April 28, 2025 • 26 mins
Pelicans TV Color Analyst Antonio Daniels joins Jim Eichenhofer and Gus Kattengell on the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast to recap Jose Alvarado's 2024-25 NBA season.
“I don’t think Jose even realizes the impact he makes. I’m sure he doesn’t. I remember talking to Willie (Green) about it (during a lengthy stretch when Alvarado was sidelined and the Pelicans slumped). He said, ‘You know who we really miss? Jose. Just that energy.’ That energy is contagious. You see it all the time throughout the league. Guys who play a certain style of basketball (that) lights a fuse in the entire arena. A play is made and you can hear the entire arena kind of coming to a crescendo because of an energy play. I think that speaks to the impact of Jose Alvarado.” – Pelicans TV analyst Antonio Daniels on one reason Alvarado is a difference-maker for New Orleans
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome in to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast, the official
podcast of your New Orleans Pelicans, a podcast dedicated to
everything you need to know about the squad. Here from players, coaches, broadcasters,
and those who cover the NBA on a daily basis.
It's time to flock up. The New Orleans Pelicans Podcast
(00:29):
starts right now.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Hello everybody, and welcome to New Orleans Pelicans Podcast, official
podcast of your New Orleans Pelicans. Player profiles continue Jamikenhofferpelicans
dot com.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
We looked at the starters this week. The reserves is
what we're gonna be taking a little deeper, I guess.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Look at Yeah, we're gonna have Jose Alvarado for Monday,
then we're gonna have Kelly Olenic Tuesday, Bruce Brown Wednesday.
Obviously those two guys came in the trade from Toronto
for Brandon ingram in February. Then Thursday, we're looking at
the second year of Jordan Hawkins. Then Friday closing it
out with Jeremiah Robinson earl.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
And again, if you're listening to this and we went
over through the starters and you do at Pelicans dot
com if you miss any of those interviews, literally look
for the player's name, and there is an accompanying piece
that Jamike and Offer did as well, where he writes
about what we talk about with a little addition or
two some stats and some insight into that. So be
sure to check out not only the website, but also
(01:27):
any of our other player profiles.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
When you look at.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Jose Elvarado, Jim, I go back to when we were
in Nashville and the start of training camp, and one
of the things that I remember early on in those
those workouts and days and scrimmages was you could see
a different body language, demeanor and approach to practice, to
scrimmage with.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Jose He and James Brego.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
The assistant head coach for the Pels. They were there
to win that practice, to win that session, to beat
the Jeante Murray, to beat Zion Williamson. It got I
wouldn't say testy, right, it was just it was competitive.
I love tents, yeah yeah, and I love that and
you could kind of see that he was trying to
be a leader. And that's a difference, right. This is
(02:12):
a guy that, oh look it's cute. He makes a steal.
He called it the GTA. He's a fan favorite. Wow,
he brings energy. Since he's been here, Jim, every year
he's added to his game. Taking a look at this
past season, where do you put Jose in his game
now and what he's been able to do.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Yeah, I mean we're gonna talk about this a little
bit with Antonio Daniels. But I mean, just across the board,
he had career highs and a bunch of different categories.
Some of that was just his minutes was went way up.
His responsibility was very high at the beginning of the
season and then later at the kind of the tail
end as well. But I mean I think he, you know,
just made another step. His three point percentage was was
(02:52):
pretty solid again, just showed you know, progression in his game.
But I mean, one thing that I always keep going
back to with him though, you know, I've talked about
this a lot last season, that they were thirty eight
and eighteen last season when he played. They were only
eleven in fifteen when he didn't play, which was the
biggest discrepancy on any player of the main guys on
the team. That was the biggest difference between record and
(03:15):
then this season. I mean, this isn't something that I
think he's gonna want to have on the bottom of
his basketball card or his resume. But I mean, he
was the only player on New Orleans that when he played,
they didn't lose twice as many games as they won. So,
you know, for example, in the not to pick on
one guy, but in like Javonte Green's games, they went
(03:38):
eleven and thirty nine in his fifty games, every player
on the team except for Jose they lost. They basically
lost two thirds or more of the games played. Jose
barely cleared that at nineteen and thirty seven, but I mean,
you think about this, they were nineteen and thirty seven
when he played. He missed twenty six games, they only
won two of them. So that's one of the things
(03:58):
also that we're gonna talk about with Antonio Daniels is
how much the Pelicans missed Jose during a specific stretch
of the season.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
But I mean, we just continue to see that.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
You know, they didn't have a great record when he played, either,
but I mean, geez, when he wasn't on the court,
it was like almost impossible to get victories during those stretches.
And I mean that's something that's been a theme I
think throughout the time that he's been here. Is that.
You know, there's a million different ways that you can
measure stats and go through the analytics and blah blah blah.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
But it's like to me, at the end of the.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
Day, the winning and the losing, it just seems like
it's always been very evident with him.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah, and it's great to hear and see I guess
his growth in his own words, right, how he's had
to adjust and I just I go back to it
and we talk about with Ad about him talking about how, hey,
these professional starting point guards that get all that money,
there's a reason. There's a lot that goes into it.
You know, it's a lot easier said than done. I
(04:53):
guess to be a starting point guard in the NBA. Well,
Antonio Daniels, he has a lot of insight and especially
when he comes to Arrado. Here's our conversation with him.
All right, welcome back, as we come back with Antonio Daniels,
analyst for the Gulf Coast Sports and Entertainment Network, And
we were just talking about the Jean Tay Murray earlier
this week.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Now we're gonna talk about another guard.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
You got the starting point guard and in the point
guard that became the starting point guard, but it's just
as important as a starting point guard even if he
comes off the bench in joseal.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Varado, did I describe that accurately at all?
Speaker 5 (05:25):
I dare you to say that again three times, really fat,
really fast.
Speaker 6 (05:31):
Hey, that's a very description, even though it's.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
Difficult to describe, especially this year, what Jose's actual role was.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Yeah, I think it's interesting.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
I mean, one of the things that I wrote about
in the written piece of the season recap with him
was you could kind of chart his the prominence of
his role. You could chart based on the availability of
the rest of the team. So he started a bunch
of games in November when I mean, we remember some
of the rotations that they had at that point in
the season. It was like a lot of a few
guys on two way contracts, a lot of guys you
(06:04):
didn't know a ton about players that they just signed
off the street kind of. And then later in the
season he started a bunch of games at the end
because it was a similar thing where they were down
to eight or nine guys at the end of the year. So,
I mean, his he it was it fluctuated a ton,
but one of another interesting thing too, is they had
(06:25):
a stretch of twenty three games in a row where
he was out and they only won two of those games,
which is one of those things where I've talked about
this a lot the last few years that if you
look at the record when he plays versus when he doesn't,
it's incredible sometimes to see just the impact that he makes.
