John DeShazier recaps Pelicans preseason trip to Australia | Pelicans Podcast

New Orleans Pelicans Radio Color Analyst John DeShazier joins the Pelicans Podcast on Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025 to break down the Pelicans' preseason games in Australia.

Before that, Jim Eichenhofer and Gus Kattengell give an exclusive look at how a pair of bigs could impact the Pelicans this season as we hear from Kevon Looney and Karlo Matkovic about the upcoming NBA season.

Episode Transcript

(00:05):
Welcome in to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast, the official
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everything you need to know about the squad.
Hear from players, coaches, broadcasters, and those who
cover the NBA on a daily basis. It's time to flock up.

(00:27):
The New Orleans Pelicans Podcaststarts right now.
Hello everyone, and welcome to the New Orleans Pelicans
Podcast, official podcast of your New Orleans Pelicans.
The preseason is off and running.
Two games down under have taken place.
Jim, I can offer pelicans.com joining me as Jim.

(00:48):
We got a lot to kind of get into.
Two games are in the books. We're going to talk a lot about
that with John the Shazer radio analyst for the Pelicans here
coming up in a bit as to what wesaw, what we digest and what we
expected. But man, it was nice to see
basketball again. And look, I, I think if you're a
Pels fan and you're just tuning in for the first time, are you
just kind of going by what we'rereporting, it's a different

(01:12):
team, isn't it, Jim? It's a different team, not just
beyond the perimeter, but down low, which is something we'll
focus on by talking about a couple of Pels bigs here.
But it's a different roster if you're just tuning in for the
first time this week or next week.
Yeah, I think you could immediately see the the impact
that in the for in these two games in Australia that Jordan
Poole is going to make Sadiq Bayin the second game was out

(01:33):
outstanding. We're going to talk about that a
little bit more as well. And then Kavon Looney obviously
started in the the two games at center.
So Kavon Looney and Karla Mackovic, we're going to get to
talk to both of them today. We we caught up with them on
media day before they headed outto Australia and I think they
both had some interesting thingsto say.
But yeah, I think it was a, it was a very positive start to to

(01:55):
get be able to win both of thosegames and especially the second
game. I thought the Pelicans were
really dominant and just completely took over that game
and never looked back. Ended up winning by 35I.
Think one of the things that's interesting too is Joe Dumars
from day one when he got here, right?
It almost seems like every pressconference since draft night,
what have you, going into the season.

(02:16):
He likes size, he likes bigs. This is something that he wanted
to get and some of the guys thatbrought in or drafted Jim.
There's a rhyme or reason to it in it.
When you look across the league,there's a lot of teams with some
big bodies and and it was something that the Pell
struggled a little bit in last year.
Yeah, I think you have to have mobility too.
I think that's one thing that we're we're seeing is consistent

(02:37):
with the kind of big, big guys that teams across the league are
acquiring the the the kind of stationary 7 foot guys that just
kind of anchor themselves in thepaint and have a harder time
switching on defense and handling some of the
responsibility that has come with the new NBA where pretty
much everyone out there can shoot threes and not have to run
out to three-point line. So I mean, that's a factor as

(02:59):
well that I, I think with the the three guys that, you know,
potentially going to play the most minutes at Center for the
Pelicans, that all three of those guys are pretty agile and
can handle a bunch of different,different asks at the defensive
end. So yeah, I would say, like you
said, that's something that Joe Dumars is emphasizing.
But I mean, it's it feels like it's constantly changing.

(03:22):
I mean, every season in the NBA it's like, OK, the bigs are this
now, OK, next season they're going to be now there's more
guys that can shoot threes. Now there's more guys they're
athletic. So it's it's definitely an
interesting Riddle to try to figure out like, OK, how do we
attack some of the the problems that some of these other teams?
Present in terms of matchups. And the kind of traits that you

(03:42):
need from the five position and.I think what's interesting too,
is we get into the conversation with Carlo Mackovic and come on,
Looney, who we're going to hear from coming up in our
conversations and media day in the past year.
Maybe I'm wrong, I don't know. You have a better memory than
me. But when you look at those three
in particular, you talk about whether it's me, see Looney and

(04:03):
also Carlo I, they all have similar traits in this aspect of
it, right? Like they can run the floor.
You see them kind of do that here as well.
They like to block shots, be aggressive, be physical.
We've seen Mesi just in those two games down under, he had
some shots. We've seen Carlo drive the
baseline. He likes to play above the rim.
Mesi likes to dunk a, you know, and look, we saw Looney get an

(04:24):
assist, full court pass from Zion and finish.
So that's different, right? I'm trying to think if it's been
a while since I can think of three different players with
similar sets that can play a similar style.
Yeah, that are bigs for the Pelicans.
Sure, sure. Yeah, I I do think that Misi and

(04:45):
Carlo are a lot more like each other than Looney is with the
other two. I.
Think. The the younger guys, the two
guys that are going in their second year are much more likely
to outrun the opposing big guys,get a dunk at the other end.
Although as you mentioned, we did see Kevon Looney do that in
one of the preseason games in Australia.
However, I thought this was interesting too.
If you're paying very close attention, if you watch the

(05:08):
reaction of the bench when KevonLooney gets a dunk in any form
and then you you're going to seethem jumping up and down.
I saw a few raises of the roof, which I didn't know if that was
still a thing, but apparently when he brings out a fast break
dunk, we're going to see that. Whereas the other two guys, I
mean, it's it's just more of a staple of their game.
I think with Looney you're goingto see a lot more of he might

(05:29):
push you under the basket. Use his.
Strength. Use his.
You know, leverage to just find the right position.
He did that with Golden State for 10 years where you just
can't move this guy out. You can't box him out, you can't
move him out of the area right underneath the basket.
The other two guys are going to be more apt to just jump over
you, whereas I think Looney willjust use his veteran know how

(05:50):
and some of his experience from playing in the league to kind of
make up for the fact that he's not a guy that is going to
really dunk on people that much or even dunk period.
I think I remember when he was at Golden State, we saw a lot of
times where he would catch a feed under the basket and he
would just lay it up and he would try to tear the rim.
I know that might disappoint youa little bit, Gus, that he's not

