The truth of the matter, however, is that if all a team […]

  • New Orleans Pelicans Sign Russ Smith

    Just prior to the press conference to introduce Omer Asik, the New Orleans Pelicans announced another move, the signing of Russ Smith, the second round pick they got in exchanged for the draft right to Pierre Jackson. Both players were drafted by the 76ers. Press Release The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that the team […]

  • New Orleans Pelicans Acquire Omer Asik in Trade

    The New Orleans Pelicans acquired Omer Asik today in a trade. The trade was rumored in June prior to the 2014 draft, but the trade could not happen until today for a few reasons, explained below. The Pelicans also acquired Omri Casspi. Both Asik and Casspi came from the Houston Rockets. Following are the deal […]

  • Good, But Not Good Enough

    Man was born to love Though often he has sought, Like Icarus, to fly too high And far too lonely than he ought, To kiss the sum of East and West And hold the world at his behest, To hold the terrible power to whom only gods are blessed, But me . . . I […]

  • Poking the Bear

    And I know it’s my own damn fault — Jimmy Buffett, Margaritaville With just a few games left of the season, I’ve been looking at some of the season stats for the New Orleans Pelicans. Yes, I know there are some games left. Yes, I know I’m still recapping games from a month ago on […]

  • The Beauty of Gray

    This is not a black and white world To be alive, I say that the colors must swirl And I believe that maybe today We will all get to appreciate The beauty of gray — Live, The Beauty of Gray As many have noticed, the next phase of renovations of the Smoothie King Center have […]

  • The Spirit of Radio

    Invisible airwaves crackle with life Bright antennae bristle with the energy Emotional feedback on timeless wavelength Bearing a gift beyond price, almost free — Rush, The Spirit of Radio The New Orleans Pelicans are an emerging franchise. With the most glaring aspects of their business being overhauled (like the Smoothie King Center in both substance […]

  • Eric Gordon . . . On v Off

    Michael Pellissier made the grave error of posting some data via his twitter (@palochak). This led to the following conversation with me for you. Jason: Michael, the other day you posted a nice data set on twitter with some comments. Retell that here using the freedom of going beyond the 140 character barrier. Michael Pellissier: […]

  • Of Course the Pelicans Will Not Retire Chris Paul’s Jersey

    Just over a month ago, the New Orleans Pelicans hosted the Los Angeles Clippers for the first of two times this season. On that day, a claim was made that the Pelicans would eventually retire Chris Paul’s jersey. For their second visit, I claim the opposite. To be fair, I’m not going to sit around […]

  • 2014 NBA All-Star Weekend Look Back

    Nearly concurrent with the purchase of the then New Orleans Hornets by Tom Benson was the award of the 2014 NBA All-Star Game to New Orleans. While the ownership transfer is clearly the bigger of the two items, that does not mean that the All-Star Game hosted by the now New Orleans Pelicans is not […]

  • Talking about the Timeline

    Nick just put out an article about Anthony Davis’ development timeline. Here, we talk about what that says about the timeline the New Orleans Pelicans are on. Jason: Nick, you just wrote this analytic piece about the progression of the great big men in relatively recent NBA history. When I look at the data, I […]

  • One of The Small Things

    All the small things True care, truth brings I’ll take one lift Your ride best trip — Blink 182, All the Small Things Ray Allen’s shot in the Finals (you know which one) is all you need to bring up to make the case that it’s not just the elite players that you need to […]

  • The Wild and The Young

    The wild and the young They all have their dreams The wild and the young They’ve got to be free The sun never sets For souls on the run The wild and the young — Quiet Riot, The Wild and the Young The New Orleans Pelicans have been giving more minutes to their NBA-young players. […]