Speaker 6 (06:42):
So and I don't you know what Jim does. I
don't think Jose even realizes the impact that he makes. No,
I'm sure he doesn't. I'm sure he doesn't.
Speaker 5 (06:50):
I remember during that stretch that you're talking about those
twenty three games, talking to Willie about it, and Willie's
and you know what, ad Man, you know we really
miss And I was like, what he said, Jose, Yeah,
And I just kind of looked at him and he said, man,
just that energy.
Speaker 6 (07:09):
Yeah, Like people don't.
Speaker 5 (07:11):
You don't realize what you have until it's not present,
until it's not there. And for Jose, I you wouldn't
believe how many conversations I've had with that young man
about just understanding who he is and how much he
means to.
Speaker 6 (07:28):
The success of this team. That energy is contagious. It
is contagious.
Speaker 5 (07:33):
And you see it all the time throughout the league.
You know, guys that play a certain style of basketball.
And what it does is it like say a fuse
in the entire arena. You know, It's not like a
play is made and it's like, oh yeah, your teammates
are pumped up, no play is made, and then the
(07:54):
entire arena you can hear the entire arena kind of
coming to a Perscindo because of an energy play that
you've made. I think that speaks to the impact of
Jose Avarado.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
Yeah, you know, before we get into some of the specifics,
and I'm gonna throw a couple numbers at you about
Jose Elverado's season and just his impact.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
I mean, he's been here for four seasons now.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
I feel like people have a decent feel for him
in terms of what kind of person he is, in
terms of the way he approaches the game.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
I mean, is there.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Anything else that you could tell us maybe that we
don't know, or just a different way that you could
just describe, you know, just from the conversations with him,
just the way he approaches the game or his job.
It just seems like he's, you know, as you kind
of mentioned. He's kind of mister intensity. He brings a
ton of intangibles that you can't really measure.
Speaker 6 (08:47):
For me.
Speaker 5 (08:48):
With Jose, what you see and what you get, And
I love that there's no there's no mixed messages.
Speaker 6 (08:55):
He tells you exactly how he's feeling.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
And I there's not a person that I've seen and
talked to that I feel like once it as much
as Jose does. And maybe that's a part of the
underdog story. Maybe that's a part of the story of
feeling like you know you've been overlooked. You know, I've
(09:21):
heard Willie Green say numerous times, you know you won't
find a quote unquote small guard in this league who
doesn't isn't scrappy, you know, like who doesn't feel like
he has to claw his way to the top. And
Jose is a great description of that, Like there's not
a time on the floor where you're gonna question Jose
Avarado's heart. There's not a time on the floor where
(09:41):
you're gonna question Jose Alvarado's effort. He approaches every game
And I think this is a cliche statement that you
hear throughout the NBA all the time. Play every possession
like it's your last Like like really.
Speaker 6 (09:54):
That's not true. That's like telling people live every day.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
Like it's your last. Like it sounds great to say.
It sounds great to say, but it's not realistic. We
take life for granted. Jose does not take any ret
that he has on that floor for granted because in
his heart of hearts, he actually plays the game like
he feels like it could be his last game or
it could be his last year. And I think that's
(10:19):
a good thing to a certain degree because he keeps
from hungry.
Speaker 6 (10:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
I love watching him pick up guys for ninety feet
and just playing like relentlessly the way he does. You know,
one of the things about his season that I was
wondering for your thoughts on was too.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
You know, we talked about his role fluctuating a lot.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
It seemed like in the last month of the season
he also took on this much bigger scoring role, and
it was kind of reminiscent of the way he plays
when he was on the when he's on the Puerto
Rican national team, where they need him to be a
go to guy, they need him to get his points.
You know, he's scoring twenty points in some of these
international games all the time. What did you see from
him in terms of what he showed maybe during that
(10:59):
part of the seas And was it something that was,
you know, something that you knew he could do, or
something that you're you were glad to see him to
kind of bring that just a different side of his
game out at that part of the season.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
I wasn't surprised. I mean, I've seen him. I've seen
him do this, right, we saw him do this during
the Olympic Trials and the Olympics. But here's the thing,
that's not your role here. It's a lot of guys
in this league. I think the biggest misconception in this
league is because guys can't do something, they don't see
them do something, people assume that they can't do it.
Speaker 6 (11:29):
No, that's just not your role. That's just not what
your role is for this particular team.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
But when you traded Brandon Ingram and Zion went down,
and then Herb went down, and then Trey went down,
and then cij went down.
Speaker 6 (11:44):
So now that when you go down, de Jonte went.
Speaker 5 (11:47):
Down, you go down, and Jose's that next guy in line.
Speaker 6 (11:52):
So yes, that may not.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
Have been your role up to this particular point, but
for this last fifteen to twenty games or so, this
is that guy we need you to be.
Speaker 6 (12:01):
And it's amazing to.
Speaker 5 (12:02):
Me why how much Hoy has fluctuated Because he started
twenty three games this year. That's more games than he
started in his previous three seasons combined. Yeah, so you
have to understand what he was asked to do in
his first three seasons here and then what he came
into this year expecting. He came in expecting, you know what,
(12:25):
fifteen to twenty five minutes, I'm gonna come off the bench.
I'm gonna be a game changer. I'm gonna be an
inner Jars and Bunny. I'm gonna change the.
Speaker 6 (12:33):
Format.
Speaker 5 (12:33):
I'm gonna change the trajectory of the game. And you
know what happened when guys start to go down. Now,
the role that you came in anticipating is not the
role that you have to play.
Speaker 6 (12:43):
So you have to have the ability to just on
the fly. I think OJ did a great job of
doing that.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Couple stats for you and you can decide which one
you want to talk about, maybe both of them.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
First number is fifteen.
Speaker 4 (12:54):
And that was his rank among all NBA players and
assistant turnover ratio thrita one.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Yep, he was three point zero one was assistant turnover ratio.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
The year before he had it was two point ninety three,
so it was almost exactly the same.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
And then the second number.
Speaker 6 (13:10):
No, Jim, no, Jim, you can't do that.
Speaker 5 (13:13):
What he being from a guy who led the NBA
and assistant turnover ratio.
Speaker 6 (13:17):
That's like saying the house.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
Is five hundred thousand dollars or saying the house is
four nine hundred and ninety nine dollars.
