Who are the New Orleans Pelicans? They showed you in the close win over the Washington Wizards

Who are the New Orleans Pelicans? They showed you in the close win over the Washington Wizards

The Pelicans showed you exactly who they are in that closer than it should have been win over the Washington Wizards let’s look at the good Zion dominating and the bad a blown 20-point lead and ask the question is it a good or bad thing that the bench has been this key

For the New Orleans Pelicans let’s break it down in a Thursday episode of Locked on Pelicans let’s Go you you are locked on Pelicans your daily New Orleans Pelicans podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome to another edition of locked on Pelicans the daily podcast covering your favorite team the New Orleans Pelicans and NBA part of the lock on

Podcast Network your team every day available wherever you get your podcast and available on YouTube I’m your host Pelin Insider credential member of the media Jake Madison Nola Jake on Twitter here with y’all on a Thursday day after the Pelicans beat the Washington Wizards 13326 closer than it should have been

Certainly but a wins a win here I want to look at this one because as I said in the open you know this team just showed you who they are the Pelicans just showed you exactly who they are we should believe that right like that’s the quote that’s the Maya Angelou quote

When people show you who uh when people show you who they are believe them the first time okay we should believe this is who the Pelicans are you’re capable of kind of gutting out these wins getting a big lead they led by more than

20 or 20 or more in this game the stats for the game are messed up by the way and blew it in the third quarter when the starters looked clunky again so let’s break down everything that happened in here because I think we have enough data to just basically say like

This team is this and I think that’s worth keeping in in mind as we look towards the rest of the season and go into the All-Star break here of course thank you for making lock on Pelicans your first listen today and every day we are here Monday through Friday the

Number one Pelicans podcast breaking down everything you want to know about this Pelicans team subscribe wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube we are part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day so right like that’s the story here I thought the Pelicans had a big lead they looked

Dominant beating up on a real bad team that didn’t even have Kyle kozma playing and then let that go completely in the third quarter really at the end of the first half they did not close the first half well saw Washington creep back in hit a shot right at the buzzer to pull

Within eight and then took the lead in the second half when the starters looked clunky we went over some of this in yesterday’s show talking about some good things for the Pelicans and some bad things and one of the bad things was the starters still have not played well with

Each other and well the starters in this game didn’t look particularly great right three of your four were a negative and one of them Zion was a zero right the only one that was a positive here was herb Jones in terms of plus minus it was your bench and we’ll get into Naji

Marshall Jose Alvarado Trey Murphy because they were kind of the heroes of this game for a little bit more in the next segment here and I want to ask is that a good or bad thing but that’s the story here right they blew this lead again we’ve seen them do this before

Because coming out in the third quarter the starters are easy to defend because there’s just no cohesiveness to this team this is who this this Pelicans team is right we we’ll touch more on that coming up in the next segment here I want to talk about small ball though

Because the Pelicans running that small ball lineup out there of Zion Williamson and they did this at the end of the first quarter going into the second they did it in the fourth quarter and that’s where they won the game it was that small ball lineup with Zion playing the

Five playing Center where they just torched absolutely torched I won’t have the data until tomorrow and I’ll try and read it on Friday show for y’all that those lineups just killed right Zion scored a quick 10 points right away in the second period to really kind of put

The Pelicans ahead they eviscerated the Wizards for a period of time they went on a 140 run playing small ball right it was Zion Williamson it was Jose Alvarado it was Naji Marshall that you Murphy out there too and was it CJ I can’t forget

The other guy and again I don’t have the lineup data in front of me she went small ball Zion at the five right basically no Val chunis no Larry n Jr they switched everything so it allowed him to dominate defensively they forced the Washington Wizards into 18 turnovers

They only had two themselves here it let him get out and run and just get easy points in transition the court was spaced enough for Zion to just take over and go and do his thing you have hustle from guys like Nagi Marshall Jose Alvarado again more on them in the next

