April 24, 2023 • 27 mins
On today’s Pelicans Podcast sponsored by Seatgeek, Joe Cardosi and Jim Eichenhofer begin breaking down the players on the Pelicans squad. The Athletic’s Will Guillory joins the podcast to discuss New Orleans Pelicans forward Brandon Ingram and the impact he’s had on the court, where he’s grown, what he’s shown as a leader, and what we can expect from the future with a healthy squad.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome into the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast presented by Seat Geek,
a podcast dedicated to everything you need to know about
the squad. The New Orleans Pelicans podcast starts right now.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome to the Pelicans Podcast presented by Seat Geek.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
I am Joe Cardosi.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
So glad to be joined by the all seeing Jim
Ken Hawfer, two eyed.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Fresh and fluffy tailed. You know. So we're gonna be
We're gonna be doing some some different.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Stuff this week with the podcast, Jim, and I'm just
glad to have you alongside me again.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Yeah, it's great to be here, Joe.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
I'm I'm happy to be back in person, in the
studio and on the premises. Yeah, the next two weeks,
we're going to continue what's become a tradition. I can't
remember how many years we've done this in a row.
I'll have to check the record book, but tradition, like Noah, Yeah,
Daniel Salerson and I have been doing these for several years.
It's great to have you aboard for your rookie performance
(01:07):
on the player. Yes, the season in reviews, we're going
to have you running some laps and doing some other
stuff later. My body's ready but yeah, no, the Monday
through Friday this week, we're going to have recaps of
five players. Then we'll have the same next week. So
looking forward to this, we'll be starting with Brandon Ingram,
right and going from there basically to kind of explain
(01:29):
the cutoff. I guess, and any player who played nine
hundred minutes or more this season, we will be doing
a recap of them. It's a little tougher to do
like a full scale podcast on some of the players
who played, you know, say four hundred five hundred minutes.
It's not a lot of minutes over eighty two games.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Yeah about you.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I'd love to do like a Garrett Temple podcast. I'm
just sure you would. You know, I just can't. They
won't let me. Yeah, but you know, you gotta find
the cutoff at some point, and I think no better
place to start off than with Brandon Ingram because he
became such a focal point.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Of the of the offer this season. Yeah, he really did.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
And then over the last stretch of the season, which
is something that we'll be talking about with Will Gilliery
here coming up in the next segment. I mean, I
thought it was one of the best stretches that Brandon
Ingerms had in his career. Will ask Will what he
thinks about the way that he performed. I mean, it
was obviously a disappointing end to the season for the
Pelicans losing in the play in tournament, but really they
(02:23):
put themselves in position to, you know, move up in
the seating because of the way largely that Brandon Ingram
played in the team overall.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
That they had a stretch where they won nine out
of eleven.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Games, and unfortunately the last weekend of the season they
beat the Knicks, but just the loss to the Timberwolves
knock them back a couple spots, as well as a
few other teams. How do I put this, not caring
whether they won, I guess would be I mean the
games that the Pelicans could have benefited from help, none
of those materialized really on the last day of the season.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
So you end up where it is.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
But my point is that you know, Brandon Ingram had
a great close to the regular season and it's really
the second ear in a roll that he was able
to do that.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, and you hate to for the reasons behind it,
but you know, with Zion being out it it sort
of hoists, brandon Ingram into the spotlight, and you know,
to have him be able to deliver and carry the team,
especially down the stretch. You know, you hated the way
it ended, but you you believed in Bi every time
he was on the floor.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
I mean, he was just.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Lights out pretty much the entire month towards the end
of that stretch, and it you know, had a slow
start after that injury, but it was just nice to
see him fully effective and it sort of gives you
heart for next season.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
It really does.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
I mean, there's a there's several things that I think
were some of the biggest takeaways from the season. I
think the way that he played was definitely one of them.
The improvement that Trey Murphy had, I think as far
as him developing into really a foundation piece that you
can build around and continue adding to, and you know
that I think that was really I think the last
(03:56):
show that we did was the morning of the exit interviews,
so we really hadn't happened, hadn't had a chance to
kind of go over that, but I think that was
kind of the theme of the exit interviews A couple
of fridays ago. Was just there were there were definitely
a lot of positive developments. I think, you know, as
I said, Bi and Trey, the way that they closed
out the season was near the top of the list.
(04:16):
But there's gonna have to be some changes that are made,
and we're not sure exactly what those are going to be.
But I mean, the basic what you have to build
upon with the roster and the franchise I think is
really good. Now it's a matter of figuring out the
specifics of how you go forward. They're not going to
ask us for our opinion on how to do that, Joe, unfortunately,
but yeah, that's gonna be the I think one of
(04:37):
the big themes of this offseason is exactly how do
you put yourself in a better position.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Going into the Yeah, and I think Griff you know,
told you know, he spoke what a lot of people
were thinking, and it was, you know, it's gonna be
more tweaks in this offseason than huge moves, and we're
gonna see what that means.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
We we we can't really predict the future.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
As much of an oracle as you are, you know,
with the crystal ball still little Haze, You're still that's
what it is. You just can't see quite as well
as you normally would.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
Still, yeah, And in this clip from the exit interview
day that happened. Like I said a couple of fridays ago,
our body Will Gillery asks David Griffin, you know basically
about the difference between this off season and last off season.
Speaker 5 (05:17):
Last summer you talked about the importance to establishing that
consistency with the roster, build and chemistry.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
You bought basically the same team back this summer.
Speaker 5 (05:24):
Are you expecting more change within the roster you do
that's necessary to take the next step?
Speaker 6 (05:29):
Well, last year it was a little easier just because
we didn't really have free agents and again the CBA
hadn't changed. So I think it would be a total
guest on my part to talk about that. I know,
we feel like the bones of this franchise are really sound,
and what we do to get to the next level
(05:49):
and make this exactly what it needs to be, I
can't tell.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
You right now.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Great stuff, They're great stuff from David Griffin, and of
course the question from our guest, mister Will Gilly, let's
talk to the athletics.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Will Gillery.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Joining us on the Pelicans podcast. So delighted to have
him he is a friend of the pod, a Hall
of famer if you will, mister Will Guillery of the
Athletic Will I know you're out and about a traveling man.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
How you doing.
Speaker 5 (06:24):
I'm doing well, man. This is the first time I've
ever been referred to as a Hall of Famer. So
you got me feeling good right now, always was feeling.
So I'm on a different lever right now.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
I think part of your trip to the Hall of
Fame someday is beginning with you're actually in Miami right now.
I was wondering, what what are your thoughts on the
assignment that you have right now.