Speaker 6 (13:28):
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 5 (13:29):
Three to one is completely different than two point nine one.
Speaker 6 (13:33):
Just say, just say it.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
I like it.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
And then the second number I'll throw at you is
he he had. We kind of reference this a little
bit already, but he had four games of twenty plus
points this season in his In the previous three seasons
that he played in the NBA, he did that three times,
So he had more twenty point games this season than
he did in the previous three.
Speaker 5 (13:55):
I mean, I will take the points one. And that
goes back.
Speaker 6 (14:00):
To what we were just discussing. Though.
Speaker 5 (14:02):
You know, it's about it's about opportunity, it's about opportunity.
Speaker 6 (14:06):
You look at him this year, he averaged a career
high and.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
Points and assists, you know, but he also averaged a
career high and starts.
Speaker 6 (14:14):
So when you have a career high end points.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
Assists, and starts, that means you also have a career
high in quote unquote opportunity.
Speaker 6 (14:21):
Yeah, and you know what he did with that opportunity.
Speaker 5 (14:23):
That speaks to the twenty points per game four times
or that you just referenced, right, you go back to
his previous seasons. He wasn't playing this amount of minutes.
He wasn't because in the previous seasons, you're playing fifteen
minutes a game, seventeen minutes a game, nineteen minutes a game.
And now when those minutes start to increase, when those
(14:44):
minutes starts to increase, your role starts to increase, opportunities
starts to increase. Now is simply about you taking advantage
at and along with some guys not being available, right,
certain high power guys the firepower that this team.
Speaker 6 (15:00):
When everyone's available, it's completely different.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
Jose doesn't have to play that role now with job
is to simply come in and to change the energy.
Speaker 6 (15:09):
In the game. But when you have those guys sideline.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
Now you're asking him to be that Puerto Rican version
of Jose Alvarado that represented his national team.
Speaker 6 (15:17):
Sometimes you're going to have to score that basketball. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
Lastly for me on Jose, what do you think of
the next steps from him? What do you think are
some of the things that we want to see from him,
you know, going forward into next season. Obviously we hope
we never go through a season like we just did
where it's constantly changing in terms of the rotation.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
But I mean when you talk.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
With him, I mean, what do you think is kind
of the next area, the next step that he's gonna take.
Speaker 6 (15:43):
The mental art of like you are a starting point
guard in this league. I think that's the big thing.
Speaker 5 (15:51):
Whether or not you are starting or not, you need
to have that thought in your head that I am
a starting point guard in this league. You know, we've
had many conversations about TJ McConnell. Rather than not TJ
McConnell was starting, he thinks he's a starting point guard. Yeah,
and it all starts with the mental aspect. And I've
towed Jose numerous time. For me, I can understand the
(16:13):
want to to start, but the trust is really concerned
with whether or not your finishing games, because your ability
to knock down open shots, your ability to bring energy,
your ability to make smart decisions pick up ninety four
feet a lot of times will have you on the
floor to finish games, which to me is far more important.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
I think one of the things that stood out to
me as we wrap up with Jose with Antonio Daniels here,
one of my favorite bites came towards the end of
the year AD when he talked about how those guards
that start, you know, starting point guards, they make a
lot of money for a reason, and that it's hard.
And one of the things you mentioned about one of
the things that I think is good as a person's
understanding limitations or your role and it it's not a
(16:54):
negative thing. It's understanding, hey, this is what I need
to work at or this is why it's hard, and
this is why it so good and it works because AD,
I think him understanding that is probably why I think
the most important thing you did this year.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Was this aspect of it.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
We talked about and you guys did towards the end
of the season, how well Carlo played, hal well Antonio
Reeves played, how well, all these other players, ancillary guys
played that came off. I mean Kenyonez, some guy that
just showed up on Thursdays. Right, That doesn't happen if
your point guard's not playing well distributing the ball, creating
space and giving them open shots.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Am I wrong on that?
Speaker 6 (17:30):
Yeah? And that's the thing.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
That's why the point guard position is so crucial the
success of a team.
Speaker 6 (17:37):
You know, you can go throughout look at the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
Now, a lot of these teams that are still playing
and competing, they have really good guard play. Go to
the NCAA tournament, really good guard play, and you advanced.
Because again, your job as a point guard is different
than anybody else's job. But the difference between a point
guard's job and everybody else's job is at point guard job.
Speaker 6 (18:00):
Keep everybody happy. There's no other position that has to
do that. Nobody.
Speaker 5 (18:04):
You got to make sure happy that he was strained,
that he wants to run, he knows that he's a
lot threat. A four man has to be happy with
his ability to space the floor, a three man running
the floor, a two man coming off screens. It's nobody
else's job to make sure that the point guard's happy,
but it's the point guard's job to make sure everybody
else is happy and that everybody else eats.
Speaker 6 (18:25):
Easier said and done.
Speaker 5 (18:26):
But I think Jose did a great job, especially at
the end of the season that you referenced us and
making sure everybody felt involved, right, whether it was Antonio
Reeves or whether it was Carlos running the floor.
Speaker 6 (18:39):
You know, you get keone is running the floor.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
Different guys that were out there that you didn't expect
to be playing with when the season started, but one
way or another, you found a way to make it work.
Speaker 6 (18:51):
You problem solved.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Right.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
We're going to wait to see a couple of months here,
but I think one thing that's gonna be interesting is
we talked about with the Jeante Murray, the other player
you spoke about, and with Joselvarado.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
I think both of those guys could be Joe Dumart
Sype guys.
Speaker 6 (19:04):
Right.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
I mean, those practices are going to be intense. Those
guys know what it means by that, So I think
that'll be an interesting dynamic to see day one of
training camp, Heidi goes to those workouts because you don't
have to tell those two guys to get your group
get ready to go, even in a little scrimmage or
in a game.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
To ten or something of that nature.
Speaker 5 (19:22):
Jose's the loudest one in practice. He is the loudest
one in practice. He's the one that's running around as
talking trash. And again, you need this, you need you
know you say teams need a glue guy or a
guy to do all the dirty blog. You also need
a guy on that roster when it's a random Tuesday
and guys are tired to bring that energy to the gym.
(19:43):
And Jose has from day one, since he got here,
even before he got a guaranteed contract, He's always.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
Been that guy.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Antonio Daniels Hays always appreciate the time. Another great season.
Hopefully we'll all be talking postseason in a year from now. Man,
I appreciate the time.
