HEARTBREAKER: New Orleans Pelicans Show More SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT But Fall In Overtime To Grizzlies

HEARTBREAKER: New Orleans Pelicans Show More SIGNS OF IMPROVEMENT But Fall In Overtime To Grizzlies

Gobble gobble. That is both a sign that it’s Thanksgiving and exactly what Zack Edy did in the paint against the New Orleans Pelicans on Wednesday night. Let’s talk about the loss on the Thursday episode of Locked on Pelicans. Let’s get into it. You are Locked On Pelicans, your daily New Orleans Pelicans podcast, part of the Locked On Network. your team every day. And welcome to another edition of Locked on Pelicans, a Thanksgiving edition of Locked on Pelicans, the daily podcast covering your favorite team, the New Orleans Pelicans, part of the Lock on Podcast Network, your team every day. And now, the number one sports podcast network in the nation. Subscribe wherever you get your podcast. Join over 12,000 Pelican fans on YouTube as well. You can also watch us on the GF Coast Sports and Entertainment Network. You’re already watching your Pelicans games over there. Anyway, if you’re local, so just go on and hang out. Watch us there over there. Watch us there over there. Watch us over there. I’m your host for today, Pelicans Insider, credentialed member of the media, Dylan Sanders. You can find me over on Twitter, Dilly Sanders, and I’m also the publisher of Pelicans Roundtable, a fun community of basketball fans talking ball all day, every day. Come hang out over there. Come tell me what you’re having for Thanksgiving. Hey, Thanksgiving dinner. I I’m interested. Today we’re going to be talking about what we saw in the loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, break down our, you know, initial reaction to that. And then in the second segment, I want to get into what why we’re seeing the rookies a little bit less. We tal we talked a little bit about it uh on our last episode, but it happened again. We see them getting pulled for players like Jose Alvarado, Eve Mi. Let’s get exactly why that is in our segment segment. And then closing out, it’s Thanksgiving. Let’s talk about what the Pelicans have to be thankful for in this 3-16 start to the season. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. Head to fandal.com to get started. All right, let’s get into the loss. It was a uh it was a pretty heartbreaking one. 133 Grizzlies, 128 Pelicans. That was the final after overtime. There were many points in this game that it felt like the Pelicans had it. And this would have been a massive win to get because if they had won this game, you cut the Grizzlies lead in the 10 for the 10 seed down to just two games this early on of the season, that feels so much easier to overcome than now four games because you lost this game to the Grizzlies. and and four games this early into the season is not insurmountable. Uh but I think it is it just you know two games is a big swing right now when you’re fighting for that last spot. So it would have been a great one to have. There were many points at in this game that it really felt like it it felt like it was going to be the Pelicans. Uh the the Grizzlies got out to that big lead in the beginning. It was 189 I want to I I want to say and then you had Jose Alvarado Eve Mi come in give their bolt of energy and the Pelicans dominated the rest of the first quarter. They they outscored the Grizzlies 39 to to 25 in the third quarter. The second quarter was a little bit closer but the Pelicans still came out on top of that. They had a 15-point lead at the half and I think that that was right right at that halftime. It felt like it was the best vibes that the team had. The win against the Bulls. You come out here, you fight come out strong against the Grizzlies. You’re you have this 15-point lead. You had already come back from a drought. And it felt like, man, this is going to be another win. Two wins in a row heading into the road road stretch against the Warriors and the Lakers. And I, you know, personally, I was going into the third quarter for the first time in a while where I felt like, yeah, I think the Pelicans can get this third quarter. Like, I don’t I wasn’t too worried about the lead disappearing. And of course, the third quarter comes and Memphis hits, you know, three quick threes. They go out nine run for the to start the quarter. And then from that point on, the the Pelicans kind of played that quarter pretty close. uh the the they ended up losing the quarter by seven points. So that that 9-2 run really ended up being the difference in the third quarter. And then the fourth quarter looked I think worse than the uh third quarter because you never really had that big offensive burst. And I think the biggest difference maker in this game ended up being Zack Edy. He was a plus 39 plus 39 in a five-point game. I think plus minus is sometimes a skewed strat, but I think that is exactly exemplifies his