November 11, 2025 • 27 mins
New Orleans Pelicans TV studio analyst Wes Johnson and host/reporter Erin Summers join Jim Eichenhofer on the Pelicans Podcast for Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025 to discuss the play of Pelicans rookies Derik Queen and Jeremiah Fears as well as the overall play from the bench.
Later, Jim gives us his player of the week, player to watch, and trending numbers heading into the Pelicans' five-game homestand.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:06):
Welcome into the Pelicans Podcast alongside Jim
Eichenhofer, the number four overall pick in the NBA draft,
and our Pelicans analyst Wes Johnson.
Amarin Summers. The Pelicans got their first win
of the season this past week, sowe are going to talk about what
worked during that stretch. They went two and one over the
past week. So, Wes, what did they show in
(00:27):
those wins and their ability to kind of turn the corner?
Resilience, I think that was themain thing.
You can look at the defensive side, you can talk about that
and I mean that's one thing you can see them getting their
energy and getting out running. We talked about it in our show
about how they are able to capitalize off their turnovers
offensively. Trey got it going.
(00:48):
A lot of people stepped up in that aspect on offensive side,
but you can see the energy on the defensive end picking up.
So the games that we needed to win, especially when other teams
are out players, we capitalize on that.
So there's really playing withinourselves, I can say that.
Yeah, In some ways I don't thinkthey played that much
differently than they did in thefirst part of the season when
(01:09):
they were in a lot of games, butjust didn't close them.
So to me, one of the biggest things they showed was the
ability to make some of the biggest plays at the end of the
game against Charlotte. Obviously Jose made that three,
which was the biggest shot of the game.
And then the next last night against Dallas, you were able to
not only get a defensive stop inthe biggest possession of the
game with Cooper Flagg missed a mid range shot, but also Trey
(01:29):
Murphy was able to grab that defensive rebound.
So they're definitely playing better than they were the first
part of the season and we haven't seen that.
The games where they're down, you know, 2030 points and they
lose in one sided fashion. So that there's definitely been
improvement. But to me, it's been just a play
or two here or there was the difference between what they did
(01:49):
this week and what they did in some of the games at the very
beginning of the regular season where at at the end of the
night, you're like, man, that could have been a win against
Memphis in the opener. That could have been a win
against San Antonio. And you keep saying could have,
should have woulda and now you're O in six.
But for them to be able to get two of those wins in
back-to-back situation, I thought it was a really good
step forward. Also Saturday, what they did
against San Antonio, even thoughthat was a loss, again, that was
(02:13):
really competitive and they've had two games against the Spurs,
who are off to a great start, that they've shown that they can
play with that level of team. So I mean, to me, it was a big
step forward not only to just just get the the wins that you
had to get to not be one of the teams that was still winless
across the NBA, but also to justtake a step forward from what
you showed at the very beginningof the season.
(02:34):
And in that game against the Spurs, they had their full
roster pretty much on the court and the Pelicans have been down
now with Zion Williamson and Jordan Poole.
Eve Misi has been dealing with an illness but should get back
on the court soon. With that being said, the
rookies have been stepping up. We've been seeing a lot from
Jeremiah Fears, Derek Queen, especially this past week, and
(02:56):
then Michael Peavey sightings they've been happening as well.
As a former player, what is stood out the most to you or
what do you appreciate about Derek Queen's game?
He's just playing within himself.
I think you can see his IQ out there, one trying to get his
teammates involved when he doesn't have ability to get them
involved. He calls his own number.
So I think for me that's playingwithin himself, playing with an
(03:17):
offense and knowing how to guardand where to be at.
So it's still like a learning process realm.
Mistakes are going to happen. But him as a basketball player,
full basketball player, you see the IQ level out there and it's
like for him not being able to play in like these high
competitive games as much being a rookie.
But him being out there and being effective, especially in
those late games says a lot about the trust that their
(03:41):
teammates have, their coaches have, and then him being
confident in himself. So it's only a bright future for
him. Was I remember your career, not
just from our beloved Syracuse, but also in the NBA that, you
know, part of your offensive game was your your really good
cutter. You can move off the ball.
When you see a guy like Derek Queen, you know, 910 games into
(04:01):
his rookie year, be able to see the floor of the way he does, I
mean, how exciting would it havebeen for you to play with
somebody like that? I mean, is that kind of next
level as far as what we've seen?From him, I mean, it makes it
easier for everybody else, a guythat's a willing passer that
he's willing to pass, willing togive the ball up to whoever's
open. So like you're saying, me being
(04:21):
a cutter is an offense in itself.
When the play breaks down, more movement happens.
So knowing not to be stagnant ball watching is something to
get the offense flowing, the sacrifice your body to give an
open shot. So him being like that type of
player, being unselfish the way he is, is only going to be
beneficial to everybody that's willing to do stuff like that.
We've asked several players already about kind of the
(04:44):
unique, distinct way that Derek Queen plays.
I mean, how rare is it to have the basketball IQ that he does
at 20? And just he didn't even have a
training camp really. He didn't have a priest.
He didn't get to play any pre season games.
I mean, from a player's perspective, I mean, how
exciting is that, not only in terms of what he can do this,
but just kind of going forward? I mean this the he plays his own
(05:07):
rhythm. I mean, you can't can't even
speed him up at all. Like that's it.
That's just comes from how he grew up playing basketball.
So his speed is his speed. And you don't learn that like as
a veteran like in in the NBA because the game is fast-paced.
So people want to go super fast,but he has his own speed.
So everybody's not be able to stay in front of him and keep up
(05:28):
with him and says a lot about how he plays and says a lot
about Highs himself, like I'm not allowing the the defense to
dictate me. So for him to be able to play
like that still without having atraining camp, preseason,
whatever, says a lot about him as an individual.
How much of his effectiveness ofbeing able to see the floor and
be able to, you know, just make some of these plays is the fact
(05:50):
that he doesn't play super fast,that he's always under control?
I mean, how much of that is, I mean, I'm not making comparisons
here, but we see players like Yokich and Luca, they and Shay,
Gilgeous, Alexander, they don't play 1,000,000 miles an hour,
but they seem to always be able to get their shot off and they
seem to make the right decision all the time.
I mean, how much of that is is from just his approach?
(06:14):
His approach is his approach to the game.
I think that's his him playing on the playground, him growing
up around it, loving the game, is loving to compete.