Speaker 7 (06:43):
For the Athletic Listen, man, you know somebody's got to
put in the hard work, you know, with these mid
seventies temperatures, soul dreams, beautiful women, you know, it's tough.
Speaker 5 (06:58):
But this is not somebody else.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
I guess it sounds like your mind to the task.
Speaker 5 (07:03):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hope. You know, if they need
me to come back for game six, I'll consider it,
but you know, well we'll go.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
To yeah, excellently.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
Well, it's it's good to hear that you got that
assignment as opposed to one of our other friends. At
mister Lopez ended up in Minnesota.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Enjoy the snow, Loez.
Speaker 5 (07:25):
Exactly have fun out there, my guy.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Now, will you know this is a this is a
weird time for us because we'd like to still be
talking about Pelicans basketball and the.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Opponents ahead and YadA, YadA, YadA.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
But we're sort of reflecting right now, and uh it comes, uh,
you know, at a time where we had a lot
of expectations. I think we began the season on a
high note and then uh sort of.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
You know, feels a little flat now.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
But you know, Jim and I have been talking about
it today and it feels like there is still so
many reasons for optimism, one of them being one of
the foundational building blocks of this team in brandon Ingram.
I mean, he was just absolutely crucial down the stretch.
I mean, what, what's the biggest thing you saw out
of him in the last month or so that really
solidified him as a as a foundational piece for this
(08:13):
Pelicans team going forward.
Speaker 5 (08:15):
Yeah, I thought he played the best basketball in his
career towards the end of the season, leading him to
that playing game with the two playing games and I
guess but uh, yeah, I think you know, really with him,
I think you saw him also play. You know, some
of his best basketball towards the end of last season
lead into the playoffs. So that's one thing. You see
(08:35):
him being able to rise to the occasion and when
the lights get brighter, you see him up his performance.
And I think that's what you always want to see
from your star players, but in particular this season, I
think the main thing that set out at the end
of the year was just him being able to facilitate.
We know him as a score we know him as
the mir range of stats, and he could put up
(08:55):
points with anybody. His ability to kind of control the offense.
I think that's what really change the season for the Pails.
Towards the end, they had the ugly loss against the Lakers,
another ugly loss against Houston, and then I think really
Green really made a point of just putting the offense
and be eyes hands more often, and I think you
saw him kind of take that talent and really run
with it, and you saw him have more of those seven, eight, nine,
(09:18):
ten assist games, being able to get his teammates evolved,
create for himself, but also create for others. You know,
I talked to him about that towards the end of
the last season, because he's always being mindful of how
does he kind of take the next step as a superstar.
That's been you know, his mission ever since he came
to New Orleans, and I think that was really on
his mind this year, being able to show that he
(09:39):
can be that guy like a Lebron, like a Luca
who can just control the offense as a big wing
and not only scored, but you know, get his teammates evolved.
And I think either that at a really high level
towards the end of this season.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
Well in terms of his playmaking, I mean, how much
of it do you think is just his kind of
comfort level playing that way? It seems like, for example,
there's been times where games or stretches of games where
it just seems like everything's been kind of on his shoulders.
Now as they've added other guys, as they've added you know, CJ. McCollum,
and obviously when Zion's played, it's lightened the load on
(10:13):
him a little bit.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
But do you feel like he's just more comfortable as.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
Far as just going kind of back and forth between okay,
they need me to score and okay, now I can
do both and set people up at the end of games.
Speaker 8 (10:24):
Especially Yeah, no, no, I think he's very comfortable in his game.
He's comfortable with who he is on the court and
what they need from him. He's kind of spoken about
just the relationship he has a Willie Green and the
understanding they've been able to develop, and the communication they
have constantly about what they want to see in the
office and what they want to see from THEI uh so,
(10:44):
I think all of that goes into it.
Speaker 5 (10:46):
And I think also I think it was just good
for this offense to move CJ off the ball a
little bit more, usually more as a spot up shooter.
About that help just because they didn't really have a
whole lot of free point shooting on this team, and
I think having him more as a spot up guy
kind of loosened up the floor a little bit for BI.
And I think he took some of the road off
of knowing that he was dealing with the thumb, dealing
(11:08):
with the shoulder at the end of the year. So
I think putting some of that burden on BI was big.
And I think this is under seven of the game.
I think his zone that he's matured being able to
see the entire floor knowing defensive. I think all of
that kind of set into his improvement this year.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
You know, you mentioned earlier Will about how Bi is
mindful of One of the things that he's focused on
is what is it going to take for him to
get to the next level or the next tier kind
of a star player.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
I mean, how do you see that for him?
Speaker 5 (11:38):
Right now?
Speaker 4 (11:38):
It feels like it's really been two years in a
row where he's had a really good April, a really
good close to the season, and people started recognizing, you know, like, man,
this guy's really good. Obviously he didn't get to participate
in the playoffs this year, but I mean it seems
like he's kind of been on the cusp of that
the last couple of years, but isn't quite at that
at that level. I mean, what do you think is
(11:58):
kind of the next step for him?
Speaker 5 (12:00):
Yeah, Like I started off saying, I think the big
thing for him is his understanding that the stars perform
on the biggest stages, the stars performing the biggest games,
and that's what he did last year during the playoffs
against the Suns, and unfortunately he wasn't able to make
it back to the playoffs this year. But I think
he's starting to prove now that he's one of those
guys when the big games come around, you know what
(12:20):
he's going to perform. You know he's not scandard to change,
and that's a huge thing. And I think also for him,
just in particular, I think defensively, he still has some
room to grow because he's put in more effort, he's
being more mindful of that side of the ball. But
I think if he gonna get to that superstar level,
he's got to be more of a two way player,
a guy who can depend on night tonight. And also
(12:41):
just being more of a vocal leader. I think that's
something that will come with him as being more mature,
being more comfortable with his teammates. You saw some of
that this year, him speaking up, him kind of holding
guys accountable, those type of things. I think you're going
to see that more and that's a big part of
being a leader, and that's what another team needs. Right
when we're talking abot all the young plem the teams,
(13:01):
that's great, but you also need that voice in the
locker room that's gonna holds account of board are gonna
make sure everybody's on the same page, and I think
he's done some of that, but I think he can
still do more and that'll raise this star as well.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
I think that's one of the big things that you've
heard is that they sometimes sometimes people wish that.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
B I was a little more vocal.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
And one of my favorite parts of the season, I
would say is when I saw b I sort of
bounce the ball off the stanchion in anger and really
get fired up, because to me, I was like, that's
a leader. That's the guy we need right here in
this moment. And I guess you know, when we talk
about the next jump in his game and what he
needs to do, I agree with everything you said. But
what I'm curious about what's gonna affect his game is
(13:44):
a full season, hopefully of Zion and b I together.