impact on the game. It is the best plus minus for a player in a fivepoint or closer law uh win in NBA history. So yeah, just he completely changed everything they had to do in that game. He finished with 21 points, 15 rebounds, and especially in that second half, it felt like he got to his point got to his spots on the court. And if he got to those spark uh those spots, the Pelicans had nothing to do. There was no answer for it. We talked to James Burgo after the game and he was like, “Yeah, you kind of had to do what you do. You could go small uh on the offensive side to get around him on offense and stretch him out of the paint, but then on defense, you pretty much give that up, give up those points. We So, we saw them try a little bit small. We saw them try the double big against the Memphis double big and it didn’t really pan out. Um Derek Queen had kind of struggled in this game. We’re going to talk about him more a little bit, but first I want to talk about Zion Williamson. All right. He did not have the best game. 17 points, five rebounds, four assists. That is kind of a, you know, a typical Zion. Okay. Knight statline, but I think he kind of got done dirty. It was the the layin against heavily contested against Jiren Jackson Jr. at the end of regulation to tie the game which was a great moment but he should have shot free throws. He he got he got hacked. I watched I was recording the the the crowd just to see the big moment if he scored and he did and it was a great video but then you look back you look closer he definitely got fouled by Jiren Jackson Jr. I’m going to be really interested to see that pull report in the morning and uh they’ll probably be like, “Oh yeah, that was that was a mistake. He should have shot free throws, but it doesn’t matter anymore.” The game got sent to overtime and then there were a bunch of tough possessions in overtime that led to the Grizzlies uh ended up kind of cruising in overtime to that 133 128 victory. But yeah, that I I’m I’m not mad that the Pelicans shot just 10 free throws in this game. Like in a sense, I mean, just shooting just 10 free throws is crazy. But I mean, the Grizzlies only shot 14. They let the players play. This was an aggressive, physical game. You let the players play, and that’s fine. That’s the president pre president precedent you set. But in the moments like that last bucket in the in the game, you had to call that foul. It was really really frustrating to see in the moment. And I know Zion wasn’t happy about it. James Breger probably wasn’t happy about it, but it was uh that ended up being a very crucial moment. Now, it shouldn’t have come down to that after that first half. It should have come down to needing a foul to uh an and one to win the game at at the end of regulation, but it did. Uh and you know, I think that that’s the biggest It’s hard not to focus on the biggest downsides. There were some great We’re going to talk about Joseé Alvarado’s in a little bit, his contributions. There’s a lot of great things, but there’s also a lot of issues. Jaylen Wells, another guy who ends up having a career night against this Pelicans defense. Five of six from three, 25 points. He was lights out. Vince Williams Jr. uh shout out Rajan Rondo Shimit Dua. Uh comparative to that was five points, four rebounds, 17 assists, just picking the Pelicans defense apart. And a lot of those assists came from Zachi because there was nothing that they could do to counter it. They tried Derrick Wayne, they tried Eve Mei. Let’s talk about how that went and why you’re seeing a little bit less of these rookies under James Burggo coming up next. The NBA is back and there’s no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. 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The number one Pelicans podcast covering everything you want to know about this Pelicans team on the number one podcast sports network locked on podcast network your team every day. You can find me on Twitter Sanders or come hang out with me over on Pelicans Round Table. My favorite websites because it’s my website. Happy Thanksgiving and let’s get into our second segment. I want to talk a little bit about what’s going on with the rookies. Why are we seeing a little bit less of them in this James Burgago offense? I think it’s easier to start off with Jeremiah Fears. I think that is the easier thing to diagnose. You can kind of see Jeremiah Fears. He is a really fast player and he plays fast, but he plays fast and it stands out more whenever the game is going a little bit slower. He kind of controls the pace. Right now, things are moving at such a high speed that I think you can kind of tell like the turnovers, the the poor shot making, things are kind of moving a little bit too quickly for him now. I mean, he is just 19. He’s supposed to be a freshman in college and he does a lot of things very well. He processes the game really quickly for his age, but probably not