Speaker 6 (19:58):
I hear that, I hear that. I appreciate you guys.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Thanks ad Our, thanks to Antonio Daniels. There's always a
pleasure for the analyst on the Gulf Coast Sports and
Entertainment Network, Jim, the playoffs continue.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Anything that stand out.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
To you in the weekend other than the wonderful jiff
you sent me of a dancing wolf mask.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Yeah, his name is Crunch by the way, just for
the record, Yeah, the Timberwolves mascot very exciting and excited
to get that victory. Yeah, I mean, I mean it
was a pretty incredible weekend in terms of the game
winner that the Nuggets had at the buzzer. I mean,
that was as close to the buzzer as you could
possibly get. Aaron Gordon throws down a Jokic miss. It
(20:38):
was kind of funny that they were asking Joker, what
did you think when you let go of that shot?
And he was like, Oh, this is gonna be bad,
but it turned out great for him. I think, just overall,
one of my biggest takeaways is that I feel like
the I have I don't haven't looked at the TV ratings,
and I'm to be honest with you, I'm not that
not that interested in them, but it does feel like
(20:59):
there's been kind of a swing towards a lot of
people are talking positively about the way the playoffs have been,
and you know, it's one of those things where it's
like you see such a difference between the playoffs and
the regular season. And speaking of which, another thing that
stood out to me this weekend was do you realize
that JJ Reddick in the second half of the Lakers
Game four against Minnesota played the same five guys all
(21:22):
twenty four minutes And apparently that's never happened in the
history of the NBA, at least as far back as
they can track the minutes by quarter and by half. So,
I mean, that's pretty interesting strategy to think about, just
the fact that you see the significance of the game
that a coach would never do that regular season because
people would be like, what are you doing? Why would
(21:43):
you wear your guys out in February or March? But
I mean, you saw that they go into that game
down to one. They know if they lose their down
three to one, and it's something like five percent of
the teams in the history of the NBA down three
to one have ever come back to win. So you
know this is this isn't our season, but it's aren't
close to it. So I thought that was really interesting
to see the way that he handled that. And obviously
(22:06):
part of that is that you know, you don't necessarily
have a ton of faith in some of your bench
guys to be able to play minutes if you literally
don't use any of them in the second half. But
I mean, that was a that was quite a game.
That's been a fun series so far. And then lastly,
this is actually related to the Pelicans a little bit.
Damian Lillard with his injury and you know, potential for
(22:27):
that to be something that affects him long term.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
I love Damian Lillard, I love his Portland years.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
I kind of wish in high I mean, hindsight twenty twenty,
I kind of wish he had stayed there because his
two seasons with Milwaukee for a lot of and for
a lot of things that are reasons they are out
of control, out of his control. Giannis was hurting the
playoffs last year, Chris Middleton had a bunch of injuries,
they had to trade him. So it's like, I think,
I'm sure what he envisioned when he went there has
been it's been so far from what he thought it
(22:52):
was going to be like. But related to the Pelicans though,
I think it's it's it's going to be interesting to
follow what happens with Milwaukee in the offseason and then
the way that they approach next year because Milwaukee doesn't
have their draft rights over these next few years and
the Pelicans are specifically related to that. The Pelicans have
swap rights with Milwaukee in twenty twenty six, so if Milwaukee, say,
(23:15):
has a really bad record, the Pelicans are gonna end
up with a high pick from them as part of
the Drew Holliday trade going way back, Pelicans also have
Indiana's first round pick next year as part of the
Toronto trade. So that's top four four protected. But you're
looking at twenty twenty six something to keep an eye on.
I don't think we're gonna focus a ton on this
(23:37):
as time goes on, but just in the back of
your mind to think about that, you know, these are
things that could affect the Pelicans. I do think though
that given Milwaukee, you know a lot of people are
already circling for Giannis and saying like, does he want
out of Milwaukee, Which personally, I can't stand that talk
because we went through We've gone through it before right here.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
But I don't think the Bucks can.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
Go into the mode of like, yeah, we're gonna rebuild,
because when you don't have your draft picks, it doesn't
really make any sense to do that. It's gonna be
several years before they get to the point where a
bad record during a season is going to result in
a high pick for them, It's gonna a bad record
over the next few years will result in a high
pick for someone else. So I don't think that does
them any good, but just an interesting thing to think about.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
In terms of that.
Speaker 4 (24:20):
Milwaukee's future is kind of somewhat indirectly tied to the
Pelicans as well.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Yeah, it's gonna be interesting for sure. And to your
point that you're bringing up, uh, yeah, you don't want
to think of the draft, but that goes into you know,
what off season moves you make, how you go out
through the season, knowing where you go and income trade deadline,
all that stuff in the coming year. But in the meantime,
I'm with you and and oh, by the way, the
two teams had the most wins, one in the East,
(24:46):
one in the West. You know, one sweeps in OKAC
in Cleveland going into into Yeah, yeah exactly, so not
unexpected on that.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
But some other interesting games there for there have been.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
I mean, those teams have continued to follow up on
the dominance that they showed during the regular season, and
I think also probably demonstrate a little bit of the
advantage of being the one seed of having to play
a team, and I think in both cases with Miami
where they had to win a couple of playing games
to sneak into the playoffs, and then Memphis which was
(25:21):
super banged up and then had even more injury issues
during the playoffs. It's definitely been beneficial for OKAC and
Cleveland to be the one seeds and you know what,
they earned it. They deserve whatever help that that gives
you as far as you know, starting the playoffs with
the undefeated record so far.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Mister Jimi Keoffre is always a pleasure and appreciate it
and also appreciate Antonio Daniels.
Speaker 6 (25:42):
Again.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
If you missed any of the interviews of a past
go to Pelicans dot com. Jim has an accompany right up.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
And also all of our other interviews. Until next time,
we'll see you again on the New Orleans Pelicans podcast.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Thanks for listening to the New Orleans Pelicans podcast joy
times per week on Pelicans dot com, the Pelicans mobile app,
the iHeartRadio app, or where you get your podcast, and
be sure to give Jim and Guss a follow on
x at Jim Underscore I can offer and Gcat Underscore seventeen.
(26:18):
We'll see you next time, right here on the New
Orleans Pelicans podcast.
Welcome in to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast, the official
podcast of your New Orleans Pelicans, a podcast dedicated to
everything you need to know about the squad. Here from players, coaches, broadcasters,
and those who cover the NBA on a daily basis.
It's time to flock up. The New Orleans Pelicans Podcast
(00:29):
starts right now.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Hello everybody, and welcome to New Orleans Pelicans Podcast, official
podcast of your New Orleans Pelicans. Player profiles continue Jamikenhofferpelicans
dot com.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
We looked at the starters this week. The reserves is
what we're gonna be taking a little deeper, I guess.