(06:12):
a a big time dunker who's going to be dunking constantly.
But yeah, just a little bit of adifferent approach to the game.
But I do think that it gives Willie Green and the coaching
staff a lot of different optionsof different things that they
can go to at that position. And as Willie Green has
mentioned lately, too, one of the he, he kind of gave out a
recent practice, almost like a job description for what he

(06:34):
wants to see from the center position.
And I think one of them is just defensive assignments, OK, can
you handle pick and rolls? Can you handle sometimes you're
going to have to run out to the three-point line, all these
different things that it's not just a stand in the paint and
wait for somebody to come to therim and block the shot.
It's. It's a.
More complicated than that. Now, savvy vet, savvy vet moves

(06:56):
is what Luna can do well. Speaking of, here's our
conversation that we had with him during media day.
Some good stuff. Jim, myself and he discussed a
handful of different topics. Here it is.
How would you describe like whatyou look, what you look forward
to the most about playing here in terms of the talent that this
team has, like some of the players that are on this roster?
I'm just looking forward just to, you know, build that

(07:19):
chemistry with everybody, you know, seeing where how far our
child can go as a team. You know, we another thing was
on a few years ago on the verge of doing something special.
Last year they had a little bit of some injury bugs.
So that making that playoff pushfor these guys, going to war
with these guys, learning from these guys and seeing how how
good we can really be. I'm just super excited to be

(07:39):
part of this culture and try to and put my will on this team and
see and see where we can go. You mentioned, you know, two
seasons ago they won 49 games. They were right on the edge of
being top six in the West. It kind of went down.
It did go down to the very last day of the season.
I mean, from afar, a guy that's been in the league a long time,
did you see this team as you know, a a group of talented

(08:01):
guys? It just needs to kind of all
come together and there's certain things that you can.
Add to that. For sure.
I have to feel like, you know, this team is still very young.
You know, a couple years ago they was all headed in the right
direction. You know, being a young teen,
they was doing everything in theright way.
They were taking the right steps.
They can't skip no steps in thisin this league.
And you got to go through your your your scars and go through

(08:22):
those battle, battle bet had a battle wound.
So, you know, last year was, I feel like we're just a blip, you
know, a year that they could bounce back from.
And I feel like, you know, and, and me and add different guys to
this team. We have a lot of talent.
We can we can get back on the right path and keep making those
right steps to to the right direction and and being a
playoff team. With some of the specific guys
that have been here for a few years and I think are recognized

(08:44):
as really talented players, whatwere your impressions of going
against, for example, Zion and Trey Murphy as far as the
potential that they have and there's the kind of the ceiling
that they those guys have? No, those guys are really,
really good, really, really talented.
You know, playing against Zion in the past that there was a guy

(09:04):
always had to kind of have the guard.
So I know how how difficult a matchup he is and how much
punishment he puts on the other other team.
And you know, a guy like Trey. No, he had no when I was with
gold stay here some big games versus no games are actually
matter who's fighting all fighting playoffs playoff
season. You really came in our in our
building and put on the show. So I know how God how good the

(09:26):
guys could really be. You know, they have a chance to
be, you know, no, no top, no with Zion, he could be the best
player in the league. No, and and try.
I feel like he got the same as right.
He'd be one of the best two way guys in our league as well.
He one definitely one of the best shooters for sure.
So I'm looking forward to them. You know, helping them guys try
to meet, reach their potential and playing at the highest level

(09:49):
so they can show the league in the world how good they really
are. When Jordan Poole was speaking
to the big group of media in thepress room earlier, he's had a
lot of complimentary things to say about you as far as on the
court as a teammate, you know, off the court for I know people
are pretty, pretty familiar withhim as a player because for all
the stuff that you guys accomplished in Golden State.

(10:10):
But how would you describe him as a player?
And I mean, do you feel like he's at the point in his career,
too where he can keep reaching in another level and just keep
improving? For sure.
No, he's a he's a guy that can he's a scorer guy can generate
points, generate a lot of offense.
He's a playmaker. He can make plays for the other

(10:31):
guys. He's a guy that connect
different lineups and he can play on the ball, off the ball,
whatever kind of you need him todo.
So he's he's a lead player. He's he's learned how to know
know he was on the championship team with me and he thrived in a
position where he had the ball or he had to come off the bench.
He's we've been willing to sacrifice his whole career.
So I think he has another level that he can reach.

(10:52):
I think he knows that. I think he's been doing a great
job of taking the right the right steps and being more
efficient and doing the small things and proving on the
defensive end. So I think he he is, he's more
he can explore it and get better.
But I think, you know, this is agreat fit for him, a great
opportunity for him to like I said, we have a lot of guys
that, you know, send it in the right direction and we all make
that leap at the right time. I thought we can be a really

(11:14):
dangerous thing. What have been your impressions
of Herb Jones as an opposing player?
Just some of what he brings to the court.
Yeah, well, I was talking about earlier he's I think he could be
the best the defender in the league, you know, especially
from the from the wing guard position.
He can guard one through 4. You know, I think Lashley Adam
Garden center sometime, he's theguy that you can play to
anybody. He's going to give him a
headache and you know he can disrupt the whole offense is

(11:38):
he's a guy that you kind of wantto don't put him into action and
I got I don't play with great defenders.
I think he fits that mode. I think he's going to be a great
defender in his league for a long time, and I think he's
going to be no, my goal is to make a all defensive team about
that. He should be a first defense all
team guy and I think our defenseshould be known at that top ten,
top five, and that's I think that's the realistic goal we

(11:59):
should have as a as a unit. I think he's going to be the the
leader of that. I think part of the defensive
part of the equation too is, forexample, the Pelicans were 26th
and rebounding percentage last year.
I know that's your Forte, that you often actually killed these
guys with offensive rebounds andlike, kicking it back out to
threes for threes with, you know, Curry and all those guys.