quickly enough for this James Bgo offense right now. kind of he’s kind of lagging behind, making more mistakes and not making as much of an impact. Uh reading defenses, uh adjusting to playing defense. And I think that’s why you’re kind of seeing James Burggo have a little bit of a quick trigger to take him out of the game and bring in José Alvarado because whenever Jos Alvarado enters the game, it is, you know, he brings the energy, he hits those big shots. uh he ignites the audience, the crowd, he ignites his teammates. There’s just such a momentum swing whenever he’s playing because he is I mean he’s a veteran and he can adjust to what James Burggo is doing a little bit quicker. I I wouldn’t say that this is something I expect to you know happen all season long where Jeremiah Fears isn’t playing as much and he’s not looking as good. I would expect him because he’s a very smart basketball player and he’s a he’s a good he’s a great basketball player for where he is right now. I would expect him to adjust to that and maybe see his minutes get back up. You know, there’s no signs that he’s not going to be starting anytime soon. But like tonight, he had 10 points, two rebounds, three assists. He had one really good pass to uh Trey Murphy for a dunk uh pretty late in the game in the second half. And that was a great sign because the biggest thing that you need to see from him right now, especially in the James Bgo offense where there’s a lot of ball movement, is more playmaking because he I mean he is a point guard and he’s not really shooting the ball. He’s shooting the ball well actually, but he’s just not having he doesn’t have the volume of three uh that a James Burggo point guard really needs. And I think that’s why Jos Alvarado is better suited right now because, you know, he had tonight he had six of 11 from three. He he didn’t have the same assist, but it didn’t really matter because he was still moving the ball, making quick decisions. And his decision-m actually looks a lot better in that James Bgo offense than it did whenever he would come into the game and kind of play like hero Jose ball, live and die by Jose Alvarado. That it didn’t really work out. Didn’t look great. But he’s made the change in his game under James Burggo. I think he fits it right now. And it’s I mean it’s simple as that. Uh as to why Jeremiah fears he, you know, he didn’t play as much. He played 26 minutes, which is still a lot, but you want to see him playing, you know, in the 30s. Trey Murphy had 38 minutes. Said he played 39 minutes. Zion Williamson who had his minutes. Stamper played 32. So you want to see James Bgo trust Jeremiah Fears more, but Jeremiah Fierce has to show it uh himself. I mean, Alvarado is a plus 23 in this game and Fierce was a minus 28. Very big differences. And then it’s kind of a similar similar conversation with Derek Queen, but it’s, you know, it’s harder to keep Queen out because of how different of an offensive player he is than Eve Mei. Eve Misi right now is the much much much better player on defense. I cannot stress that enough and a lot of that is that speed. He he’s quicker down the court. He is getting to his spots better. He’s just a better defender. He had three huge blocks on Jiren Jackson Jr. in this game. Uh see he didn’t have like the double double he had in the last game. Six rebounds, six assists. But yeah, his his impact on defense is felt and that’s why James Burggo felt the need to go with him in this one. But it hampers you because he is so skilled on offense whenever he he heated up towards the end of the game. He finished this game with 10 points, two rebounds, nine assists. And those last couple of possessions where you really need a bucket, you couldn’t you didn’t have Derek Queen on the court and no one really kind of knew what to do. There was a point where Zion Williamson had to hit take a three-pointer with a crucial three-pointer because no one kind of would make the decision, make the shot or get someone else open. It looked jumbled and it led to bad shots in crucial crucial moments. So, I think that is where the the bigger bigger gap is felt with using Derek Mei over Derek Queen. So, I think if there’s a player right now that they really need to get adjusted and find a role for, it’s Derrick Queen because he is so impactful on the offensive side of the ball. And he makes it a little bit easier whenever he plays better down the court down the stretch. But he was, you know, like Jeremiah Fierce, he was a minus 24 in this game. And that’s unplayable in a close game like that because he’s such a liability on defense right now. And I really think that that is where him being a little bit slower of a player is hurting them more. So where do you go from here with these players? Um it is you have to find a balance because you need them to grow and play, but the team looks really really good right now. I I mean I know they did just lose, you know, by five