Speaker 4 (00:47):
Look at Yeah, we're gonna have Jose Alvarado for Monday,
then we're gonna have Kelly Olenic Tuesday, Bruce Brown Wednesday.
Obviously those two guys came in the trade from Toronto
for Brandon ingram in February. Then Thursday, we're looking at
the second year of Jordan Hawkins. Then Friday closing it
out with Jeremiah Robinson earl.
Speaker 2 (01:06):
And again, if you're listening to this and we went
over through the starters and you do at Pelicans dot
com if you miss any of those interviews, literally look
for the player's name, and there is an accompanying piece
that Jamike and Offer did as well, where he writes
about what we talk about with a little addition or
two some stats and some insight into that. So be
sure to check out not only the website, but also
(01:27):
any of our other player profiles.
Speaker 3 (01:30):
When you look at.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
Jose Elvarado, Jim, I go back to when we were
in Nashville and the start of training camp, and one
of the things that I remember early on in those
those workouts and days and scrimmages was you could see
a different body language, demeanor and approach to practice, to
scrimmage with.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Jose He and James Brego.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
The assistant head coach for the Pels. They were there
to win that practice, to win that session, to beat
the Jeante Murray, to beat Zion Williamson. It got I
wouldn't say testy, right, it was just it was competitive.
I love tents, yeah yeah, and I love that and
you could kind of see that he was trying to
be a leader. And that's a difference, right. This is
(02:12):
a guy that, oh look it's cute. He makes a steal.
He called it the GTA. He's a fan favorite. Wow,
he brings energy. Since he's been here, Jim, every year
he's added to his game. Taking a look at this
past season, where do you put Jose in his game
now and what he's been able to do.
Speaker 4 (02:30):
Yeah, I mean we're gonna talk about this a little
bit with Antonio Daniels. But I mean, just across the board,
he had career highs and a bunch of different categories.
Some of that was just his minutes was went way up.
His responsibility was very high at the beginning of the
season and then later at the kind of the tail
end as well. But I mean I think he, you know,
just made another step. His three point percentage was was
(02:52):
pretty solid again, just showed you know, progression in his game.
But I mean, one thing that I always keep going
back to with him though, you know, I've talked about
this a lot last season, that they were thirty eight
and eighteen last season when he played. They were only
eleven in fifteen when he didn't play, which was the
biggest discrepancy on any player of the main guys on
the team. That was the biggest difference between record and
(03:15):
then this season. I mean, this isn't something that I
think he's gonna want to have on the bottom of
his basketball card or his resume. But I mean, he
was the only player on New Orleans that when he played,
they didn't lose twice as many games as they won. So,
you know, for example, in the not to pick on
one guy, but in like Javonte Green's games, they went
(03:38):
eleven and thirty nine in his fifty games, every player
on the team except for Jose they lost. They basically
lost two thirds or more of the games played. Jose
barely cleared that at nineteen and thirty seven, but I mean,
you think about this, they were nineteen and thirty seven
when he played. He missed twenty six games, they only
won two of them. So that's one of the things
(03:58):
also that we're gonna talk about with Antonio Daniels is
how much the Pelicans missed Jose during a specific stretch
of the season.
Speaker 3 (04:05):
But I mean, we just continue to see that.
Speaker 4 (04:09):
You know, they didn't have a great record when he played, either,
but I mean, geez, when he wasn't on the court,
it was like almost impossible to get victories during those stretches.
And I mean that's something that's been a theme I
think throughout the time that he's been here. Is that.
You know, there's a million different ways that you can
measure stats and go through the analytics and blah blah blah.
Speaker 3 (04:27):
But it's like to me, at the end of the.
Speaker 4 (04:29):
Day, the winning and the losing, it just seems like
it's always been very evident with him.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Yeah, and it's great to hear and see I guess
his growth in his own words, right, how he's had
to adjust and I just I go back to it
and we talk about with Ad about him talking about how, hey,
these professional starting point guards that get all that money,
there's a reason. There's a lot that goes into it.
You know, it's a lot easier said than done. I
(04:53):
guess to be a starting point guard in the NBA. Well,
Antonio Daniels, he has a lot of insight and especially
when he comes to Arrado. Here's our conversation with him.
All right, welcome back, as we come back with Antonio Daniels,
analyst for the Gulf Coast Sports and Entertainment Network, And
we were just talking about the Jean Tay Murray earlier
this week.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
Now we're gonna talk about another guard.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
You got the starting point guard and in the point
guard that became the starting point guard, but it's just
as important as a starting point guard even if he
comes off the bench in joseal.
Speaker 3 (05:20):
Varado, did I describe that accurately at all?
Speaker 5 (05:25):
I dare you to say that again three times, really fat,
really fast.
Speaker 6 (05:31):
Hey, that's a very description, even though it's.
Speaker 5 (05:34):
Difficult to describe, especially this year, what Jose's actual role was.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Yeah, I think it's interesting.
Speaker 4 (05:42):
I mean, one of the things that I wrote about
in the written piece of the season recap with him
was you could kind of chart his the prominence of
his role. You could chart based on the availability of
the rest of the team. So he started a bunch
of games in November when I mean, we remember some
of the rotations that they had at that point in
the season. It was like a lot of a few
guys on two way contracts, a lot of guys you
(06:04):
didn't know a ton about players that they just signed
off the street kind of. And then later in the
season he started a bunch of games at the end
because it was a similar thing where they were down
to eight or nine guys at the end of the year. So,
I mean, his he it was it fluctuated a ton,
but one of another interesting thing too, is they had
(06:25):
a stretch of twenty three games in a row where
he was out and they only won two of those games,
which is one of those things where I've talked about
this a lot the last few years that if you
look at the record when he plays versus when he doesn't,
it's incredible sometimes to see just the impact that he makes.
Speaker 6 (06:42):
So and I don't you know what Jim does. I
don't think Jose even realizes the impact that he makes. No,
I'm sure he doesn't. I'm sure he doesn't.
Speaker 5 (06:50):
I remember during that stretch that you're talking about those
twenty three games, talking to Willie about it, and Willie's
and you know what, ad Man, you know we really
miss And I was like, what he said, Jose, Yeah,
And I just kind of looked at him and he said, man,
just that energy.
Speaker 6 (07:09):
Yeah, Like people don't.
Speaker 5 (07:11):
You don't realize what you have until it's not present,
until it's not there. And for Jose, I you wouldn't
believe how many conversations I've had with that young man
about just understanding who he is and how much he
means to.