(12:20):
How much of? A focus is that as far as just
improving the that part of the game as a team.
That's a big focus. You know, I feel like that's
something I take a lot of pride in.
You know, I feel like with the warriors last few years, we've
been really, really good at their everybody in we didn't
always have the biggest teams orthe biggest line UPS, but we
that was like a group effort andnot just one guys that changed

(12:42):
things just to if everybody has the right mentality of every
possession that we're going to box out, do the small things,
we're going to win on 5050 balls.
You know, it could change your whole defense and your whole no,
no, just the swagger of the team.
You know, those office rebounds are our back Breakers for on
four teams. And when you Kick It Out and,
you know, play defense for 24 seconds and give up another

(13:03):
rebound and you know that that kills your your team around.
I think if we get that under control and we'd be one of the
best in the league, I think it changes our our team.
We'd be a better, better fast break team and all all those
different things kind of go ahead and rebound.
You know, Jim, one of the thingsthat we'll talk about here with
John Deshazer is the benefit of this team having played, you
know, overseas 2 games already against a A-Team that's in their

(13:27):
season. The two teams that are, it's in
their season in the NBL. Along those lines, how
beneficial is it to have any player that's won a championship
on your roster, but specificallyin that group with, as you just
said a few minutes ago, two young second year players at
that position? To have a guy that's won a title

(13:49):
with one of the best teams that's ever played, the style
they play, the pressure and all that, but there with those young
kids, man, I, I just think that's, I don't know if you can
even overstate the importance ofthat, huh?
No doubt. You know, it's interesting.
I think one of the most interesting things that I heard
Kevon Looney say, not in the chat that we had with him, but

(14:09):
in the big press conference thathe did.
I, I think I'm me today he talked about learning from Steph
Curry, but it wasn't like, oh, Ilearned how to set picks a
certain way. I learned how to work on my
jumper and change my form. Everything that he mentioned was
how do you carry yourself off the court, how you interact with
people within the organization, how you interact with your

(14:30):
teammates. It was all stuff that is
intangible and things that you can't measure.
But I think that that helps him a ton.
And that's one of the reasons why he's been in the league for
10 years is that he understands all that stuff.
And I think it's also another area where we can't really come
up with a number and say, hey, he helped his teammates 6.3

(14:52):
times better than another guy. There's just no way to measure
it. But to your point, I do think
that having somebody who's been in so many big games and
understands the seriousness of the very big first game of the
regular season, you don't wait until, you know, March to say,
hey, let's lock in. I think he's going to be one of
these guys that is going to bring a professionalism that he

(15:12):
learned from Golden State, and Ithink he was that way anyways.
It just seems like he's that type of person.
But just to start with, but justbeing around some of the players
that he was with, including Steph Curry, I think, I mean,
this guy knows a ton. I think if you're one of the
younger players, you can ask himabout anything in terms of how
to be successful. Well, I mean, I, I don't think
there's a scenario, a situation or a game or type of game that

(15:35):
he hasn't played in, right. And again, I mean, the the
pressure, what's being talked about, all those different
aspects, As you mentioned, a decade of professional
basketball, he's a professional.And that helps.
You know, when you look at Carl and he walked in, I think you
brought it up to you, you can sense a little difference right
along those lines. A year under his belt, lots of
minutes under his belt this pastyear, especially towards the end

(15:58):
of the season. It builds confidence, doesn't
it? I mean, you and I were at the
facility talking to him about the podcast around All Star
break time, and then you take that to how he finished the
season to how he came across to us on media day.
This is a player that that feelsI belong in the NBAII am I I, I

(16:19):
can contribute and I'm ready to move on and grow, right?
I, I don't know, you can see a growth in a year's time from
Vegas, you know, in 2425 to, to now, can't you?
Yeah, I think that for a lot of younger players, including maybe
him to some extent, there's a process that you go through of,
you know, you get drafted by a team, obviously they have

(16:39):
confidence in you or they wouldn't have drafted you.
And then you get out on the court and you you think, OK, I
can do this. But then when you actually have
some double, double S the way that he did and you put the
results on the on the court and on paper the way that he did, I
think it changes your perspective a little bit.
It's not so much you're you don't have to kind of feel
things out and be like, OK, do Ibelong here or not?

(17:00):
I definitely think that the experience that he had helped
him a ton from that perspective.So yeah, in this clip, he talks
a lot about his confidence goingup and just how much more
comfortable he is having played however many games he played
last year and the fact that he was really consistently on the
floor. It wasn't like he was in the
rotation for a couple weeks thenwas benched for a while.

(17:20):
I mean, it was really from the end of January through the very
end of the regular season, he was in the rotation.
Another thing that he talks about that I probably should set
up a little bit so people understand it more before you
hear it, is he spent a good amount of time with Evita Zoo
Bots of the Clippers. He's a center who was one of the
most improved players in the league last year.
And Carlo talks a little bit about how he wants to kind of

(17:43):
copy some of what Zoo Bots has done throughout his career where
he has keeps getting better and better to the point last year
where he just had this huge breakout season.
For. LA and was one of the reasons
why the Clippers really, I thinkoutperformed expectations for
what people thought of them going into the season,
especially after they lost Paul George.
So it sounds like Ivita Zubats is a mentor for Carlo and

(18:07):
somebody that's going to help him at least in the offseason,
you know, going forward as somebody from that part of the
world that he's familiar with all.
Right. Well, here is Carlo during Media
Day, kind of giving us a little insight what Jim just talked
about. You obviously had a lot of
success and more productive lastseason as a rookie.
In carrying that into this offseason, what were some of the

(18:30):
things, what did you focus on the most as far as getting
prepared for the season? Getting my body right, I think
that's the biggest thing becausethe season is long, a lot of
games. So getting my body right.
I was doing a lot of like out oflet's say out of the paint
stuff, stuff, you know, trying to get to that fourth position a
little bit more to to be available to get like, you know,

(18:51):
stretch out, be in the paint, you know, do what the coaches
need me to do. So I was working on that a
little bit shot, of course my 3 point shot, of course I got to
get that up. I want to, I want to have more
consistent and stuff. So I work on that stuff too.
What impact do you think on yourconfidence or just how
comfortable you are? Did it have that you like you
had some double double S last season, you just were able to

