April 27, 2023 • 18 mins
On today’s Pelicans Podcast presented by Seatgeek, Joe Cardosi and Jim Eichenhofer are joined once again by NOLA.com’s Christian Clark to break down the season of New Orleans Pelicans center Jonas Valanciunas.
They discuss the gritty big man’s importance to the roster, the reasons behind his most effective stretches, and what to expect from the Lithuanian next season when Zion rejoins the roster.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome into the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast presented by Seat Geek,
a podcast dedicated to everything you need to know about
the squad. The New Orleans Pelicans podcast starts right now.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Who Welcome to the Pelicans Podcast presented by seat Geek.
I am Joe Cardosi, joined by the Party Rock and
Jim Ikenhoffer. Because we are partying today, we are continuing
our series of player podcasts, sort of wrapping up the season.
We will be talking about mister Jonas Valanchonis, the big Man,
(00:44):
the Big Lithuanian today and it's gonna be a fun
one because you know, Yonas is one of those underappreciated players.
If you check Twitter sometimes, Jim, which I don't suggest,
you will see a lot of slanders sometimes at Jonas.
But then when he is featured in the offense some games,
you see, oh, those same people kind of love Jonas.
(01:04):
Sometimes he is misunderstood, I believe, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
I think the biggest thing with him is that you
have to make sure that you take advantage of the
strength that he has, which, as you mentioned, was you know,
if you can run the offense through him, you can
use him as kind of a focal point and anchor
of what you're doing on the offensive end, you can
definitely get a lot out of his strengths. I mean,
he had a great close to the regular season where
(01:28):
he was I mean, he's always getting you double doubles,
but I mean he had a bunch of games at
the end where he had a double double by halftime.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I mean yawned at it, right, yeh, yeah, another Jonas
double double? Who cares?
Speaker 3 (01:37):
He was making just a big impact and a big
imprint on games on a regular basis, And I think
a lot of that was because they just made the
conscious decision to make sure that they ran some plays
at the beginning of the game through him. It's easy
when you have the offensive firepower that the Pelicans have,
even when there's some guys out to kind of forget, like, hey,
we have this seven foot guy in the paint that
(01:58):
can dominate and back people physical yeah score, you know
on some of these like five foot hooks where it's
like he's guarded by guys that just aren't big enough
to do anything to stop him. So, I mean that
part of it was very valuable. But I think the
other thing too was, as I noted in the article
the recap, that I wrote about him. He's the only
player on the team that played played seventy plus games
(02:19):
the last two seasons. So I mean he's been just
so reliable from the standpoint of that, you know he's
going to be on the floor.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah, and he and he played through a lot this season.
That's the thing. He really was struggling sometimes. He was
he was nicked up pretty much all season long and
continued to play, and.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
He also played, so he ended up with seventy nine
games this year. He only he played in every back
to back, both halves, except for one time he missed
one half of the back to back. So I mean
he there was a bunch of situations I'm sure where
he was banged up and he could have said like, hey,
I need a game off, or maybe the team was
telling him like, hey, you know you should think about
if you're worn out, that you should take this night off,
(02:56):
and he never did, so I mean he I think
he said he wanted to play in eighty two games.
That was his goal, and he's come close to doing
that a few times in his career. He played eighty
plus games three times in three separate seasons for Toronto.
So I mean It's something that he's done since the
day that he walked into the league.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
You know, maybe that's why Jonas and Herb Jones are
great fishing partners. They just love to get in there
and do the work. A big proponent of a Jonas
getting fed the ball was our previous guest, mister Antonio
Daniels used to say it all the time on the
Bally's broadcast. And you know, as much as we like
to joke around by like hey, maybe Willie Green hurt him,
you did start to see Yonas featured a bit more
(03:34):
down the stretch, and like you said, the double doubles
just kept piling up, and you see a lot of
these teams sort of going small ball center and whatnot.
You realize having a legitimate big is effective and useful.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
It really is, and it's something that you can use
to counteract some of these other teams that feel like
they can just go with small lineups and get away
with it. I love the fact that the Pelicans were
in a position a lot of times where they made
the other team adjust to them because Jonas was so
dominant and doing so much damage. So it seems like, really,
I'm gonna just pick a number out of the air.
