The Pelicans Are Quietly Building a Monster

The Pelicans Are Quietly Building a Monster

So on Monday we talked about Pao banero in the magic A team out east that’s been surging recently playing real well so we thought let’s do the same thing for the Western Conference to take a look at a team that not a lot of people are really

Talking about but is playing some really good ball lately and that’s the New Orleans Pelicans feels like I’ve been calling them a Darkhorse Contender for years never year Zion’s hurt or something happens but this season I think it’s finally going to work Zion’s healthy he lost some weight and the

Pelicans as a whole are just balling out Before we start talking about the Pelicans if you haven’t already make sure to leave this video a like give us a subscribe and hit that notification Bell so you never miss out on one of our videos it is really crazy to think that it’s been 5 years since like all the

Zion hype I mean when he was at Duke he almost sing handedly made college basketball like one of the biggest stories in sports people kind of tend to forget but people were hyping him up like people were hyping wemi up this past off season I mean wasn’t that one

Game where he blew out that Nike shoe like literally hurt Nike stalk or people were talking about it yeah just because it was Zion and yeah I am not a Duke guy but I loved watching Zion a duke it was so damn entertaining like now we got bum

Ass Zach Edy that’s who’s hyped up wow Zach Edie catching Strays he deserves it tell Purdue do something in the tournament he deserves it yeah Z had all the hype of the world coming out of Duke there was of course that Infamous video at that Nicks bar where the fans were

Watching the lottery and they missed out on Zion and all the fans are depressed like they really thought they had him they ask you how you are you you just have to say that you’re fine when you’re not really fine yeah I mean I thought he

Was going to the Knicks I thought that was the Zion KD Kyrie off season and yeah it didn’t happen at all nothing ever goes right somehow he ends up in New Orleans and it’s really crazy to think about because like the hype train was so out of control and really before

This year started it had come to a complete stop I mean before this season he’d only played in 114 of the possible 328 games so how do you keep a hype train going when we just see him on the bench all the time I mean we see him in

Commercials we saw him on the bench we just weren’t seeing him actually on the court I was going to say there’s also a lot of unsavory like tabloid stories about like his weight and and his private life you mentioned the commercials there was that Mountain Dew commercial where the camera angle did

Him no favors did not fire that director whoever looking big still though the Pelicans signed him to a $193 million extension in 2022 a pretty big risk considering he barely had played due to injuries and over his career the Pelicans really did a decent job of building a nice team around him

Obviously they brought in CJ Brandon Ingram was already there brought in Jonas valent chunis and since then they’ve added guys like Trey Murphy herb Jones even still though in the Zion the Pelicans have only cracked the playoffs once and even when they did they were 10

Games under 500 I mean it’s hard to make the playoffs when your best player isn’t playing you need that best player they’ve had Brandon Ingram as well but for the team to work you need Zion and Brandon Ingram playing together also there was that whole thing last season

Where he was injured basically the entire year and he was like yeah I feel physically fine but I’ll return quote when I feel like Zion and everyone’s natural reaction was like the does that mean there was even some rumors that the Pelicans would be willing to

Deal Z so they could get a high draft pick and take Scoot and I remember Blazer fans really didn’t want this and I thought they were crazy then I think they’re crazy now I don’t think this was ever like seriously considered by the Pelicans front office it was a rumor

Yeah it was more of a rumor if they would have done that that would have been alltime dumb but God damn it they should have just for us just help us help a brother out you know help us out and then going into this year for the

Pelicans and mainly for Zion it was kind of a make or break year I mean going into this year and even now he still has not played in a playoff game and they did not start out too great they were six and seven after 13 games and then

From there you know they kind of just bounced around in the standings in that 5 to8 range throughout the West leading into the allstar break they were like five to six games behind the four seed who was the clippers for the most part and it looked like they were not getting

Homec court advantage I mean five to six games that’s hard to make up post All-Star break but since then they’ve just been surging in their past 21 games they’re 16 and5 and they’re breathing right down the Clippers neck at this point they’re only a half game back for

That for seed yeah they got the magic on Thursday so that might change things a little bit but like you said since the All-Star break they’ve been incredible second best defensive rating in the NBA they were already a good defensive team they were seventh before the All-Star breaks they’ve only gotten better same

With their offense 12th before the All-Star break they’ve been ninth since and really it’s been like them and the Kings have just flown completely on under the radar I feel like every other team in like the top 10 of the West is getting some kind of attention because

People will talk about the Nuggets cuz they’re the defending champs people will talk about the wolves and thunder because they’re you know young upstart teams battling for the top seed and then obviously like the Clippers Maverick Suns Lakers Warriors they got the big names but the Pelicans have been flying

Out of the radar and kudos to them for working in silence specifically Zion I mean there have been reports that he’s lost 25 PBS since the playing tournament also worth noting the team’s Twitter account had that little mini Feud with Stephen A Smith where oh my God they

Cooked him so bad they had him defending like his college stats on his podcast he was like I was injured go look it up it’s like Steve you lost this one it’s okay it’s okay I mean to be fair he called Zion fat basically so glad to see

