January 13, 2025 • 36 mins
On the latest New Orleans Pelicans Podcast for Monday, Jan. 13, 2025, Pelicans.com’s Jim Eichenhofer and Gus Kattengell recap this weekend's games against the 76ers and Celtics as we hear from head coach Willie Green and players on their performances.
Jim also gives us his player of the week and player to watch out for in the upcoming slate of games.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Episode Transcript
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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):
All right, hello.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Everyone, and welcome back to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast,
official podcast of your New Orleans Pelicans. As we are
off and running now in the month of January. Listen
Jimike and Offerpelicans dot com. Second full week of the
month of January. Hard to believe beginning of the month,
we're talking about, man, seventeen games in thirty one days,
and man, here we are getting close and closer to
(00:56):
the midway point of this month.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Yeah, this month is flying by. I mean, I think
this week end was really encouraging the fact that we
saw just a lot better product on the court compared
to what they've produced for you know, the first thirty
plus games of the season. Now they're forty games in,
so I think it was a good weekend overall. It
would have been an amazing weekend if that last shot
at the buzzer would have been about a half inch
closer to the to the of where it bounced off
(01:19):
the backboard. But nonetheless, I thought, I mean, I talked
to a few people already this morning in the office
here who we're saying that that was the most fun
game that they've watched all season. It would have been
really fun if it had been a win. But either way,
I mean, it was a really good performance and encouraging.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
No doubt. And when we last talked here on the
podcast on Friday, we thought this three game East Coast
swing was you know, it was daunting. It was challenging
here a little bit. He hadn't played a very good
basketball game, let's just be honest, on Wednesday against the
Portland Trail Blazers. So you kind of interested to see
what it went in. You know, when I meet you
at Loft eighteen at our Pelicans watch party, we start
(01:54):
our pre game with a nice visit with arel Opez.
But then also he opens his mouth and he goes
herb Jones could be out for a while with the
shoulder injuries, Ion Williamson suspending. You going, oh, mom.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
And you're not blaming Andrew Lopez for those things? When
you said he opened his mouth that those things that right,
that had happened, and we were discussing them. Yeah, no,
it was. It was a really rough Friday afternoon. I
mean to hear those two pieces of news was. It
was a bad start to the weekend, no doubt. By
the time we got to Sunday, things were looked a
lot better.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
And part of the reason was because of this on
the Pelicans Radio network.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
And now Uber tries to drive and Eve mecI says,
get that shot out of here as he blocks it
all the way into our bench. You see with the
delivery deliver us from Eve. The column hops another three
left to the top. The President is cooking eighteen first
quarter points for CJ. McCollum. Gordon one on one with
(02:50):
jail re crosses him over, gets to the rim, throws
it out right to Joset wreathe the path Jose to
Hawkins left wing three, barry it and made him right.
McCollum dump it down low, Eve, don't it After a
little double clutch to steal by Alvarado up the floor.
McCollum pulls up from the wing right three and down
(03:13):
right corner. Martin drives into the racket.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
He got blocked by Meacy.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
And it was off of Martner. You kidding Me and
McCollum begging for the ball. Get it into Murray, Murray,
bounce feed to Boston, Boston drives of the paint, bodied up,
throw it up, no reboundy even a put back kick
at the Jose wide open left wing. Three make him
right President Hose free ball, Jose swish left wing is
(03:36):
second in a row. Oh there, ho there, Oh there there,
Jose to the right block, dump it off the Tyson
another dunk.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
There you go. You can hear the starters and the
bench put in a lot of that for the last gym,
specifically about what stood out in that. But here he's
head coach Willy Green.
Speaker 5 (03:51):
You know, just it's a credit to all of our
guys and the character in that locker room, you know,
dealing with a lot the last couple of days or so,
and you know they just they pull together and went
out and competed for forty eight minutes, played hard, you know,
really solid defense, shared the ball offensively, all the things
that we talk about, all of our concepts, and I'm
extremely proud of this group.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
One point, that's all that stood between them winning all
four quarters in that game. Jim, you and I talked
about it during the game. Thirty six points off the
bench man, just your thoughts on that performance that night.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Yeah, I mean, the last thing you mentioned the bench
was the thing that I think stood out to me
the most. Just the fact that you had three guys
that had a double figure scoring. Jeremiah Robinson Earl didn't
score in that game, but he had a bunch of
rebounds and assists, so I mean, just the contributions that
they got from pretty much the entire rotation that game,
I mean, and offensively as well, they scored. I mean,
(04:43):
this was a little bit of a prelude to what
they did Sunday, but they scored one hundred and twenty
three points against Philly. So that was the most points
they had scored in quite some time, other than the
one of the games against the Wizards, which we know
that Washington is really struggling overall as well as at
the defensive end. So I mean, it was one of
the better offensive games that the Pelicans have had in
several weeks, and that was a reason why they not
(05:05):
only won the game relatively easily, but also it seemed
like they had the lead for almost the entire game.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Yeah, no doubt. And then you get to Boston and
again that's a very daunting task. And that's a team
that you know, Jim, they gonna fire away threes. What
are they average fifty threes a game? Something like that.
I mean, it's kind of crazy. So they here come
the Pelicans, a team clearly no for the three point
shooting and the Jontay Murray five in.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
The first quarter, Zion bounce past to Murray that is
online and down from the left wing. Are you serious
to Jante Murray? Is this to Jonte Murray?
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Who is this shooting this basketball like this?
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Don't wake up if you're sleeping?
Speaker 5 (05:42):
Nah?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
I love that. And of course, Zion Williamson known as
a person that loves to steal the basketball.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
In the latest trip by Williamson.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
Again steals e coast to coast lefty layup. It's good.
Z has come up with three steals a consecutive possessions
fifty five fifty one.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
And then, of course, as the game went on and
on the bench provided some stuff, you started seeing Zion
looking a little more like himself.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
Got to quiet the crowd. Zion power zan scooping Lefty
lay up right in Cornet's grill.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
That looked like Zion Williams.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
See the body language ze he had the stump back
up the floor that looked like yep.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
And Jim just mentioned how important Jose has been on
this road trip so far.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Porzegi's watch out. Oh we got stripped by McCollum back
the other way, c j are you not two on one?
Leave it for Jose? Wide open left wing three goo.
You don't need to on one if you got Jose
and the trailer provision.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Let me tell you something somebody else we're gonna be
talking about here as well. Uh, the play of Trey Murphy.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Trey's wide open.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Oh, that's a good screen.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
Left angles three, that's a good screen. It is down
again for Trey Murphy. Kenneth the third benefits from that screen.
I think it was Eve meafy and he's wide open
on the cat five threes twenty eight points.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
That's great to hear, right, Jim, the screen for me
seees showing the growth on that, and then Trade just
continues to knock down shots.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Yeah, down three, it's Ray Murphy's got a three left
dagle three tray fun on him. Nope, rebound white after shots.
You gotta have after shot to look it for. And
we followed at the backcourt.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Right, I'll take that. I thought that was that was
for the tie. Misread it miss for the tie. So
Jim look obviously just up and down those high I
cut twenty six highlights on that one. So much went
well yesterday in how they played before we get to
the last place.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
It was fun to hear the happiness and grass voice
because I know we've it's been rare sometimes we've had
some stretches this year where he hasn't been able to
sound that pleased with things. So yeah, it was. It
was great. I mean, there were there were so many highlights.
You said, twenty six clips. I mean that was just
a fun game, and it was. It was definitely. I mean,
(08:03):
it might have been a top five performance by the
Pelicans this season, even though they didn't get to win.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Agree. I think that's a great way to look at it.
I mean, Jim, when you look at what they did.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
You know, they were hitting their threes.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
You had guys that were making shots left and right,
and I think one of the things that really stood
up more than anything was. I asked you this already once.
It was after one of the home games. I was like, man,
this is one of the games you go, man, what if, right, well,
what if if you didn't have those injuries and such?
And you're seeing more and more of those examples, like
(08:37):
you're still not fully healthy, but you're pretty much everybody
would be I right, and and herb jumps right. But
as far as the scoring was, and you're just you're
seeing more of a rhythm that Jantay Murray looks more
and more comfortable in that court. And dude, I know
Eves isn't double doubling statistically, but it sure feels like
he's having a bigger impact in these games.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Huh, yeah, he is. I mean, I think what we're
seeing too, is it maybe you know, I don't have
very much patience sometimes, and I mean under the circumstances.