Speaker 6 (07:28):
The success of this team. That energy is contagious. It
is contagious.
Speaker 5 (07:33):
And you see it all the time throughout the league.
You know, guys that play a certain style of basketball.
And what it does is it like say a fuse
in the entire arena. You know, It's not like a
play is made and it's like, oh yeah, your teammates
are pumped up, no play is made, and then the
(07:54):
entire arena you can hear the entire arena kind of
coming to a Perscindo because of an energy play that
you've made. I think that speaks to the impact of
Jose Avarado.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
Yeah, you know, before we get into some of the specifics,
and I'm gonna throw a couple numbers at you about
Jose Elverado's season and just his impact.
Speaker 3 (08:18):
I mean, he's been here for four seasons now.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
I feel like people have a decent feel for him
in terms of what kind of person he is, in
terms of the way he approaches the game.
Speaker 3 (08:26):
I mean, is there.
Speaker 4 (08:27):
Anything else that you could tell us maybe that we
don't know, or just a different way that you could
just describe, you know, just from the conversations with him,
just the way he approaches the game or his job.
It just seems like he's, you know, as you kind
of mentioned. He's kind of mister intensity. He brings a
ton of intangibles that you can't really measure.
Speaker 6 (08:47):
For me.
Speaker 5 (08:48):
With Jose, what you see and what you get, And
I love that there's no there's no mixed messages.
Speaker 6 (08:55):
He tells you exactly how he's feeling.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
And I there's not a person that I've seen and
talked to that I feel like once it as much
as Jose does. And maybe that's a part of the
underdog story. Maybe that's a part of the story of
feeling like you know you've been overlooked. You know, I've
(09:21):
heard Willie Green say numerous times, you know you won't
find a quote unquote small guard in this league who
doesn't isn't scrappy, you know, like who doesn't feel like
he has to claw his way to the top. And
Jose is a great description of that, Like there's not
a time on the floor where you're gonna question Jose
Avarado's heart. There's not a time on the floor where
(09:41):
you're gonna question Jose Alvarado's effort. He approaches every game
And I think this is a cliche statement that you
hear throughout the NBA all the time. Play every possession
like it's your last Like like really.
Speaker 6 (09:54):
That's not true. That's like telling people live every day.
Speaker 5 (09:58):
Like it's your last. Like it sounds great to say.
It sounds great to say, but it's not realistic. We
take life for granted. Jose does not take any ret
that he has on that floor for granted because in
his heart of hearts, he actually plays the game like
he feels like it could be his last game or
it could be his last year. And I think that's
(10:19):
a good thing to a certain degree because he keeps
from hungry.
Speaker 6 (10:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 4 (10:22):
I love watching him pick up guys for ninety feet
and just playing like relentlessly the way he does. You know,
one of the things about his season that I was
wondering for your thoughts on was too.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
You know, we talked about his role fluctuating a lot.
Speaker 4 (10:37):
It seemed like in the last month of the season
he also took on this much bigger scoring role, and
it was kind of reminiscent of the way he plays
when he was on the when he's on the Puerto
Rican national team, where they need him to be a
go to guy, they need him to get his points.
You know, he's scoring twenty points in some of these
international games all the time. What did you see from
him in terms of what he showed maybe during that
(10:59):
part of the seas And was it something that was,
you know, something that you knew he could do, or
something that you're you were glad to see him to
kind of bring that just a different side of his
game out at that part of the season.
Speaker 5 (11:10):
I wasn't surprised. I mean, I've seen him. I've seen
him do this, right, we saw him do this during
the Olympic Trials and the Olympics. But here's the thing,
that's not your role here. It's a lot of guys
in this league. I think the biggest misconception in this
league is because guys can't do something, they don't see
them do something, people assume that they can't do it.
Speaker 6 (11:29):
No, that's just not your role. That's just not what
your role is for this particular team.
Speaker 5 (11:34):
But when you traded Brandon Ingram and Zion went down,
and then Herb went down, and then Trey went down,
and then cij went down.
Speaker 6 (11:44):
So now that when you go down, de Jonte went.
Speaker 5 (11:47):
Down, you go down, and Jose's that next guy in line.
Speaker 6 (11:52):
So yes, that may not.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
Have been your role up to this particular point, but
for this last fifteen to twenty games or so, this
is that guy we need you to be.
Speaker 6 (12:01):
And it's amazing to.
Speaker 5 (12:02):
Me why how much Hoy has fluctuated Because he started
twenty three games this year. That's more games than he
started in his previous three seasons combined. Yeah, so you
have to understand what he was asked to do in
his first three seasons here and then what he came
into this year expecting. He came in expecting, you know what,
(12:25):
fifteen to twenty five minutes, I'm gonna come off the bench.
I'm gonna be a game changer. I'm gonna be an
inner Jars and Bunny. I'm gonna change the.
Speaker 6 (12:33):
Format.
Speaker 5 (12:33):
I'm gonna change the trajectory of the game. And you
know what happened when guys start to go down. Now,
the role that you came in anticipating is not the
role that you have to play.
Speaker 6 (12:43):
So you have to have the ability to just on
the fly. I think OJ did a great job of
doing that.
Speaker 4 (12:48):
Couple stats for you and you can decide which one
you want to talk about, maybe both of them.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
First number is fifteen.
Speaker 4 (12:54):
And that was his rank among all NBA players and
assistant turnover ratio thrita one.
Speaker 3 (13:00):
Yep, he was three point zero one was assistant turnover ratio.
Speaker 4 (13:04):
The year before he had it was two point ninety three,
so it was almost exactly the same.
Speaker 3 (13:08):
And then the second number.
Speaker 6 (13:10):
No, Jim, no, Jim, you can't do that.
Speaker 5 (13:13):
What he being from a guy who led the NBA
and assistant turnover ratio.
Speaker 6 (13:17):
That's like saying the house.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
Is five hundred thousand dollars or saying the house is
four nine hundred and ninety nine dollars.
Speaker 6 (13:28):
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 5 (13:29):
Three to one is completely different than two point nine one.
Speaker 6 (13:33):
Just say, just say it.
Speaker 3 (13:35):
I like it.
Speaker 4 (13:36):
And then the second number I'll throw at you is
he he had. We kind of reference this a little
bit already, but he had four games of twenty plus
points this season in his In the previous three seasons
that he played in the NBA, he did that three times,
So he had more twenty point games this season than
he did in the previous three.
Speaker 5 (13:55):
I mean, I will take the points one. And that
goes back.
Speaker 6 (14:00):
To what we were just discussing. Though.