(19:14):
show what you could do last yearthat you know, I mean, you
actually I think from like the maybe they're around the
midpoint of the season. You were on the court a lot and
in the rotation. How much did that affect?
Like. How comfortable, confident you
are now going into the second. Year Oh, I think much more
confident, much more comfortablebecause it feels more like
natural now than it was before and just like, I don't know it's

(19:38):
good. I kind of like I played really
good to some games that are likeI, I understand I can play in
the league. So I'm like, I just got to work
on my game get better and just improve, improve, improve and
you know, be consistent about it.
Talked a lot about with Zubats this year.
He I was working out with him too half of the summer trying to

(20:00):
pick his brain up. That helped a lot too about
confidence too. So national team Dario Sharich,
Mario Kazonia, 2 great basketball players that helped
out a lot too. So picking the brains from them
really helps to be like really comfortable this year and like
confident. Like I'm already like I'm 24
turning 25 this year, like into the season.

(20:21):
I've been playing professionallyfor like a while now since I was
like 1716. I was around them.
So like I shouldn't be feeling no like bad things in my head or
whatever. So I'm really, you know, getting
comfortable in here and being inthis facility really like makes
me feel like that way always. So people make me feel that way
too. What do you think you is the

(20:43):
best aspect of part of working out with zoo bots?
What do you get the most out of that?
But I get the most out of that knowledge.
Just the the way he carried himself.
It's really like, I don't know, he's a big dude, but kind of
like peaceful and all. I don't know, it's hard to
explain. I love that dude.

(21:04):
I love him. We really grew our relationship
this summer and I'm really trying to keep consistent with
him. Like he's like my big, big bro
that I have to listen, you know,but he's really like peaceful,
peaceful giant, loves to have fun.
So funny dude, funny dude. By being on the court with him,

(21:25):
he just like, I don't know, he just so natural.
He just got to be just follow his flow and just kind of know.
Yeah, I mean, he's really strong.
Yeah, big, but like toughness isalways there, you know, so like
the tough, the tough part you'regoing to get because he's like
huge heavy, but he can move wellthough.
So like for him picking up probably is going to be like the

(21:46):
improvement he gets like throughout the years and stuff.
Have he improved? Like that's something I want to
follow up with him, Jim. That's a little bit of a sign of
maturity to me, right? Going out and, and seeking out,
hey, this guy is doing a good job, How, how can I learn from
him? And along the same lines, you
know something else he mentioned, you know what he was
talking about a guy in Jordan Poole we're going to talk about
with JD here. And, you know, our first chance

(22:08):
to see him. I know he's gotten a little
attention for something on the court with the shades, all that,
which we'll get into. But you and I saw it at
practice, right, in training camp like that.
There's a leadership quality to it.
There's a play making quality towhat he's going to bring on the
floor. And I thought it was interesting
that Carlo mentioned that. Huh?
Yeah. You're a really flashy player,

(22:30):
Annie. So the first thing I noticed
when he when I walked in, the energy he has, the smile on his
face, the like the positivity hebrings, the communication he
brings around, like keeping communicating to everybody.
That's what I noticed the most. And that's really good.
Like he's a guy that already hasa lot of experience, won a
championship, so I'm happy to have him on the team.
The player like that person likethat, it's always good to have,

(22:51):
right, no matter who it is. But really good guy.
We know what he can do in the court already.
He don't even have to ask me, you know, We already saw what he
can do. I wish we have a really healthy
season with him this year too, and I think it's gonna be fun.
Yeah. I mean, I think Carlo from afar,
I think he watched what he did last season with Washington and

(23:14):
saw that he can kind of inject some stuff into the offense.
And so I definitely think that that pool is going to bring a
different element to the to the court.
But yeah, it's it's something that that I think stands out
when you watch Jordan Poole and something that we we saw already
in the first couple preseason games.
All right, man, this is exciting.
Not only do we get to see these guys back at it, but man, the

(23:38):
preseason wraps up next week, but we still got two games to
talk about. So let's take a quick break.
When we come back, we will bringin John Deshazer, radio analyst
for you New Orleans Pelicans, and we will break down what we
saw down Under and get you readyfor Birmingham and Orlando.
I know they're playing the Rockets over there and they're
playing the Magic. We'll do that when we come back
on the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast.

(23:58):
Fellas, I don't know about y'all.
It was so nice to actually see basketball, not just practice.
We're talking practice and that got me excited.
But JD, we'll start with you. And then, Jim, how nice was it
to just actually see the Pelicans in their jerseys on a
basketball court playing basketball again?
I mean, I think the main thing for me was just seeing the
newness, the new guys. Yeah, getting back to the

(24:20):
season, obviously is, is is exciting in its own, but to see
the new guys and see how they kind of adjust to each other and
those kind of things. I just wanted to see what they
look like as a collective unit. Of course, you know, we're far
from the fence product, but justto see them out there running
around being aggressive, you know, those kinds of things, I
wanted to see that. It was great to see.

(24:42):
You know, Gus, I mean I get thisway even for summer league.
I like having something 10. You mean I have I can write
about a guy had a bunch of rebounds.
I can write about Sadiq Bay madesome 3 pointers.
I have something tangible to kind of grasp onto instead of
generalizations about what we expect to happen in different
quotes that may or may not have a lot of details.
So yeah, I as a writer in particular, I love having the

(25:05):
chance to really give some objective criteria and some data
on performance, even if it is topreseason games in Australia.
No doubt. Look, obviously it's a little
different with the team being literally on the other side of
the planet, but 4:30 AM and 11:00 PM, the two games when
they tipped, I think a lot of people didn't get a chance to
see it, but maybe not. So we'll talk a little bit about

(25:28):
that before we get into the breakdowns and things that
nature guys, we we saw them at practice for a couple of days
and then going in there. But before they tipped off, was
there anything you wanted to see?
Like for me, I wanted to see thethe the continuation of what I
saw at at camp, Jim and JD in that competitiveness, the ball
movement, the three-point shooting firm.