Segment here and it allowed the Pelicans to Surge to a big lead despite not shooting a ton of Threes just 32 on the night that’s a low number right only made 10 of them that’s 31.3% the Washington Wizards by the way hit 20 of theirs right that’s a 30o

Swing right there when it comes to three points and the Pelicans still manage to get this win partially because of Zion attacking the basket and putting pressure on the defense he scored in the paint and looked dominant it was 36 points for New Orleans uh sorry for Zion

Williamson and again because the NBA stats website is down right now I don’t have the numbers here for some of this but the points in the paint were just massively in favor of the Pelicans in this one I believe so when you looked at this and looked at how they dominated

Here points in the paint 72 for New Orleans 44 for the Washington Wizards right like that’ll overcome that 30o difference in terms of three-point shooting so you saw how dominant this team could be when they kind of use their players in the right way look you got to give credit to

Willie Green I saw a lot of people killing him after the game and I’m not saying whether he’s good or bad here but they haven’t done a ton of small ball Zion at the five lineups they did in this game and it absolutely worked it

Was the right thing to go to this goes back to what I was talking about earlier of this team is who we think they are who they’ve shown us to be right you know I’ve said don’t trade yonas valent chunis you need him to help you kind of

Get some of these wins and he helped them against the Washington Wizards earlier in the year right but in this game he was unplayable for him he was bad in this one I thought and not very useful same for Larry n Jr who I thought also struggled the center spot here was

Not great for New Orleans well that’s why at the trade deadline they were looking to upgrade that you know do you want more data do you need more data here or is it you we just know this now that’s why they’ll restart those trade talks in the off season and look to

Address the center spot now I said don’t trade him because I think there was a guy available at the trade deadline that would actually have made them better but you can see it’s something they need to address long term long term and I’ve said as much so again it goes to what I

Said in the beginning of the show on the open here right the Pelican showed you exactly who they are there’s a talented team here that due to some clunkiness is being held back and doesn’t get to play their best basketball all the time there you go but when they were when they

Played small ball they killed it killed it we want to see more of that the problem is you can’t do that all the time it works against the Wizards it won’t work against a lot of other teams so you have to kind of find the right balance with all of that meaning you

Need another Center that doesn’t necessarily get played off of the Court Larry can hold his own as much as he can and he you know has been good this season but I don’t know if that’s exactly the long-term starting answer for this Pelicans team so you know it

Kind of leaves us where we thought they were right let’s get back into the starters and stuff with that though because bad energy to start this game closer than it should have been you needed a spark Off the Bench yet again they got it that’s sustainable is that

What you want let’s talk about that coming up here next in today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans today’s episode of lockdown Pelicans is brought to you by Robin Hood did you know that even if you have a 401k for retirement you can still have an IRA Robin Hood is the only Ira that

Gives you a 3% boost on every dollar you contribute when you subscribe to Robin Hood gold but get this now through April 30th Robin Hood is even boosting every single dollar you transfer in from other retirement accounts with a 3% match that’s right no cap on the 3% match

Robin Hood gold gets you the most for your retirement thanks to their Ira with a 3% match the offer is good through April 30th get started at robinhood.com booost subscription fees apply and now for some legal info here claim as of q1 2024 validated by radius Global Market Research investing involves risk

Including loss limitations apply to IAS in 401ks 3% match requires Robin Hood gold from one year from the date of the first 3% match must keep Robin Hood Ira for 5 years 3% matching on transfers is subject to specific terms and conditions Robin Hood Ira available to us customers

In good standing Robin Hood Financial LLC member sipc is a registered broker dealer and thank you for making lock on Pelicans your first listen today and every day we are here Monday through Friday the number one Pelicans podcast breaking down everything you want to know about this team be coming every day

Or listen Monday through Friday to lock on Pelicans never miss an episode because then you’d really know who this team is Right we’ve talked about this the things we talked about in that first segment are not surprising the stuff we’re going to talk about right here right now not surprising either so subscribe

Wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube come in every day or listen Monday through Friday or if you listen one day a week listen two days a week or just up it just a little bit and comment Down Below on YouTube that helps support