It seems like ninety percent of the time teams are
(04:08):
trying to downsize when they adjust. Yeah, so it's it
was good to see that the Pelicans at least were
to some extent able to kind of counteract that trend
across trend across the NBA. Yeah, and a lot of
the reason for that was Yonis. You're still gonna have
situations where you have to go to Larry Nance Junior, right,
and you know, go small, go more athletic. But Jonis,
(04:28):
like I said, was a huge factor in the Pelicans
finishing the regular season pretty strong.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Christian Clark another big proponent of Yonis and excited to
talk to him about, Well, you know what we could
see ahead for yonis what what we might see in
terms of adjustments with Yonis in the lineup. So let's
talk to NOLA dot COM's Christian Clark oh joining us
(04:53):
on the Pelicans podcast as if by magic once again.
We had him all earlier in the week, and we
just could not stay away from the man. I had
to call Christian Clark once again and talk about one
of our favorite guys on the team, mister Jonas Valenschunas Uh,
we're just glad that you were able to join us
(05:14):
once again. Christian. Hopefully you're not getting attacked by dogs
this time. Uh, just glad that you were able to
join the Pelicans podcast.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
How are you doing well, guys? I was on the
fence about doing this, but then you told me we're
going to talk about the beak scientists. Yeah, that's the
way I can't do this.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, Christian.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
I think when when I was going through the list
of people to kind of pair with each player, I
thought of you immediately. With Jonas Valentunis, because I know
you've had a lot of funny exchanges with him. There
was one in particular I remember where I think if
you can, if you can refresh my memory, I think
you guys were talking about steak maybe or or how
much he could how much he could put away, and
(05:52):
he and you said something to the effect of, you know,
you look like you could eat a lot of that,
and he was like, is that a compliment? It's hard
to tell when Yonas is threatening you or being funny. Yes,
I'm not sure if you remember that exchange I was.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
I was asking every Pelicans player was your favorite restaurant
in New Orleans for this story we did and I
asked JV and he said Doris Metropolitan and I was like,
what's your favorite thing in the menu. He's like different
cut of steak every day. And it was like, look,
you look at a guy who can put away as
steak and he's like, is that a compliment or you're
insulting me? And I was like mostly mostly.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Even if it wasn't, I feel like if a guy
that looks like Yonas is saying is that a compliment,
I'm just gonna say yes.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Yonas has been a lot of fun to cover on
the team. You know, it seems like we talk about
former players all the time that we miss and the
players that were brought in that sort of made us
not miss him so much. I loved Steven Adams man,
I loved his personality and what he brought uh to
a press conference, But you know what, Jonas just has
a little different vibe to him and he and he
(06:56):
sort of makes me not miss Steven Adams so much.
I mean, what are some of your favorite moments you've
had covering him? I know he had a tough season,
you know, he played through a lot of pain. Uh,
he was playing. You know, hobbled a lot, but you know,
like we talked about with c. J. McCollum, he was
out there. He was he was actually playing the games
despite being nicked up. You know what I mean. What
did you take away from covering him this season?
Speaker 4 (07:18):
Well, I think if you're a fan and you watch
the pre of the postgame pressers, you know, a lot
of times he's pretty He's pretty serious in front of
like when he knows the cameras are going to be
on them, like you put on like the professional facade,
and I don't know, it's a while he'll he'll let
a joke crack. But if you get him about the cameras,
it's pretty funny. He likes comedy. I hot. He's a
(07:41):
huge fan of the The Boat. He liked to do
a lot bore At lines, and you know, I talked
to him about that a little bit and he's like, yeah, man,
I'm like obsessed with Borat. I'm I'm the number one
boar At fan. Uh. It's been a way for a
long time. So really funny, dude, if you get to normal.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
It's funny just to hear him in his accent, do
the bar At voices. Because you know so many you know,
American people do that all the time, and it's like
almost a part of their personality.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
It's just it's just funny. For him specifically, I do
want to he's hanging on the rim though, just once,
just once.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
But yeah, I mean, he's he's he's really funny. I
think he's maybe the most underrated sense of humor on
the team because, like you said, it's not something that
the stern sees too much. And even you know, he's
pretty he is a pretty serious guy. But I think
one of the things that's intimidating about him too is
you can't tell sometimes whether he's being serious or whether
(08:38):
he's joking.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
But like I think what Joe.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Alluded to earlier, to you, if you're not sure, you
better you better go with he's being serious.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
He's seven, I'm just joking.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
In terms of him him on the court this year, though,
it seemed like one of the bigger developments of the
last month plus of the regular season was just the
team kind of shifting its focus to making sure that
the offense ran through him. I mean, what did you
think of the way that he played in the last
month plus of the regular season and just the kind
of the shift in strategy or offensive approach that the
(09:09):
Pelicans had late in the year.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
Yeah, it was something I kind of noticed in that
that seriesly against the Houston Rockets in Houston. They played
them twice in three days in mid March, and this
was kind of coming off of that bad loss to
the Los Angeles Lakers at home. You know, I think
the Pelicans met a couple of times and talked about, hey,
here's some things that need to change for us moving forward.