How do you expect that combination to pair, you know,
with a hopefully good offseason, everyone healthy, et cetera. That's
that's how we're considering this. But what do you consider
d I's game. What's it going to be like, what's
a fully healthy Zion is on the court with them?
Speaker 5 (14:05):
Yeah, it's crazy because I've been saying this since year
one when those guys came together. And I think a
lot of people nationally have questioned this, but I've always
thought that those guys are a break sit together. I think,
you know d I understands how to store away from
the ball. We know Zion doesn't need the ball that
much to the effective of offense. So I think those
guys fit really well together that inside outside presence of
(14:26):
being able to attack mis maxis. I think something that
I wish I saw more from them during their time
on the court was this more two man game with
those two forcement switches, being able to put defensives in
to positions because you can't defend both of those guys, right.
I think if you put more down the access together
that it can be really difficult for defenses. But I
think the main thing, I'm not breaking any news, I
(14:48):
just got to get time on the court together. In
two years of Willy Green, they play twelve games together,
you know, under Willie Green, and it's just really unfortunately
because they just need time on tax They need that
time together on the court of developed chemistry. You know,
see what works, see what doesn't work. And I think
that'll what that's what's going to get them to the
next level. But I do think the skill sets fit
(15:11):
really well together. I think they're both unselfish and as
scores even though they're able to put up big scoring numbers.
Let's design. We know he could put up thirty on
like twelve packs the way he operates, So I think
that allows a guy liked I to continue to play
in the role he was at the end of the
year as a primary ball handler, as a guy who
can get you eight nine a fist because you don't
(15:32):
need to contantly seems buying a different bucket. So yeah,
I think those guys are great fit together. I think
they want to make it work. I think they expressed
that before. They both admirering what they are able to
do on the court. Then you gotta stay healthy. They
got to be able to build that chemistry and just
give Willie Grant a chance to figure out how to
make it work, because I can tell you twelve games
then enough, and they just need more time together and
(15:57):
I think you'll see some great resort.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
You know you just mentioned it.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
This might be tough to answer just based on the
sample size. I mean, it was only a dozen games,
like you said, But I mean, did you see some
different things that they did as a combination this past
season in a dozen games together, that was better or
more cohesive than the you know, two seasons ago when
they got to play you know, more games together. But
obviously it was earlier in Zion's career than what we
(16:20):
just saw.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
Yeah, I think a really interesting thing when them earlier
in the season was them figuring out, like I said,
how to have b I as a primary ball handler
and timing ways to give Zion evolved where he's not
necessarily playing points vying all the time. I think you
saw some of that. I think you saw a little
bumps here and there early in the season. There are
some games where I was, like, man, Zion spent in
a whole lot of time standing in the corner watching,
(16:43):
and I think they kind of adjusted that over time.
Just because you want to get CJ evolved as well,
I think learning how to use CJ effectively when Ying
and b I are your timemary ball handlers. I think
it's going to be a big priority going into the summer.
But yeah, I think a big thing is one again, defensively,
both of those guys. If you're going to play them
(17:05):
and CD together, you gotta be able to defend. You gotta,
you know, not have teams feeling like they got a
bunch of missmatches on the court. For those guys, both
got to commit defensively. And I think also just again
b I, I think it's gotta be on b I
to be the organizer, to be the guy who kind
of make sure everybody's in the right place on offense.
So I think having him, having him be in that
(17:27):
role and making sure Zion gets his touches, I think
it's gonna be really important. And again, there's much of
time on fast for them to figure out how it works.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
You know, another thing we've been talking about pretty consistently
since the season ended was just the emergence of a
lot of the players on this team. You know, you
saw Trey Murphy really turn into a star before our eyes.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
You see Herb.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Jones just continually improving, and just to see that foundation
around this team again with a with a hopefully healthy Zion,
how do you expect those guys to help be I?
You know, especially when it comes to depending on him,
he was obviously the focal point without Zion of this offense.
How do you expect them to benefit the i's play
(18:09):
going forward.
Speaker 5 (18:10):
I mean with those two guys, I think it's the
same story. Cull. Lot of the role players on the team.
The shoot, shoot, shoot, shot shoot. They gotta make three pointers.
They gotta spread the floor. We know teams are going
to send three four bodies as Zion. We know whenever
Brovian Niggers in the picking roll, he's probably getting trapped.
He's gonna see multiple bodies. Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Gyson Daniels,
(18:30):
the rest of those guys. They gotta knock down shots.
They got to feel confident putting up jumpers, knocking them down,
creating that state. Because if you can hold defenses accountable
and make them make tough decisions, I think you're going
to see this offense really takes flight. And obviously you
saw that with Trey Murkey this year. We had that
conversation constantly with him about hey, we see how good
your percentage is, but maybe get up six, seven, eight
(18:53):
threes instead of just three, four or five. And I
think you saw that part of his game really grow.
There wasn't the end of the season. He had the
game in LA when he knocked down ten three by himself.
He had the forty point game in New Orleans. So
you saw him just get more comfortable putting up more
three pointers with Karen less about whether our guys in
front of him or if he's not all the way
open and let him fly. That's a lot of these
(19:14):
things say, if you got the ball in your hands,
you're open, just let it fly. And I think he's
gotten more comfortable with that. I think you see heard
being more comfortable, more confident and letting those catcha shoot
jumpers fly. And that's what they're gonna need for those
two guys. They got to hit knock down jumpers. They
gotta make teams stay because the seals off the vaccas.
He has big time scores. But you gotta be able
(19:35):
to put up a large number of three pointers to
really execute at a high level in today's game. You
got to have those games where you make fifteen to
eighteen three pointers just for the mass is on your side.
And I think too often this year you just sawt
a mask really put the Pails in a bad position
just because they didn't get enough enough three pointers up.
(19:55):
And I think they got to change that this point.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Well, you know, I agree with you.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
I'm always telling Jim here, Jim, let it fly, just
let it fly in life in general.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
And will shoot man, shooter shoot, and we know Jim
is a shooter.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
And uh and you as well. Man, enjoy Miami. I
know it's just a hell of an assignment. But enjoy
doing a little konga, a little salsa dancing and uh,
you know, just and pay attention to basketball.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
I guess in between if you can.
Speaker 5 (20:19):
Yeah, man, you know, I gotta give me some fresh
shoes in my margarita. You know I will will figure
it out. You know, hopefully is doing well in his
winter coat. You know, I'm just gonna enjoy something. Kick
my feet up.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
I hope you guys, and before you go, will I
wanted to mention too that you know, people should listen
to all of the athletic podcasts that will appears on.