So him being playing at that onespeed, like you're naming guys
that can easily be Hall of they're going to be Hall of
Famers, but MVPS or this NBA andthen him saying he he plays at
his own speed. Not saying that won't happen for
him, but right now seeing how heplays a slow pace is not pretty
(06:38):
to something some people's eyes,but he gets the job done and
that's it. He keeps it simple.
That's all you got to do. Yeah, we were talking about it
earlier, Jim and I, and I said he does remind me of Yokich
because you don't look at him thinking he is going to be able
to do what he does, especially the way he moves in the lane
sometimes and his footwork. But I really do like his ability
to pass and over the last three games, this is before the
(07:02):
Phoenix game, he has had a 5.7 assists per game which leads the
team and he wasn't playing a full minutes.
But he is closing the game out because of his decision making
in the way that he's able to setup his teammates.
What have you seen in his game and maybe the balance that he
has and going and getting his and then also facilitating?
(07:24):
I mean, it's like it's a lot of responsibility, especially when
you have a basketball and they're allowing him to dictate
the offense, which is says a lotabout the coaching staff with
their trust in him and he's making the right decision and
he's super unselfish. But his IQ is off the charts.
To be able to connect the dots when he's on the floor when a
play breaks down and the team, his teammates around him know
(07:46):
that. So he's able to play pick and
roll, He's able, he's able to bethe point guard, .4 point
center, whatever position he's at and get everybody involved.
So him being able to see the seethe floor the way he sees it,
but then when it breaks down I'mable to go get mine.
IQ level is off the charts for him.
You look at another rookie who is actually a point guard and
(08:06):
Jeremiah fears and he is fifth right now in total points among
rookies and assists. So he is doing a little bit of
everything, got thrown into the fire early.
The same kind of question, what do you appreciate appreciate
about his game or what has impressed you about him?
I think for me this is like you're saying, his approach is
he has that mentality of I don'tcare who's in front of me, he's
(08:27):
going to go get it no matter what.
His speed of for sure the way heplays the game is at that high
octane up and down the floor, but he's able to change gears.
He able to slow down and play the pick and roll.
For me, just watching him develop that pick and roll, if
he's able to be the maestro and that pick and roll, it's only
going to be crazy to see how he just slowly starts to develop.
(08:48):
If you look at a guy like Chris Paul, he was able to master the
pick and roll and seeing him with his speed early on, being
able to master the pick and roll, nobody's going to be able
to stay in front of him. They can't stand in front of him
as is. But him being able to manipulate
the pick and roll and get downhill with his speed, it's,
it's been fun to watch him have an effect on the game.
Obviously a high draft pick and when you get picked there,
(09:10):
you're not going to the best team in the league.
You're going to teams that are rebuilding.
From your experience too, of maybe not just guys that you
played with that were on your team, but guys that you went
against. How impressed are you with fears
in terms of it seems like rookie, the point guard is the
hardest position to come into the league because for a bunch
of reasons. I mean, one of them being
there's 20 something really goodpoint guard.
(09:32):
So there aren't that many nightsoff in the league.
But there's just so many things I think too that you have to you
have to you have to adjust to interms of like where, where guys,
where guys need the ball runningthe offense, knowing all of the
plays. So with all of that in mind, I
mean, what what's been your perspective on just how
(09:52):
obviously there's certain thingsthat he's going to keep
improving and things that he's going to work on, but just your
perspective on how fast he's been able to pick up different
things and be a a contributing player at this at 19 years old,
which he just turned. Yeah.
I mean, if you saying all that, yeah, it's no nice off.
I mean, cause one you've lookingat tonight, he has Devin Booker
(10:12):
that he's going to be playing again.
So for him to be able to be as effective as he's been says a
lot like going back to Queens says a lot about the rookies
that we have. So him being able to really
dissect that playbook that we have, dissect the players and
knowing what they like the ball,it's it's been like impressive
to see how effective he's been being able to do that, being the
(10:33):
point guard, being the, like yousaid, the conductor at that
position. But for me seeing him, OK, I can
call my own number as well. Stuff breaks down.
We need a bucket. He's able to go get one.
But when he needs to slow it down and run a play, get
somebody in the right spot, he'sable to do that.
And he's taking the head on. He's not shying away from
anything that you're giving him.So his approach has been like,
(10:55):
you know what, whatever you giveme, I'm going to go out there
and I'm going to do it. So it's if it's fitting for his
last name. When I watched his college tape
before the Pelicans drafted him,that was actually one of the
reasons I wanted the Pelicans todraft him was I saw the the
video of him and I was like impressed by how he can get
anywhere he wants with because of his ball handling.
What's your take away in terms of just the way that it seems
(11:18):
like he can get different places?
You mentioned this as far as creating his own shop, but also
playmaking. Just in terms of like what that
means for his future and his potential.
Just the fact that he, it just seems like the ball's on a
string with him all the time. And it just seems like that's a
huge strength that you don't seetoo often from a guy just coming
into the league. Yeah, I mean, people like try to
develop, but I think his his skill set is it speaks for
(11:41):
itself. You see him able to get anywhere
on the floor, you see be able topush the pace and then be able
to finish around the rim. So his skill set is like one of
the things that makes you oh, and ah, but he knows that.
And then the pace that he's ableto play at when he like when the
play breaks down and go get his own.
You can say that about a lot of players, but a lot of people
can't go do that at a high rate.And being a rookie and being
(12:03):
able to do it at a high rate that he's able to do it at.
Like you saying the ball is on astring and he's able to navigate
and get downhill, take the bump,fade one leg, hit a shot or
finish over a defender. So the rookies that we have are
impressive. We saw him too in summer league,
the the first game of summer league against Minnesota,
playing against some, you know, 7 footer, some really athletic
(12:25):
bigs. And I think he had a shot
blocked a couple times. It seems like that's already
gone as as far as his ability toget the shot over people, but it
it just seems like to me too, one of the things that I've
loved about watching him is how he uses both hands.
And it feels like with with bothof these rookies, I hate to get
too far ahead of ourselves here because we're only 910 games in
(12:45):
the season, but it feels like with both of them, you could sit
down a younger player and say watch some of the things that
this guy does. There's a reason why we want you
to work on your left hand. And it's if you watch Jeremiah
Fears, you see that come out allthe time where he's around the
basket with Queen. It's about keep your head up.