(25:49):
I'm telling people that like we got scores, we got ball
handlers, but we got to see it only in practice.
So I want to see that continue. And before we break down in
those two games, I feel like I was watching practice again,
Jim, if that makes any sense. What, what?
What was something that you wanted to make sure you saw in
two games? I think kind of the pace that
they played with, just how aggressive they were.

(26:10):
You know, you mentioned, you know, some of the we talked
about the intensity I think lastweek that we wanted to see carry
over and I really thought we gota pretty good glimpse of that as
well. But just to see, you know, how
how they move the ball like you,you mentioned that as well.
Just the tempo that they played with, the pace that they played
with. I was really happy with that,
especially in the second game inAustralia.

(26:30):
JD. Yeah, I mean, it was an
unveiling for me. So it was something I really
enjoy seeing. I'm, you know, to see, I think
Jim said the operative word for me, aggression.
I wanted to see these guys be aggressive.
And that's that's the attitude. You want to see him take all the
time because look, that's what the NBA is now.
That's you replicate the Champs,right?
And the Champs are Oklahoma Cityand Oklahoma City is an

(26:51):
aggressive team. And so you got to be the man,
you know, to beat them or beat the man and whatever it is that
Rick Flair said. But whatever it is, you kind of
want to be what that that that man is in order to be able to
unseat him. And so to see the team
aggressive, the ball movement, the the three-point shooting.
And again, I want to see the attempts rise from last year

(27:11):
because that was something we talked about all the time.
The pills don't take enough threes.
So all those things kind of rolled in together.
But for me mainly it was just the aggression.
I want to see a team that's going to get after it all the
time. It doesn't matter who's playing
because this team looks like they're going to be really,
really deep. So when you have that kind of
quality depth, really you can give it all you have because you

(27:34):
know you've got some quality guys behind you and you don't
have to save anything. There you go a little depth.
That's something else we talked about here as well.
So two games down under game oneone O 797.
The pills took that first 115 points and 16 minutes guys first
hand Williamson kind of like when you know that second-half
of the season last year. Trey Murphy man 18 points in 19

(27:57):
minutes. Jordan Poole 11 points and 20
Jose Hawk had 11 points there aswell in a game two 127 to 92.
Sadiq Bay, somebody we talked about in the last podcast, Jim
had 21 points to lead the pals. Poole had 15 fears got the start
and 12 points in that game. Me see 10, Hawk 14.

(28:17):
So take those two games, Jim, we'll start with you.
What? What did you think that stood
out in those two games? Yeah, I thought the I really
like the way that they progressed from the first game
to the second game. And by the way, too, I wanted to
mention, I think this is something that off air that Todd
Graffinini talked about with us was that I think it helped to
play against these teams from Australia because not only had

(28:40):
they already started their season, so they were kind of in
a little bit more of a rhythm. But I think the intensity was
there because, I mean, some of these players are this is the
only chance that they'll they might get in their career to
play against NBA players. So they wanted to play as as
well as they possibly could. If you're playing against
another NBA team and it's preseason game number one of

(29:00):
some of these teams have say 6 preseason games, you might not
have the same kind of edge to the basketball.
I thought for preseason that there was some good intensity
and there was some good, just, it just seemed like it mattered,
you know what I mean? To, to both teams.
So I credit the, the 2 Australian teams for bringing,
bringing the level of play up, Ithink from what we might expect

(29:23):
in the, in the very start of preseason.
But just overall, I I I just like the way that the Pelicans
went from game one was a little looked a little bit like, OK,
this is the first quote UN quotegame that they've played in
months to the second game where it just looked a lot sharper.
Yeah, I mean, I, I really can echo everything Jim's saying.
I mean, the competitiveness really caught my attention.

(29:44):
And that's what you want to see.You want to see those guys
getting after, you know, you can't really gauge it all the
time because when teams are practicing against each other
and they're practicing hard and,you know, things might get a
little chippy from time to time,but they're going against each
other. And so you really don't get a
chance to see what it might be like until they play someone
who's not them. And now you see how they really
can turn it up defensively, offensively, all those things.

(30:06):
But just the competitiveness of it, You know, the first game a
little bit closer than I, you know, close for my liking.
I kind of want but but again, togo out in a competitive
atmosphere because as Jim said, you know, you play another NBA
team and you might not get the same kind of run.
You might not get the same kind of care.
You might not get the same kind of look at the scoreboard and
and you feel a little bit of tension there.

(30:28):
But when you're playing against somebody else that you don't
know who's trying to prove something against you.
And obviously those teams and you know, the Australian teams
are trying to prove something, you know, to themselves.
And the Pelicans are having to rebel that saying, OK, repel
that, excuse me saying, OK, we're an NBA team and you know,
we can we can put this together on you.
And so it was good to see him. The first game was a little bit

(30:49):
adverse to see the Pelicans kindof handle that adversity and the
second game a little bit, you know, jump out ahead and see how
you how well you can front run from that standpoint.
So I thought a lot was accomplished there.
Jim John's kind of touching on it right there.
Is that part of the early benefit of getting these two
games against, as Graph says, teams that are in season and
then you add the road trip. I know a lot has been made of 20

(31:12):
hours on a plane there, 20 hoursback, whatever.
But you know, the bonding thing you hear coaches and players
talk a lot about. Do you think this is a
beneficial thing I do? Yeah, I think it was.
It also helped to that they, I think we'll just confuse people
if I try to bring up what days everything happened, especially
with them being a day ahead, butthey basically had four or five

(31:34):
days between when they landed and they played their first
game. I do think if they played, had
to play a game the next day, it would have been a massive
adjustment as far as we don't even have any idea what time it
is. But I definitely think it was
beneficial, and I think it's beneficial too, that they're
going to have more than a week from the time that they've come
back from this trip to when theyhave to play another preseason

(31:55):
game. They can kind of have a a little
bit of a second training camp inMetairie and then get ready to
play the game on the 14th in Birmingham against Houston.
Yeah, You know, I think it's underplayed a lot.
I mean, people don't like to hear athletes and, and
professional sports teams, you know, complain about travel and
those kind of things. But it's a real thing.
It is a real thing, especially when you're talking about that