I try to fancy myself as like the you know,
the fans that go on the message boards and campaign
for guys to play more minutes on the Pelicans. I'm
always on the athletic message boards and saying like, we
(20:53):
need to get Gillory on this podcast more. We need
to get him more man, more minutes, get him in
the lineup.
Speaker 5 (21:00):
So yeah, I like to think of Jim as my podcast.
I'm buzzman. I don't know if the young folks know
what that is, but yeah, whatever I'm messing up on
my pod, I know Jim's gonna be the first one
to be like, actually, you got that number wrong. Yeah.
I'm always looking forward to my messages from Jim, always
bigging me up and then let me know what I've
messed up on my pod.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
No, man, it's all support. Man, I'm here.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
I'm the guy that's saying, hey, we need to play
Kyra Lewis more minutes. We need to get this guy
that that's that's you. We need to We need to
get you in the rotation as much as possible.
Speaker 5 (21:31):
You ain't calling me out, you calling me up.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
That's right, man, I've got Jim programmed on my phone
as actually, so I know what it's gonna be.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
It pops up, h enjoy yourself.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Well, I know it's been a tough season for all
of us, you know, following the Pels, but a little
vacation doesn't hurt even if it's worked so uh much deserved.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Have fun out there.
Speaker 5 (21:53):
Man, I appreciate about to get some sand in my toes.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Right, talk to you soon.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Will huge thanks to mister Will Gillory out there doing
yeoman's work. So glad he's he's having fun like we are.
Jim it's good to see you again.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
Man, it was.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Lonely in here just calling people. With the rotating guests,
none of them had that Jimothy smell.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
You know.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
What a compliment that is. Yeah, true, I appreciate that. No,
it's it's great to be back in here. I also
appreciate your daily word describing my current state, you know,
like relentless or whatever.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Else you can find.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
I'm impressed that you can keep coming up with a
different word every day. I feel like I would run
out of them, but.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
No, it's it's been great.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
I had two weeks where I wasn't here at all,
so it's a little weird to kind of come back
into the mix now. But I'm happy to recap the
season and it's I think it was good that actually
we had a little time to decompress and I needed it.
As David Griffin mentioned in his exit interview, when people
asked him about, you know, recapping the sea and making decisions,
he said, you know, it's better for people to kind
(23:03):
of take a step away and not be as emotional.
The last thing you want to do is, you know,
the game ends against Okac and you're immediately like, well,
I think we should trade this guy, and I think
we should start working contracts.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
Yeah, right, So.
Speaker 4 (23:14):
It's it's good to have some time to to to
you know, think about some other stuff, and then come
back and be much more reasonable about this.
Speaker 5 (23:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Look, I needed a few days myself. You know, I
was kind of in and out of paying attention to basketball,
depending on how much it hurt me. But you know,
I think talking to Will, talking to you, talking to
to several of the people around here, I just I
feel better. I'm taking the good away from the season
once again without feeling like a like a corny sap
doing so. I still feel like there was there were
(23:45):
a lot of mischances this season. That's something that we
can't overlook. One game here, a few shots here, a
little more effort on this one. But you got to
hope that these are lessons hard learned from the team.
Uh they're they're a little older, a little wiser, coming
to again a little more and hopefully a little more
healthy going forward.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
And I think as we go through these, and we
talked to various guests, we're going to continue to hear
kind of the theme, which is, I think it's totally
reasonable for everyone to have a combination of that they
were disappointed with how the season ended, but also feel
like there's a lot of good things that happened, especially
in the first half of the season. So it's definitely
a mixture when you when you take a step back
(24:23):
and think about the big picture.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
But I mean it's understandable.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
I think there's not There's probably not a single person
that's going to be sit here and say like, yeah,
that was that was great the way that the season ended.
So no, we understand, and I mean I feel the
same way it was.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
It was.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
It was tough the way that things ended, especially with
how high things were, the peak that they had in December.
And so that's where we're at, and we got a
couple of weeks here to recap. Will be going through
them player by player. This is kind of I would
call a week one of this is of the two
is the planned starting lineup, the five guys that we
thought were going to be the starters over the course
(25:00):
of the real season. I mean most of them were,
but we're starting off with Brandon Ingram Today, we will
have CJ McCollum. Tomorrow, we'll have Zion Williamson with Antonio Daniels,
Our Guynesday, Thursday, Jonas Valentunas, and Friday will be mister
Herb Jones with our guy Todd Graffanini. So mister energy,
making our way through the.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
List, you realize the pieces I guess I have just
looking at the numbers season long, looking at the pattern
season long of all these players, you know, you didn't
really see any regression of anyone, and that's just been
that's been great to see. And you know, if not
for b I's injury, who knows, And again it's a
it's a season of what ifs. And starting off with
b I today and looking forward to another season with
(25:43):
him man, and you know what, looking forward to another
podcast with you tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (25:49):
We're not taking any days off this week. We're working
every single day, not Saturday and Sunday, but yeah, yeah,
Monday through Friday. We're working every single day.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
We are chained to the loop basically doing these podcasts.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
But it's fun. So we're gonna be talking again.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
C J.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
McCollum tomorrow, Zion Williamson day after that, Bonus Valen Shyness
a day after that, mister Herb Jones as well. So
gonna be a lot of fun podcasts coming your way,
lots of fun guests. Thank you once again for listening
to the Pelicans podcast. Big thanks to Jim for keeping
this old dog in line, and big thanks to Will
Gillory drinking something with an umbrella in it and covering basketball.
(26:28):
It's quite a task. So thank you for listening to
the Pelicans podcast. We will talk to you once again tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
Ohing. Until then, go Pels.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Thanks for listening to the New Orleans Pelicans podcast presented
by seat Geek. Join us three times per week on
pelicans dot com, the Pelicans mobile app, or you can
subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. We'll see you next time.
Right here, I'm a New Orleans Pelicans podcast presented by
seat geko
Welcome into the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast presented by Seat Geek,
a podcast dedicated to everything you need to know about
the squad. The New Orleans Pelicans podcast starts right now.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Welcome to the Pelicans Podcast presented by Seat Geek.
Speaker 3 (00:26):
I am Joe Cardosi.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
So glad to be joined by the all seeing Jim
Ken Hawfer, two eyed.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Fresh and fluffy tailed. You know. So we're gonna be
We're gonna be doing some some different.
Speaker 2 (00:39):
Stuff this week with the podcast, Jim, and I'm just
glad to have you alongside me again.
Speaker 3 (00:44):
Yeah, it's great to be here, Joe.
Speaker 4 (00:45):
I'm I'm happy to be back in person, in the
studio and on the premises. Yeah, the next two weeks,
we're going to continue what's become a tradition. I can't
remember how many years we've done this in a row.