The channel keep it sit free in 5 days week for yall if you have questions about what you want to see talked about next week we got a little bit of a break because of Allstar Weekend coming up this weekend let me know in the comments down below might get answered on the

Show now for your second listen it’s a channel locked on has launched the first ever National Sports 24/7 streaming Channel on YouTube and now it’s also available on Amazon Fire TV and the free Fire TV channels app blockon sports today is here for you 24/7 covering the

Top sports stories of the day with the local Experts of locked on plus our national shows covering every League find locked on sports today now available on the free Fire TV channels app okay second part of this right third quarter struggles why why is this happening the starters have not been

Good the starters have a negative net rating on the season but particularly the starters in the second half of games have looked bad they have really really struggled I think there’s a couple of reasons for this we’ve gone over those if you’re an everyday of the show here

One of it is I don’t think they shoot enough thre I don’t think this court to space well part of it is the center position to being a little bit clunky with this team and just kind of a lack of like what do we do here right what’s

The hierarchy I do think is important for this team and they don’t necessarily have that so you get into these situations where you come out in these third quarters and that catches up to you right teams make adjustments at halftime even though they don’t really even the Pelicans don’t no one really

Makes true huge adjustments or anything like that in-game adjustments yeah but it’s not like you come out with a completely different game plan at halftime though the Pelicans have tried doing some of that I guess with Larry n Jr starting in second halves for a little bit that didn’t work so you know

That catches up to you because this team just becomes easier to defend you just know what to do right like it’s pretty straightforward here and so you see that a lot and this team gets behind again because of the clunkiness of fit and lack of cohesion on offense and then it

Requires the bench mob coming in and bringing a spark enter Jose Alvarado enter Naji Marshall we’re going to sing their praises in this segment because they were big yet again you cannot keep relying though on your bench to win the game for you to bring that energy right

You even saw in the first half the first quarter this team looked a little bit sluggish they didn’t look great they looked like they didn’t have the right kind of energy like maybe I don’t know they were out at Migra yesterday on Tuesday depending on when you’re

Listening to this they flew in late Monday night they could have gone out and partied on Tuesday now I don’t know if they did I’m not accusing anyone of that but it’s similar to the letdown in La had a night off not had a night free

In La before a game that can be dangerous here you know so for your bench to I don’t know why some noise just started playing here okay thank you um so for your bench to Comm in and have Naji Marshall be a plus 20 Jose Alvarado

Be a plus 17 try Murphy be a plus 15 now they played around Zion Williamson of course you can’t keep relying on that right look look Naji Marshall was great in this game six of eight from the field one of three from Deep you know gave you

Two rebounds and assists three steals he he played exceptionally well Jose Alvarado three of seven right um so Nagi had 13 points Jose had seven points on shots that’s not a great number 0 for four from three but gave you three rebounds three assists two steals they played exceptionally well and you’re

Relying on them to do that game in game out they are delivering Nai has been very good for the past handful of games I truly mean that so has Jose they keep constantly proving me wrong but at a certain point it’s going to come catch up to you where your starters don’t

Bring it or they’re clunky and it just doesn’t work and then you rely and put in Jose early put in Nai early to kind of up lift your team and look there’s a reason there are minimum contracts now they’ll get bigger contracts next but there are limitations

To these players and so when that catches up to you you’re going to lose that game you’re going to lose that game now you’re lucky this was against the Washington WIS against a better team and maybe an entirely different story right also is it if Denny aija doesn’t go for

43 which is almost like 20 points more than his previous career high which was set the other night that’s probably going to be a little bit better I think and you can kind of withstand that some but you’re also going to have games where your bench just can’t bring it

Right like against the San Antonio Spurs and a one-point win just a couple of games go five games ago now Naji Marshall went one for six right was a minus 19 well if he had that type of game that type of performance here you lose this game right like that’s the