I think one of the things they talked about was
(09:33):
we need to involve you know, Jonas in the offense
a little bit more. You know, while while Zion is
out there. I can understand that, you know why he
would take a step back, you know, like him and
Zion both they're gonna like the score, you know, in
that paint, in that real estate around the rim. So
I get that. But you know, I think one of
the things that I was a little confused about was
(09:54):
when Zion went down in early January, why Yonis was
not emphasized a little bit more. I mean, he had
such a good first year at the Pelicans, and I
think it took him, you know, like two and a
half months to really find him again and involve them
a little bit more on the offense. And you know,
I thought it helped him out when they did, you know,
especially with no Zion in the lineup, it was just
(10:15):
a different wrinkle for them offensively, and I thought he
he had some really nice games there in the final
month of the season.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
I mean, we talked about how Yonas is sort of
a double double machine. You almost took it for granted,
how effective he was and just efficient. And you know,
in a lot of NBA lineups there's so much emphasis
on small ball and whatnot, and and just to have
a legitimate big who's physical in the paint, especially with
no Zion, it just seemed like it was massively important
to this team. And it almost seemed like we had
(10:47):
to refigure out how important the center position is sometimes
ins in terms of getting easy buckets. Uh. And I
know a lot of people have sort of slanderized Yonas,
you know, throughout the season, but you know, when he
has used effectively and when he's used to his strengths,
it just seems like he is a huge component of
this team. I mean, how would you like to see
(11:09):
him utilize more going forward. I know we have a
you know, this season has been a bunch of what
ifs and and when you know what what could have been?
But you know, jonas Is is in the lineup. He's
not a guy that you got to worry about missing
a lot of games for the most part. So what
do you expect to see from him, you know, going
forward into next season?
Speaker 4 (11:28):
Yeah, that's that's a great question. I mean, I just
think that when Zion is out there and kind of
controlling the offense, I think it's just natural that he's
going to take a step back on offense. And you
know that's okay, Like giant Is is so good, Like
I can, I can understand why. But you know, especially
like like I would, I would be post I would
(11:51):
definitely be making sure like I got him post of
touches in the minutes he's on the floor without Gian Like,
I think that just makes the Pelicans a better offense
in fifteen. I think we saw that in the final
month of the season. So like in the nine Zion minutes,
when he's out there, I think you just need to
be emphasizing him as supposed up thread every once in
a while. I'm not saying throw it to him on
(12:12):
every single possession or anything like that. But like there
was a noticeable uptick in the last month, and I
think it helped them it. You know, I think brandon
Ingram was like fantastic those those last I don't know,
ten to fifteen games or so. And I also think
part of the Pelicans offense looking better in that stretch
finally without Zion, was involving JB.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Moore on the defensive end of the court. I mean,
it seems like we've seen this trend. It's like a
gradual thing, and sometimes it seems like it accelerates a
little bit more each season. But obviously the center position
seems like it's been become more matchup dependent than any
other position on the court in terms of you know,
(12:52):
teams are going small with different lineups. I mean, how
do you see the future or just that trend of
you know, the Pelicans obviously this year with Larry Nance
and Jonis, the minutes were almost evenly split, whereas you know,
the season before that, I think Jonis, I mean, Larry
Nentce didn't play that many games because he was coming
back from an injury, but it was a little bit
(13:13):
more of a of a of a difference in terms
of your starter plays thirty ish minutes and then the
backup plays, you know, eighteen to twenty.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I mean, how do you.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
See that as far as just how that affects Jonas
in the future.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
Yeah, I think that was one of the major shifts
we saw this season. You know, I think in fourth quarters,
in clutch moments, the Pelicans' coaching staff oftentimes looked for
Larry Nantz Junior as opposed to Yonis. Larry played more
minutes per game in the fourth quarter than JV. If
you look at clutch minutes, Larry played more than him.