I'll have to check the record book, but tradition, like Noah, Yeah,
Daniel Salerson and I have been doing these for several years.
It's great to have you aboard for your rookie performance
(01:07):
on the player. Yes, the season in reviews, we're going
to have you running some laps and doing some other
stuff later. My body's ready but yeah, no, the Monday
through Friday this week, we're going to have recaps of
five players. Then we'll have the same next week. So
looking forward to this, we'll be starting with Brandon Ingram,
right and going from there basically to kind of explain
(01:29):
the cutoff. I guess, and any player who played nine
hundred minutes or more this season, we will be doing
a recap of them. It's a little tougher to do
like a full scale podcast on some of the players
who played, you know, say four hundred five hundred minutes.
It's not a lot of minutes over eighty two games.
Speaker 3 (01:43):
Yeah about you.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
I'd love to do like a Garrett Temple podcast. I'm
just sure you would. You know, I just can't. They
won't let me. Yeah, but you know, you gotta find
the cutoff at some point, and I think no better
place to start off than with Brandon Ingram because he
became such a focal point.
Speaker 3 (01:59):
Of the of the offer this season. Yeah, he really did.
Speaker 4 (02:02):
And then over the last stretch of the season, which
is something that we'll be talking about with Will Gilliery
here coming up in the next segment. I mean, I
thought it was one of the best stretches that Brandon
Ingerms had in his career. Will ask Will what he
thinks about the way that he performed. I mean, it
was obviously a disappointing end to the season for the
Pelicans losing in the play in tournament, but really they
(02:23):
put themselves in position to, you know, move up in
the seating because of the way largely that Brandon Ingram
played in the team overall.
Speaker 3 (02:32):
That they had a stretch where they won nine out
of eleven.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Games, and unfortunately the last weekend of the season they
beat the Knicks, but just the loss to the Timberwolves
knock them back a couple spots, as well as a
few other teams. How do I put this, not caring
whether they won, I guess would be I mean the
games that the Pelicans could have benefited from help, none
of those materialized really on the last day of the season.
Speaker 3 (02:53):
So you end up where it is.
Speaker 4 (02:54):
But my point is that you know, Brandon Ingram had
a great close to the regular season and it's really
the second ear in a roll that he was able
to do that.
Speaker 2 (03:04):
Yeah, and you hate to for the reasons behind it,
but you know, with Zion being out it it sort
of hoists, brandon Ingram into the spotlight, and you know,
to have him be able to deliver and carry the team,
especially down the stretch. You know, you hated the way
it ended, but you you believed in Bi every time
he was on the floor.
Speaker 3 (03:22):
I mean, he was just.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Lights out pretty much the entire month towards the end
of that stretch, and it you know, had a slow
start after that injury, but it was just nice to
see him fully effective and it sort of gives you
heart for next season.
Speaker 3 (03:34):
It really does.
Speaker 4 (03:35):
I mean, there's a there's several things that I think
were some of the biggest takeaways from the season. I
think the way that he played was definitely one of them.
The improvement that Trey Murphy had, I think as far
as him developing into really a foundation piece that you
can build around and continue adding to, and you know
that I think that was really I think the last
(03:56):
show that we did was the morning of the exit interviews,
so we really hadn't happened, hadn't had a chance to
kind of go over that, but I think that was
kind of the theme of the exit interviews A couple
of fridays ago. Was just there were there were definitely
a lot of positive developments. I think, you know, as
I said, Bi and Trey, the way that they closed
out the season was near the top of the list.
(04:16):
But there's gonna have to be some changes that are made,
and we're not sure exactly what those are going to be.
But I mean, the basic what you have to build
upon with the roster and the franchise I think is
really good. Now it's a matter of figuring out the
specifics of how you go forward. They're not going to
ask us for our opinion on how to do that, Joe, unfortunately,
but yeah, that's gonna be the I think one of
(04:37):
the big themes of this offseason is exactly how do
you put yourself in a better position.
Speaker 2 (04:42):
Going into the Yeah, and I think Griff you know,
told you know, he spoke what a lot of people
were thinking, and it was, you know, it's gonna be
more tweaks in this offseason than huge moves, and we're
gonna see what that means.
Speaker 3 (04:53):
We we we can't really predict the future.
Speaker 2 (04:55):
As much of an oracle as you are, you know,
with the crystal ball still little Haze, You're still that's
what it is. You just can't see quite as well
as you normally would.
Speaker 4 (05:03):
Still, yeah, And in this clip from the exit interview
day that happened. Like I said a couple of fridays ago,
our body Will Gillery asks David Griffin, you know basically
about the difference between this off season and last off season.
Speaker 5 (05:17):
Last summer you talked about the importance to establishing that
consistency with the roster, build and chemistry.
Speaker 3 (05:22):
You bought basically the same team back this summer.
Speaker 5 (05:24):
Are you expecting more change within the roster you do
that's necessary to take the next step?
Speaker 6 (05:29):
Well, last year it was a little easier just because
we didn't really have free agents and again the CBA
hadn't changed. So I think it would be a total
guest on my part to talk about that. I know,
we feel like the bones of this franchise are really sound,
and what we do to get to the next level
(05:49):
and make this exactly what it needs to be, I
can't tell.
Speaker 5 (05:52):
You right now.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Great stuff, They're great stuff from David Griffin, and of
course the question from our guest, mister Will Gilly, let's
talk to the athletics.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
Will Gillery.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Joining us on the Pelicans podcast. So delighted to have
him he is a friend of the pod, a Hall
of famer if you will, mister Will Guillery of the
Athletic Will I know you're out and about a traveling man.
Speaker 3 (06:23):
How you doing.
Speaker 5 (06:24):
I'm doing well, man. This is the first time I've
ever been referred to as a Hall of Famer. So
you got me feeling good right now, always was feeling.
So I'm on a different lever right now.
Speaker 4 (06:33):
I think part of your trip to the Hall of
Fame someday is beginning with you're actually in Miami right now.
I was wondering, what what are your thoughts on the
assignment that you have right now.
Speaker 7 (06:43):
For the Athletic Listen, man, you know somebody's got to
put in the hard work, you know, with these mid
seventies temperatures, soul dreams, beautiful women, you know, it's tough.
Speaker 5 (06:58):
But this is not somebody else.
Speaker 3 (07:00):
I guess it sounds like your mind to the task.
Speaker 5 (07:03):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, I hope. You know, if they need
me to come back for game six, I'll consider it,
but you know, well we'll go.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
To yeah, excellently.
Speaker 4 (07:13):
Well, it's it's good to hear that you got that
assignment as opposed to one of our other friends. At
mister Lopez ended up in Minnesota.
Speaker 3 (07:21):
Enjoy the snow, Loez.