Type of stuff that I don’t know if you can totally rely on Naji this season is shooting 38% from three that’s a great number but he’s a career 30.3% shooter this is such an outlier of a number for him maybe he’s improved maybe not but you get what I’m saying you’re relying

On those guys to essentially win you games and I think that’s very dangerous because as we talked about in the show the other day the way this is supposed to work especially on a team that’s like in playoff contention is your starters are supposed to get you a solid lead

Your bench Can add on to it a little bit just not really lose it or only lose it a little bit would be good too and then your starters come back in close the game out slam the door and that’s what happens here but that’s not what’s going

On here that’s not good that’s not sustainable so when we talked about this is who the Pelicans are this is why they struggle against some of these top teams I think right you can do this against Bad teams you can get away with this against Bad teams you can’t do that

Against good teams and that’s while while they’ve gotten some good wins and again the stats and numbers and the advance metrics and all that show this team isn’t bad and I agree with that and we’ve said that there’s also some limitations here that’s why you’re seeing it and that’s not a great

Situation uh to to be in right when you look at their net rating on the season they have a negative net rating when Brandon Ingram is no uh is on the court same for Zion Williamson right like that those numbers aren’t good and that’s not necessarily

What you what you want right like that’s a bad thing of the starters the only one that has a positive net rating basically when he’s on the court is Herb Jones that’s very damning I think and a big time concern so figuring that out you’re going to have to wait till

The off season right or really change the style of play as we talked about in yesterday’s show I think can do that but again everything we talked about in yesterday’s show came true in this one when they R Point Zion things went really well right now BR in was getting

To his spots and doing his thing and I was happy to see you know an efficient scoring game overall from him here 18 points on 12 shot attempts is good but he took just two threes or sorry three threes and he hit backto back ones they

Need more of that right you can see that what they’re doing works against these bad teams doesn’t totally work against some of these good teams and it’s leading to problems right he was a minus 18 on the night in 34 minutes it’s not going to work that’s not going to work

Right Zion being a zero is not going to work your bench running the way that they did which was a shorter rotation uh we’ll get into Hopkins in the next segment I do want to touch on that that’s important um absolutely it’s just not

The way to go let me know if you agree or disagree in the comments down below they got to figure out the starters if you want to be a true title Contender because you’re not going to win an NBA title or even a potential playoff series

If this is the case because you’re going to get run out and lose those starter minutes and that’s not a thing that’s going to be sustainable for you and you’re going to lose if that’s the case really as simple as that glad they’re getting these wins now don’t get me

Wrong I’m thrilled with the play of Naji Marshall and Jose Alvarado they’ve been almost MVPs for this team over a stretch I think but you can’t keep doing this You’re Gonna Lose games if that’s the case coming up next let’s look at why didn’t Jordan Hawkins play if Dyson

Daniels isn’t playing like why why is he not in the rotation here let’s talk about that in relation to this game in particular coming up here next in today’s episode of locked on Pelicans right now though I’m excited to tell you about hungry root hungry root is your partner in Healthy Living it’s the easiest way to get fresh highquality groceries and simple healthy recipes delivered to your door all you do is take a fun short quiz and hungry root

Will get to know your personal health goals what you like to eat the kitchen appliances you use and more and then they’re going to build personalized cart with all your grocery needs for the week and give you delicious recipe recommendations to put those groceries to good use they’re going to make

Grocery recommendations based off your personal taste but each order is fully customizable you can take their suggestions or choose anything you want High Quality Meats and Seafoods Pantry Staples healthy snack sweets ready to eat meals and so much more think about all that time you’re going to save by

Not doing meal planning meal prepping grocery shopping a couple hours a week what would you do with that time and everything from Hungry root Falls a simple standard it’s got to taste good be quick to make and contain whole trusted ingredients to Save hours right now hungry root is offering lock on

Pelicans listeners 40% off your first delivery and free veggies for life just go to hunger root.com locked on and get 40% off your first delivery and get your free veggies that’s hungryroot.com lockon don’t forget to use our link so they know we sent you and thank you for making lockdown