You can see the floor. If you're if you're pounding the
ball and you're just looking at it's just you in the rim, you're
(13:07):
not going to see a lot of different things that develop on
the court. But I mean, as far as Fierce's
ability to finish in the paint, I mean, how impressive has that
been so far? Super impressive.
I mean, you can look at the Kyrie's and Steph's and all the
point guards that have that, that lay up all those packages
around the rim and him being a rookie and be able to finish
(13:28):
over with contact, through contact and over the those 7
footers, you're gonna get yourself blocked.
You're supposed to. They're 7 foot and they're
athletic. You're playing against the best
in the world. It's going to happen.
But he goes right back in there and then he makes a layup over 2
people and you're like, Oh my God.
So it's that that aspect of him not caring and obviously the
work that he's put in and he's talking about Queen his keeping
his head up the village around those guys and the development
(13:51):
that they had growing up playingbasketball.
You can. It speaks volume of what they
the work that they put in and it's showing now on the highest
level. I think that we're seeing their
growth everyday in these games and I know the future is going
to be very bright for both of them, but we have a lot of bench
support around them as well. Obviously Queen coming off the
(14:12):
bench, but we've been seeing theimpact of the effort, the energy
that the bench brings with some new additions in Sadiq Bay, Jose
Alvarado, obviously, What have you seen the impact of those
bench players in that second unit over the past week kind of
elevate the game a little bit? One is needed.
We needed everybody that's coming off the band, starters,
(14:34):
whoever. But if you're talking about
Sadiq, he's a professional. He's a professional basketball
player. He gets in whatever you need.
He's going to do defensively, rebound, scoring.
There's something that has been missed, I think from his self.
I think missing a year and a half by being back out there,
getting into a groove and getting back his his feet
(14:56):
underneath him on the floor. But you see what was missed from
him when he played previous years when he was in Detroit,
Atlanta, wherever he was at. But him being on the floor and
being as effective as he's been,it speaks volume of how the
player and his approach, really the work that he's put in to get
in fight, to get back into the league because he's a
professional. Wes, you mentioned that the
(15:17):
bench has been really needed. I, I think lately we've seen a
lot of first quarter slow starts.
So I mean, even just on the scoreboard, if you look, you
just look at something as simpleas the box score plus minus.
There's been a lot of games lately where the starters have
been big minuses. The guys come coming off the
bench have been big pluses. And that's why they won a couple
games this week against Charlotte and Dallas and why the
(15:40):
San Antonio game was really competitive as well.
So I mean, to me, it's just beenthe kind of thing where they got
to stop digging themselves holesso that the bench doesn't have
to come in and rescue things. But at the same time, like in
fairness, in the first nine games of the season, they used
seven different starting line UPS.
So you haven't even had a ability to say, OK, this is our
(16:01):
starting group, let's develop some cohesiveness.
So it's been constantly shuffling.
So, you know, not to make excuses, but it does feel like
that that's a part of why the starting group has whatever you
call the starting group. There's really you can't even
say like this is the starting group because it's constantly
changed. But to me, I think Jose Alvarado
(16:22):
had a couple games this week too, where he came in and just
totally changed the game. And I'm going to talk about this
a little bit later in the show, but his just his plus minus, I
mean, they've done so well with him on the court.
And I think just overall the bench has been effective in
changing. Games for sure.
I mean, like you speaking on theSan Antonio game, Yes, we
started slow, dug yourself a whole second quarter, but just
(16:42):
in the bench and you bring in Jose and you always need energy
coming off the bench regardless of whatever's going on.
If we're in the league, you still want to sustain the league
because then you bring in the bench players.
And then having a guy like Jose,he's going to bring the fire.
You know what you're getting from Jose and you can't match
that from any other team. Like no other team has a energy
(17:03):
player like Jose coming in, getting the crowd involved,
flying around, doing. He does on defense, but
obviously his shot has been falling.
That's another thing from him that he's added, knocking down
shots. He's been able to score the
ball. Yes, he can be infectious on the
defensive end, but adding his offense as well has been a big
plus. And him being that spark and
(17:23):
that fire is only going to ignite the bench players and the
starters that are playing with him.
And that's how we've been able to fight.
That's why we went two and one. You mentioned getting the home
crowd going. We have a 5 game homestand
coming up. What will a successful homestand
look like? Because we're talking about the
number 1347 and eight team in the West right now that are
(17:47):
about to come into the SKC. That's not easy.
That's not going to be easy. It's just one thing like it's
continue to build. I mean we we have those quarters
where you see the upside in US. You see we're able to fight,
we're able to sustain regardlessof what we're playing.
If we continue to build off those quarters that we have
those amazing fighting, knockingdown shot defensive, flying
(18:09):
around, let's see what that and bottle that up and start the
game like that and finish the game like that.
Yes, that's not going to fall, but we're able to sustain that.
Yes, you're talking about the 1354, whatever team that came
in, it's all, it's all about us.We know what they're going to
do, but what are we going to do?How are we going to be able to
go out there and be effective inthese games?
(18:29):
And that's how you get the crowdinvolved.
Control what we can control. We talked about the 5050 balls
that those little games early onthat slip away from us that we
could have won. We could control those those
aspects of the game if we lock in on that and knows how we win.
I'm not going to sit here and get booed by everyone and say I
want them to go 5 and home. Because if you look at the teams
that they're playing, I mean, that's maybe that's not on,
(18:51):
that's not realistic. But I mean, is it too much to
ask to have a winning record to go like at least three and two
on this homestand? It's going to be tough because
they're playing against. But even if regardless of the
wins and losses, obviously they need to win as many games as
they can to stay in the playing tournament race and that kind of
thing. But to me, setting aside the the
(19:12):
the outcomes, I want them to kind of continue to show that
they can compete with some of the better teams in the West in
the league. I mean, what they did, what
they've done in the two games against the Spurs to be is
encouraging. You went O and two, but they're
if they're going to be one of the better team, best teams in
the West, which it looks like they will be.
If you can, if you can hang withthose teams, maybe get a win or
(19:34):
two here or there. You know, you play the Lakers,
Nuggets, OK, C43 four times. If you can win some games here
and there against them. Trust me, the schedule, I think
at some point will get a little bit more manageable and you
won't be playing against maybe the elite teams in the league.
It sometimes it doesn't feel like they're that ever is going
to happen. But I think that there will be
some games against the east as well.