Speaker 5 (14:02):
You know, it's about it's about opportunity, it's about opportunity.
Speaker 6 (14:06):
You look at him this year, he averaged a career
high and.
Speaker 5 (14:09):
Points and assists, you know, but he also averaged a
career high and starts.
Speaker 6 (14:14):
So when you have a career high end points.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
Assists, and starts, that means you also have a career
high in quote unquote opportunity.
Speaker 6 (14:21):
Yeah, and you know what he did with that opportunity.
Speaker 5 (14:23):
That speaks to the twenty points per game four times
or that you just referenced, right, you go back to
his previous seasons. He wasn't playing this amount of minutes.
He wasn't because in the previous seasons, you're playing fifteen
minutes a game, seventeen minutes a game, nineteen minutes a game.
And now when those minutes start to increase, when those
(14:44):
minutes starts to increase, your role starts to increase, opportunities
starts to increase. Now is simply about you taking advantage
at and along with some guys not being available, right,
certain high power guys the firepower that this team.
Speaker 6 (15:00):
When everyone's available, it's completely different.
Speaker 5 (15:04):
Jose doesn't have to play that role now with job
is to simply come in and to change the energy.
Speaker 6 (15:09):
In the game. But when you have those guys sideline.
Speaker 5 (15:12):
Now you're asking him to be that Puerto Rican version
of Jose Alvarado that represented his national team.
Speaker 6 (15:17):
Sometimes you're going to have to score that basketball. Yeah.
Speaker 4 (15:21):
Lastly for me on Jose, what do you think of
the next steps from him? What do you think are
some of the things that we want to see from him,
you know, going forward into next season. Obviously we hope
we never go through a season like we just did
where it's constantly changing in terms of the rotation.
Speaker 3 (15:36):
But I mean when you talk.
Speaker 4 (15:37):
With him, I mean, what do you think is kind
of the next area, the next step that he's gonna take.
Speaker 6 (15:43):
The mental art of like you are a starting point
guard in this league. I think that's the big thing.
Speaker 5 (15:51):
Whether or not you are starting or not, you need
to have that thought in your head that I am
a starting point guard in this league. You know, we've
had many conversations about TJ McConnell. Rather than not TJ
McConnell was starting, he thinks he's a starting point guard. Yeah,
and it all starts with the mental aspect. And I've
towed Jose numerous time. For me, I can understand the
(16:13):
want to to start, but the trust is really concerned
with whether or not your finishing games, because your ability
to knock down open shots, your ability to bring energy,
your ability to make smart decisions pick up ninety four
feet a lot of times will have you on the
floor to finish games, which to me is far more important.
Speaker 2 (16:33):
I think one of the things that stood out to
me as we wrap up with Jose with Antonio Daniels here,
one of my favorite bites came towards the end of
the year AD when he talked about how those guards
that start, you know, starting point guards, they make a
lot of money for a reason, and that it's hard.
And one of the things you mentioned about one of
the things that I think is good as a person's
understanding limitations or your role and it it's not a
(16:54):
negative thing. It's understanding, hey, this is what I need
to work at or this is why it's hard, and
this is why it so good and it works because AD,
I think him understanding that is probably why I think
the most important thing you did this year.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Was this aspect of it.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
We talked about and you guys did towards the end
of the season, how well Carlo played, hal well Antonio
Reeves played, how well, all these other players, ancillary guys
played that came off. I mean Kenyonez, some guy that
just showed up on Thursdays. Right, That doesn't happen if
your point guard's not playing well distributing the ball, creating
space and giving them open shots.
Speaker 3 (17:29):
Am I wrong on that?
Speaker 6 (17:30):
Yeah? And that's the thing.
Speaker 5 (17:31):
That's why the point guard position is so crucial the
success of a team.
Speaker 6 (17:37):
You know, you can go throughout look at the playoffs.
Speaker 5 (17:39):
Now, a lot of these teams that are still playing
and competing, they have really good guard play. Go to
the NCAA tournament, really good guard play, and you advanced.
Because again, your job as a point guard is different
than anybody else's job. But the difference between a point
guard's job and everybody else's job is at point guard job.
Speaker 6 (18:00):
Keep everybody happy. There's no other position that has to
do that. Nobody.
Speaker 5 (18:04):
You got to make sure happy that he was strained,
that he wants to run, he knows that he's a
lot threat. A four man has to be happy with
his ability to space the floor, a three man running
the floor, a two man coming off screens. It's nobody
else's job to make sure that the point guard's happy,
but it's the point guard's job to make sure everybody
else is happy and that everybody else eats.
Speaker 6 (18:25):
Easier said and done.
Speaker 5 (18:26):
But I think Jose did a great job, especially at
the end of the season that you referenced us and
making sure everybody felt involved, right, whether it was Antonio
Reeves or whether it was Carlos running the floor.
Speaker 6 (18:39):
You know, you get keone is running the floor.
Speaker 5 (18:42):
Different guys that were out there that you didn't expect
to be playing with when the season started, but one
way or another, you found a way to make it work.
Speaker 6 (18:51):
You problem solved.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Right.
Speaker 2 (18:53):
We're going to wait to see a couple of months here,
but I think one thing that's gonna be interesting is
we talked about with the Jeante Murray, the other player
you spoke about, and with Joselvarado.
Speaker 3 (19:02):
I think both of those guys could be Joe Dumart
Sype guys.
Speaker 6 (19:04):
Right.
Speaker 2 (19:05):
I mean, those practices are going to be intense. Those
guys know what it means by that, So I think
that'll be an interesting dynamic to see day one of
training camp, Heidi goes to those workouts because you don't
have to tell those two guys to get your group
get ready to go, even in a little scrimmage or
in a game.
Speaker 3 (19:19):
To ten or something of that nature.
Speaker 5 (19:22):
Jose's the loudest one in practice. He is the loudest
one in practice. He's the one that's running around as
talking trash. And again, you need this, you need you
know you say teams need a glue guy or a
guy to do all the dirty blog. You also need
a guy on that roster when it's a random Tuesday
and guys are tired to bring that energy to the gym.
(19:43):
And Jose has from day one, since he got here,
even before he got a guaranteed contract, He's always.
Speaker 6 (19:50):
Been that guy.
Speaker 2 (19:51):
Antonio Daniels Hays always appreciate the time. Another great season.
Hopefully we'll all be talking postseason in a year from now. Man,
I appreciate the time.
Speaker 6 (19:58):
I hear that, I hear that. I appreciate you guys.