points in overtime to a seven win now seven- win team. Uh, but I think they’re playing a lot better and so you don’t want to give that up just to have these rookies playing more and getting more minutes. But you also can’t not play them because they look to be very important pieces to your future. How much does James Bgo value winning right now than winning in the future whereever he’s just the interim coach? Is he going to prove that he knows what he’s doing in developing these guys or is he just going to be like, “All right, they need to catch up. we’re going to try and win games and move past them. I think that is where the big inflection and decision point comes because, you know, and that is a really tough decision and that’s why I don’t get paid the big bucks to coach an NBA team. That’s why I’m sitting here talking to y’all. I don’t know what they do, but I think that is the biggest decision to make right now. Uh, as of in the in the immediate, I think we’re going to continue seeing a lot more José Alvarado and Eve Mi because they’re playing really great basketball and that is going to be crucial for the Pelicans. I don’t know if they’re going to be starting, just don’t expect to see them sitting anytime soon. It’s going to be up to the rookies to prove to James Burggo that they can play over them, not vice versa, is what I would I would expect. All right, let’s stop talking about this loss and get thankful. Let’s talk about what the Pelicans have to be thankful for. Coming up next, the NBA season is heating up and Door Dash has found the perfect way to keep fans in their bag all season long. You can kind of be like Derek Queen’s in his bag making moves down in the paint looking awesome. Whether you’re watching the highlights for your team, your fantasy team, just your favorite player, Door Dash makes every game night better. Door Dash is the official ondemand delivery platform of the NBA. And they’re celebrating with something called the bag drop. 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All right, let’s close out today’s episode of the Lockdown on Pelicans podcast, part of the Luckon Podcast Network, your team every day. It’s our Thanksgiving. It’s Thanksgiving, guys. So, let’s show what the Pelicans should be thankful for right now. what Pelicans fans more specifically should be thankful for. You know, there’s the team sitting three and 16. Uh they’re bottom of the Western Conference and there might not seem like there’s a lot to be thankful for, but I think that there is. And I think the number one thing to be thankful for right now, might actually ruffle some feathers, you know, going against the grain of this, but I think Pelicans fans should be thankful for James Burgago. It doesn’t really feel like it right now because they’ve only had one win under him as interim coach. The the win loss column doesn’t look much better than it did under Willie Green. But I think it’s not hard to see that the product on the court is better. The players are fighting more. Well, not fighting other players, although sometimes they are. The players are showing more fight, more grit. They seem to be a little bit more engaged right now. And that does happen sometimes whenever you fire a coach, you bring in the interim guy, there is a a bump in energy. But I don’t I don’t know if that’s what this is because over the first couple of games of James Bgo, you didn’t really have that bump. They did seem frustrated, but now I think since they found what worked with them and the higher pace, I think they’re going to start playing with a little bit more confidence. You’re already seeing them play with more confidence. The New Orleans Pelicans under Willie Green were a bottom five team in pace. Now they’re a top four team in pace under James Burggo. Well, in in since James Burggo took over in that time span. And I think that is a massive change. A lot of people have been saying like, what really can James Burggo change? He’s been on the staff for years. This was already his offense. Clearly wasn’t. Now that he has the reigns, he has changed a lot of things around and I think it is for the better. The Pelicans are playing better basketball right now than they have all season. And I still think that this is as bad right now as it’ll look all season long because they’re still they’re now getting more chances to figure out what works in this offense, what works for them, how they’re finding success. And as they keep finding success, it’ll lead to better play on the court. And whenever you have better play on the court, it reinforces that success. The team knows that they can do it. The team knows that they can win and it’ll lead to more wins. Domino effect. This isn’t like an NBA title. I think we can say that this isn’t an NBA title team, but I think they’re a lot better than three and 16. And you know, you you just lost to the Memphis Grizzlies who have seven wins. That doesn’t do a lot for