I totally understand people not having patience with this season,
But it does seem like I think to some degree,
we're seeing the guys that it's not just that you
get the guys back from injury and then immediately they
(09:19):
click in and everything's great. Sometimes it takes some time
for them to get back into a rhythm. I know
that was one thing people should can go back and
listen to Friday's episode. One thing Antonio Daniel's talked about
with de Jonte Murray was that he just needed time,
and it seems like that's been the case with I mean,
it took CJ a little while to get back to
the way he's played lately. You know, it wasn't like
I think with a lot of these guys, it wasn't
(09:41):
immediately in the first few games after they came back
from injury. They look like themselves, which is to be
expected when you're out as long as some of these
players have been. I think we're seeing that a little
bit with Zion too, that he's showing a lot of
promising signs, but you can tell that he's not one
hundred percent yet and it's going to take him a
little bit of time. I mean he's not playing his
normal minutes either. Still explayed twenty eight minutes his first
(10:02):
two games back from injury, So you know, I think
that's a big part of it. Is just that you
have so many players who not only were injured and
came back from being out, but they were out for
a long enough period where It's taken them a little
time to get into a groove, but I think we're
finally starting to see that that combination come together. As
well as just the chemistry. It seems like Dejonte's figuring
(10:23):
out where guys need the ball in different spots. He's
been making really good decisions as far as when to shoot,
when to pass, and so everything just looks better, and
so I think, I mean, they have forty two games
left in the season, just this is so much more
watchable than what we saw for a lot of stretches
of November and December. What they've done lately is it
(10:45):
makes you want to tune in and watch it. It
makes you just a lot more optimistic about it. We
know the record is what it is and that it's
going to be a tall order for them to even
get back in the play in tournament race, but if
they play like this, I just feel like it's just
going to be a lot more more entertaining and worth
your while to pay attention down the last three months
of the season.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
I mean, you saw the comments on social media. I
mean people were happy with that performance and seeing it,
and again, I think that's one thing I can take
a loss if the other team. I mean, again, you
have two all NBA three hundred and fifty million dollar
players in Datum mid Brown. Sure, I mean that's who
That's who they are, so and that's a team that
won the championship. You're you're giving him that kind of game.
(11:26):
Pretty much every other team in the NBA you play
like that, you're winning.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Yeah, And I know, I mean ultimately from a big
picture standpoint, this season has been infinitely frustrating at times,
but one of the things that we want to see
is just them be a lot more representative of a
competitive NBA team and a lot more representative of the
talent that we know that they have. So, like you said,
I mean, it's stunk that they ended up losing the
(11:52):
game by a point. And I mean that would have
been an incredible way to win a game at the
Buzzer and just to be able to beat Boston no
matter how you do, it would have been a pretty
memorable moment. Wouldn't have changed the overall scope or outlook
of the season based on the standings, but it would
have been extremely encouraging. But even without that basket, that
shot by CJ McCollum going in and you know, bouncing
(12:12):
off the rim even without it, if you look at
things objectively and from a reasonable standpoint, when you take
a step back, you realize that, I mean, if they
play like this the rest of the way, you're at
least going to be able to go into the offseason
saying we went we got back to playing the brand
of basketball that we thought we were going to be
able to put on the floor when they had training camp,
and that a lot of individual players. I know, we're
(12:34):
probably gonna get into this a little bit more soon,
but just a lot of individual players are making jumps
and I think among the things that you have on
your checklist of what you want to accomplish for the
rest of the season, I think that's definitely near the
top of the list.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
No doubt. Here's Willie Green after the losses.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
Yeah, I thought it was. It was a good game,
game plan, discipline was at a high level. You know,
the guys just they executed over and over again and
it came down to the wire. So you know, I
think everyone on our team and with our group, will
we'll take that shot again. I mean it wouldn't in
and out.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Yeah, no doubt. And look, that's todd work sometimes, right,
but at least in that position because you've played hard
to do that. I think that's the one thing that
stood out in Zion's post game comments.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
We competed even when they went on their runs. We
didn't let it affect us, and we stayed in the
game and we start to who we are, all right.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
So, Jim, look, we've seen better basketball as of late.
As we now transition us to what are we seeing
different here thirteen days in a month of January that
we haven't seen in the past.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah, I mean right now, the Pelicans are three and
four in January. That easily could have been a little
bit better, obviously, But I mean in the seven games
I think we've seen, there's so many different areas where
they've been improved. I Mean, one of the things I
want to start with is their fifth and three point
makes per game in January. They actually outscored Boston last
night in three pointers made, So I mean that was
(13:58):
something that was kind of like an impossible dream if
you think about it before the game, It's like that team,
there's no way that they're going to be able to
make more threes against Boston when they play them head
to head. I mean, I think I wrote something in
the pregame or in the preview yesterday morning about you
just want to try to stay competitive, you want to
just get within you know, a few baskets. If they
outscore you by you know, nine or twelve points from
(14:20):
three point range, you can live with that. But it
turned out that the Pelicans, you know, made more threes
than Boston did. It was seventeen to thirteen, So, I mean,
just another good sign of early in the season. The
first couple months of the season, the Pelicans were at
the very bottom of three pointers made. I think they
were they might have been thirtieth not that long ago.
So for them to go all the way up to fifth,
(14:40):
and granted, you know, we always have to say it's
a small sample, it's seven games, but I mean, with
the way that some certain individuals that I'm going to
talk about in a second are playing, it's not that
unheard of, it's not that out of the realm of
possibility for them to make a big improvement, which they've
done by being fifth in three pointers made this month.
They're also ninth in three point attempts. And you know,
(15:02):
we talked about how the goal this season is to
take forty threes a game, and depending on the personnel
that's available, whether it's injuries, whether it's you know, Zion
comes back, you think maybe they'll shoot less threes because
you're playing lineups that have Zion and even me see
neither of those guys are going to be taking many,
if any threes. But in January, the Pelicans have actually
averaged thirty nine point nine threes a game, which is
(15:24):
ninth in the league. So they're almost exactly at the
forty just in January. So I think that's something that
the coaching staff has to be pleased with the fact
that they've you know, increased the amount of threes that
they've taken. Clearly, it helps a lot to have CJ.
McCollum available, now, have Trey Murphy available. Those are guys
that can take, yeah, months, guys that can take ten
(15:48):
or twelve threes by themselves in a game. And it
doesn't it's not like they're force anything. It's like, okay,
we expect that if it's you know, no one's gonna
complain if Trey Murphy takes fourteen threes in the game.
So I mean that's helped a lot as well, their
twelfth and three point percentage in January. So even though
they've pretty significantly increased the volume in how many they're taking,
(16:10):
they've also gotten more accurate from three point range as well.
I'm not going to go through all of these numbers,
but I mean, just real quickly. They're twelfth in free
throws made per game in January, their eleventh and free
throw attempts. Zion's only played in two games, but he
helps a lot in that area. Pelicans are fifth in
blocks per game. So defensively, that's something that has been
(16:30):
a plus. Offensive rating, which is points per possession their twelfth,
they were in the bottom two or three for most
of the season in offensive efficiency, so that has gone
up a ton. Assist to turnover ratio their tenth, we
know that they had a bunch of games where it
was almost even. They had almost as many turnovers as
they had assists, which, by the way, it's not good, No,
(16:52):
that's not a good thing. So this month their assistant
turnover ratio is two point one four, so they're having
you know, obviously more than twice as many assists in turnovers.
And then lastly, turnover percentage, they're sixth. We saw so
many games where they'd be they'd get twenty something turn
twenty plus turnovers, and just that would be a huge
crucial reason why they didn't have a chance to win games.
(17:14):
So now you're talking, you know, they're in the top
ten and being able to take care of the ball.
I think Jose E Varado has made a difference in
that lately with him being on the floor. So just
all these different areas where through January they've been so
much better than they were in November and December in particular,
And so the result of that is that you're just
(17:36):
a lot more competitive and you have put all that
stuff together and you almost beat Boston on their home floor.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
Look, and I think one of the things that you
bring up to is the captain obvious kind of thing.
I mean, you need your players, Yeah, and there's a
reason why those players are who they are. And I
know CJ. McCollums said it in the past two and
one of the games where they didn't win late and like, hey,
your two most highest paid players on the floor to
the ball. And even then that was a game that
(18:02):
they hadn't played together that long, right, I think it
was like the first or second game with both of
them back, with the Jontay back, and you're seeing the difference.
