PANIC: Pelicans 0-3 Start EXPOSES Critical Timeline Dilemma | Zion Williamson Injury Update
New Orleans Pelicans face justified panic at 0-3 despite fixable problems. The clock is ticking on the Zion Williamson era as the franchise attempts a risky two-timeline approach that mirrors their failed Anthony Davis rebuild.
Jake Madison breaks down why the shooting struggles are actually encouraging—the Pelicans would rank seventh in the league if they shot league-average from their current shot locations. Trey Murphy’s 22.2% three-point shooting and Zion Williamson’s career-low rim percentage won’t last. The real concern is defensive effort, particularly in transition where teams are exploiting lackadaisical play and the league’s second-worst defensive rebounding. With a brutal road trip against Denver Nuggets, LA Clippers, and Oklahoma City Thunder looming, the team faces a critical decision point at the trade deadline.
Discover the statistical breakdown showing which problems require immediate effort changes versus natural shooting regression to the mean.
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!
DoorDash
Next time someone goes off for 50, use promo code NBA50 the next day to get 50% off on DoorDash with DashPass — plus your shot at the Bag Drop.
DashPass members only. 50% off up to $10 the day after a 50-point game with promo code. Terms apply.
No Purchase Necessary. Ends April 13th. Open to U.S. residents 21 or older. Visit DoorDashInYourBag.com for full details.
DoorDash — In your bag all season long.
Quo
See why over 90,000 businesses trust Quo, formerly OpenPhone. Get started free and get 20% off your first 6 months at https://www.Quo.com/LOCKEDONNBA.
Rippling
Get Rippling FREE for 6 months. Terms and conditions apply. See site for details: https://app.rippling.com/legal/promoterms
Robinhood
You expect more from yourself. Expect more from your money. Get started today at robinhood.com/yourmoney. Your money. Your move.
All investments involve risk, including loss of principal. Options, futures, and crypto trading carry significant risk and may not suit all investors. Securities offered through Robinhood Financial LLC, member SIPC. Futures trading is offered by Robinhood Derivatives, LLC and not SPIC or FDIC protected. Crypto offered through Robinhood Crypto, LLC (NMLS ID 1702840), not FDIC or SIPC protected. Portfolio management offered by Robinhood Strategies, an SEC-registered advisor.
Gametime
Today’s episode is brought to you by Gametime. Download the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms and conditions apply.
Peloton
Let yourself run, lift, flex, and push forward. Explore the new Peloton Cross Training Tread+ today at https://www.onepeloton.com.
Monarch
Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at https://monarch.com/lockedonnba for 50% off your first year
FanDuel
Right now, new customers can bet just FIVE dollars and if your bet wins—you’ll get THREE HUNDRED dollars in bonus bets to use across the app. Download the FanDuel app now by visiting https://FanDuel.com 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 (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN)
35 Comments
3 games in and panic? What a franchise.
They kept Willie Green as coach.. that explains it all.
Great breakdown, Jake. The 'clock is ticking' point is absolutely the main takeaway, they have to pivot and commit to a timeline soon, especially without next year's pick. It's frustrating, but the optimism has to come from the numbers: the shot profile is strong (7th in Location EFG%), which means the offense should normalize as guys like Trey Murphy regress to the mean. The real urgency, outside of Zion's health, is fixing the effort on defense. Allowing the 3rd most transition opportunities is just unacceptable.
Coach lost team already ohh that's not surprising Poole game affects TM3 game look like TM3 doesn't b motivated
posting fire willie green until it actually happens
We're shooting bad at the rim because we played JJJ and Wemby
Man your focus on Zion is redundant at this point. Anthony Davis and Zion are the best 2 players they've had and you think they are the problem. You can't win without him. Give it up already. Willie is the problem.
Should be herb jones as a part of the future? He’s been arguably the single worst player on the roster this year?
It’s been three games. Only one wasn’t competitive. Jesus Christ.
My contribution for the evening…
How bad is it? We are getting blocked at a rate of 10.7 blocks per game (ranked last [30th] in the NBA). The 29th team (Portland) is getting blocked at a rate of 6.5 blocks per game. That means we are getting blocked 65% more than the next worse team.
………and you're wondering why we are shooting so poorly at the rim??????
What we have now pales in comparison to the Dan Dickhau teams of yore (maybe not on paper, but certainly on the court).
If James borego was hired for his top tier offense . Why hasn't it showed on the court here in Nola ? I'm not sure we should want Willie to get the boot 👢 and promote James borego . Looks like James borego offense is for every player that touches the ball to play (iso ,1v1 ) ball !!!
Zion is the best player we ever had in Nola and thats a fact !!! For a small market team the thought of trading away a top 10 NBA player is a bad idea.
Every dayer comment
The hard truth is that the losing isn't just Willie's fault. I don't expect a miraculous turnaround when he is fired. Joe's decision making is concerning as well. I like your shirt Jake. It looks good on you.
Every dayer!!
Firing willie now relieves panic status
Supporting this team is killing my 31 year plus love of the game…😢
imo not having a pick next year isnt the worst thing… pels half court offense look like a random rec game. there’s no consistent predictable offensive identity. it could def get worse.
Hi jake
We ruined the Indiana pick and ours for next year… good management
That draft pick trade will go down as one of the most stupid cant even consider how bad it is.
Every dayer
Everybody knows the problem here and it's not the guys missing some random shots
Every day I’m here… I been season ticket holder since Zion got drafted.. this first year I didn’t renew after they didn’t get top 3 pick
Trade Zion get a first round and a solid mid grade player
Everydayer… I'm sorry but we had Chris Paul, Anthony Davis and now Zion.. multiple coaches and GMs and have yet to put together a consistent winning franchise… Year 7 of Zion 3 games into the season and he's already missing games. You can have the patience of Job but it's still not enough, I think the stench of Mickey Loomis has wafted over to the Pelicans as well…San Antonio & OKC are examples of how small markets can win. The Pels are just a rudderless ship with no sense of direction. Who is guiding this franchise? It's utterly pathetic…
Hate to say as a fan, but unless they play 48 hard minutes every night I don’t see many wins coming the only other teams I can say “yeah we should be able to win vs them” is the Hornets and Nets of the world.
Missing shots is just being in a rut right? It should get better.
Willie Green = Losing All Season
You should run game film, instead we're forced to look at dat shirt.
He needs to be fired Jordan had 7 points in 10 minutes y did we sign him 🤔
1)I said 3 years ago that Willie needed to go after watching his team fall apart in 3rd quarters and last 5 minutes of games…dead last in league blowing leads.
2) Same result next 2 years
3) New GM makes possibly the worst draft pick move in NBA history drafts…No lottery pick next year!!
4) Until Willie is gone and we have a Head Coach with a winning record and no nonsense winning attitude, this team is going NO WHERE!!
It's time to go get Taylor Jenkins or Michael Malone
Willy needs to go. Zion literally scored 5 points first 3 mins and Willy takes him out and Zion wasn’t Zion anymore when he came back in. He looked lazy and not too motivated to play vs Denver. Now pelicans are down 30+ late 3rd quarter and why is Zion out there? Lol. Willy doesn’t know how to use Zion.
They need to have someone else bring the ball down. Not Zion. When Zion brings the ball down other players are just standing around and waiting for Zion to do something and Zion sometimes does lazy passes.
Zion needs to post up more and have someone else feed him down there and draw a foul or attack the rim.