(32:16):
kind of travel. So it does take a little bit of
an adjustment for your body and,you know, things that just kind
of catch up, you might be a little discombobulated for a day
and a half before you kind of, you know, figure things out.
I remember going to London a fewyears ago and it took me a 2-3
days to kind of get right, but before I was In Sync.
And so now you're talking about athletes, and these guys are

(32:37):
fine-tuned and they're accustomed to doing things at a
certain time, a certain way. And so it takes a little bit of
an adjustment. Yeah, no doubt.
I've done the London thing too. And JD, your brain just, you
know, can't function a little bit.
Do it. So that's why you're going to
have a few days off here before you get to practice towards the
end of the week and get ready for two more preseason games.
We'll do a touch on here in a little bit, John, in your field,

(33:00):
Jim, in your field. People walk up to you, Todd.
So and so look well, Zion, William said, right.
I mean, and it's almost like a adouble meaning to that phrase
because how Zion looked, the rest of the world got to kind of
see what we've seen a very nice looking chiseled version of Z.
And then how he looks also meanshow he looks on the court.

(33:22):
So Jim, in both of those, how did Zion look to you?
Yeah, I mean, I think he was excellent.
He was able to get to the basketpretty much at will.
I mean, we see him do that in the NBA all the time as well.
But I mean, yeah, he looks really good physically.
He really played just the first half of both of these games, but
was able to be very productive in the minutes that he was out
there. So I mean, there was no, he did

(33:45):
nothing that surprised me really, nothing that I hadn't
seen before. But I do think it's encouraging
that he seems to be in in the condition that he is, that he is
in right now going into the season.
Yeah, that's a big thing. I I don't even needed to.
I didn't even need to see him really play the exhibition
games, to be honest with you, because you knew he would play
phenomenal just from the way he looked and the attitude he's

(34:06):
taking this offseason. You keep saying every year, you
know, we need Zion to be in thiskind of shape.
We need Zion to be top, you know, tip top, physical
condition. And you're waiting and you're
waiting. And look, there have been some
years where Zion's reported and we've been like, you know, he
looks pretty good. Well, that's that's been nothing
compared to this year. I mean, you can throw all those
other years away and say this guy looks like a totally

(34:30):
different guy. And when you when you're in that
kind of physical condition, but you got it.
And we've seen Zion like, you know, not be in that kind of
condition and be really at the height of his powers.
Nobody can stop him. Now you now you extrapolate and
you say, man, if this guy looks like this, we know how he's
going to play. So really the only question is,

(34:51):
you know, how many games is he going to play?
Because you you just feel like he's going to be phenomenal when
he's out there. So it's just a matter of having
them out there enough. That's a good point.
You know, with what we do when we get asked these questions,
I've kind of perfected A10 to 22nd response, right with like a
a specific. So I'll do that in this aspect.

(35:12):
In game two, there was a sequence guys, where Zion got
the rebound, threw it full courtto Looney who got the dunk and
then like a play or two later, he blocks a shot at the rim.
So we saw a block, we saw a rebound that led to offensive
points in game one. It was vintage Z, right?
One against three, dunking, spinning in the paint, passing

(35:36):
and then dribbling down the baseline.
We, we kind of saw the resume inrepertoire.
But to your point, John, when you're in that kind of shape,
the defensive side really, you know, amplifies.
And when we see him at the peak of his powers as the phrase that
you use, he's also getting it done on the defensive side,
which leaves the fast breaks, transition points, things that
get people standing up in the arena, don't they?

(35:57):
Yeah. And we've seen Z do these
things, but in small bites, small spurts now in this kind of
physical condition, because Thisis why you want him to be in
this kind of physical condition.You can do it for longer
stretches, you know, and you don't worry so much about him
giving out a gas or those kinds of things.
You know, I thought last year when he came back on the innings
on the menace restriction, you know, he's playing 3032 minutes.

(36:20):
I thought he hit a string where he was one of the top, I would
say top 1512 players in the NBA where even in that limited
amount of time he was able to produce some triple double S.
He was producing double double S.
He's going to high assist. He couldn't be stopped.
And it was like, if this guy shows up and plays this way,

(36:42):
this team is going to be something to reckon with because
he's got that kind of magnetism to him to where he can carry a
team for stretches of games. And he might be able to carry a
team for, you know, for like 2 1/2 weeks where he'll put up
numbers where you like, Oh my goodness, this is all NBA type
level play. Jim, we saw Zion 15 and 16, then

(37:05):
we saw, you know, Trey 18 and 19and you and I, we always talk on
camera, off camera. This is a guy that sat in our
office and said I want to be an All Star player this year.
He's that good. Saw some three, saw some dunks
in game one from him. What did you think of Trey
Murphy's debut? Yeah, I mean, I thought he
played really well. You know, unfortunately he sat
out the second game. I guess the, the team is off of

(37:26):
several days this week, so it's going to be a little while
before we get some more information on and updates on
some of these injuries and hopefully nothing that was too
serious or anything that's goingto be a concern going forward.
But I mean, he, he clicked rightback in and played as well as he
did throughout last season. So I mean, we, they had multiple
guys that played really well in the first half of the first game

(37:48):
and then didn't didn't play it at all or maybe just a little
bit in the second-half. But I thought we saw plenty from
him just in the amount of time that he was on the court.
Yeah, and I got to piggyback in there.
I got to jump in here because I'm with Z.
That windmill that Trey did, he cheated us.
He he could have done, you know,a typical Trey Murphy kind of
windmill that would have broughteverybody, you know, not just up

(38:10):
out of the seat, but, you know, kind of running around the gym.
So, you know, we're looking forward to seeing that kind of
Trey Murphy. But you know, all all kidding
aside, I mean, we've seen him add a little something every
year, add a little something every year.
And really he's obviously got All Star ability.
But you know, to see him put it together because we saw him
drive a little bit more. Now we've seen him make maybe,

(38:31):
you know, be able to take peopleoff the dribble.
We've seen him take contested shots.
Now you know, he's he's getting active on the offensive
rebounds. So those kinds of things will
round his game out because, you know, he can't just be a
three-point shooter anymore. Anybody, everybody knows that
about him. So they're going to play in
different ways. Yeah, yeah, he'll get loose with
the threes because he's got Z out there.
And of course the gravity of Z will get you some open shots,