(19:55):
So if if you can show that you can compete against this caliber
of team, to me, it's a it'll be a good sign that going forward
there's 70 something games left in the season.
We don't need to act like the sky is falling already, even if
if some of these games coming upare losses against some of the
better best teams in the league,especially given the Pelicans
injury situation where they do have some guys who are out so.
(20:17):
Wins win as many games as possible, but if if you don't go
three and two, four and one, show that you can do what you
did against San Antonio and and,and prove that, you know, maybe
you didn't win the game, but you're you're not that far away
from being able to get wins against things like that for
sure. Replicate the energy and effort
that we've seen over the past week and use the home crowd to
(20:39):
your advantage. Come out hot from the start, get
them going and and feed off of their energy as well.
Wes, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today.
If you want more of Wes Johnson,this is a shameless plug for our
pregame show. You can watch it 30 minutes
before every game on the Gulf Coast Sports and Entertainment
Network. So check in with us there.
Thanks. No problem.
(21:01):
Appreciate Wes Johnson joining us on the podcast and as they do
every week, Jim I can offer has his players of the week players
to watch trendy numbers. So let's get into it.
Jim, Player of the Week from this past week My.
Player of the week is going to be Jose Alvarado because of the
impact that he made on the gamesthat he played in.
It just seemed like he was a game changer almost every night.
(21:22):
And I mean, obviously he made probably the biggest shot of the
season so far. That three pointer against
Charlotte, which ended up being a four point win for them.
But over the the three games that they played in week 3, he
was plus 27 and plus minus. And I know some people think
that people get carried away with the plus minus stat and
they think it's, but I mean, he consistently over the five
seasons that he's been here has been the team plays better when
(21:45):
he's on the court then when he'soff the floor.
I mean, even he's had stretches last season where he they won
like 3 games out of 35 when he didn't play.
Just some of the stats are unbelievable.
By the way, to honorable mention, Herb Jones led the team
in plus minus at plus 28, so onepoint better than Jose.
But I'm going to go with Jose for player of the week just
(22:06):
because I think it was kind of obvious of how much of a
difference he made. Jose averaged 13 points, 4
rebounds and four assists in only 23 minutes per game.
So very productive. Just we talked about Derrick
Queen earlier, not playing 3035 minutes, but still contributing
in a lot of ways. The player to watch is going to
be Herb Jones. By the way, Herb Jones averaged
(22:28):
13 points last week, shot 53% from the field, 43% on threes,
so averaged 2 steals per game. So the offense was there as far
as what they need him to do, where he's in a lot of
situations, he's got open cornerthrees and he's spotting up and
making them at a good rate. But part of why I picked him for
the player to watch too, is the opponents that the Pelicans have
(22:50):
coming up over the next seven days.
He's going to have his hands full defensively.
I'm not sure if all of these examples are cases where he will
be guarding this specific player, but for example,
Portland has Danny Avdia who's averaging 25.3 points per game.
Luca's out. Luca for the Lakers is only
averaging 37 per game, which is absurd.
Jimmy Butler's averaging 18.9 for Golden State.
(23:13):
I think it's probably more likely that he'll guard him than
Steph Curry, but he might have that assignment as well if.
Because Steph is back this week.And then lastly, over the next
seven days, Shake Gildis Alexander for OKC is averaging
33.2 points per game. So, Herb, you got your hands
full. Good luck.
Yeah, see. We'll see how you can do.
(23:33):
That's why it's not on herb though.
Right, exactly. And and also too, I wanted to
mention also related to Herb andhis defense.
The Pelicans are 28th in defensive efficiency this season
up to this point, but they were 10th last week.
So I think they made some major strides.
You know, you could say some of that was the opponents, but
Charlotte is a good offensive team.
(23:56):
So I thought they did really well against them.
They did great against Dallas, which is a team that also has
had a tough time offensively. And I think they did a little
bit better against the Spurs, even though I think that was a
game that we look at and say youneeded to get more stops.
Yeah, there was some lapses a chance.
To win the game, there was a bigrun in the second quarter that
kind of dictated that put the Spurs in front the rest of the
(24:17):
way. So that's that's something that
they're going to have to keep inmind.
Just you're planning on some of the best teams in the league and
some of the best teams in the West.
So if they can build on the defensive improvements that
they've made, I think that'll behuge.
As far as the trending numbers go, basically every week, I'm
going to give you a number for each of the opponents and people
(24:39):
can kind of examine that and seewhat they think.
So basically 4 opponents that I kind of referenced earlier over
the next seven days. The first one is Portland and
the number for them is 11 and that is their defensive rank in
the NBA. They were 16th last season.
They added Drew Holiday in a trade.
I don't think anyone across the league is surprised that they're
(25:00):
they've improved defensively. And so you, the troublers are
our our team that you look at and you say, you know, maybe
they don't have a lot of big names, but you know, they're
above 500 and they've they're off to a good start.
They've had some really good quality wins so far.
And I think defense is a big reason the number for the Lakers
is 0, and that is in the two previous years of the NBA Cup,
(25:23):
there's been zero teams that have lost twice in Pool play in
advanced. So this isn't actually
specifically related to the Lakers, it is that the Pelicans
need to win that. Game Friday night is a Cup game,
right? If they lose that, if the
Pelicans lose that game, they have almost no chance of
advancing. So zero teams have lost more
than once in Pool play in in advance.
(25:44):
I do think someday that there will be a team that loses twice
and somehow makes it on to the next round, but hasn't happened.
Yet. Right, right, exactly.
The the trending number for Golden State is 1 and that is
there's only been 1 Golden StateWarrior who started in all of
the 1st 11 games. That was Jonathan Kaminga.
I point that out just to to mention the fact that they have
(26:06):
a bunch of guys that have missedgames already.
And then the last trending number is Oklahoma City.
This number is crazy. It's 13.5.
It's the big they have right now.
They have the biggest point differential in the history of
the NBA, beating the record thatthey set last season when they
were at 12.9. And then Denver actually is 13.2
(26:27):
this season. So there's two of the biggest
point differentials in the history of the NBA are two teams
in the West this season that thePelicans play on this home
stand. Isn't that lovely for the Pels?
We love that. The OK C Thunder, they do know
how to finish defensively and offensively.
They have definitely been very much improved.
So the Pelicans have a tall taskthis week, but I think the home
(26:48):
crowds just got to show out and and help them pull out some of
these wins. Thank you so much for joining us
on the Pelicans podcast for Wes Johnson, Jim Eichenhofer.