Speaker 2 (20:01):
Thanks ad Our, thanks to Antonio Daniels. There's always a
pleasure for the analyst on the Gulf Coast Sports and
Entertainment Network, Jim, the playoffs continue.
Speaker 3 (20:10):
Anything that stand out.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
To you in the weekend other than the wonderful jiff
you sent me of a dancing wolf mask.
Speaker 4 (20:18):
Yeah, his name is Crunch by the way, just for
the record, Yeah, the Timberwolves mascot very exciting and excited
to get that victory. Yeah, I mean, I mean it
was a pretty incredible weekend in terms of the game
winner that the Nuggets had at the buzzer. I mean,
that was as close to the buzzer as you could
possibly get. Aaron Gordon throws down a Jokic miss. It
(20:38):
was kind of funny that they were asking Joker, what
did you think when you let go of that shot?
And he was like, Oh, this is gonna be bad,
but it turned out great for him. I think, just overall,
one of my biggest takeaways is that I feel like
the I have I don't haven't looked at the TV ratings,
and I'm to be honest with you, I'm not that
not that interested in them, but it does feel like
(20:59):
there's been kind of a swing towards a lot of
people are talking positively about the way the playoffs have been,
and you know, it's one of those things where it's
like you see such a difference between the playoffs and
the regular season. And speaking of which, another thing that
stood out to me this weekend was do you realize
that JJ Reddick in the second half of the Lakers
Game four against Minnesota played the same five guys all
(21:22):
twenty four minutes And apparently that's never happened in the
history of the NBA, at least as far back as
they can track the minutes by quarter and by half. So,
I mean, that's pretty interesting strategy to think about, just
the fact that you see the significance of the game
that a coach would never do that regular season because
people would be like, what are you doing? Why would
(21:43):
you wear your guys out in February or March? But
I mean, you saw that they go into that game
down to one. They know if they lose their down
three to one, and it's something like five percent of
the teams in the history of the NBA down three
to one have ever come back to win. So you
know this is this isn't our season, but it's aren't
close to it. So I thought that was really interesting
to see the way that he handled that. And obviously
(22:06):
part of that is that you know, you don't necessarily
have a ton of faith in some of your bench
guys to be able to play minutes if you literally
don't use any of them in the second half. But
I mean, that was a that was quite a game.
That's been a fun series so far. And then lastly,
this is actually related to the Pelicans a little bit.
Damian Lillard with his injury and you know, potential for
(22:27):
that to be something that affects him long term.
Speaker 3 (22:29):
I love Damian Lillard, I love his Portland years.
Speaker 4 (22:32):
I kind of wish in high I mean, hindsight twenty twenty,
I kind of wish he had stayed there because his
two seasons with Milwaukee for a lot of and for
a lot of things that are reasons they are out
of control, out of his control. Giannis was hurting the
playoffs last year, Chris Middleton had a bunch of injuries,
they had to trade him. So it's like, I think,
I'm sure what he envisioned when he went there has
been it's been so far from what he thought it
(22:52):
was going to be like. But related to the Pelicans though,
I think it's it's it's going to be interesting to
follow what happens with Milwaukee in the offseason and then
the way that they approach next year because Milwaukee doesn't
have their draft rights over these next few years and
the Pelicans are specifically related to that. The Pelicans have
swap rights with Milwaukee in twenty twenty six, so if Milwaukee, say,
(23:15):
has a really bad record, the Pelicans are gonna end
up with a high pick from them as part of
the Drew Holliday trade going way back, Pelicans also have
Indiana's first round pick next year as part of the
Toronto trade. So that's top four four protected. But you're
looking at twenty twenty six something to keep an eye on.
I don't think we're gonna focus a ton on this
(23:37):
as time goes on, but just in the back of
your mind to think about that, you know, these are
things that could affect the Pelicans. I do think though
that given Milwaukee, you know a lot of people are
already circling for Giannis and saying like, does he want
out of Milwaukee, Which personally, I can't stand that talk
because we went through We've gone through it before right here.
Speaker 3 (23:57):
But I don't think the Bucks can.
Speaker 4 (23:58):
Go into the mode of like, yeah, we're gonna rebuild,
because when you don't have your draft picks, it doesn't
really make any sense to do that. It's gonna be
several years before they get to the point where a
bad record during a season is going to result in
a high pick for them, It's gonna a bad record
over the next few years will result in a high
pick for someone else. So I don't think that does
them any good, but just an interesting thing to think about.
Speaker 3 (24:20):
In terms of that.
Speaker 4 (24:20):
Milwaukee's future is kind of somewhat indirectly tied to the
Pelicans as well.
Speaker 2 (24:26):
Yeah, it's gonna be interesting for sure. And to your
point that you're bringing up, uh, yeah, you don't want
to think of the draft, but that goes into you know,
what off season moves you make, how you go out
through the season, knowing where you go and income trade deadline,
all that stuff in the coming year. But in the meantime,
I'm with you and and oh, by the way, the
two teams had the most wins, one in the East,
(24:46):
one in the West. You know, one sweeps in OKAC
in Cleveland going into into Yeah, yeah exactly, so not
unexpected on that.
Speaker 3 (24:57):
But some other interesting games there for there have been.
Speaker 4 (25:00):
I mean, those teams have continued to follow up on
the dominance that they showed during the regular season, and
I think also probably demonstrate a little bit of the
advantage of being the one seed of having to play
a team, and I think in both cases with Miami
where they had to win a couple of playing games
to sneak into the playoffs, and then Memphis which was
(25:21):
super banged up and then had even more injury issues
during the playoffs. It's definitely been beneficial for OKAC and
Cleveland to be the one seeds and you know what,
they earned it. They deserve whatever help that that gives
you as far as you know, starting the playoffs with
the undefeated record so far.
Speaker 2 (25:37):
Mister Jimi Keoffre is always a pleasure and appreciate it
and also appreciate Antonio Daniels.
Speaker 6 (25:42):
Again.
Speaker 3 (25:42):
If you missed any of the interviews of a past
go to Pelicans dot com. Jim has an accompany right up.
Speaker 2 (25:48):
And also all of our other interviews. Until next time,
we'll see you again on the New Orleans Pelicans podcast.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Thanks for listening to the New Orleans Pelicans podcast joy
times per week on Pelicans dot com, the Pelicans mobile app,
the iHeartRadio app, or where you get your podcast, and
be sure to give Jim and Guss a follow on
x at Jim Underscore I can offer and Gcat Underscore seventeen.
(26:18):
We'll see you next time, right here on the New
Orleans Pelicans podcast.
Host
Jim Eichenhofer
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