(13:48):
You know, Jonis played the most clutch minutes on the
Pelicans roster in twenty twenty one, twenty twenty two, and
he played the ninth most this past season. So I
think took a took a step back in terms of
how he was used and how often he was used
during clutch time. And I just think the Pelicans coaching
staff showed us that they prioritized defensive versatility at the
(14:11):
end of games, Like they wanted the option to be
able to switch. They would give up something and rebounding
with that, but but they just wanted to have that
that option to be able to switch and and not
just play drop in the pick and roll. And you know,
I think there was honestly, there was some good with that.
I mean, I think that was like Larry was a
big part of a reason why the Pelicans finished sixth
(14:33):
and defensive efficiency tied for their best ranking ever in
that category and franchise history, you know. At the same time,
like it's not all positive. I think JV is far
and away the best rebounder of their team, and they
really struggle to rebound a boat, you know, especially on
the defensive n when he's not in there. But yeah,
that was definitely a major trend we saw this year.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Yeah, I mean you said it.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
You're you're talking a lot of times about trade offs
that you know, you.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Might might be able to do to.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Perform better in one area, but you're gonna have to
give up something somewhere else, and that that's kind of
the back and forth and some of the challenges that
every coaching staff has across the league. But I mean,
is it the kind of thing, I mean, is there
any going back from the trend that is happening in
terms of it just seems like the NBA is continually
more suited towards you know, like the the six eight
(15:25):
six ' nine athletic center. It seems like, I mean,
not that long ago we had Roy Hibberts of the
world that were considered among the best centers in the league,
and then all of a sudden, a couple of years later,
the guy's not even in the on a roster anymore.
I mean, do you feel like that's just kind of
the direction that things are headed as far as lineups
and the kind of just the way that that teams
(15:46):
roll out lineups, not even just at the end of games,
but just overall.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
Yeah, I think a lot of the times, but I
don't think it necessarily has to be that way. I mean,
like Brook Lopez, you know, he's been one of the
best defensive players in basketball. He's like a true seven footer,
you know, he's such a such a talented defender. So
I just think they're you know, some really big guys
(16:13):
like who have that that traditional center hight, who are
so talented as defensive players that you could roll with them.
But yeah, I mean, I think we're only going to
see more of like the Larraness junior types and teams
kind of trying to mimic what the Golden State Warriors
have been able to do with with Draymond Green. But
(16:36):
I don't, Yeah, just it just I guess depends on
the player. And it's kind of interesting, like when you
look at what bigs the teams that make it to
the conference finals and make it to the championship have.
I mean, I think like the Sixers and the Nuggets
could obviously do it, you know, in part because those
two guys are so talented on defense. But it's like
dal Horford with the Celtics, right, it's got a Brook Lopez,
(16:59):
they have Giannis to help protect the rim to DeAndre Eyton.
I mean, I do think that like good bigs are
still really important in today's n behad.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah, I think a huge part of what Yonas brings
to the game is consistency. You know what he's bringing
to the court every night, you know the value of
what it is, and you know he's going to be
on the court. Christian, thanks so much for joining us
talking some Yonas today. I'm hoping you get to join
maybe Jonas and Herb on a fishing trip sometime, you know,
maybe crack some jokes and unfurrow that brow of his
(17:34):
in the off season. Very nice, Oh big thanks to
mister Christian Clark, friend of the pod, always reliable hopping
on with us, as is mister Jonas Valanciunas the subject
we talked about. Excited to see more of the Big Man,
(17:54):
the Lithuanian and the off season, more fishing picks and whatnot.
Maybe I'll find out the Beard bombs secrets. I don't know, Jim,
but we will be talking more and more players the
tomorrow will be talking to the graph about mister Herb
Jones and he is a big Herb Jones fan. As
you know, he's a big Yonis fan as well. I'm
(18:15):
sure he's a little sad he couldn't get on on
this one. But we will be talking Herb Jones with
Graft tomorrow and do not miss it. Thank you for
listening to the Pelicans Podcast presented by Seat Geek. I
am Joe Cardosi, that is Jim I can offer and
until then, good Bill.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Thanks for listening to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast presented
by Seat Geek. Join us three times per week on
Pelicans dot com, the Pelicans mobile app, or you can
subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. We'll see you next
time right here, on a New Orleans Pelicans podcast presented
by seat Geek
Welcome into the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast presented by Seat Geek,
a podcast dedicated to everything you need to know about
the squad. The New Orleans Pelicans podcast starts right now.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Who Welcome to the Pelicans Podcast presented by seat Geek.
I am Joe Cardosi, joined by the Party Rock and
Jim Ikenhoffer. Because we are partying today, we are continuing
our series of player podcasts, sort of wrapping up the season.