I'm Erin Summers, and we'll see you at the Smoothie King Center.
Welcome into the Pelicans Podcast alongside Jim
Eichenhofer, the number four overall pick in the NBA draft,
and our Pelicans analyst Wes Johnson.
Amarin Summers. The Pelicans got their first win
of the season this past week, sowe are going to talk about what
worked during that stretch. They went two and one over the
past week. So, Wes, what did they show in
(00:27):
those wins and their ability to kind of turn the corner?
Resilience, I think that was themain thing.
You can look at the defensive side, you can talk about that
and I mean that's one thing you can see them getting their
energy and getting out running. We talked about it in our show
about how they are able to capitalize off their turnovers
offensively. Trey got it going.
(00:48):
A lot of people stepped up in that aspect on offensive side,
but you can see the energy on the defensive end picking up.
So the games that we needed to win, especially when other teams
are out players, we capitalize on that.
So there's really playing withinourselves, I can say that.
Yeah, In some ways I don't thinkthey played that much
differently than they did in thefirst part of the season when
(01:09):
they were in a lot of games, butjust didn't close them.
So to me, one of the biggest things they showed was the
ability to make some of the biggest plays at the end of the
game against Charlotte. Obviously Jose made that three,
which was the biggest shot of the game.
And then the next last night against Dallas, you were able to
not only get a defensive stop inthe biggest possession of the
game with Cooper Flagg missed a mid range shot, but also Trey
(01:29):
Murphy was able to grab that defensive rebound.
So they're definitely playing better than they were the first
part of the season and we haven't seen that.
The games where they're down, you know, 2030 points and they
lose in one sided fashion. So that there's definitely been
improvement. But to me, it's been just a play
or two here or there was the difference between what they did
(01:49):
this week and what they did in some of the games at the very
beginning of the regular season where at at the end of the
night, you're like, man, that could have been a win against
Memphis in the opener. That could have been a win
against San Antonio. And you keep saying could have,
should have woulda and now you're O in six.
But for them to be able to get two of those wins in
back-to-back situation, I thought it was a really good
step forward. Also Saturday, what they did
against San Antonio, even thoughthat was a loss, again, that was
(02:13):
really competitive and they've had two games against the Spurs,
who are off to a great start, that they've shown that they can
play with that level of team. So I mean, to me, it was a big
step forward not only to just just get the the wins that you
had to get to not be one of the teams that was still winless
across the NBA, but also to justtake a step forward from what
you showed at the very beginningof the season.
(02:34):
And in that game against the Spurs, they had their full
roster pretty much on the court and the Pelicans have been down
now with Zion Williamson and Jordan Poole.
Eve Misi has been dealing with an illness but should get back
on the court soon. With that being said, the
rookies have been stepping up. We've been seeing a lot from
Jeremiah Fears, Derek Queen, especially this past week, and
(02:56):
then Michael Peavey sightings they've been happening as well.
As a former player, what is stood out the most to you or
what do you appreciate about Derek Queen's game?
He's just playing within himself.
I think you can see his IQ out there, one trying to get his
teammates involved when he doesn't have ability to get them
involved. He calls his own number.
So I think for me that's playingwithin himself, playing with an
(03:17):
offense and knowing how to guardand where to be at.
So it's still like a learning process realm.
Mistakes are going to happen. But him as a basketball player,
full basketball player, you see the IQ level out there and it's
like for him not being able to play in like these high
competitive games as much being a rookie.
But him being out there and being effective, especially in
those late games says a lot about the trust that their
(03:41):
teammates have, their coaches have, and then him being
confident in himself. So it's only a bright future for
him. Was I remember your career, not
just from our beloved Syracuse, but also in the NBA that, you
know, part of your offensive game was your your really good
cutter. You can move off the ball.
When you see a guy like Derek Queen, you know, 910 games into
(04:01):
his rookie year, be able to see the floor of the way he does, I
mean, how exciting would it havebeen for you to play with
somebody like that? I mean, is that kind of next
level as far as what we've seen?From him, I mean, it makes it
easier for everybody else, a guythat's a willing passer that
he's willing to pass, willing togive the ball up to whoever's
open. So like you're saying, me being
(04:21):
a cutter is an offense in itself.
When the play breaks down, more movement happens.
So knowing not to be stagnant ball watching is something to
get the offense flowing, the sacrifice your body to give an
open shot. So him being like that type of
player, being unselfish the way he is, is only going to be
beneficial to everybody that's willing to do stuff like that.
We've asked several players already about kind of the
(04:44):
unique, distinct way that Derek Queen plays.
I mean, how rare is it to have the basketball IQ that he does
at 20? And just he didn't even have a
training camp really. He didn't have a priest.
He didn't get to play any pre season games.
I mean, from a player's perspective, I mean, how
exciting is that, not only in terms of what he can do this,
but just kind of going forward? I mean this the he plays his own
(05:07):
rhythm. I mean, you can't can't even
speed him up at all. Like that's it.
That's just comes from how he grew up playing basketball.
So his speed is his speed. And you don't learn that like as
a veteran like in in the NBA because the game is fast-paced.
So people want to go super fast,but he has his own speed.
So everybody's not be able to stay in front of him and keep up
(05:28):
with him and says a lot about how he plays and says a lot
about Highs himself, like I'm not allowing the the defense to
dictate me. So for him to be able to play
like that still without having atraining camp, preseason,
whatever, says a lot about him as an individual.
How much of his effectiveness ofbeing able to see the floor and
be able to, you know, just make some of these plays is the fact
(05:50):
that he doesn't play super fast,that he's always under control?
I mean, how much of that is, I mean, I'm not making comparisons
here, but we see players like Yokich and Luca, they and Shay,
Gilgeous, Alexander, they don't play 1,000,000 miles an hour,
but they seem to always be able to get their shot off and they
seem to make the right decision all the time.
I mean, how much of that is is from just his approach?
(06:14):
His approach is his approach to the game.
I think that's his him playing on the playground, him growing
up around it, loving the game, is loving to compete.
So him being playing at that onespeed, like you're naming guys
that can easily be Hall of they're going to be Hall of
Famers, but MVPS or this NBA andthen him saying he he plays at
his own speed. Not saying that won't happen for
him, but right now seeing how heplays a slow pace is not pretty
(06:38):
to something some people's eyes,but he gets the job done and
that's it. He keeps it simple.
That's all you got to do. Yeah, we were talking about it
earlier, Jim and I, and I said he does remind me of Yokich
because you don't look at him thinking he is going to be able
to do what he does, especially the way he moves in the lane
sometimes and his footwork. But I really do like his ability
to pass and over the last three games, this is before the
(07:02):
Phoenix game, he has had a 5.7 assists per game which leads the
team and he wasn't playing a full minutes.
But he is closing the game out because of his decision making
in the way that he's able to setup his teammates.
What have you seen in his game and maybe the balance that he
has and going and getting his and then also facilitating?
(07:24):
I mean, it's like it's a lot of responsibility, especially when
you have a basketball and they're allowing him to dictate
the offense, which is says a lotabout the coaching staff with
their trust in him and he's making the right decision and
he's super unselfish. But his IQ is off the charts.
To be able to connect the dots when he's on the floor when a
play breaks down and the team, his teammates around him know
(07:46):
that. So he's able to play pick and
roll, He's able, he's able to bethe point guard, .4 point
center, whatever position he's at and get everybody involved.
So him being able to see the seethe floor the way he sees it,
but then when it breaks down I'mable to go get mine.
IQ level is off the charts for him.
You look at another rookie who is actually a point guard and
(08:06):
Jeremiah fears and he is fifth right now in total points among
rookies and assists. So he is doing a little bit of
everything, got thrown into the fire early.
The same kind of question, what do you appreciate appreciate
about his game or what has impressed you about him?
I think for me this is like you're saying, his approach is
he has that mentality of I don'tcare who's in front of me, he's
(08:27):
going to go get it no matter what.
His speed of for sure the way heplays the game is at that high
octane up and down the floor, but he's able to change gears.
He able to slow down and play the pick and roll.
For me, just watching him develop that pick and roll, if
he's able to be the maestro and that pick and roll, it's only
going to be crazy to see how he just slowly starts to develop.
(08:48):
If you look at a guy like Chris Paul, he was able to master the
pick and roll and seeing him with his speed early on, being
able to master the pick and roll, nobody's going to be able
to stay in front of him. They can't stand in front of him
as is. But him being able to manipulate
the pick and roll and get downhill with his speed, it's,
it's been fun to watch him have an effect on the game.
Obviously a high draft pick and when you get picked there,
(09:10):
you're not going to the best team in the league.
You're going to teams that are rebuilding.
From your experience too, of maybe not just guys that you
played with that were on your team, but guys that you went
against. How impressed are you with fears
in terms of it seems like rookie, the point guard is the
hardest position to come into the league because for a bunch
of reasons. I mean, one of them being
there's 20 something really goodpoint guard.
(09:32):
So there aren't that many nightsoff in the league.
But there's just so many things I think too that you have to you
have to you have to adjust to interms of like where, where guys,
where guys need the ball runningthe offense, knowing all of the
plays. So with all of that in mind, I
mean, what what's been your perspective on just how
(09:52):
obviously there's certain thingsthat he's going to keep
improving and things that he's going to work on, but just your
perspective on how fast he's been able to pick up different
things and be a a contributing player at this at 19 years old,
which he just turned. Yeah.
I mean, if you saying all that, yeah, it's no nice off.
I mean, cause one you've lookingat tonight, he has Devin Booker
(10:12):
that he's going to be playing again.
So for him to be able to be as effective as he's been says a
lot like going back to Queens says a lot about the rookies
that we have. So him being able to really
dissect that playbook that we have, dissect the players and
knowing what they like the ball,it's it's been like impressive
to see how effective he's been being able to do that, being the
(10:33):
point guard, being the, like yousaid, the conductor at that
position. But for me seeing him, OK, I can
call my own number as well. Stuff breaks down.
We need a bucket. He's able to go get one.
But when he needs to slow it down and run a play, get
somebody in the right spot, he'sable to do that.
And he's taking the head on. He's not shying away from
anything that you're giving him.So his approach has been like,
(10:55):
you know what, whatever you giveme, I'm going to go out there
and I'm going to do it. So it's if it's fitting for his
last name. When I watched his college tape
before the Pelicans drafted him,that was actually one of the
reasons I wanted the Pelicans todraft him was I saw the the
video of him and I was like impressed by how he can get
anywhere he wants with because of his ball handling.
What's your take away in terms of just the way that it seems
(11:18):
like he can get different places?
You mentioned this as far as creating his own shop, but also
playmaking. Just in terms of like what that
means for his future and his potential.
Just the fact that he, it just seems like the ball's on a
string with him all the time. And it just seems like that's a
huge strength that you don't seetoo often from a guy just coming
into the league. Yeah, I mean, people like try to
develop, but I think his his skill set is it speaks for
(11:41):
itself. You see him able to get anywhere
on the floor, you see be able topush the pace and then be able
to finish around the rim. So his skill set is like one of
the things that makes you oh, and ah, but he knows that.
And then the pace that he's ableto play at when he like when the
play breaks down and go get his own.
You can say that about a lot of players, but a lot of people
can't go do that at a high rate.And being a rookie and being
(12:03):
able to do it at a high rate that he's able to do it at.
Like you saying the ball is on astring and he's able to navigate
and get downhill, take the bump,fade one leg, hit a shot or
finish over a defender. So the rookies that we have are
impressive. We saw him too in summer league,
the the first game of summer league against Minnesota,
playing against some, you know, 7 footer, some really athletic
(12:25):
bigs. And I think he had a shot
blocked a couple times. It seems like that's already
gone as as far as his ability toget the shot over people, but it
it just seems like to me too, one of the things that I've
loved about watching him is how he uses both hands.
And it feels like with with bothof these rookies, I hate to get
too far ahead of ourselves here because we're only 910 games in
(12:45):
the season, but it feels like with both of them, you could sit
down a younger player and say watch some of the things that
this guy does. There's a reason why we want you
to work on your left hand. And it's if you watch Jeremiah
Fears, you see that come out allthe time where he's around the
basket with Queen. It's about keep your head up.
You can see the floor. If you're if you're pounding the
ball and you're just looking at it's just you in the rim, you're
(13:07):
not going to see a lot of different things that develop on
the court. But I mean, as far as Fierce's
ability to finish in the paint, I mean, how impressive has that
been so far? Super impressive.