the confidence, but I think you have to focus on the minor things right now because you’re not winning games. What can you take from this loss to win games? And I think James Burggo is helping them do that and helping them play better basketball. So, it could be a lot worse is what I’m trying to say. They could have not, you know, not been in any of these games. They’ve shown that they could be close. They could have beaten the Dallas Mavericks. they were had moments against the Hawks. They had moments against the Nuggets where they could have been in these games. They pulled off a win against the Bulls. The more that they know that they can do it, the more that they will actually do it. So that’s the number one thing I think that Pelicans fans should be thankful for, that they are actually playing better basketball. And secondly, if you are a doomer of pel like this te this season’s lost, this team is lost. I think that there you should be thankful that this season like the future outlook of this team is not nearly as bad as it could look. Yeah, you don’t have your first round pick this year and that is going to be heavily talked about as it should be. Poor asset management, but you have your picks. You’re you’re not stuck in the mud. you’re stuck in the mud for this year if that’s how you think about it because you’re going to have to watch the other teams have these fun drafts and it’s going to stink. But if you move past it, the rest of the future is there for you. This is not something where there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. There is a light at the end of the tunnel. You just have to move past this year. And you have two really good young rookies that we talked about earlier that you can build around if you want to go super young. These are, you know, cornerstone pieces that you can say like, all right, this is what they do really well. Let’s build out what they do well. Let’s build around them to complement them. And if that involves moving some of your veterans, you have some veterans that are going to get you a lot of trade value. If that turns out to be the point you take, right, as I sit right now, I would not suggest it, but it’s going to be something that’s talked about, so you might as well acknowledge it. Zion Williamson, if he keeps, you know, stays healthy, he’s playing pretty good right now. If he keeps playing like this, there’s going to be a team that wants him. There’s going to be teams that want a player like Herb Jones. He is a great defensive asset. That is what teams look for. They look for 3 and D players. You know, he’s Herb might not be the best three-point shooter right now, but he’s one of the best defensive players, and there is always going to be teams that want that. A lot of people think that the player with the most trade value on this team is Trey Murphy because he is exactly like he already looks what you would want to have on like the third piece on a championship team. Maybe the second piece because he can take over scoring nights. He has 40 point nights somewhat regularly like dating back to last year. He he has them. He they’re not flukes. He has 30 point games. He can shoot from deep. he can do all of that. And so if you if you decide to blow it up, you trade all those three. You get a lot of assets for that. And then you immediately have something to look forward to. There are a lot of paths forward for this team to get them out of the dumps. I see a lot of people say the Pelicans are cursed. They’re run horribly. They’re run to the ground. There’s no future for this team. I don’t think that’s true at all. So I think there’s things to be thankful for on both ends. There’s the all right, this team is better than they look right now. This season’s going to get better. There’s going to be better basketball play this season. And then if you don’t think that way, you know, that’s on you. But there are paths forward to blow it all up and have a future because you have these pieces. You hit on this draft. You hit on the young players and it is uh you know that looks good at least. All right. So, happy Thanksgiving. Thank you for checking out the Lockdown Pelicans podcast. For your second listen of the day, please go check out Josh Lloyd in Lockdown Fantasy Basketball for all of your fantasy basketball needs.

Dive into a detailed recap of the Pelicans’ tough overtime loss to the Grizzlies, including Zach Edey’s huge impact and clutch moments like Zion Williamson’s contested layup. Find out why New Orleans’ rookies are seeing less playing time, how veteran energy is changing the lineup, and get an honest look at what Pelicans fans can still be thankful for—even in a challenging season. With analysis of on-court adjustments, future outlook, and trade possibilities, this episode offers hope and insight for fans ready to look past the record and toward brighter days ahead.

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