We will be talking about mister Jonas Valanchonis, the big Man,
(00:44):
the Big Lithuanian today and it's gonna be a fun
one because you know, Yonas is one of those underappreciated players.
If you check Twitter sometimes, Jim, which I don't suggest,
you will see a lot of slanders sometimes at Jonas.
But then when he is featured in the offense some games,
you see, oh, those same people kind of love Jonas.
(01:04):
Sometimes he is misunderstood, I believe, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:07):
I think the biggest thing with him is that you
have to make sure that you take advantage of the
strength that he has, which, as you mentioned, was you know,
if you can run the offense through him, you can
use him as kind of a focal point and anchor
of what you're doing on the offensive end, you can
definitely get a lot out of his strengths. I mean,
he had a great close to the regular season where
(01:28):
he was I mean, he's always getting you double doubles,
but I mean he had a bunch of games at
the end where he had a double double by halftime.
Speaker 2 (01:34):
I mean yawned at it, right, yeh, yeah, another Jonas
double double? Who cares?
Speaker 3 (01:37):
He was making just a big impact and a big
imprint on games on a regular basis, And I think
a lot of that was because they just made the
conscious decision to make sure that they ran some plays
at the beginning of the game through him. It's easy
when you have the offensive firepower that the Pelicans have,
even when there's some guys out to kind of forget, like, hey,
we have this seven foot guy in the paint that
(01:58):
can dominate and back people physical yeah score, you know
on some of these like five foot hooks where it's
like he's guarded by guys that just aren't big enough
to do anything to stop him. So, I mean that
part of it was very valuable. But I think the
other thing too was, as I noted in the article
the recap, that I wrote about him. He's the only
player on the team that played played seventy plus games
(02:19):
the last two seasons. So I mean he's been just
so reliable from the standpoint of that, you know he's
going to be on the floor.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
Yeah, and he and he played through a lot this season.
That's the thing. He really was struggling sometimes. He was
he was nicked up pretty much all season long and
continued to play, and.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
He also played, so he ended up with seventy nine
games this year. He only he played in every back
to back, both halves, except for one time he missed
one half of the back to back. So I mean
he there was a bunch of situations I'm sure where
he was banged up and he could have said like, hey,
I need a game off, or maybe the team was
telling him like, hey, you know you should think about
if you're worn out, that you should take this night off,
(02:56):
and he never did, so I mean he I think
he said he wanted to play in eighty two games.
That was his goal, and he's come close to doing
that a few times in his career. He played eighty
plus games three times in three separate seasons for Toronto.
So I mean It's something that he's done since the
day that he walked into the league.
Speaker 2 (03:11):
You know, maybe that's why Jonas and Herb Jones are
great fishing partners. They just love to get in there
and do the work. A big proponent of a Jonas
getting fed the ball was our previous guest, mister Antonio
Daniels used to say it all the time on the
Bally's broadcast. And you know, as much as we like
to joke around by like hey, maybe Willie Green hurt him,
you did start to see Yonas featured a bit more
(03:34):
down the stretch, and like you said, the double doubles
just kept piling up, and you see a lot of
these teams sort of going small ball center and whatnot.
You realize having a legitimate big is effective and useful.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
It really is, and it's something that you can use
to counteract some of these other teams that feel like
they can just go with small lineups and get away
with it. I love the fact that the Pelicans were
in a position a lot of times where they made
the other team adjust to them because Jonas was so
dominant and doing so much damage. So it seems like, really,
I'm gonna just pick a number out of the air.
It seems like ninety percent of the time teams are
(04:08):
trying to downsize when they adjust. Yeah, so it's it
was good to see that the Pelicans at least were
to some extent able to kind of counteract that trend
across trend across the NBA. Yeah, and a lot of
the reason for that was Yonis. You're still gonna have
situations where you have to go to Larry Nance Junior, right,
and you know, go small, go more athletic. But Jonis,
(04:28):
like I said, was a huge factor in the Pelicans
finishing the regular season pretty strong.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Christian Clark another big proponent of Yonis and excited to
talk to him about, Well, you know what we could
see ahead for yonis what what we might see in
terms of adjustments with Yonis in the lineup. So let's
talk to NOLA dot COM's Christian Clark oh joining us
(04:53):
on the Pelicans podcast as if by magic once again.
We had him all earlier in the week, and we
just could not stay away from the man. I had
to call Christian Clark once again and talk about one
of our favorite guys on the team, mister Jonas Valenschunas Uh,
we're just glad that you were able to join us
(05:14):
once again. Christian. Hopefully you're not getting attacked by dogs
this time. Uh, just glad that you were able to
join the Pelicans podcast.
Speaker 4 (05:22):
How are you doing well, guys? I was on the
fence about doing this, but then you told me we're
going to talk about the beak scientists. Yeah, that's the
way I can't do this.
Speaker 2 (05:31):
Yeah, Christian.
Speaker 3 (05:32):
I think when when I was going through the list
of people to kind of pair with each player, I
thought of you immediately. With Jonas Valentunis, because I know
you've had a lot of funny exchanges with him. There
was one in particular I remember where I think if
you can, if you can refresh my memory, I think
you guys were talking about steak maybe or or how
much he could how much he could put away, and
(05:52):
he and you said something to the effect of, you know,
you look like you could eat a lot of that,
and he was like, is that a compliment? It's hard
to tell when Yonas is threatening you or being funny. Yes,
I'm not sure if you remember that exchange I was.
Speaker 4 (06:06):
I was asking every Pelicans player was your favorite restaurant
in New Orleans for this story we did and I
asked JV and he said Doris Metropolitan and I was like,
what's your favorite thing in the menu. He's like different
cut of steak every day. And it was like, look,
you look at a guy who can put away as
steak and he's like, is that a compliment or you're
insulting me? And I was like mostly mostly.
Speaker 2 (06:29):
Even if it wasn't, I feel like if a guy
that looks like Yonas is saying is that a compliment,
I'm just gonna say yes.
Speaker 4 (06:35):
Uh.
Speaker 2 (06:36):
Yonas has been a lot of fun to cover on
the team. You know, it seems like we talk about
former players all the time that we miss and the
players that were brought in that sort of made us
not miss him so much. I loved Steven Adams man,
I loved his personality and what he brought uh to
a press conference, But you know what, Jonas just has
a little different vibe to him and he and he
(06:56):
sort of makes me not miss Steven Adams so much.
I mean, what are some of your favorite moments you've
had covering him? I know he had a tough season,
you know, he played through a lot of pain. Uh,
he was playing. You know, hobbled a lot, but you know,
like we talked about with c. J. McCollum, he was
out there. He was he was actually playing the games
despite being nicked up. You know what I mean. What
did you take away from covering him this season?
Speaker 4 (07:18):
Well, I think if you're a fan and you watch
the pre of the postgame pressers, you know, a lot
of times he's pretty He's pretty serious in front of
like when he knows the cameras are going to be
on them, like you put on like the professional facade,
and I don't know, it's a while he'll he'll let
a joke crack. But if you get him about the cameras,
it's pretty funny. He likes comedy. I hot. He's a
(07:41):
huge fan of the The Boat. He liked to do
a lot bore At lines, and you know, I talked
to him about that a little bit and he's like, yeah, man,
I'm like obsessed with Borat. I'm I'm the number one
boar At fan. Uh. It's been a way for a
long time. So really funny, dude, if you get to normal.
Speaker 3 (08:00):
It's funny just to hear him in his accent, do
the bar At voices. Because you know so many you know,
American people do that all the time, and it's like
almost a part of their personality.
Speaker 2 (08:09):
It's just it's just funny. For him specifically, I do
want to he's hanging on the rim though, just once,
just once.
Speaker 3 (08:17):
But yeah, I mean, he's he's he's really funny. I
think he's maybe the most underrated sense of humor on
the team because, like you said, it's not something that
the stern sees too much. And even you know, he's
pretty he is a pretty serious guy. But I think
one of the things that's intimidating about him too is
you can't tell sometimes whether he's being serious or whether
(08:38):
he's joking.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
But like I think what Joe.
Speaker 3 (08:40):
Alluded to earlier, to you, if you're not sure, you
better you better go with he's being serious.
Speaker 2 (08:45):
He's seven, I'm just joking.
Speaker 3 (08:47):
In terms of him him on the court this year, though,
it seemed like one of the bigger developments of the
last month plus of the regular season was just the
team kind of shifting its focus to making sure that
the offense ran through him. I mean, what did you
think of the way that he played in the last
month plus of the regular season and just the kind
of the shift in strategy or offensive approach that the
(09:09):
Pelicans had late in the year.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
Yeah, it was something I kind of noticed in that
that seriesly against the Houston Rockets in Houston. They played
them twice in three days in mid March, and this
was kind of coming off of that bad loss to
the Los Angeles Lakers at home. You know, I think
the Pelicans met a couple of times and talked about, hey,
here's some things that need to change for us moving forward.
I think one of the things they talked about was
(09:33):
we need to involve you know, Jonas in the offense
a little bit more. You know, while while Zion is
out there. I can understand that, you know why he
would take a step back, you know, like him and
Zion both they're gonna like the score, you know, in
that paint, in that real estate around the rim. So
I get that. But you know, I think one of
the things that I was a little confused about was
(09:54):
when Zion went down in early January, why Yonis was
not emphasized a little bit more. I mean, he had
such a good first year at the Pelicans, and I
think it took him, you know, like two and a
half months to really find him again and involve them
a little bit more on the offense. And you know,
I thought it helped him out when they did, you know,
especially with no Zion in the lineup, it was just
(10:15):
a different wrinkle for them offensively, and I thought he
he had some really nice games there in the final
month of the season.
Speaker 2 (10:25):
I mean, we talked about how Yonas is sort of
a double double machine. You almost took it for granted,
how effective he was and just efficient. And you know,
in a lot of NBA lineups there's so much emphasis
on small ball and whatnot, and and just to have
a legitimate big who's physical in the paint, especially with
no Zion, it just seemed like it was massively important
to this team. And it almost seemed like we had
(10:47):
to refigure out how important the center position is sometimes
ins in terms of getting easy buckets. Uh. And I
know a lot of people have sort of slanderized Yonas,
you know, throughout the season, but you know, when he
has used effectively and when he's used to his strengths,
it just seems like he is a huge component of
this team. I mean, how would you like to see
(11:09):
him utilize more going forward. I know we have a
you know, this season has been a bunch of what
ifs and and when you know what what could have been?
But you know, jonas Is is in the lineup. He's
not a guy that you got to worry about missing
a lot of games for the most part. So what
do you expect to see from him, you know, going
forward into next season?
Speaker 4 (11:28):
Yeah, that's that's a great question. I mean, I just
think that when Zion is out there and kind of
controlling the offense, I think it's just natural that he's
going to take a step back on offense. And you
know that's okay, Like giant Is is so good, Like
I can, I can understand why. But you know, especially
like like I would, I would be post I would
(11:51):
definitely be making sure like I got him post of
touches in the minutes he's on the floor without Gian Like,
I think that just makes the Pelicans a better offense
in fifteen. I think we saw that in the final
month of the season. So like in the nine Zion minutes,
when he's out there, I think you just need to
be emphasizing him as supposed up thread every once in
a while. I'm not saying throw it to him on
(12:12):
every single possession or anything like that. But like there
was a noticeable uptick in the last month, and I
think it helped them it. You know, I think brandon
Ingram was like fantastic those those last I don't know,
ten to fifteen games or so. And I also think
part of the Pelicans offense looking better in that stretch
finally without Zion, was involving JB.
Speaker 3 (12:31):
Moore on the defensive end of the court. I mean,
it seems like we've seen this trend. It's like a
gradual thing, and sometimes it seems like it accelerates a
little bit more each season. But obviously the center position
seems like it's been become more matchup dependent than any
other position on the court in terms of you know,
(12:52):
teams are going small with different lineups. I mean, how
do you see the future or just that trend of
you know, the Pelicans obviously this year with Larry Nance
and Jonis, the minutes were almost evenly split, whereas you know,
the season before that, I think Jonis, I mean, Larry
Nentce didn't play that many games because he was coming
back from an injury, but it was a little bit
(13:13):
more of a of a of a difference in terms
of your starter plays thirty ish minutes and then the
backup plays, you know, eighteen to twenty.
Speaker 2 (13:21):
I mean, how do you.
Speaker 3 (13:22):
See that as far as just how that affects Jonas
in the future.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
Yeah, I think that was one of the major shifts
we saw this season. You know, I think in fourth quarters,
in clutch moments, the Pelicans' coaching staff oftentimes looked for
Larry Nantz Junior as opposed to Yonis. Larry played more
minutes per game in the fourth quarter than JV. If
you look at clutch minutes, Larry played more than him.
(13:48):
You know, Jonis played the most clutch minutes on the
Pelicans roster in twenty twenty one, twenty twenty two, and
he played the ninth most this past season. So I
think took a took a step back in terms of
how he was used and how often he was used
during clutch time. And I just think the Pelicans coaching
staff showed us that they prioritized defensive versatility at the
(14:11):
end of games, Like they wanted the option to be
able to switch. They would give up something and rebounding
with that, but but they just wanted to have that
that option to be able to switch and and not
just play drop in the pick and roll. And you know,
I think there was honestly, there was some good with that.
