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An Underrated Aspect of Holiday’s Return
Last Friday I wrote about how Jrue Holiday would help improve the Pelicans’ pick and roll game. Well, it’s been a handful of games so let’s look at how that turned out. Note: These stats are through the game against Charlotte. The table below really says a lot Holiday has a higher point per play […]
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Thanksgiving Scoop
You’ll have to see how the answers turn out, but here are some upward-pointing questions in advance of Thanksgiving. 1. Holiday is back. Are the New Orleans Pelicans now equipped to win “today” against at least half of the NBA a 0.500 or better rate? How about with Evans coming back? 42: I think that’s […]
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A Holiday Weekend – How the Former Allstar Will Immediately Help the Pelicans’ Defense
During last week’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers, the best word David Wesley and Joel Meyers came up with to describe Jrue Holiday’s offense was “smooth.” After the game Alvin Gentry praised the “flow” of the offense throughout and even went on to say it was their most complete performance of the season. Yes, […]
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In the NO Pod Ep 270: With Jrue comes Wins
After a disappointing loss against Orlando, the Pelicans welcome Jrue back to the fold and immediately win a back to back! Really! They won some games! So, Michael and I spend a lot of time talking about how bad our Small Forward position is. THEN we talk about the good stuff. While harping on Dante […]
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What Everybody is Saying and Nobody is Talking About
A couple of wins and now everybody is talking playoffs. Another injury or two and a losing streak and everybody will be talking who to take in the top 3. That’s how fickle it is right now, as the Pelicans have dug themselves a sizable hole, but have also looked like a sure-fire playoff team […]
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Late Early Observations
The New Orleans Pelicans played 12 games without Holiday and 1 game with him. It’s as good a time as any to look at what we’ve been looking at. Davis is not only one of the best players in the NBA, he’s on a mission to prove it. His good performances have, of course, been […]
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How Jrue Holiday Will Immediately Help the Pelicans’ Offense
There is a lot of excitement on Jrue Holiday’s return to the New Orleans Pelicans tonight. While the focus has been should he start or come off the bench, the real talk should be about how he will specifically help this team. And help he will. Holiday is an excellent player, despite injuries and a […]
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Anthony Davis Showing Patience on Offense
This year Anthony Davis has been an absolute banshee on the court for the New Orleans Pelicans despite their winless start. He’s third in the league in scoring per game, averaging 31.3 points per game. This is well above the 24.3 he averaged last season. And the stats show that he is having a much […]
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In the NO Pod Ep. 269: The Return of the Jrue
Michael and I get to do a pod after a win!!! So instead of being 100% gloomy, we get to be 75% gloomy! That’s not entirely true, as we get to talk Jrue returning and what that means, what Tyreke could mean to the team, and what is the missing piece for the squad. Enjoy! […]
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Issues of Trust
I’ve spent some time thinking about just has gone wrong with this team that was controllable. Every team makes mistakes. Bad luck aside, I wanted to come up with an answer, and not just some early bad signing. I wanted the real root of the issue. These people are not incompetent. They can be wrong, […]
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Handling The Pressure
The New Orleans Pelicans, for the first time in a long time . . . a very long time . . . quit last night. The team will deny it. The players will deny it. The organization will deny it. A number of writers and fans will deny it or ignore it to grind irrelevant […]
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What Everybody is Saying and Nobody is Talking About
Everybody was saying that Hillary was a shoe-in just a week ago, but nobody was talking about how similar polls had projected Hillary to beat Bernie in some of the key states, and she ended up losing states like Michigan despite what the “projections” said. But guess what? Everybody started saying that as soon as […]
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Examining Lineup Data – the Value of Continuity
*Note – this column was written in advance of the Pelicans’ November 10th victory against the Bucks* Key Takeaway: Pelicans lineups that have played more than 5 minutes together this season (making up ~65% of the team’s total minutes played) have outscored their opponents by 6.6 points per 100 possessions (roughly the Thunder’s net rating last […]
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A Small Defense of the Defense
I am among no small number of people discussing the defense of the New Orleans Pelicans. I have said some good things and bad. Jake has said the same here and on his Locked On Pelicans podcast (which you need to check out). McNamara has said more bad than good, while Ryan seems ok with […]
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The Good and Bad with the Pelicans’ Defense
A lot has been made of the Pelicans’ revamped defense. Is it truly 10th best in the league? Is it actually bad? Is this smoke and mirrors? Small sample size? Being affected by one or two games? It is still too early to predict where the defense will fall at the end of the season. […]
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The Cavalry
Significant injury has again beset the New Orleans Pelicans, this time striking Lance Stephenson. Stephenson suffered a groin injury in the Suns game, or possibly after, but was diagnosed as an injury where surgery was the best option. The Pelicans have waived Lance, whose contract is both partially guaranteed not terribly high in terms of […]
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What Everybody is Saying and Nobody is Talking About
Everybody was saying that last week’s piece would be a one-off. That I was just going to be able to do it once, and after that I would fade back into the oblivion. But what nobody was talking about was how determined I am to show how stupid it is to talk in these extremes, […]
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The Process and the Losses
The New Orleans Pelicans are not off to a good start as measured by wins. They are 0-6. Just so the point of what I’m saying below is not lost, I just want to come right out and say: While there is a ton to pick on, there is one simple fix that would have […]
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4 Thoughts Through 4 Games
The Pelicans have started the season a demoralizing 0-4 despite playing two very winnable games against the Denver Nuggets and the Milwaukee Bucks. In both games the Pelicans put themselves in position to win but in both cases they couldn’t “get over the hump” to pull it out. The Pelicans have paper thin margins for […]
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Finding the Perfect Pairing for Anthony Davis
So far this year the Pelicans are winless, despite Anthony Davis having two monster performances to start the year. And right now, the future doesn’t look too bright. Most people blame general manager Dell Demps. When New Orleans drafted Anthony Davis a championship or two was the expectation. He was the talent of a generation. […]