Pelicans Drop 4th Straight to Orlando Magic
The trend continues.
Anthony Davis starts out games looking like his mom brought home his least favorite brand of cereal, and takes until halftime to figure things out.
The defense is terrible, the offense is terrible, people in the crowd look like they desperately need a drink, everyone has a general sense of gloom about them which permeates throughout the arena.
Then the 2nd quarter ends, and suddenly the post-halftime Pelicans start to take flight.
Things look better! AD cares about basketball! Look he just put effort into a defensive play!
The Pelicans start making last-minute attempts to come back, they eventually fall short.
Game over.
Don’t just take my word for it though, here’s a statistical comparison of AD’s stats before and after halftime.
Before Halftime: 17.9 Minutes, 7.3 Points, 3.7 Rebounds, 1.3 Assists, 0.3 Blocks, 25% FG, 0% 3PT
After Halftime: 19.5 Minutes, 15.7 Points, 6.7 Rebounds, 0.7 Assists, 2.0 Blocks, 58% FG, 57% 3PT
So what in Pierre’s name is going on? Pre-halftime AD is like a homeless man’s version of Carl Landry while Post-halftime AD is prime David Robinson with a three pointer. It makes zero sense. People are hypothesizing that AD simply doesn’t care anymore and is content to chill out and collect his 145 million dollar contract checks, but then why do we see amazing flashes of greatness after the break?
Is Gentry slapping him upside the head? Is he downing Smoothie King smoothies and hitting wild sugar rushes? Is King Baby threatening to follow him home if he doesn’t bring the Pelicans back?
Feb 11, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; The King Cake Baby during the Krewe of Pelicans Mardi Gras parade during halftime of a game between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Indiana Pacers at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Again, I don’t know.
Tonight’s game was no different through the first two quarters. The Pelicans fed off AD, had zero energy, and the stats reflected they simply weren’t battling as hard as the Magic were. The Pelicans lost the rebounding battle 18-30 in the first half, they shot 23% worse from the floor, 22% worse from three, and were outscored 57-43.
Though to be fair, I should give minimal amounts of credit where minimal amounts of credit are due.
Ryan Anderson, Dante Cunningham, Eric Gordon, and Tony Douglass are working their butts off and trying to enforce some kind of team mentality despite the rest of the roster largely being non-responsive.
I’m not an NBA coach, (what I’m about to say might be the dumbest thing you’ve ever heard) I’m benching AD in the next game.
Ryan Anderson looks awesome, and he’s TRYING.
AD isn’t trying in the first half, and I would simply make it clear that he needs to try again to regain his role.
He’s on a five-year deal, the dude can’t leverage a trade, his only option would be to suck it up, stop whining to refs, stop complaining and pouting and acting like everyone is bullying him during recess.
It’s like that famous saying; “When life hands you lemons, you box out, set hard picks, and make correct defensive rotations so Ryan Anderson doesn’t take your minutes.”
Before you close the article or yell at me, I know that’s crazy. You don’t bench first team All-NBA guys after 4 bad games.
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Still, what does that say about him that I’m at least tempted to even discuss it? How little does he have to care to turn someone who has been in love with I’m since draft night (at least temporarily) against him?
The Pelicans did start to come back in the fourth, and AD’s defense got MILES better.
He ended the game with 5 blocks and had particularly life changing stuff on Tobias Harris that made me do a legit spit take. His offense still wasn’t there, making just 2 shots in the final period, but at least he tried on the other end.
With just a few minutes left the Pelicans were down by only 5 points and I had a little glimmer of hope in my slowly dying heart. Sadly, Evan Fournier is literally CJ McCollum, and CJ McCollum is literally Steph Curry. Fournier dropped 30 points on 12/20 shooting with 4/9 made three pointers.
Oct 28, 2015; Portland, OR, USA; Portland Trail Blazers guard C.J. McCollum (3) reacts after making a three point basket against the New Orleans Pelicans during the fourth quarter at the Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Craig Mitchelldyer-USA TODAY Sports
Dear Darren “Master of the simplifying the NBA defense” Erman,
WHAT’S MORE SIMPLE THAN NOT LEAVING EVEN FOURNIER WIDE OPEN TO SHOOT THREES?
Sincerely,
Johnny Louisiana.
So here’s what we can take away from tonight’s loss: The good news is that we saw AD be a plus on the defensive end for the first time in a while, we also saw Jrue’s minutes decrease for the first time in an even longer while (Which is a much more serious issue than we realize).
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Additionally, there are certain guys on this team who are fighting for their lives out there, and they deserve to be mentioned.
The bad news is that (before halftime) AD still struggles with finding his rhythm, maintaining a winning attitude, and TRYING on the defensive end.
To add to that, the entire team’s defense has been pretty terrible but Asik + Pondexter + Cole + Healthy Jrue might still fix that though, so for now I’ll let it slide.
The Pelicans next game is against the Hawks on November 6th. We did demolish their 19 game win streak last season, so maybe they’ll demolish out 4 game losing streak this season to make things fair.
People will get healthier, Gentry will figure things out, AD will “find himself” and stop acting like a little frustrated kid. For now, all we can do (as much as it pains me to say it) is #trusttheprocess ……………