Pelicans your first listen today and every day we are here Monday through Friday the number one Pelicans podcast breaking down everything you want to know about this team subscribe wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube we are part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day be coming

Every day listen Monday through Friday to locked on Pelicans support the channel by commenting down below and let me know what you want to hear next week tomorrow’s show we’re going to look at the three biggest kind of questions we want to see answered going forward for this Pelicans team it’ll probably

Involve the topics we’ve talked about the past couple of days here on lockdown Pelicans look at that like a cohesive show over multiple days we know what we’re doing here okay so Jordan Hawkins why don’t you play let’s start with that I have a couple like random notes and

Things I want to talk about with this game but this is uh an interesting one right like no Dyson Daniels here so you’re losing a man in the rotation there’s more minutes to go around but no Jordan Hawkins who seems to be kind of in the doghouse here for Willie Green

Yet again in general yeah I want to see Hawkins playing in general I want to see Hawkins playing but I think this is also a bit of an outlier game where I don’t have any issue with him not getting minutes the Pelicans scored 133 points offense wasn’t the problem this one

Offense is often the problem for the New Orleans Pelicans it was not in this game it was getting stops it was getting stops and limiting the Washington Wizards right Denny aija scored 43 points Jordan Hawkins was going to help with that right Cory kissper had 20 points Off the Bench Jordan Hawkins

Wasn’t going to help with that whatsoever right they Gra a number of offensive boards VI had five Marvin Bagley the third had six you know Hawkins wasn’t going to help with any of that they needed to get stops and that’s something that the Pelicans were really struggling with when it came to points

Off turnovers right the Wizards won that despite having far more turnovers than the New Orleans Pelicans did they had 18 and it led to and led to 21 points for New Orleans Pelicans had just 10 led to 23 points sorry I have that around uh

Pelicans had 10 and it led to 21 points off turnovers right like that battle is not going well for the New Orleans Pelicans there Jordan Hawkins wasn’t going to help with that there are going to be other games where he’s definitely going to be needed when shots aren’t

Falling when you need more spacing when you need more offense but Trey Murphy going three of nine for three I’m I’m okay with here right like again you don’t there’s not a magic number of shooting threes it’s who’s taking those and how they’re kind of impacting the

Offense but also if you’re just able to get into the paint at will like you don’t need take threes if you’re going to score 72 points in the paint go and score 72 points in the paint and like don’t worry about it just keep doing that and hammering that point home and

The Pelicans doing that I thought really just didn’t mean they needed Jordan Hawkins in this one there will be other games where you want to see that Willie Green did say he’s going to tighten the rotation up it probably is going to mean more minutes for Naji Marshall Jose

Alvarado Trey Murphy Larry n Jr and it doesn’t sound like he’s looking to add anyone to the rotation so you’re likely going to see a ninan rotation while Dyson Daniels is out I think that’s somewhat fine I don’t know if that’s like the entire approach here but it’s

Very clear that Hawkins is not going to be in the rotation just yet this game I’ll have a problem with it given how it went other games when you’re not scoring 133 like some of the previous games where the Pelicans couldn’t break a 100 in back-to-back games yeah I’d like to

See him playing right like that’s I think going to be an important thing but in this one no I don’t really have an issue with that whatsoever but this team still needs to kind of figure some things out and there’s kind of like bigger issues to me than why isn’t the

Rookie playing here you know I think what you saw from this game is this team desperately needs the All-Star break Hawkins going to go play in the rising stars game that’s cool is anyone else participating in like anything over All-Star break you know are they even

Going to be there I’m sure CJ will but Brandon Ingram gonna be there is z Williamson gonna be there I think that’s a team that could really just use some rest is Trey Murphy even going to be be there I think this is a team that just

Straight up needs a break go go clear your mind a little bit let the coaching staff watch some film kind of game plan and try and make some adjustments come in and get a good practice or two before playing your next game you’re still at