I mean, you can look at the Kyrie's and Steph's and all the
point guards that have that, that lay up all those packages
around the rim and him being a rookie and be able to finish
(13:28):
over with contact, through contact and over the those 7
footers, you're gonna get yourself blocked.
You're supposed to. They're 7 foot and they're
athletic. You're playing against the best
in the world. It's going to happen.
But he goes right back in there and then he makes a layup over 2
people and you're like, Oh my God.
So it's that that aspect of him not caring and obviously the
work that he's put in and he's talking about Queen his keeping
his head up the village around those guys and the development
(13:51):
that they had growing up playingbasketball.
You can. It speaks volume of what they
the work that they put in and it's showing now on the highest
level. I think that we're seeing their
growth everyday in these games and I know the future is going
to be very bright for both of them, but we have a lot of bench
support around them as well. Obviously Queen coming off the
(14:12):
bench, but we've been seeing theimpact of the effort, the energy
that the bench brings with some new additions in Sadiq Bay, Jose
Alvarado, obviously, What have you seen the impact of those
bench players in that second unit over the past week kind of
elevate the game a little bit? One is needed.
We needed everybody that's coming off the band, starters,
(14:34):
whoever. But if you're talking about
Sadiq, he's a professional. He's a professional basketball
player. He gets in whatever you need.
He's going to do defensively, rebound, scoring.
There's something that has been missed, I think from his self.
I think missing a year and a half by being back out there,
getting into a groove and getting back his his feet
(14:56):
underneath him on the floor. But you see what was missed from
him when he played previous years when he was in Detroit,
Atlanta, wherever he was at. But him being on the floor and
being as effective as he's been,it speaks volume of how the
player and his approach, really the work that he's put in to get
in fight, to get back into the league because he's a
professional. Wes, you mentioned that the
(15:17):
bench has been really needed. I, I think lately we've seen a
lot of first quarter slow starts.
So I mean, even just on the scoreboard, if you look, you
just look at something as simpleas the box score plus minus.
There's been a lot of games lately where the starters have
been big minuses. The guys come coming off the
bench have been big pluses. And that's why they won a couple
games this week against Charlotte and Dallas and why the
(15:40):
San Antonio game was really competitive as well.
So I mean, to me, it's just beenthe kind of thing where they got
to stop digging themselves holesso that the bench doesn't have
to come in and rescue things. But at the same time, like in
fairness, in the first nine games of the season, they used
seven different starting line UPS.
So you haven't even had a ability to say, OK, this is our
(16:01):
starting group, let's develop some cohesiveness.
So it's been constantly shuffling.
So, you know, not to make excuses, but it does feel like
that that's a part of why the starting group has whatever you
call the starting group. There's really you can't even
say like this is the starting group because it's constantly
changed. But to me, I think Jose Alvarado
(16:22):
had a couple games this week too, where he came in and just
totally changed the game. And I'm going to talk about this
a little bit later in the show, but his just his plus minus, I
mean, they've done so well with him on the court.
And I think just overall the bench has been effective in
changing. Games for sure.
I mean, like you speaking on theSan Antonio game, Yes, we
started slow, dug yourself a whole second quarter, but just
(16:42):
in the bench and you bring in Jose and you always need energy
coming off the bench regardless of whatever's going on.
If we're in the league, you still want to sustain the league
because then you bring in the bench players.
And then having a guy like Jose,he's going to bring the fire.
You know what you're getting from Jose and you can't match
that from any other team. Like no other team has a energy
(17:03):
player like Jose coming in, getting the crowd involved,
flying around, doing. He does on defense, but
obviously his shot has been falling.
That's another thing from him that he's added, knocking down
shots. He's been able to score the
ball. Yes, he can be infectious on the
defensive end, but adding his offense as well has been a big
plus. And him being that spark and
(17:23):
that fire is only going to ignite the bench players and the
starters that are playing with him.
And that's how we've been able to fight.
That's why we went two and one. You mentioned getting the home
crowd going. We have a 5 game homestand
coming up. What will a successful homestand
look like? Because we're talking about the
number 1347 and eight team in the West right now that are
(17:47):
about to come into the SKC. That's not easy.
That's not going to be easy. It's just one thing like it's
continue to build. I mean we we have those quarters
where you see the upside in US. You see we're able to fight,
we're able to sustain regardlessof what we're playing.
If we continue to build off those quarters that we have
those amazing fighting, knockingdown shot defensive, flying
(18:09):
around, let's see what that and bottle that up and start the
game like that and finish the game like that.
Yes, that's not going to fall, but we're able to sustain that.
Yes, you're talking about the 1354, whatever team that came
in, it's all, it's all about us.We know what they're going to
do, but what are we going to do?How are we going to be able to
go out there and be effective inthese games?
(18:29):
And that's how you get the crowdinvolved.
Control what we can control. We talked about the 5050 balls
that those little games early onthat slip away from us that we
could have won. We could control those those
aspects of the game if we lock in on that and knows how we win.
I'm not going to sit here and get booed by everyone and say I
want them to go 5 and home. Because if you look at the teams
that they're playing, I mean, that's maybe that's not on,
(18:51):
that's not realistic. But I mean, is it too much to
ask to have a winning record to go like at least three and two
on this homestand? It's going to be tough because
they're playing against. But even if regardless of the
wins and losses, obviously they need to win as many games as
they can to stay in the playing tournament race and that kind of
thing. But to me, setting aside the the
(19:12):
the outcomes, I want them to kind of continue to show that
they can compete with some of the better teams in the West in
the league. I mean, what they did, what
they've done in the two games against the Spurs to be is
encouraging. You went O and two, but they're
if they're going to be one of the better team, best teams in
the West, which it looks like they will be.
If you can, if you can hang withthose teams, maybe get a win or
(19:34):
two here or there. You know, you play the Lakers,
Nuggets, OK, C43 four times. If you can win some games here
and there against them. Trust me, the schedule, I think
at some point will get a little bit more manageable and you
won't be playing against maybe the elite teams in the league.
It sometimes it doesn't feel like they're that ever is going
to happen. But I think that there will be
some games against the east as well.
(19:55):
So if if you can show that you can compete against this caliber
of team, to me, it's a it'll be a good sign that going forward
there's 70 something games left in the season.
We don't need to act like the sky is falling already, even if
if some of these games coming upare losses against some of the
better best teams in the league,especially given the Pelicans
injury situation where they do have some guys who are out so.