I mean, I think that was like Larry was a
big part of a reason why the Pelicans finished sixth
(14:33):
and defensive efficiency tied for their best ranking ever in
that category and franchise history, you know. At the same time,
like it's not all positive. I think JV is far
and away the best rebounder of their team, and they
really struggle to rebound a boat, you know, especially on
the defensive n when he's not in there. But yeah,
that was definitely a major trend we saw this year.
Speaker 2 (14:55):
Yeah, I mean you said it.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
You're you're talking a lot of times about trade offs
that you know, you.
Speaker 2 (14:59):
Might might be able to do to.
Speaker 3 (15:02):
Perform better in one area, but you're gonna have to
give up something somewhere else, and that that's kind of
the back and forth and some of the challenges that
every coaching staff has across the league. But I mean,
is it the kind of thing, I mean, is there
any going back from the trend that is happening in
terms of it just seems like the NBA is continually
more suited towards you know, like the the six eight
(15:25):
six ' nine athletic center. It seems like, I mean,
not that long ago we had Roy Hibberts of the
world that were considered among the best centers in the league,
and then all of a sudden, a couple of years later,
the guy's not even in the on a roster anymore.
I mean, do you feel like that's just kind of
the direction that things are headed as far as lineups
and the kind of just the way that that teams
(15:46):
roll out lineups, not even just at the end of games,
but just overall.
Speaker 4 (15:51):
Yeah, I think a lot of the times, but I
don't think it necessarily has to be that way. I mean,
like Brook Lopez, you know, he's been one of the
best defensive players in basketball. He's like a true seven footer,
you know, he's such a such a talented defender. So
I just think they're you know, some really big guys
(16:13):
like who have that that traditional center hight, who are
so talented as defensive players that you could roll with them.
But yeah, I mean, I think we're only going to
see more of like the Larraness junior types and teams
kind of trying to mimic what the Golden State Warriors
have been able to do with with Draymond Green. But
(16:36):
I don't, Yeah, just it just I guess depends on
the player. And it's kind of interesting, like when you
look at what bigs the teams that make it to
the conference finals and make it to the championship have.
I mean, I think like the Sixers and the Nuggets
could obviously do it, you know, in part because those
two guys are so talented on defense. But it's like
dal Horford with the Celtics, right, it's got a Brook Lopez,
(16:59):
they have Giannis to help protect the rim to DeAndre Eyton.
I mean, I do think that like good bigs are
still really important in today's n behad.
Speaker 2 (17:11):
Yeah, I think a huge part of what Yonas brings
to the game is consistency. You know what he's bringing
to the court every night, you know the value of
what it is, and you know he's going to be
on the court. Christian, thanks so much for joining us
talking some Yonas today. I'm hoping you get to join
maybe Jonas and Herb on a fishing trip sometime, you know,
maybe crack some jokes and unfurrow that brow of his
(17:34):
in the off season. Very nice, Oh big thanks to
mister Christian Clark, friend of the pod, always reliable hopping
on with us, as is mister Jonas Valanciunas the subject
we talked about. Excited to see more of the Big Man,
(17:54):
the Lithuanian and the off season, more fishing picks and whatnot.
Maybe I'll find out the Beard bombs secrets. I don't know, Jim,
but we will be talking more and more players the
tomorrow will be talking to the graph about mister Herb
Jones and he is a big Herb Jones fan. As
you know, he's a big Yonis fan as well. I'm
(18:15):
sure he's a little sad he couldn't get on on
this one. But we will be talking Herb Jones with
Graft tomorrow and do not miss it. Thank you for
listening to the Pelicans Podcast presented by Seat Geek. I
am Joe Cardosi, that is Jim I can offer and
until then, good Bill.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
Thanks for listening to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast presented
by Seat Geek. Join us three times per week on
Pelicans dot com, the Pelicans mobile app, or you can
subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. We'll see you next
time right here, on a New Orleans Pelicans podcast presented
by seat Geek
Host
Jim Eichenhofer
Popular Podcasts
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Therapy Gecko
An unlicensed lizard psychologist travels the universe talking to strangers about absolutely nothing. TO CALL THE GECKO: follow me on https://www.twitch.tv/lyleforever to get a notification for when I am taking calls. I am usually live Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays but lately a lot of other times too. I am a gecko.