(38:55):
but he's got to be able to create shots different ways, and
he's beginning to do that. How about the fact that his very
first basket, I think maybe a minute into the first game, was
a mid range shot too, where he dealed up and hit a mid range.
I was like this is this is nice if we're going to sneak him, add
that like you said, JD every every offseason he comes back
with something and maybe he'll start, you know, giving us some

(39:17):
mid range shots as well to add to everything else that he does.
Yeah, mid range is, but I don't know why players look at mid
range games like it's a dirty word.
I mean, mid range, it's still points, right?
I mean, you can still accumulatesass that way and you can keep
defenders off balance that way. So it's good to see him, you
know, kind of get into that and say, OK, I can be effective
here, too. It's to y'all's point to JD, I

(39:40):
always hear that that word space, well, there's a lot of
space in that mid range everybody elbow and stuff that
teams are giving you go ahead and take it here as well.
One of the other things that kind of stood out that leads us
to our next topic here is look, obviously Z trade are going to
get their attention here as well.
The famous Oprah, you know thingyou get a car, you get AI felt
like watching the Pels in these two games.

(40:01):
You get a shot, you get a shot, everybody gets a shot.
Look, you can't have 15 points and 16 minutes with Zion, 18 to
19 minutes with Trey pull 11, soand so forth and so on.
If the ball isn't being shared and shots aren't being made.
So Jim would start with you. We talked about Zion, we talked
about Trey 2-3 other guys. Perhaps that maybe stood out to
you because I feel like you can name some.

(40:23):
Yeah, I mean, I want to leave some for JD as well, but I mean,
a couple of guys that I thought I wanted to mention was Jeremiah
Fears. Just like the team overall
played a lot better in the second game.
I thought he made a good step. I mean, one of the things that I
I keep mentioning posting on social media, kind of trying to
write about with him is, you know, he's still, he's dealing

(40:44):
with some inefficiency as a point guard in terms of his
shooting percentages. But he was much better in the
second game than the first game,as well as what he did in summer
league. He reduced his turnovers, I
think from the first game of thesecond game.
Those are two areas that he's going to work on.
But I think you see a lottery picks, point guard lottery picks
come into the league and sometimes you say, you know, I

(41:06):
don't know if this guy's going to be able to get into the paint
or maybe his shot, his form needs improvement.
I don't know if that's going to come around, but with him, I
feel like he can get into the the lane at ease.
And even though he hasn't shot great, if you look at summer
league plus the preseason game so far, but he was much better
in the second game. His form looks fine.
So I I just feel like you can see the the the foundation of

(41:29):
this guy being a really good player and it's just a matter of
him kind of improving and tweaking a couple things.
Second guy I wanted to mention was Jordan Poole.
We talked about in the offseason, you know, kind of
what are some of the things thathe can bring to the team that
maybe are a little bit differentthan CJ McCollum in terms of his
style of play. He had 13 free throws total in

(41:49):
the two games and he's also a great free throw shooter.
He led the League One year in percentage and he's always been
up around 90%. So I like that part of it too,
just seeing his aggressiveness and how much he can do off the
dribble. He just gives you a little bit
more kind of juice to the offense and somebody that can,
you know, like I said, draw fouls.
So I think those are two of the guys that really I, I took note

(42:12):
of and stood out to me. Yeah, I think, I think the guy
that jumped out to me and you guys are spoken about him
before, it's Siddiq Bait. You know, Siddiq Bait is a
legitimate NBA starter. And that's the kind of death
that you that you have to have in the NBA because if he's
called upon to start, he's accustomed to that.
He plays, he scores 14 a game and the guy shoots 35% from

(42:35):
three. He's done it.
He's done this for a while and he's done it pretty well.
So to be able to have that kind of guy as one of your supporting
cast, look, I will be, I will bevery disappointed this season if
the Pelicans don't have one of the most productive benches in
the NBA, I'll be very disappointed because they've got
some quality guys there. And also it looks like, you

(42:56):
know, Eve Meesey looks like he'staking a step.
Looks like Jordan Hawkins is taking a step.
I, I like some of the stuff thatI saw from Harlem.
And he he looks like a little, he looks a little sturdier.
He looks like he's able to get into the paint a little bit
better. And, and, and those are things
again, you notice about your NBAcareers, you're going along.
If you're young guys, you're saying, OK, what do do I need to
do to improve? All those guys going to be too

(43:18):
stubborn to do it. Are they going to be humble
enough to say, OK, I got to workon this if I want to be better
and those guys have worked on some things to be better?
You know, JD, you mentioned Eve Meese.
I thought the combination of himand Carlo Mackovic over the two
games, both of those guys comingoff the bench as Biggs, was
really impressive. The fact that they ran the floor

(43:40):
so well. I'm sure that some of the
Australian bigs are not used to this kind of athleticism and
speed from the centers that theygo up against.
But both Eve and Carlo had a bunch of did a ton of damage at
the rim. They both had a bunch of dunks.
They just kind of outran people up and down the court.
And I do think that, you know, fingers crossed with a healthier
season that both of those guys are going to be able to slot

(44:02):
into more of that role then maybe what they did last year
where, you know, you're maybe you're asking them a little bit
too much, asking a little bit too much of them offensively.
They just can be opportunistic guys that can, you know, get out
of the. Dunks and Tippins and and score
on fast breaks and that was a really good sign, I thought from
both of those guys. Yeah, think about those.
Those guys can be your backup five and four.

(44:24):
I mean, that's that's a load because you're not going to eat
me. See who started the entirety of
his rookie season. And you're talking about Carlo
Mackovic, who started some gameson the stretch, but who I
thought showed some great flashes down the stretch where
he looks like a guy who really belongs in the NBA.
So you're talking about two quality guys behind Looney and
Zion. You know, if if that's if,

(44:46):
that's the rotation that Willie Green's going to go with.
Right. The real story though, was
Jordan Poole warming up with sunglasses.
What'd you all think about that?I mean, apparently the
Australian broadcast thought it was absolutely magnificent to be
playing with shades. Do we want to see that going or?
You know, the way I look at it too is I love the fact this is a
guy that played on the big stage.