Speaker 5 (07:25):
Exactly have fun out there, my guy.
Speaker 2 (07:29):
Now, will you know this is a this is a
weird time for us because we'd like to still be
talking about Pelicans basketball and the.
Speaker 3 (07:36):
Opponents ahead and YadA, YadA, YadA.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
But we're sort of reflecting right now, and uh it comes, uh,
you know, at a time where we had a lot
of expectations. I think we began the season on a
high note and then uh sort of.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
You know, feels a little flat now.
Speaker 2 (07:52):
But you know, Jim and I have been talking about
it today and it feels like there is still so
many reasons for optimism, one of them being one of
the foundational building blocks of this team in brandon Ingram.
I mean, he was just absolutely crucial down the stretch.
I mean, what, what's the biggest thing you saw out
of him in the last month or so that really
solidified him as a as a foundational piece for this
(08:13):
Pelicans team going forward.
Speaker 5 (08:15):
Yeah, I thought he played the best basketball in his
career towards the end of the season, leading him to
that playing game with the two playing games and I
guess but uh, yeah, I think you know, really with him,
I think you saw him also play. You know, some
of his best basketball towards the end of last season
lead into the playoffs. So that's one thing. You see
(08:35):
him being able to rise to the occasion and when
the lights get brighter, you see him up his performance.
And I think that's what you always want to see
from your star players, but in particular this season, I
think the main thing that set out at the end
of the year was just him being able to facilitate.
We know him as a score we know him as
the mir range of stats, and he could put up
(08:55):
points with anybody. His ability to kind of control the offense.
I think that's what really change the season for the Pails.
Towards the end, they had the ugly loss against the Lakers,
another ugly loss against Houston, and then I think really
Green really made a point of just putting the offense
and be eyes hands more often, and I think you
saw him kind of take that talent and really run
with it, and you saw him have more of those seven, eight, nine,
(09:18):
ten assist games, being able to get his teammates evolved,
create for himself, but also create for others. You know,
I talked to him about that towards the end of
the last season, because he's always being mindful of how
does he kind of take the next step as a superstar.
That's been you know, his mission ever since he came
to New Orleans, and I think that was really on
his mind this year, being able to show that he
(09:39):
can be that guy like a Lebron, like a Luca
who can just control the offense as a big wing
and not only scored, but you know, get his teammates evolved.
And I think either that at a really high level
towards the end of this season.
Speaker 4 (09:52):
Well in terms of his playmaking, I mean, how much
of it do you think is just his kind of
comfort level playing that way? It seems like, for example,
there's been times where games or stretches of games where
it just seems like everything's been kind of on his shoulders.
Now as they've added other guys, as they've added you know, CJ. McCollum,
and obviously when Zion's played, it's lightened the load on
(10:13):
him a little bit.
Speaker 3 (10:14):
But do you feel like he's just more comfortable as.
Speaker 4 (10:16):
Far as just going kind of back and forth between okay,
they need me to score and okay, now I can
do both and set people up at the end of games.
Speaker 8 (10:24):
Especially Yeah, no, no, I think he's very comfortable in his game.
He's comfortable with who he is on the court and
what they need from him. He's kind of spoken about
just the relationship he has a Willie Green and the
understanding they've been able to develop, and the communication they
have constantly about what they want to see in the
office and what they want to see from THEI uh so,
(10:44):
I think all of that goes into it.
Speaker 5 (10:46):
And I think also I think it was just good
for this offense to move CJ off the ball a
little bit more, usually more as a spot up shooter.
About that help just because they didn't really have a
whole lot of free point shooting on this team, and
I think having him more as a spot up guy
kind of loosened up the floor a little bit for BI.
And I think he took some of the road off
of knowing that he was dealing with the thumb, dealing
(11:08):
with the shoulder at the end of the year. So
I think putting some of that burden on BI was big.
And I think this is under seven of the game.
I think his zone that he's matured being able to
see the entire floor knowing defensive. I think all of
that kind of set into his improvement this year.
Speaker 4 (11:24):
You know, you mentioned earlier Will about how Bi is
mindful of One of the things that he's focused on
is what is it going to take for him to
get to the next level or the next tier kind
of a star player.
Speaker 3 (11:36):
I mean, how do you see that for him?
Speaker 5 (11:38):
Right now?
Speaker 4 (11:38):
It feels like it's really been two years in a
row where he's had a really good April, a really
good close to the season, and people started recognizing, you know, like, man,
this guy's really good. Obviously he didn't get to participate
in the playoffs this year, but I mean it seems
like he's kind of been on the cusp of that
the last couple of years, but isn't quite at that
at that level. I mean, what do you think is
(11:58):
kind of the next step for him?
Speaker 5 (12:00):
Yeah, Like I started off saying, I think the big
thing for him is his understanding that the stars perform
on the biggest stages, the stars performing the biggest games,
and that's what he did last year during the playoffs
against the Suns, and unfortunately he wasn't able to make
it back to the playoffs this year. But I think
he's starting to prove now that he's one of those
guys when the big games come around, you know what
(12:20):
he's going to perform. You know he's not scandard to change,
and that's a huge thing. And I think also for him,
just in particular, I think defensively, he still has some
room to grow because he's put in more effort, he's
being more mindful of that side of the ball. But
I think if he gonna get to that superstar level,
he's got to be more of a two way player,
a guy who can depend on night tonight. And also
(12:41):
just being more of a vocal leader. I think that's
something that will come with him as being more mature,
being more comfortable with his teammates. You saw some of
that this year, him speaking up, him kind of holding
guys accountable, those type of things. I think you're going
to see that more and that's a big part of
being a leader, and that's what another team needs. Right
when we're talking abot all the young plem the teams,
(13:01):
that's great, but you also need that voice in the
locker room that's gonna holds account of board are gonna
make sure everybody's on the same page, and I think
he's done some of that, but I think he can
still do more and that'll raise this star as well.
Speaker 3 (13:15):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (13:15):
I think that's one of the big things that you've
heard is that they sometimes sometimes people wish that.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
B I was a little more vocal.
Speaker 2 (13:22):
And one of my favorite parts of the season, I
would say is when I saw b I sort of
bounce the ball off the stanchion in anger and really
get fired up, because to me, I was like, that's
a leader. That's the guy we need right here in
this moment. And I guess you know, when we talk
about the next jump in his game and what he
needs to do, I agree with everything you said. But
what I'm curious about what's gonna affect his game is
(13:44):
a full season, hopefully of Zion and b I together.
How do you expect that combination to pair, you know,
with a hopefully good offseason, everyone healthy, et cetera. That's
that's how we're considering this. But what do you consider
d I's game. What's it going to be like, what's
a fully healthy Zion is on the court with them?