The team had his back and Stephen A needed that like he’s got his own podcast he’s really hyped talked about maybe more than ever at this point he needed to be checked a little bit but I mean it’s tough to get some noise out in the west like there’s so many damn teams

Literally just trying to get some noise over the Lakers and Warriors alone seems impossible but I don’t think it’s necessarily a bad thing for Zion or the Pelicans like we’ve said they’ve been hooping and Zion specifically has been playing excellent maybe not eye popping numbers but 2476 on 58% shooting post All-Star break

They’ve been using him kind of as their primary ball handler a lot and he’s only missed 11 games this season and I think what’s really working for him they’re play him 32 minutes a night so I think come playoff time he’s not going to be burnt out he’s not going to be injured

And we’ll finally get to see him in the playoffs yeah he’s only 71st in the NBA in minutes per game I mean he’s behind guys like Josh Hart well Josh hard just played the entire game the other night okay bad example but you get what I mean

Though but I mean most stars play between like 35 and 37 minutes per night and you’ll be like oh 35 compared to 32 you know that’s not that big a difference I mean that adds up I mean over 8 to 10 games Zion’s essentially playing one less game than a lot of star

Players and for a guy who struggled with injuries like really smart for the Pelicans part also there’s been talk from teammates that he’s just taken this season a lot more seriously I mean we’ve seen in the past he kind of reminded you a lot of Dwight Howard you know really

Funloving light-hearted seemed like he didn’t take the game as seriously as a lot of people would like to Larry Nance just came out the other day and was like nah he’s he’s not joking around as much he’s not as jovial like he’s he’s focusing on business this year and I’m

Not exactly sure like how this team’s going to perform in the playoffs because we’ve never really seen him in the playoffs but I tell you what I wouldn’t want to play him right now no I mean their depth and versatility is just like you got your guys who can score you got

Zion CJ Brandon Ingram could go for 30 on any given night you got a great front line of Zion Brandon Ingram valat chunis they can play a small ball lineup with Zion on the five you got wings like Trey Murphy herb Jones Dyson Daniels who can guard people in the perimeter for a

Modern NBA team like they have it all in terms of personnel and they’re not overly relling on Zion to like orchestrate their offense I mean he’s only averaging 22 seven points per game this year and he’s their top scorer which is really like in the modern NBA

Where dudes are averaging over 30 a game like it’s nothing the fact that their top score is only averaging basically 23 points per game and he’s only 20th in usage rate too also interestingly they’re one of the best three-point shooting teams in the league they’re fifth in percentage but they’re only

25th in attempts and to me that’s a really good sign because it means they’re taking good shots like they’re not chucking they’re not taking bad shots they’re not taking threes cuz they feel like they have to and on the other end their three-point defense has been Elite again interesting stat to note

They give up the most three-point attempts in the league and yet they’re tied with Boston for the best opponent three-point percentage that’s crazy that doesn’t even sound like it could be a real stat back to the three-point shooting shout out herb Jones everyone always questioned his shot and I did too

But now he’s shooting like 42 43% from three did not expect that and another stat for herb Jones a fourth of his blocks have been on three-point attemps that’s like their three-point defense I mean when you got guys that got length I mean Ingram’s got a a huge wingspan herb

Jones Dyson Daniels all these dudes that got huge wingspans like it makes contesting shots so much easier and according to Willie Green like they focus on steering guys more towards the Baseline rather than towards the middle to make it harder to pass out for open

Shots and even when you do pass out for open shots you got these giant ass running at you like it’s going to make it difficult for even the best players to shoot and going into the playoffs like picking them to go far I mean it’s just really tough because

Theoretically they could get the four seed and then get Denver in round two and I don’t feel comfortable picking anyone in the west to beat Denver but I mean considering how a lot of teams in the west right now are starting to hit rough patches I mean Clippers are not

Playing Super well Warriors aren’t playing Super well the Wolves Suns a lot of teams aren’t playing well Pelicans are hitting their stride at the exact right time and I wouldn’t want to play them in the playoffs at all yeah again I think they’re a dark horse Contender

Like they could make it to the Conference Finals hell if everything’s going right they can make the finals but I think for them like at least expectations aren’t out of control this is z ‘s first playoffs let’s just see him play try to win one series and then

The season is a w based on that but if you can go any further who knows pulling for him hard cuz of CJ yeah want to see you succeed CJ we love you Larry n former Blazer too yep that’s the video guys how far do you think the Pelicans can go in the

Playoffs this year I’d love to hear what you have to say in the comments down below if you enjoyed the video consider leaving a like as it really does help us out and while you’re here why not check out some of our other videos as well and don’t forget to subscribe subscribe to

Synthetic Sports

It seems that in year 5 of the Zion Williamson era in New Orleans, the Pelicans have finally started to turn the corner. They have been one of the best teams since the all star break, boasting a top 10 offense and a top 2 defense. They’ve climbed back up the standings and now sit only a couple games outside of the top 4 in the Western Conference

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