(20:17):
Wins win as many games as possible, but if if you don't go
three and two, four and one, show that you can do what you
did against San Antonio and and,and prove that, you know, maybe
you didn't win the game, but you're you're not that far away
from being able to get wins against things like that for
sure. Replicate the energy and effort
that we've seen over the past week and use the home crowd to
(20:39):
your advantage. Come out hot from the start, get
them going and and feed off of their energy as well.
Wes, thank you so much for joining us on the podcast today.
If you want more of Wes Johnson,this is a shameless plug for our
pregame show. You can watch it 30 minutes
before every game on the Gulf Coast Sports and Entertainment
Network. So check in with us there.
Thanks. No problem.
(21:01):
Appreciate Wes Johnson joining us on the podcast and as they do
every week, Jim I can offer has his players of the week players
to watch trendy numbers. So let's get into it.
Jim, Player of the Week from this past week My.
Player of the week is going to be Jose Alvarado because of the
impact that he made on the gamesthat he played in.
It just seemed like he was a game changer almost every night.
(21:22):
And I mean, obviously he made probably the biggest shot of the
season so far. That three pointer against
Charlotte, which ended up being a four point win for them.
But over the the three games that they played in week 3, he
was plus 27 and plus minus. And I know some people think
that people get carried away with the plus minus stat and
they think it's, but I mean, he consistently over the five
seasons that he's been here has been the team plays better when
(21:45):
he's on the court then when he'soff the floor.
I mean, even he's had stretches last season where he they won
like 3 games out of 35 when he didn't play.
Just some of the stats are unbelievable.
By the way, to honorable mention, Herb Jones led the team
in plus minus at plus 28, so onepoint better than Jose.
But I'm going to go with Jose for player of the week just
(22:06):
because I think it was kind of obvious of how much of a
difference he made. Jose averaged 13 points, 4
rebounds and four assists in only 23 minutes per game.
So very productive. Just we talked about Derrick
Queen earlier, not playing 3035 minutes, but still contributing
in a lot of ways. The player to watch is going to
be Herb Jones. By the way, Herb Jones averaged
(22:28):
13 points last week, shot 53% from the field, 43% on threes,
so averaged 2 steals per game. So the offense was there as far
as what they need him to do, where he's in a lot of
situations, he's got open cornerthrees and he's spotting up and
making them at a good rate. But part of why I picked him for
the player to watch too, is the opponents that the Pelicans have
(22:50):
coming up over the next seven days.
He's going to have his hands full defensively.
I'm not sure if all of these examples are cases where he will
be guarding this specific player, but for example,
Portland has Danny Avdia who's averaging 25.3 points per game.
Luca's out. Luca for the Lakers is only
averaging 37 per game, which is absurd.
Jimmy Butler's averaging 18.9 for Golden State.
(23:13):
I think it's probably more likely that he'll guard him than
Steph Curry, but he might have that assignment as well if.
Because Steph is back this week.And then lastly, over the next
seven days, Shake Gildis Alexander for OKC is averaging
33.2 points per game. So, Herb, you got your hands
full. Good luck.
Yeah, see. We'll see how you can do.
(23:33):
That's why it's not on herb though.
Right, exactly. And and also too, I wanted to
mention also related to Herb andhis defense.
The Pelicans are 28th in defensive efficiency this season
up to this point, but they were 10th last week.
So I think they made some major strides.
You know, you could say some of that was the opponents, but
Charlotte is a good offensive team.
(23:56):
So I thought they did really well against them.
They did great against Dallas, which is a team that also has
had a tough time offensively. And I think they did a little
bit better against the Spurs, even though I think that was a
game that we look at and say youneeded to get more stops.
Yeah, there was some lapses a chance.
To win the game, there was a bigrun in the second quarter that
kind of dictated that put the Spurs in front the rest of the
(24:17):
way. So that's that's something that
they're going to have to keep inmind.
Just you're planning on some of the best teams in the league and
some of the best teams in the West.
So if they can build on the defensive improvements that
they've made, I think that'll behuge.
As far as the trending numbers go, basically every week, I'm
going to give you a number for each of the opponents and people
(24:39):
can kind of examine that and seewhat they think.
So basically 4 opponents that I kind of referenced earlier over
the next seven days. The first one is Portland and
the number for them is 11 and that is their defensive rank in
the NBA. They were 16th last season.
They added Drew Holiday in a trade.
I don't think anyone across the league is surprised that they're
(25:00):
they've improved defensively. And so you, the troublers are
our our team that you look at and you say, you know, maybe
they don't have a lot of big names, but you know, they're
above 500 and they've they're off to a good start.
They've had some really good quality wins so far.
And I think defense is a big reason the number for the Lakers
is 0, and that is in the two previous years of the NBA Cup,
(25:23):
there's been zero teams that have lost twice in Pool play in
advanced. So this isn't actually
specifically related to the Lakers, it is that the Pelicans
need to win that. Game Friday night is a Cup game,
right? If they lose that, if the
Pelicans lose that game, they have almost no chance of
advancing. So zero teams have lost more
than once in Pool play in in advance.
(25:44):
I do think someday that there will be a team that loses twice
and somehow makes it on to the next round, but hasn't happened.
Yet. Right, right, exactly.
The the trending number for Golden State is 1 and that is
there's only been 1 Golden StateWarrior who started in all of
the 1st 11 games. That was Jonathan Kaminga.
I point that out just to to mention the fact that they have
(26:06):
a bunch of guys that have missedgames already.
And then the last trending number is Oklahoma City.
This number is crazy. It's 13.5.
It's the big they have right now.
They have the biggest point differential in the history of
the NBA, beating the record thatthey set last season when they
were at 12.9. And then Denver actually is 13.2
(26:27):
this season. So there's two of the biggest
point differentials in the history of the NBA are two teams
in the West this season that thePelicans play on this home
stand. Isn't that lovely for the Pels?
We love that. The OK C Thunder, they do know
how to finish defensively and offensively.
They have definitely been very much improved.
So the Pelicans have a tall taskthis week, but I think the home
(26:48):
crowds just got to show out and and help them pull out some of
these wins. Thank you so much for joining us
on the Pelicans podcast for Wes Johnson, Jim Eichenhofer.
I'm Erin Summers, and we'll see you at the Smoothie King Center.
Host
Jim Eichenhofer
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