Speaker 5 (14:05):
Yeah, it's crazy because I've been saying this since year
one when those guys came together. And I think a
lot of people nationally have questioned this, but I've always
thought that those guys are a break sit together. I think,
you know d I understands how to store away from
the ball. We know Zion doesn't need the ball that
much to the effective of offense. So I think those
guys fit really well together that inside outside presence of
(14:26):
being able to attack mis maxis. I think something that
I wish I saw more from them during their time
on the court was this more two man game with
those two forcement switches, being able to put defensives in
to positions because you can't defend both of those guys, right.
I think if you put more down the access together
that it can be really difficult for defenses. But I
think the main thing, I'm not breaking any news, I
(14:48):
just got to get time on the court together. In
two years of Willy Green, they play twelve games together,
you know, under Willie Green, and it's just really unfortunately
because they just need time on tax They need that
time together on the court of developed chemistry. You know,
see what works, see what doesn't work. And I think
that'll what that's what's going to get them to the
next level. But I do think the skill sets fit
(15:11):
really well together. I think they're both unselfish and as
scores even though they're able to put up big scoring numbers.
Let's design. We know he could put up thirty on
like twelve packs the way he operates, So I think
that allows a guy liked I to continue to play
in the role he was at the end of the
year as a primary ball handler, as a guy who
can get you eight nine a fist because you don't
(15:32):
need to contantly seems buying a different bucket. So yeah,
I think those guys are great fit together. I think
they want to make it work. I think they expressed
that before. They both admirering what they are able to
do on the court. Then you gotta stay healthy. They
got to be able to build that chemistry and just
give Willie Grant a chance to figure out how to
make it work, because I can tell you twelve games
then enough, and they just need more time together and
(15:57):
I think you'll see some great resort.
Speaker 3 (15:58):
You know you just mentioned it.
Speaker 4 (15:59):
This might be tough to answer just based on the
sample size. I mean, it was only a dozen games,
like you said, But I mean, did you see some
different things that they did as a combination this past
season in a dozen games together, that was better or
more cohesive than the you know, two seasons ago when
they got to play you know, more games together. But
obviously it was earlier in Zion's career than what we
(16:20):
just saw.
Speaker 5 (16:21):
Yeah, I think a really interesting thing when them earlier
in the season was them figuring out, like I said,
how to have b I as a primary ball handler
and timing ways to give Zion evolved where he's not
necessarily playing points vying all the time. I think you
saw some of that. I think you saw a little
bumps here and there early in the season. There are
some games where I was, like, man, Zion spent in
a whole lot of time standing in the corner watching,
(16:43):
and I think they kind of adjusted that over time.
Just because you want to get CJ evolved as well,
I think learning how to use CJ effectively when Ying
and b I are your timemary ball handlers. I think
it's going to be a big priority going into the summer.
But yeah, I think a big thing is one again, defensively,
both of those guys. If you're going to play them
(17:05):
and CD together, you gotta be able to defend. You gotta,
you know, not have teams feeling like they got a
bunch of missmatches on the court. For those guys, both
got to commit defensively. And I think also just again
b I, I think it's gotta be on b I
to be the organizer, to be the guy who kind
of make sure everybody's in the right place on offense.
So I think having him, having him be in that
(17:27):
role and making sure Zion gets his touches, I think
it's gonna be really important. And again, there's much of
time on fast for them to figure out how it works.
Speaker 2 (17:36):
You know, another thing we've been talking about pretty consistently
since the season ended was just the emergence of a
lot of the players on this team. You know, you
saw Trey Murphy really turn into a star before our eyes.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
You see Herb.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Jones just continually improving, and just to see that foundation
around this team again with a with a hopefully healthy Zion,
how do you expect those guys to help be I?
You know, especially when it comes to depending on him,
he was obviously the focal point without Zion of this offense.
How do you expect them to benefit the i's play
(18:09):
going forward.
Speaker 5 (18:10):
I mean with those two guys, I think it's the
same story. Cull. Lot of the role players on the team.
The shoot, shoot, shoot, shot shoot. They gotta make three pointers.
They gotta spread the floor. We know teams are going
to send three four bodies as Zion. We know whenever
Brovian Niggers in the picking roll, he's probably getting trapped.
He's gonna see multiple bodies. Trey Murphy, Herb Jones, Gyson Daniels,
(18:30):
the rest of those guys. They gotta knock down shots.
They got to feel confident putting up jumpers, knocking them down,
creating that state. Because if you can hold defenses accountable
and make them make tough decisions, I think you're going
to see this offense really takes flight. And obviously you
saw that with Trey Murkey this year. We had that
conversation constantly with him about hey, we see how good
your percentage is, but maybe get up six, seven, eight
(18:53):
threes instead of just three, four or five. And I
think you saw that part of his game really grow.
There wasn't the end of the season. He had the
game in LA when he knocked down ten three by himself.
He had the forty point game in New Orleans. So
you saw him just get more comfortable putting up more
three pointers with Karen less about whether our guys in
front of him or if he's not all the way
open and let him fly. That's a lot of these
(19:14):
things say, if you got the ball in your hands,
you're open, just let it fly. And I think he's
gotten more comfortable with that. I think you see heard
being more comfortable, more confident and letting those catcha shoot
jumpers fly. And that's what they're gonna need for those
two guys. They got to hit knock down jumpers. They
gotta make teams stay because the seals off the vaccas.
He has big time scores. But you gotta be able
(19:35):
to put up a large number of three pointers to
really execute at a high level in today's game. You
got to have those games where you make fifteen to
eighteen three pointers just for the mass is on your side.
And I think too often this year you just sawt
a mask really put the Pails in a bad position
just because they didn't get enough enough three pointers up.
(19:55):
And I think they got to change that this point.
Speaker 3 (19:57):
Well, you know, I agree with you.
Speaker 2 (19:59):
I'm always telling Jim here, Jim, let it fly, just
let it fly in life in general.
Speaker 3 (20:04):
And will shoot man, shooter shoot, and we know Jim
is a shooter.
Speaker 2 (20:08):
And uh and you as well. Man, enjoy Miami. I
know it's just a hell of an assignment. But enjoy
doing a little konga, a little salsa dancing and uh,
you know, just and pay attention to basketball.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
I guess in between if you can.
Speaker 5 (20:19):
Yeah, man, you know, I gotta give me some fresh
shoes in my margarita. You know I will will figure
it out. You know, hopefully is doing well in his
winter coat. You know, I'm just gonna enjoy something. Kick
my feet up.
Speaker 4 (20:31):
I hope you guys, and before you go, will I
wanted to mention too that you know, people should listen
to all of the athletic podcasts that will appears on.
I try to fancy myself as like the you know,
the fans that go on the message boards and campaign
for guys to play more minutes on the Pelicans. I'm
always on the athletic message boards and saying like, we
(20:53):
need to get Gillory on this podcast more. We need
to get him more man, more minutes, get him in
the lineup.
Speaker 5 (21:00):
So yeah, I like to think of Jim as my podcast.
I'm buzzman. I don't know if the young folks know
what that is, but yeah, whatever I'm messing up on
my pod, I know Jim's gonna be the first one
to be like, actually, you got that number wrong. Yeah.
I'm always looking forward to my messages from Jim, always
bigging me up and then let me know what I've
messed up on my pod.
Speaker 3 (21:19):
No, man, it's all support. Man, I'm here.
Speaker 4 (21:22):
I'm the guy that's saying, hey, we need to play
Kyra Lewis more minutes. We need to get this guy
that that's that's you. We need to We need to
get you in the rotation as much as possible.
Speaker 5 (21:31):
You ain't calling me out, you calling me up.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
That's right, man, I've got Jim programmed on my phone
as actually, so I know what it's gonna be.
Speaker 3 (21:40):
It pops up, h enjoy yourself.
Speaker 2 (21:43):
Well, I know it's been a tough season for all
of us, you know, following the Pels, but a little
vacation doesn't hurt even if it's worked so uh much deserved.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Have fun out there.
Speaker 5 (21:53):
Man, I appreciate about to get some sand in my toes.
Speaker 3 (21:57):
Right, talk to you soon.
Speaker 2 (21:58):
Will huge thanks to mister Will Gillory out there doing
yeoman's work. So glad he's he's having fun like we are.
Jim it's good to see you again.
Speaker 3 (22:14):
Man, it was.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Lonely in here just calling people. With the rotating guests,
none of them had that Jimothy smell.
Speaker 1 (22:20):
You know.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
What a compliment that is. Yeah, true, I appreciate that. No,
it's it's great to be back in here. I also
appreciate your daily word describing my current state, you know,
like relentless or whatever.
Speaker 3 (22:35):
Else you can find.
Speaker 4 (22:36):
I'm impressed that you can keep coming up with a
different word every day. I feel like I would run
out of them, but.
Speaker 3 (22:40):
No, it's it's been great.
Speaker 4 (22:42):
I had two weeks where I wasn't here at all,
so it's a little weird to kind of come back
into the mix now. But I'm happy to recap the
season and it's I think it was good that actually
we had a little time to decompress and I needed it.
As David Griffin mentioned in his exit interview, when people
asked him about, you know, recapping the sea and making decisions,
he said, you know, it's better for people to kind
(23:03):
of take a step away and not be as emotional.
The last thing you want to do is, you know,
the game ends against Okac and you're immediately like, well,
I think we should trade this guy, and I think
we should start working contracts.
Speaker 3 (23:13):
Yeah, right, So.
Speaker 4 (23:14):
It's it's good to have some time to to to
you know, think about some other stuff, and then come
back and be much more reasonable about this.
Speaker 5 (23:21):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (23:21):
Look, I needed a few days myself. You know, I
was kind of in and out of paying attention to basketball,
depending on how much it hurt me. But you know,
I think talking to Will, talking to you, talking to
to several of the people around here, I just I
feel better. I'm taking the good away from the season
once again without feeling like a like a corny sap
doing so. I still feel like there was there were
(23:45):
a lot of mischances this season. That's something that we
can't overlook. One game here, a few shots here, a
little more effort on this one. But you got to
hope that these are lessons hard learned from the team.
Uh they're they're a little older, a little wiser, coming
to again a little more and hopefully a little more
healthy going forward.
Speaker 4 (24:03):
And I think as we go through these, and we
talked to various guests, we're going to continue to hear
kind of the theme, which is, I think it's totally
reasonable for everyone to have a combination of that they
were disappointed with how the season ended, but also feel
like there's a lot of good things that happened, especially
in the first half of the season. So it's definitely
a mixture when you when you take a step back
(24:23):
and think about the big picture.
Speaker 3 (24:25):
But I mean it's understandable.
Speaker 4 (24:27):
I think there's not There's probably not a single person
that's going to be sit here and say like, yeah,
that was that was great the way that the season ended.
So no, we understand, and I mean I feel the
same way it was.
Speaker 3 (24:38):
It was.
Speaker 4 (24:38):
It was tough the way that things ended, especially with
how high things were, the peak that they had in December.
And so that's where we're at, and we got a
couple of weeks here to recap. Will be going through
them player by player. This is kind of I would
call a week one of this is of the two
is the planned starting lineup, the five guys that we
thought were going to be the starters over the course
(25:00):
of the real season. I mean most of them were,
but we're starting off with Brandon Ingram Today, we will
have CJ McCollum. Tomorrow, we'll have Zion Williamson with Antonio Daniels,
Our Guynesday, Thursday, Jonas Valentunas, and Friday will be mister
Herb Jones with our guy Todd Graffanini. So mister energy,
making our way through the.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
List, you realize the pieces I guess I have just
looking at the numbers season long, looking at the pattern
season long of all these players, you know, you didn't
really see any regression of anyone, and that's just been
that's been great to see. And you know, if not
for b I's injury, who knows, And again it's a
it's a season of what ifs. And starting off with
b I today and looking forward to another season with
(25:43):
him man, and you know what, looking forward to another
podcast with you tomorrow.
Speaker 4 (25:49):
We're not taking any days off this week. We're working
every single day, not Saturday and Sunday, but yeah, yeah,
Monday through Friday. We're working every single day.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
We are chained to the loop basically doing these podcasts.
Speaker 3 (26:00):
But it's fun. So we're gonna be talking again.
Speaker 5 (26:03):
C J.
Speaker 2 (26:04):
McCollum tomorrow, Zion Williamson day after that, Bonus Valen Shyness
a day after that, mister Herb Jones as well. So
gonna be a lot of fun podcasts coming your way,
lots of fun guests. Thank you once again for listening
to the Pelicans podcast. Big thanks to Jim for keeping
this old dog in line, and big thanks to Will
Gillory drinking something with an umbrella in it and covering basketball.
(26:28):
It's quite a task. So thank you for listening to
the Pelicans podcast. We will talk to you once again tomorrow.
Speaker 3 (26:36):
Ohing. Until then, go Pels.
Speaker 1 (26:40):
Thanks for listening to the New Orleans Pelicans podcast presented
by seat Geek. Join us three times per week on
pelicans dot com, the Pelicans mobile app, or you can
subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. We'll see you next time.
Right here, I'm a New Orleans Pelicans podcast presented by
seat geko
Host
Jim Eichenhofer
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