You're seeing the difference of why we were so happy
that the Jonte was joining this team. I mean, he's
got some incredible passes and stuff. Seeing the development of
not only guys like Trey Murphy to their game and such,
but Eve Mec you know same thing as well, where
(18:23):
I keep looking at that box going like, you sure
it's not a double double because I mean, look on
one of those highlights, I just played Traits to three
and you're here Todd say it was a great screen
by Eves Meacy, Like those are things that maybe wasn't
being as executed as as you would have liked early
on in the year.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
I mean, I think totally agree. I mean, you can't
win in the NBA without talent if you have a
big talent deficit, the way the Pelicans did in some
of the games early in the season when they had
so many guys out. I remember the game in particular,
the game they played at Oklahoma City. It was like,
how are you going to overcome this when you have
this many key guys out in the town differential is
(19:00):
so big that your margin you know, Willie Green has
talked a lot about margin of error is small. I
mean that one it was like smaller than like a
needle pinhole. It was like you had to do everything
right for forty eight minutes to have a chance to
win the game. So it but it's also to me,
it's not just getting the talent back that's the most
important thing, but also just having it not be so
(19:21):
disjointed where it feels like lately they did have a
stretch of what was at ten twelve games in a
row where they were able to start the same guys
every every night and it wasn't necessarily resulting in wins,
but they were I think they were getting closer and
closer to having good chemistry and being more competitive. And
now that you added Zion back in recently, you added
(19:41):
Jose back in relatively recently. Now I think there the
talent is back and the fact that it doesn't look
so out of whack and confusing. I think because like
I said earlier, Dejonte has played more minutes with a
lot of these guys, and you could say that a
bunch of about a bunch of players Jose and Daniel
type had some really good connections in the game Friday,
(20:02):
and it's like there's all these different two man combinations
and lineups where they'd never had the opportunity to do
some of the things that they've done lately because they
were never together on the court. So it just feels
like now that the familiarity that should happen is starting
to kick in a little bit. Forty games into the season,
I feel like in the November, for example, we saw
times where ten games in the fifteen games in the season,
(20:25):
the Pelicans still look like they had never played together
because in a lot of cases they literally hadn't, whereas
some of these other teams that they played, like Cleveland
stands out to me, Okay, see they fifteen games in
the season, they look like they played together for two
or three years because they had, so I think that's
definitely been something that's helpful lately that you're finally just
getting some more cohesiveness.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
I don't want to be the Gussie downer here, right,
but to your point that you're saying, you just gave
me a handful of stats, a handful of players that
are playing better in those all reasons why we're seeing
better and competitive bats ball All right, So Herb Jones
it's gone for a little bit, if not for the season.
(21:07):
R Right, So how does that affect plus or minus
in terms of the team, in terms of their defense,
because look, de Jontay Murray, I guess in the past,
if he doesn't play, you lose a lot. And we
saw at the beginning of the season he saw a lot,
but that was also because Joney Murr wasn't played. Jontay
Murray had what a game a couple of games ago,
five six steals?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
I mean sure, yeah, he said some huge steals.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
You know, Zion Williamson five steals yesterday. If that guy
can can pick that up. But Javonte Green played a
night's game he did yesterday. Is so I don't want
to say this because this guy is in you know,
first team defense. But do the Pels have some players
that can help survive the absence of Herb Jones on
(21:51):
the defense?
Speaker 2 (21:52):
I think so, I mean they're gonna miss Herb Jones
a ton. I mean we've seen I've talked about recently
the plus minus numbers when he's on the floor. It's
kind of unmistakable the impact that he makes. I think, really,
what's gonna happen. Is that it's going to be we're
gonna see probably compared to if Herb was playing, We're
probably gonna see more minutes from Trey Murphy. We maybe
(22:14):
we'll see more minutes from Javonte Green. It did seem
like Javante for a little bit there wasn't playing much.
His minutes had gone way down because you had more
players available. So I think that's gonna be one of
the biggest impacts is we're gonna just see a little
bit of a different combination of players that are available.
But but yeah, I mean, they're gonna miss him for sure.
(22:35):
It's there's no doubt that not having a first team
all defensive guy. But like you said, you know, Dejonte
is playing now and some of the other guys can
hopefully make up for some of what they've done defensively.
That's that I mean that I mentioned a bunch of stats.
That's one area that they still need to make more
improvement is at the defensive end. They've gotten better in January,
(22:56):
but it's not a big jump from what it was.
I mean, but it also doesn't help to you know,
play some of the teams that they've played, like Boston
one of the best offensive teams in the league. So
but it's it's an area that they're going to have
to kind of do by committee, i think, without her playing.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
So look, you gave us some stats that that have,
you know, shown as to why the Pels are playing
a little bit better about individually. You've seen some performances
you kind of heard me foreshat a little bit on
Trey Murphy. What he's been doing one of your eyes.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Yes, he's definitely on my list. I mean, he's played
four games in January, He's averaged twenty five point eight
points per game. He's actually if you think about it,
with how well CJ. Mccalum has played lately, but Trey
is actually still leading the New Orleans and scoring average
this month, So that says a lot right there. He's
been He's made all nineteen of his free throws, He's
averaged four three pointers made per game, So I mean,
(23:48):
he's been huge. I think he's made another jump that
is pretty evident that he's a different player than he
was maybe even a month ago or a couple of
weeks ago, and definitely compared to the beginning of season.
So that's been great. CJ. McCollum. In January's averaged twenty
five point one points per game. He's shooting fifty percent
from the field, forty four percent from three point range.
(24:10):
He's getting closer and closer to his his long stated
goal of that, you know, by the end of the
season or he I think he said within like ten
days he would be back to uh forty percent from
three point range. So he's getting closer to that. De
Jonte Murray has just in January, he's averaging eighteen point
four points. He's shooting forty five percent from the field
(24:31):
compared to he shot thirty eight percent in December. In January,
he's averaging five point nine rebounds, eight point zero assists,
and only three point three point one turnovers per game.
You know, he's a point guard. He's going to have
some turnovers. That's part of the equation. And then lastly,
Zion's played the two games that he's played, he's averaged
(24:51):
four steels. He has eight total. To me on where
where effort and conditioning shows up the most for him,
I think when he's really right in those areas, it
shows up on defense. He's really moving his feet, he's
scrambling He's been doing a great job of anticipating when
a ball handler has turned his back to him and
all of a sudden he ambushes the guy and steals
(25:12):
it from him. So I think that's that part has
been really positive. One of the things that Antonio Daniels
talked about on the TV broadcast last night was just Zion.
It's hard to measure this, but he said, you know,
Zion makes a big difference in the team's confidence. Basically
that when you have him out there, it just gives
you a different degree, a different level of belief that
(25:34):
you know you can go into Boston and win that game.
And clearly offensively as well, he makes a huge difference
in that he's you know, people always talk about gravity
in basketball. That he's drawing a lot of attention from
other defenses and that's opening things up for the Pelicans overall.
And last thing too, for him. In the two games
(25:54):
that he's played since he came back from his injury,
the Pelicans have won his minutes by twelve. They were
plus eight against Minnesota and then plus four against Boston
last night. And now I mentioned this before, I think
last week, but now he's played two hundred and forty
two minutes over the course of this season, and the
Pelicans are minus two in that stretch. So you're talking
(26:14):
about a team that's eight and thirty two overall record.
But if you look at just the minutes that Zion
has played, they're really pretty much almost exactly a five
hundred team. So, I mean, if they were five hundred,
we'd be talking about the play in race every single
episode of this show. We'd be talking about, you know,
they got to win this game and that. So it
just kind of shows you just how much more competitive
(26:35):
they've been when he's on the court, and how much
more they look like a team that could reach the
postseason as opposed to a team that is really not
in contention right now.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
Yeah, I mean, look at it is what it is.
He don't don't need you don't need like special glasses
or I need to know anything about basketball. And just see,
I mean, the guy just has a different kind of
talent level than others, right, I mean you just see that.
I mean from the three sixty dunk when he first
came back, you know, a couple of games ago, on
that Tuesday against the te Wolves to you know, really
(27:06):
to that point that you're saying yesterday, his offense wasn't
there and that rhythm wasn't air, But he did other
things in the game that that kind of you know,
got there. And look, I mean late in that game,
he throws a pass to that right corner that turns
out to be a turnover and a fast break. Given
another week or so where he's in the flow, that's
probably a spectacular finish one way shape or form, you know,
(27:26):
because I mean that so it's just it just stinks
because we keep bringing up the what ifs, but it is,
it is what ifs. I mean, there's a reason that
guy is one of the best players there were.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
There definitely were a few things that happened in the
last couple of minutes of the game that if it
goes a little bit different way, if you make a
little bit better decision, maybe you win that game. Of course,
Boston is saying the same thing that they had a
five second violation that was super crucial. They had a
couple other mistakes. They missed two free throws in the
last what was it, ten fifteen seconds of the game,
(27:56):
which was surprising. But yeah, I mean, you're right. I
think I talked about earlier. How you know, guys that
have been out for from injury, they have to get
their rhythm back physically. I think you're right. I think
it's one of those things where you know, the more
time that Zion has on the court, maybe some of
those mistakes that he made will be he'll improve upon
and they won't be mistakes anymore.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Yeah, and Jim, let's let's see what happens as we
continue the month of January. Now for your favorite part
of it. Man, it's Monday already. It's week last week?
What day the weekend is.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
It's funny though, because when the Pelicans play on Sunday,
a lot of feels like I always say this, it's
the first of two Mondays, and so I know that
doesn't sound great, but but but no it Yeah, it's
it's Monday, but it feels like the second Monday to me.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
And this week, by the way, a carbon copy of
last week in terms of game on Mondays back to
back on a Tuesday Wednesday in a game on Friday,
which we'll get to in a quick second.
Speaker 6 (28:54):
Well, it's a Monday, thankfully, Jim, is always our Friday.
It's time for mister Eichenhoffer to give his Players of
the Week and a player to watch for this week,
which got.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Big Guy Well the player of the week. I think
it's only right that I go with de Jontay Murray.
I think the level of improvement that he's had warrants
some special recognition. In the four games last week, he
averaged twenty three points, shot fifty percent from the field,
forty four percent from three point range, six rebounds a game,
(29:30):
six point three assists, two point five steals. So I mean,
he's just brought his level of play up so much,
and I think this is something that we The way
he's played lately, I mean not just the last week,
but just recently going back a little ways, is what
we expected from him, you know, when the Pelicans traded
for him in the offseason from Atlanta. So tip of
(29:53):
the cap to him. The player to watch this week,
I'm gonna go with Trey Murphy, and it's interesting going
back to mid December, he's actually leading the Pelicans of
scoring at twenty five point two points per game. So again,
you think about how well CJ. McCollum has played over
the last month or so, and yet Trey's actually averaging
(30:15):
more points than CJ. Is it just it speaks to
just how great offensively he's been. His shooting splits over
that same span forty nine percent from the field, forty
two percent from three to ninety five percent from three
point range. So I mean he's a sliver away from
being fifty to forty ninety. Over the last few weeks
that he's played, this has been the best stretch of
(30:37):
his career in terms of just offensive consistency. He hasn't
dipped below you know, sixteen or eighteen points for quite
a long span right now. So it was great to
have him back in the lineup on Sunday against Boston
that he's going to be the player to watch the
games this week. They play at Chicago on Tuesday, home
against Dallas Wednesday, home against Utah on Friday, and then
(31:00):
they have a little bit of a break no games
on the weekend, and then they play Utah again the
following Monday, which is the which is January twentieth. But
I mean, just the last couple of things, A little
quick injury update on the teams that the Pelicans are
playing this week. Kobe White for the Bulls, who has
had a couple of big games against the Pelicans in
the past. He was a d MP Sunday against the Kings,
(31:22):
a game that Sacramento won added to their winning streak
Dallas on Wednesday. They don't have Luca or Kyrie. Kyrie
hasn't played since January first, Luca hasn't played since Christmas,
so Pelicans are catching a little bit of a break
with both of those guys being sidelined right now. And
then lastly the opponent Friday, Utah. They have too many
(31:42):
recent DMPs for me to even mention. They had so
many guys that didn't play Saturday in their most recent
game against Phoenix. But Jordan Clarkson is I'll mention him.
He's a six man, really good scorer off the bench
for them. He's out, he won't be playing for a
week or two, so he won't be in that game.
But they have a bunch of other players like Lori
Markin and who didn't play Saturday and not sure what
(32:05):
their status is going to be. Obviously, this is still
four days from when Utah comes here, but they're definitely
a team that will be monitoring their injury situation because
they have numerous players that have contributed for that John
Collins is another guy, So we'll have to keep an
eye on that to see what kind of Jazz team
actually shows up here for the baseball series Friday and Monday.
(32:27):
So bunch of bunch of different teams that also have
some injury issues that the Pelicans are gonna be facing
this week.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
You mentioned Dallas not having those two guys kind of important.
I mean, I know, Na He's done pretty well, but yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Yeah, now, I'm sure Nausey thinks he can carry things.
And you know, actually too, they've they've done a really
good job of maintaining a decent record.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
Seven So yeah, I guess the point I'm trying to
make I met.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
More recently, right, I mean some of those losses of
the ten were actually before Kyrie was sidelined.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
Right, And That's what I'm getting at, is it affects
you when you don't have the players, no matter the team.
I mean, obviously we saw with Phoenix, but what happened
with them when they lost some players and you know, things,
I need to look. That's why I think what okay
SE's done is pretty remarkable. Ninety one air last ten,
they finally lost their six game of the year. I
think it was to Cleveland. They're thirty two and six
(33:20):
on top of first. Same thing with Cleveland. Man, they've
only lost five games or thirty three and five, but
they've they've stayed pretty healthy. I mean when Cleveland wasn't
last year, like it's time to blow up the team,
fire the coach and they were all injured.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Which they actually did do, by the way, they did
fire the coach, it did, but yeah, no, it was
in terms of been healthy. Yeah, in terms of their
main guys. They stuck with their four best players and
it's worked out extremely well. I mean, you know, I
talked to her a lot earlier in the episode about
no patients. I mean, I think it's one of those things.
I mean, Evan Mobley is a great example of no patience.
(33:55):
People were saying like, oh, he's not making progress, and
it's like, dude, this guy's still really early in his career.
He comes back, comes back this season, makes a huge jump.
Is going to be an All Star. Darius Garland, same thing.
He had tons of injuries last year, tons of things
that affected him even when he was playing. He's improved
a ton and so you add that all up together
and you have the team that they have at thirty
(34:16):
three and five, which is one of the best starts
in the history of the NBA. So yeah, no, they
I mean, the fact that there's six games in the
lost column ahead of Boston is amazing.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
Yeah, right, that team that we saw yesterday. Look and
here here's where we are here in New Orleans. We
just want to see some competitive and good basketball, and
we're seeing that as of late. Jim brought up some numbers.
Jim brought up some players that are starting to get
into it. And look around the corner. We could be
seeing Brandon Ingram, you know, return to the lineup and
see how that goes, and that would add to it.
So let's see this week. As we mentioned tomorrow, we
(34:49):
have the Bulls then at home against the Mavericks coming up,
and as Jim said, the baseball series with the Jazz
over the weekend. They don't go back on the road
until the end of the month here Memphis, Charlotte and Toronto,
and that's literally the last weekend or second last I
mean in the January.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
So we'll be home for a little bit after the
game at Chicago Tuesday. It's really a four game homestand
I mean they jump right into it with the back
to back Wednesday against Dallas, but yeah, Dallas, two games
against Utah and then the one against Milwaukee, So I
mean they're gonna have a bunch of chances in front
of the home fans to play a lot better and
try to hopefully carry over what they've done so far
(35:26):
on this road trip back to the games in the
Smooth and King Center. I mean, there's a lot of
time left in the season, so I mean, I think
it's really important to continue to show what you've done,
at least recently in the month of January, where you're
just so much better team and so much more representative
of what you can do as a group.
Speaker 3 (35:46):
As always appreciated the time, mister Jim I can offer,
thank you so much. We'll see you on Wednesday. Thanks guys,
all right, and thank you for tuning us in on
the New Orleans Pelicans podcast.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
Thanks for listening to the New Orleans Pelicans podcast. Join
us three 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
(36:16):
and Gcat Underscore seventeen. 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):
All right, hello.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
Everyone, and welcome back to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast,
official podcast of your New Orleans Pelicans. As we are
off and running now in the month of January. Listen
Jimike and Offerpelicans dot com. Second full week of the
month of January. Hard to believe beginning of the month,
we're talking about, man, seventeen games in thirty one days,
and man, here we are getting close and closer to
(00:56):
the midway point of this month.
Speaker 2 (00:57):
Yeah, this month is flying by. I mean, I think
this week end was really encouraging the fact that we
saw just a lot better product on the court compared
to what they've produced for you know, the first thirty
plus games of the season. Now they're forty games in,
so I think it was a good weekend overall. It
would have been an amazing weekend if that last shot
at the buzzer would have been about a half inch
closer to the to the of where it bounced off
(01:19):
the backboard. But nonetheless, I thought, I mean, I talked
to a few people already this morning in the office
here who we're saying that that was the most fun
game that they've watched all season. It would have been
really fun if it had been a win. But either way,
I mean, it was a really good performance and encouraging.
Speaker 3 (01:33):
No doubt. And when we last talked here on the
podcast on Friday, we thought this three game East Coast
swing was you know, it was daunting. It was challenging
here a little bit. He hadn't played a very good
basketball game, let's just be honest, on Wednesday against the
Portland Trail Blazers. So you kind of interested to see
what it went in. You know, when I meet you
at Loft eighteen at our Pelicans watch party, we start
(01:54):
our pre game with a nice visit with arel Opez.
But then also he opens his mouth and he goes
herb Jones could be out for a while with the
shoulder injuries, Ion Williamson suspending. You going, oh, mom.
Speaker 2 (02:05):
And you're not blaming Andrew Lopez for those things? When
you said he opened his mouth that those things that right,
that had happened, and we were discussing them. Yeah, no,
it was. It was a really rough Friday afternoon. I
mean to hear those two pieces of news was. It
was a bad start to the weekend, no doubt. By
the time we got to Sunday, things were looked a
lot better.
Speaker 3 (02:23):
And part of the reason was because of this on
the Pelicans Radio network.
Speaker 4 (02:26):
And now Uber tries to drive and Eve mecI says,
get that shot out of here as he blocks it
all the way into our bench. You see with the
delivery deliver us from Eve. The column hops another three
left to the top. The President is cooking eighteen first
quarter points for CJ. McCollum. Gordon one on one with
(02:50):
jail re crosses him over, gets to the rim, throws
it out right to Joset wreathe the path Jose to
Hawkins left wing three, barry it and made him right.
McCollum dump it down low, Eve, don't it After a
little double clutch to steal by Alvarado up the floor.
McCollum pulls up from the wing right three and down
(03:13):
right corner. Martin drives into the racket.
Speaker 1 (03:14):
He got blocked by Meacy.
Speaker 4 (03:16):
And it was off of Martner. You kidding Me and
McCollum begging for the ball. Get it into Murray, Murray,
bounce feed to Boston, Boston drives of the paint, bodied up,
throw it up, no reboundy even a put back kick
at the Jose wide open left wing. Three make him
right President Hose free ball, Jose swish left wing is
(03:36):
second in a row. Oh there, ho there, Oh there there,
Jose to the right block, dump it off the Tyson
another dunk.
Speaker 3 (03:44):
There you go. You can hear the starters and the
bench put in a lot of that for the last gym,
specifically about what stood out in that. But here he's
head coach Willy Green.
Speaker 5 (03:51):
You know, just it's a credit to all of our
guys and the character in that locker room, you know,
dealing with a lot the last couple of days or so,
and you know they just they pull together and went
out and competed for forty eight minutes, played hard, you know,
really solid defense, shared the ball offensively, all the things
that we talk about, all of our concepts, and I'm
extremely proud of this group.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
One point, that's all that stood between them winning all
four quarters in that game. Jim, you and I talked
about it during the game. Thirty six points off the
bench man, just your thoughts on that performance that night.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Yeah, I mean, the last thing you mentioned the bench
was the thing that I think stood out to me
the most. Just the fact that you had three guys
that had a double figure scoring. Jeremiah Robinson Earl didn't
score in that game, but he had a bunch of
rebounds and assists, so I mean, just the contributions that
they got from pretty much the entire rotation that game,
I mean, and offensively as well, they scored. I mean,
(04:43):
this was a little bit of a prelude to what
they did Sunday, but they scored one hundred and twenty
three points against Philly. So that was the most points
they had scored in quite some time, other than the
one of the games against the Wizards, which we know
that Washington is really struggling overall as well as at
the defensive end. So I mean, it was one of
the better offensive games that the Pelicans have had in
several weeks, and that was a reason why they not
(05:05):
only won the game relatively easily, but also it seemed
like they had the lead for almost the entire game.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Yeah, no doubt. And then you get to Boston and
again that's a very daunting task. And that's a team
that you know, Jim, they gonna fire away threes. What
are they average fifty threes a game? Something like that.
I mean, it's kind of crazy. So they here come
the Pelicans, a team clearly no for the three point
shooting and the Jontay Murray five in.
Speaker 4 (05:29):
The first quarter, Zion bounce past to Murray that is
online and down from the left wing. Are you serious
to Jante Murray? Is this to Jonte Murray?
Speaker 2 (05:38):
Who is this shooting this basketball like this?
Speaker 4 (05:41):
Don't wake up if you're sleeping?
Speaker 5 (05:42):
Nah?
Speaker 3 (05:43):
I love that. And of course, Zion Williamson known as
a person that loves to steal the basketball.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
In the latest trip by Williamson.
Speaker 4 (05:50):
Again steals e coast to coast lefty layup. It's good.
Z has come up with three steals a consecutive possessions
fifty five fifty one.
Speaker 3 (06:03):
And then, of course, as the game went on and
on the bench provided some stuff, you started seeing Zion
looking a little more like himself.
Speaker 4 (06:11):
Got to quiet the crowd. Zion power zan scooping Lefty
lay up right in Cornet's grill.
Speaker 3 (06:19):
That looked like Zion Williams.
Speaker 4 (06:22):
See the body language ze he had the stump back
up the floor that looked like yep.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
And Jim just mentioned how important Jose has been on
this road trip so far.
Speaker 4 (06:32):
Porzegi's watch out. Oh we got stripped by McCollum back
the other way, c j are you not two on one?
Leave it for Jose? Wide open left wing three goo.
You don't need to on one if you got Jose
and the trailer provision.
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Let me tell you something somebody else we're gonna be
talking about here as well. Uh, the play of Trey Murphy.
Speaker 4 (06:52):
Trey's wide open.
Speaker 3 (06:53):
Oh, that's a good screen.
Speaker 4 (06:54):
Left angles three, that's a good screen. It is down
again for Trey Murphy. Kenneth the third benefits from that screen.
I think it was Eve meafy and he's wide open
on the cat five threes twenty eight points.
Speaker 3 (07:08):
That's great to hear, right, Jim, the screen for me
seees showing the growth on that, and then Trade just
continues to knock down shots.
Speaker 4 (07:15):
Yeah, down three, it's Ray Murphy's got a three left
dagle three tray fun on him. Nope, rebound white after shots.
You gotta have after shot to look it for. And
we followed at the backcourt.
Speaker 3 (07:25):
Right, I'll take that. I thought that was that was
for the tie. Misread it miss for the tie. So
Jim look obviously just up and down those high I
cut twenty six highlights on that one. So much went
well yesterday in how they played before we get to
the last place.
Speaker 2 (07:43):
It was fun to hear the happiness and grass voice
because I know we've it's been rare sometimes we've had
some stretches this year where he hasn't been able to
sound that pleased with things. So yeah, it was. It
was great. I mean, there were there were so many highlights.
You said, twenty six clips. I mean that was just
a fun game, and it was. It was definitely. I mean,
(08:03):
it might have been a top five performance by the
Pelicans this season, even though they didn't get to win.
Speaker 3 (08:07):
Agree. I think that's a great way to look at it.
I mean, Jim, when you look at what they did.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
You know, they were hitting their threes.
Speaker 3 (08:14):
You had guys that were making shots left and right,
and I think one of the things that really stood
up more than anything was. I asked you this already once.
It was after one of the home games. I was like, man,
this is one of the games you go, man, what if, right, well,
what if if you didn't have those injuries and such?
And you're seeing more and more of those examples, like
(08:37):
you're still not fully healthy, but you're pretty much everybody
would be I right, and and herb jumps right. But
as far as the scoring was, and you're just you're
seeing more of a rhythm that Jantay Murray looks more
and more comfortable in that court. And dude, I know
Eves isn't double doubling statistically, but it sure feels like
he's having a bigger impact in these games.
Speaker 2 (08:59):
Huh, yeah, he is. I mean, I think what we're
seeing too, is it maybe you know, I don't have
very much patience sometimes, and I mean under the circumstances.
I totally understand people not having patience with this season,
But it does seem like I think to some degree,
we're seeing the guys that it's not just that you
get the guys back from injury and then immediately they
(09:19):
click in and everything's great. Sometimes it takes some time
for them to get back into a rhythm. I know
that was one thing people should can go back and
listen to Friday's episode. One thing Antonio Daniel's talked about
with de Jonte Murray was that he just needed time,
and it seems like that's been the case with I mean,
it took CJ a little while to get back to
the way he's played lately. You know, it wasn't like
I think with a lot of these guys, it wasn't
(09:41):
immediately in the first few games after they came back
from injury. They look like themselves, which is to be
expected when you're out as long as some of these
players have been. I think we're seeing that a little
bit with Zion too, that he's showing a lot of
promising signs, but you can tell that he's not one
hundred percent yet and it's going to take him a
little bit of time. I mean he's not playing his
normal minutes either. Still explayed twenty eight minutes his first
(10:02):
two games back from injury, So you know, I think
that's a big part of it. Is just that you
have so many players who not only were injured and
came back from being out, but they were out for
a long enough period where It's taken them a little
time to get into a groove, but I think we're
finally starting to see that that combination come together. As
well as just the chemistry. It seems like Dejonte's figuring
(10:23):
out where guys need the ball in different spots. He's
been making really good decisions as far as when to shoot,
when to pass, and so everything just looks better, and
so I think, I mean, they have forty two games
left in the season, just this is so much more
watchable than what we saw for a lot of stretches
of November and December. What they've done lately is it
(10:45):
makes you want to tune in and watch it. It
makes you just a lot more optimistic about it. We
know the record is what it is and that it's
going to be a tall order for them to even
get back in the play in tournament race, but if
they play like this, I just feel like it's just
going to be a lot more more entertaining and worth
your while to pay attention down the last three months
of the season.
Speaker 3 (11:05):
I mean, you saw the comments on social media. I
mean people were happy with that performance and seeing it,
and again, I think that's one thing I can take
a loss if the other team. I mean, again, you
have two all NBA three hundred and fifty million dollar
players in Datum mid Brown. Sure, I mean that's who
That's who they are, so and that's a team that
won the championship. You're you're giving him that kind of game.
(11:26):
Pretty much every other team in the NBA you play
like that, you're winning.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Yeah, And I know, I mean ultimately from a big
picture standpoint, this season has been infinitely frustrating at times,
but one of the things that we want to see
is just them be a lot more representative of a
competitive NBA team and a lot more representative of the
talent that we know that they have. So, like you said,
I mean, it's stunk that they ended up losing the
(11:52):
game by a point. And I mean that would have
been an incredible way to win a game at the
Buzzer and just to be able to beat Boston no
matter how you do, it would have been a pretty
memorable moment. Wouldn't have changed the overall scope or outlook
of the season based on the standings, but it would
have been extremely encouraging. But even without that basket, that
shot by CJ McCollum going in and you know, bouncing
(12:12):
off the rim even without it, if you look at
things objectively and from a reasonable standpoint, when you take
a step back, you realize that, I mean, if they
play like this the rest of the way, you're at
least going to be able to go into the offseason
saying we went we got back to playing the brand
of basketball that we thought we were going to be
able to put on the floor when they had training camp,
and that a lot of individual players. I know, we're
(12:34):
probably gonna get into this a little bit more soon,
but just a lot of individual players are making jumps
and I think among the things that you have on
your checklist of what you want to accomplish for the
rest of the season, I think that's definitely near the
top of the list.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
No doubt. Here's Willie Green after the losses.
Speaker 5 (12:48):
Yeah, I thought it was. It was a good game,
game plan, discipline was at a high level. You know,
the guys just they executed over and over again and
it came down to the wire. So you know, I
think everyone on our team and with our group, will
we'll take that shot again. I mean it wouldn't in
and out.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Yeah, no doubt. And look, that's todd work sometimes, right,
but at least in that position because you've played hard
to do that. I think that's the one thing that
stood out in Zion's post game comments.
Speaker 5 (13:19):
We competed even when they went on their runs. We
didn't let it affect us, and we stayed in the
game and we start to who we are, all right.
Speaker 3 (13:27):
So, Jim, look, we've seen better basketball as of late.
As we now transition us to what are we seeing
different here thirteen days in a month of January that
we haven't seen in the past.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
Yeah, I mean right now, the Pelicans are three and
four in January. That easily could have been a little
bit better, obviously, But I mean in the seven games
I think we've seen, there's so many different areas where
they've been improved. I Mean, one of the things I
want to start with is their fifth and three point
makes per game in January. They actually outscored Boston last
night in three pointers made, So I mean that was
(13:58):
something that was kind of like an impossible dream if
you think about it before the game, It's like that team,
there's no way that they're going to be able to
make more threes against Boston when they play them head
to head. I mean, I think I wrote something in
the pregame or in the preview yesterday morning about you
just want to try to stay competitive, you want to
just get within you know, a few baskets. If they
outscore you by you know, nine or twelve points from
(14:20):
three point range, you can live with that. But it
turned out that the Pelicans, you know, made more threes
than Boston did. It was seventeen to thirteen, So, I mean,
just another good sign of early in the season. The
first couple months of the season, the Pelicans were at
the very bottom of three pointers made. I think they
were they might have been thirtieth not that long ago.
So for them to go all the way up to fifth,
(14:40):
and granted, you know, we always have to say it's
a small sample, it's seven games, but I mean, with
the way that some certain individuals that I'm going to
talk about in a second are playing, it's not that
unheard of, it's not that out of the realm of
possibility for them to make a big improvement, which they've
done by being fifth in three pointers made this month.
They're also ninth in three point attempts. And you know,
(15:02):
we talked about how the goal this season is to
take forty threes a game, and depending on the personnel
that's available, whether it's injuries, whether it's you know, Zion
comes back, you think maybe they'll shoot less threes because
you're playing lineups that have Zion and even me see
neither of those guys are going to be taking many,
if any threes. But in January, the Pelicans have actually
averaged thirty nine point nine threes a game, which is
(15:24):
ninth in the league. So they're almost exactly at the
forty just in January. So I think that's something that
the coaching staff has to be pleased with the fact
that they've you know, increased the amount of threes that
they've taken. Clearly, it helps a lot to have CJ.
McCollum available, now, have Trey Murphy available. Those are guys
that can take, yeah, months, guys that can take ten
(15:48):
or twelve threes by themselves in a game. And it
doesn't it's not like they're force anything. It's like, okay,
we expect that if it's you know, no one's gonna
complain if Trey Murphy takes fourteen threes in the game.
So I mean that's helped a lot as well, their
twelfth and three point percentage in January. So even though
they've pretty significantly increased the volume in how many they're taking,
(16:10):
they've also gotten more accurate from three point range as well.
I'm not going to go through all of these numbers,
but I mean, just real quickly. They're twelfth in free
throws made per game in January, their eleventh and free
throw attempts. Zion's only played in two games, but he
helps a lot in that area. Pelicans are fifth in
blocks per game. So defensively, that's something that has been
(16:30):
a plus. Offensive rating, which is points per possession their twelfth,
they were in the bottom two or three for most
of the season in offensive efficiency, so that has gone
up a ton. Assist to turnover ratio their tenth, we
know that they had a bunch of games where it
was almost even. They had almost as many turnovers as
they had assists, which, by the way, it's not good, No,
(16:52):
that's not a good thing. So this month their assistant
turnover ratio is two point one four, so they're having
you know, obviously more than twice as many assists in turnovers.
And then lastly, turnover percentage, they're sixth. We saw so
many games where they'd be they'd get twenty something turn
twenty plus turnovers, and just that would be a huge
crucial reason why they didn't have a chance to win games.
(17:14):
So now you're talking, you know, they're in the top
ten and being able to take care of the ball.
I think Jose E Varado has made a difference in
that lately with him being on the floor. So just
all these different areas where through January they've been so
much better than they were in November and December in particular,
And so the result of that is that you're just
(17:36):
a lot more competitive and you have put all that
stuff together and you almost beat Boston on their home floor.
Speaker 1 (17:41):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (17:42):
Look, and I think one of the things that you
bring up to is the captain obvious kind of thing.
I mean, you need your players, Yeah, and there's a
reason why those players are who they are. And I
know CJ. McCollums said it in the past two and
one of the games where they didn't win late and like, hey,
your two most highest paid players on the floor to
the ball. And even then that was a game that
(18:02):
they hadn't played together that long, right, I think it
was like the first or second game with both of
them back, with the Jontay back, and you're seeing the difference.
You're seeing the difference of why we were so happy
that the Jonte was joining this team. I mean, he's
got some incredible passes and stuff. Seeing the development of
not only guys like Trey Murphy to their game and such,
but Eve Mec you know same thing as well, where
(18:23):
I keep looking at that box going like, you sure
it's not a double double because I mean, look on
one of those highlights, I just played Traits to three
and you're here Todd say it was a great screen
by Eves Meacy, Like those are things that maybe wasn't
being as executed as as you would have liked early
on in the year.
Speaker 2 (18:40):
I mean, I think totally agree. I mean, you can't
win in the NBA without talent if you have a
big talent deficit, the way the Pelicans did in some
of the games early in the season when they had
so many guys out. I remember the game in particular,
the game they played at Oklahoma City. It was like,
how are you going to overcome this when you have
this many key guys out in the town differential is
(19:00):
so big that your margin you know, Willie Green has
talked a lot about margin of error is small. I
mean that one it was like smaller than like a
needle pinhole. It was like you had to do everything
right for forty eight minutes to have a chance to
win the game. So it but it's also to me,
it's not just getting the talent back that's the most
important thing, but also just having it not be so
(19:21):
disjointed where it feels like lately they did have a
stretch of what was at ten twelve games in a
row where they were able to start the same guys
every every night and it wasn't necessarily resulting in wins,
but they were I think they were getting closer and
closer to having good chemistry and being more competitive. And
now that you added Zion back in recently, you added
(19:41):
Jose back in relatively recently. Now I think there the
talent is back and the fact that it doesn't look
so out of whack and confusing. I think because like
I said earlier, Dejonte has played more minutes with a
lot of these guys, and you could say that a
bunch of about a bunch of players Jose and Daniel
type had some really good connections in the game Friday,
(20:02):
and it's like there's all these different two man combinations
and lineups where they'd never had the opportunity to do
some of the things that they've done lately because they
were never together on the court. So it just feels
like now that the familiarity that should happen is starting
to kick in a little bit. Forty games into the season,
I feel like in the November, for example, we saw
times where ten games in the fifteen games in the season,
(20:25):
the Pelicans still look like they had never played together
because in a lot of cases they literally hadn't, whereas
some of these other teams that they played, like Cleveland
stands out to me, Okay, see they fifteen games in
the season, they look like they played together for two
or three years because they had, so I think that's
definitely been something that's helpful lately that you're finally just
getting some more cohesiveness.
Speaker 3 (20:47):
I don't want to be the Gussie downer here, right,
but to your point that you're saying, you just gave
me a handful of stats, a handful of players that
are playing better in those all reasons why we're seeing
better and competitive bats ball All right, So Herb Jones
it's gone for a little bit, if not for the season.
(21:07):
R Right, So how does that affect plus or minus
in terms of the team, in terms of their defense,
because look, de Jontay Murray, I guess in the past,
if he doesn't play, you lose a lot. And we
saw at the beginning of the season he saw a lot,
but that was also because Joney Murr wasn't played. Jontay
Murray had what a game a couple of games ago,
five six steals?
Speaker 2 (21:27):
I mean sure, yeah, he said some huge steals.
Speaker 3 (21:29):
You know, Zion Williamson five steals yesterday. If that guy
can can pick that up. But Javonte Green played a
night's game he did yesterday. Is so I don't want
to say this because this guy is in you know,
first team defense. But do the Pels have some players
that can help survive the absence of Herb Jones on
(21:51):
the defense?
Speaker 2 (21:52):
I think so, I mean they're gonna miss Herb Jones
a ton. I mean we've seen I've talked about recently
the plus minus numbers when he's on the floor. It's
kind of unmistakable the impact that he makes. I think, really,
what's gonna happen. Is that it's going to be we're
gonna see probably compared to if Herb was playing, We're
probably gonna see more minutes from Trey Murphy. We maybe
(22:14):
we'll see more minutes from Javonte Green. It did seem
like Javante for a little bit there wasn't playing much.
His minutes had gone way down because you had more
players available. So I think that's gonna be one of
the biggest impacts is we're gonna just see a little
bit of a different combination of players that are available.
But but yeah, I mean, they're gonna miss him for sure.
(22:35):
It's there's no doubt that not having a first team
all defensive guy. But like you said, you know, Dejonte
is playing now and some of the other guys can
hopefully make up for some of what they've done defensively.
That's that I mean that I mentioned a bunch of stats.
That's one area that they still need to make more
improvement is at the defensive end. They've gotten better in January,
(22:56):
but it's not a big jump from what it was.
I mean, but it also doesn't help to you know,
play some of the teams that they've played, like Boston
one of the best offensive teams in the league. So
but it's it's an area that they're going to have
to kind of do by committee, i think, without her playing.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
So look, you gave us some stats that that have,
you know, shown as to why the Pels are playing
a little bit better about individually. You've seen some performances
you kind of heard me foreshat a little bit on
Trey Murphy. What he's been doing one of your eyes.
Speaker 2 (23:26):
Yes, he's definitely on my list. I mean, he's played
four games in January, He's averaged twenty five point eight
points per game. He's actually if you think about it,
with how well CJ. Mccalum has played lately, but Trey
is actually still leading the New Orleans and scoring average
this month, So that says a lot right there. He's
been He's made all nineteen of his free throws, He's
averaged four three pointers made per game, So I mean,
(23:48):
he's been huge. I think he's made another jump that
is pretty evident that he's a different player than he
was maybe even a month ago or a couple of
weeks ago, and definitely compared to the beginning of season.
So that's been great. CJ. McCollum. In January's averaged twenty
five point one points per game. He's shooting fifty percent
from the field, forty four percent from three point range.
(24:10):
He's getting closer and closer to his his long stated
goal of that, you know, by the end of the
season or he I think he said within like ten
days he would be back to uh forty percent from
three point range. So he's getting closer to that. De
Jonte Murray has just in January, he's averaging eighteen point
four points. He's shooting forty five percent from the field
(24:31):
compared to he shot thirty eight percent in December. In January,
he's averaging five point nine rebounds, eight point zero assists,
and only three point three point one turnovers per game.
You know, he's a point guard. He's going to have
some turnovers. That's part of the equation. And then lastly,
Zion's played the two games that he's played, he's averaged
(24:51):
four steels. He has eight total. To me on where
where effort and conditioning shows up the most for him,
I think when he's really right in those areas, it
shows up on defense. He's really moving his feet, he's
scrambling He's been doing a great job of anticipating when
a ball handler has turned his back to him and
all of a sudden he ambushes the guy and steals
(25:12):
it from him. So I think that's that part has
been really positive. One of the things that Antonio Daniels
talked about on the TV broadcast last night was just Zion.
It's hard to measure this, but he said, you know,
Zion makes a big difference in the team's confidence. Basically
that when you have him out there, it just gives
you a different degree, a different level of belief that
(25:34):
you know you can go into Boston and win that game.
And clearly offensively as well, he makes a huge difference
in that he's you know, people always talk about gravity
in basketball. That he's drawing a lot of attention from
other defenses and that's opening things up for the Pelicans overall.
And last thing too, for him. In the two games
(25:54):
that he's played since he came back from his injury,
the Pelicans have won his minutes by twelve. They were
plus eight against Minnesota and then plus four against Boston
last night. And now I mentioned this before, I think
last week, but now he's played two hundred and forty
two minutes over the course of this season, and the
Pelicans are minus two in that stretch. So you're talking
(26:14):
about a team that's eight and thirty two overall record.
But if you look at just the minutes that Zion
has played, they're really pretty much almost exactly a five
hundred team. So, I mean, if they were five hundred,
we'd be talking about the play in race every single
episode of this show. We'd be talking about, you know,
they got to win this game and that. So it
just kind of shows you just how much more competitive
(26:35):
they've been when he's on the court, and how much
more they look like a team that could reach the
postseason as opposed to a team that is really not
in contention right now.
Speaker 3 (26:44):
Yeah, I mean, look at it is what it is.
He don't don't need you don't need like special glasses
or I need to know anything about basketball. And just see,
I mean, the guy just has a different kind of
talent level than others, right, I mean you just see that.
I mean from the three sixty dunk when he first
came back, you know, a couple of games ago, on
that Tuesday against the te Wolves to you know, really
(27:06):
to that point that you're saying yesterday, his offense wasn't
there and that rhythm wasn't air, But he did other
things in the game that that kind of you know,
got there. And look, I mean late in that game,
he throws a pass to that right corner that turns
out to be a turnover and a fast break. Given
another week or so where he's in the flow, that's
probably a spectacular finish one way shape or form, you know,
(27:26):
because I mean that so it's just it just stinks
because we keep bringing up the what ifs, but it is,
it is what ifs. I mean, there's a reason that
guy is one of the best players there were.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
There definitely were a few things that happened in the
last couple of minutes of the game that if it
goes a little bit different way, if you make a
little bit better decision, maybe you win that game. Of course,
Boston is saying the same thing that they had a
five second violation that was super crucial. They had a
couple other mistakes. They missed two free throws in the
last what was it, ten fifteen seconds of the game,
(27:56):
which was surprising. But yeah, I mean, you're right. I
think I talked about earlier. How you know, guys that
have been out for from injury, they have to get
their rhythm back physically. I think you're right. I think
it's one of those things where you know, the more
time that Zion has on the court, maybe some of
those mistakes that he made will be he'll improve upon
and they won't be mistakes anymore.
Speaker 3 (28:18):
Yeah, and Jim, let's let's see what happens as we
continue the month of January. Now for your favorite part
of it. Man, it's Monday already. It's week last week?
What day the weekend is.
Speaker 2 (28:29):
It's funny though, because when the Pelicans play on Sunday,
a lot of feels like I always say this, it's
the first of two Mondays, and so I know that
doesn't sound great, but but but no it Yeah, it's
it's Monday, but it feels like the second Monday to me.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
And this week, by the way, a carbon copy of
last week in terms of game on Mondays back to
back on a Tuesday Wednesday in a game on Friday,
which we'll get to in a quick second.
Speaker 6 (28:54):
Well, it's a Monday, thankfully, Jim, is always our Friday.
It's time for mister Eichenhoffer to give his Players of
the Week and a player to watch for this week,
which got.
Speaker 2 (29:08):
Big Guy Well the player of the week. I think
it's only right that I go with de Jontay Murray.
I think the level of improvement that he's had warrants
some special recognition. In the four games last week, he
averaged twenty three points, shot fifty percent from the field,
forty four percent from three point range, six rebounds a game,
(29:30):
six point three assists, two point five steals. So I mean,
he's just brought his level of play up so much,
and I think this is something that we The way
he's played lately, I mean not just the last week,
but just recently going back a little ways, is what
we expected from him, you know, when the Pelicans traded
for him in the offseason from Atlanta. So tip of
(29:53):
the cap to him. The player to watch this week,
I'm gonna go with Trey Murphy, and it's interesting going
back to mid December, he's actually leading the Pelicans of
scoring at twenty five point two points per game. So again,
you think about how well CJ. McCollum has played over
the last month or so, and yet Trey's actually averaging
(30:15):
more points than CJ. Is it just it speaks to
just how great offensively he's been. His shooting splits over
that same span forty nine percent from the field, forty
two percent from three to ninety five percent from three
point range. So I mean he's a sliver away from
being fifty to forty ninety. Over the last few weeks
that he's played, this has been the best stretch of
(30:37):
his career in terms of just offensive consistency. He hasn't
dipped below you know, sixteen or eighteen points for quite
a long span right now. So it was great to
have him back in the lineup on Sunday against Boston
that he's going to be the player to watch the
games this week. They play at Chicago on Tuesday, home
against Dallas Wednesday, home against Utah on Friday, and then
(31:00):
they have a little bit of a break no games
on the weekend, and then they play Utah again the
following Monday, which is the which is January twentieth. But
I mean, just the last couple of things, A little
quick injury update on the teams that the Pelicans are
playing this week. Kobe White for the Bulls, who has
had a couple of big games against the Pelicans in
the past. He was a d MP Sunday against the Kings,
(31:22):
a game that Sacramento won added to their winning streak
Dallas on Wednesday. They don't have Luca or Kyrie. Kyrie
hasn't played since January first, Luca hasn't played since Christmas,
so Pelicans are catching a little bit of a break
with both of those guys being sidelined right now. And
then lastly the opponent Friday, Utah. They have too many
(31:42):
recent DMPs for me to even mention. They had so
many guys that didn't play Saturday in their most recent
game against Phoenix. But Jordan Clarkson is I'll mention him.
He's a six man, really good scorer off the bench
for them. He's out, he won't be playing for a
week or two, so he won't be in that game.
But they have a bunch of other players like Lori
Markin and who didn't play Saturday and not sure what
(32:05):
their status is going to be. Obviously, this is still
four days from when Utah comes here, but they're definitely
a team that will be monitoring their injury situation because
they have numerous players that have contributed for that John
Collins is another guy, So we'll have to keep an
eye on that to see what kind of Jazz team
actually shows up here for the baseball series Friday and Monday.
(32:27):
So bunch of bunch of different teams that also have
some injury issues that the Pelicans are gonna be facing
this week.
Speaker 3 (32:33):
You mentioned Dallas not having those two guys kind of important.
I mean, I know, Na He's done pretty well, but yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Yeah, now, I'm sure Nausey thinks he can carry things.
And you know, actually too, they've they've done a really
good job of maintaining a decent record.
Speaker 3 (32:50):
Seven So yeah, I guess the point I'm trying to
make I met.
Speaker 2 (32:53):
More recently, right, I mean some of those losses of
the ten were actually before Kyrie was sidelined.
Speaker 3 (32:58):
Right, And That's what I'm getting at, is it affects
you when you don't have the players, no matter the team.
I mean, obviously we saw with Phoenix, but what happened
with them when they lost some players and you know, things,
I need to look. That's why I think what okay
SE's done is pretty remarkable. Ninety one air last ten,
they finally lost their six game of the year. I
think it was to Cleveland. They're thirty two and six
(33:20):
on top of first. Same thing with Cleveland. Man, they've
only lost five games or thirty three and five, but
they've they've stayed pretty healthy. I mean when Cleveland wasn't
last year, like it's time to blow up the team,
fire the coach and they were all injured.
Speaker 2 (33:35):
Which they actually did do, by the way, they did
fire the coach, it did, but yeah, no, it was
in terms of been healthy. Yeah, in terms of their
main guys. They stuck with their four best players and
it's worked out extremely well. I mean, you know, I
talked to her a lot earlier in the episode about
no patients. I mean, I think it's one of those things.
I mean, Evan Mobley is a great example of no patience.
(33:55):
People were saying like, oh, he's not making progress, and
it's like, dude, this guy's still really early in his career.
He comes back, comes back this season, makes a huge jump.
Is going to be an All Star. Darius Garland, same thing.
He had tons of injuries last year, tons of things
that affected him even when he was playing. He's improved
a ton and so you add that all up together
and you have the team that they have at thirty
(34:16):
three and five, which is one of the best starts
in the history of the NBA. So yeah, no, they
I mean, the fact that there's six games in the
lost column ahead of Boston is amazing.
Speaker 3 (34:26):
Yeah, right, that team that we saw yesterday. Look and
here here's where we are here in New Orleans. We
just want to see some competitive and good basketball, and
we're seeing that as of late. Jim brought up some numbers.
Jim brought up some players that are starting to get
into it. And look around the corner. We could be
seeing Brandon Ingram, you know, return to the lineup and
see how that goes, and that would add to it.
So let's see this week. As we mentioned tomorrow, we
(34:49):
have the Bulls then at home against the Mavericks coming up,
and as Jim said, the baseball series with the Jazz
over the weekend. They don't go back on the road
until the end of the month here Memphis, Charlotte and Toronto,
and that's literally the last weekend or second last I
mean in the January.
Speaker 2 (35:06):
So we'll be home for a little bit after the
game at Chicago Tuesday. It's really a four game homestand
I mean they jump right into it with the back
to back Wednesday against Dallas, but yeah, Dallas, two games
against Utah and then the one against Milwaukee, So I
mean they're gonna have a bunch of chances in front
of the home fans to play a lot better and
try to hopefully carry over what they've done so far
(35:26):
on this road trip back to the games in the
Smooth and King Center. I mean, there's a lot of
time left in the season, so I mean, I think
it's really important to continue to show what you've done,
at least recently in the month of January, where you're
just so much better team and so much more representative
of what you can do as a group.
Speaker 3 (35:46):
As always appreciated the time, mister Jim I can offer,
thank you so much. We'll see you on Wednesday. Thanks guys,
all right, and thank you for tuning us in on
the New Orleans Pelicans podcast.
Speaker 1 (35:56):
Thanks for listening to the New Orleans Pelicans podcast. Join
us three 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
(36:16):
and Gcat Underscore seventeen. We'll see you next time, right
here on the New Orleans Pelicans podcast
Host
Jim Eichenhofer
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