(45:06):
They won titles, things that nature.
I kind of like that he brings a little of that to to the team,
right? I mean, I, I love that.
Well, The thing is, I I I did see where those are prescription
and he wears those. Yeah, he wears those before he
puts in his contact during the game.
So I saw that Kevin Durant had alittle No, no, not Kevin Durant.
Kevin Garnett, excuse me, had a little issue with it.
And so it's like, no, he's he's not just out here flexing.

(45:28):
He's actually in need of these. Now.
Could he probably warm up in in contacts and stuff?
He plays in contacts. Could he warm up in contacts?
I'm sure he could. But I mean, it's a good look for
him. I mean, you know, he looks wild
with it. So, you know, but but does he,
does he have to do it? Maybe not.
But but he does have a reason for them, and it's a legitimate

(45:50):
reason. I'm glad you.
You clarified that JDI wasn't totally sure either what the
story behind that was. I guess we should.
We could probably ask Herb Jonestoo.
Like it. Would he ever wear sunglasses
while he's warm enough? I think I know the answer to
that. Yeah, they they did bring that
up multiple times on the broadcast.
Yeah. I.

(46:11):
I saw that and like I said, I, I, I, I'd seen that Kevin
Garnett had a real issue, you know, because Kevin Garnard,
Kevin Garnett feels like he's the guardian of old school.
So he's got to, you know, say something about it and they said
he had a real issue with it. But I also saw where, you know,
they are prescription and so youknow, again, does he have to
wear them during warmups? Because he wears contacts
through the game. So obviously he's not wearing

(46:32):
them during the games. So does he really need them?
Probably not, but they look good.
Gotcha, gotcha. Look, I like I said, I mean, if
we want to start doing the podcast like this from here on
out, I got I got the blue lands,I got the red lands on purpose,
team colored ones. Got about four minutes left
here. Guys.
I kind of want to touch on, obviously two games in the
books, two games still to go. You're going to take on the

(46:53):
Rockets in Birmingham for a homegame.
Obviously it's home of the squadron, the team's G League
team. And then the 1st Rd. game in the
States will be against Orlando aday later, the 14th and 16th,
Tuesday, Thursday of next week. So Jim, when you look at those
two games, what's the things that you kind of want to see
this team do? Yeah.
I mean, I think first of all, both of these games are pretty

(47:15):
good tests because as we know inpreseason, we don't see the true
representation of opponents usually that you're not looking
at the minute distribution beingthe same.
But I think in both cases with Houston and Orlando, these are
very deep teams. So I think you're going to go up
against talent no matter how these head coaches decide to
implement those players in thosetwo games.

(47:35):
But I think it'll be a good test.
But I just want to see them carry over a lot of what they
did maybe more in the second game in Australia in terms of
how fast they played the ball movement.
It just it looked like they had,they're starting to develop some
chemistry, which I think was really encouraging.
Obviously you have to take it with a little bit of a grain of

(47:56):
salt. Playing against teams from
Australia, no disrespect to them, but the the the level of
talent obviously is going to go way up.
So I'm curious to see how they do and how much they can carry
that over into the following week when they start the regular
season against Memphis. Yeah, I I want to see just as
Jim mentioned, I want to see theeven keel.

(48:17):
Just I want to see him here and not, you know, the swings.
I want to just see him play evenagainst those two teams.
You know, again, as Jim mentioned, they might not be
playing the starters. They not might not be playing
all their frontline guys, but whoever plays for them, you
know, you're going to get a really stiff test from them.
But the Pelicans have the kind of depth where they might decide
to say, yeah, we don't have to play all my guys either.

(48:39):
So you want to just make sure that everybody is attuned to
what you're trying to accomplish.
And if that's playing fast, if that's playing, you know, you
know, really competitive, if that's even, if that's playing
chippy, just want to make sure everyone's attuned to what you
want to do and what you're trying to accomplish if you're
the Pelicans. You know, be interesting to see.
Obviously the Rockets are going to be a story this season that a

(49:00):
really good year last year, gentlemen.
And they added a guy you may have heard of and Kevin Durant
in Orlando has always been a tough team for the Pells.
A lot of size there as well. So it's kind of one of those
things I want to, you know, check out and look at.
But overall, guys, your final 30seconds, as you know, hey, we're
off and running, man. The preseasons here are right
around the corner to October 22nd to start the season.
JD Final thoughts and then Jim. Well, beautiful thing I like

(49:22):
about the NBA preseason is you get to see the stars.
You can see these guys play at some point in time.
You know, you saw Zion in Australia.
Hopefully we'll see him here in some of these preseason games.
So I like that because it bringsout the competitiveness,
competitiveness in these teams because their chemistry
experiment, they got some new parts that they got to fit in,
whether it's Jordan Poole, whether it's Kevon Looney, you

(49:43):
know, they got to fit some guys in and see where those guys kind
of help them the best. And so that's what I want to see
the rest of this preseason. I like to see that part of it.
Yeah. And I want to see, you know,
hopefully Herb Jones will play in the first in the next
preseason game and we'll get to see him.
And I, I just want it, it'd be good to see the starting lineup
of what it's projected to be getto play in these last couple

(50:06):
preseason games so that they at least have some time under their
belt before we start counting the games.
For real all. Right, let's see what happens.
We'll be back again with anotheredition of the New Orleans
Pelicans Podcast. For this one though, John the
Shazer Radio analyst for the Pels.
And Jim, I can offer pelicans.com.
Go check out everything they do as well over on the website.
As always, a pleasure. Thanks for tuning us in.
We'll see you next week as the Pels get ready to wrap up the

(50:30):
preseason. Get ready for the regular season
right here on the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast.
Thanks for listening to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast.
Join us three times per week on pelicans.com, the Pelicans
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(50:54):
score I Can offer and G Cat under score 17.
We'll see you next time right here on the New Orleans Pelicans
Podcast.