Home the stretch is going to be a little bit hard coming up don’t get me wrong but you at least come in and get some home games here a backto back against Houston and Miami and then you take on the Chicago Bulls before going on the

Road on a tough road trip between the Knicks and the Indiana Pacers but then coming back home and then just having like a little bit of a break with things so you have a chance to get some rest a chance to get some things right Houston is definitely going to be winnable the

Chicago Bulls is definitely going to be winnable too but those are going to be tougher games than you realize so we’ll really get a good test for the Pelicans I think when they come back from the All-Star break but boy does this team feel like they need it a little bit

These past three wins and look they went three in one on that road trip that’s great you dominated the Clippers looked great there lost in disappointing fashion to the Lakers struggled to close out Portland who’s basically a g-league team struggled to beat Memphis who was

On a n game losing streak after that one eight going into it they just snapped that uh literally this night that’s great for them but you you couldn’t cleared 100 points there and they started to come back into it you had a dominant run over this Wizards team and

Then you couldn’t close it out like none of that I think is particularly great and that’s concerning big fure some things out come back and let’s see how this team closes over the All-Star after the All-Star break the final stretch one not stretch run not second half of the

Season but like about a third of the Season or so it’s going to be really interesting to see what this team is capable of what they’re able to do because they’re a playoff team they’re a good team just how good are they and exactly what are the changes they’re

Going to need to make and how drastic do those changes need to be over this offseason I think is what we’re going to learn here more on that tomorrow’s show though we talk about kind of the biggest burning questions for this Pelicans team over the final stretch run here that’s

What we’re going to talk about in tomorrow’s show so becomeing every day or so you never miss an episode and that’s going to do it for this episode of Locked on Pelicans as always I’m your host Jake Madison at Nola Jake on Twitter we part of the lockdown podcast

Network your team every day be back with y’all tomorrow

The New Orleans Pelicans showed you exactly who they are in the closer than it should have been win over the Washington Wizards. Jake Madison breaks down how small ball with Zion Williamson at center was dominant but also how the starters gave up another 20 point lead. Plus, how badly does this team need the All-Star Break?

Join the Locked On Pelicans Insiders: https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonpelicans

Follow & Subscribe on all Podcast platforms…
🎧 https://link.chtbl.com/LOPelicans?sid=YouTube

Locked On NBA League-Wide: Every Team, Fantasy, Draft, WNBA & More
🎧 https://linktr.ee/LockedOnNBA

#NewOrleansPelicans #ZionWilliamson #NBA #pelicans

Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!
Nissan
Our friends at Nissan have a lineup of SUV’s with the capabilities to take your adventure to the next level. Take the Nissan Rogue, Nissan Pathfinder, or Nissan Armada and go find your next big adventure. Shop NissanUSA.com.

Robinhood
Robinhood has the only IRA that gives you a 3% boost on every dollar you contribute when you subscribe to Robinhood Gold. Now through April 30th, Robinhood is even boosting every single dollar you transfer in from other retirement accounts with a 3% match. Available to U.S. customers in good standing. Robinhood Financial LLC (member SIPC), is a registered broker dealer.

LinkedIn
LinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNBA. Terms and conditions apply.

eBay Motors
For parts that fit, head to eBay Motors and look for the green check. Stay in the game with eBay Guaranteed Fit at eBayMotos.com. Let’s ride. eBay Guaranteed Fit only available to US customers. Eligible items only. Exclusions apply.

BetterHelp
This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Make your brain your friend, with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDONNBA today to get 10% off your first month.

PrizePicks
Go to PrizePicks.com/lockedonnba and use code lockedonnba for a first deposit match up to $100!

Gametime
Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDON for $20 off your first purchase.

FanDuel
Get buckets with your first bet on FanDuel, America’s Number One Sportsbook. Right now, NEW customers get ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS in BONUS BETS with any winning FIVE DOLLAR BET! That’s A HUNDRED AND FIFTY BUCKS – if your bet wins! Visit FanDuel.com/LOCKEDON to get started.

FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (K