0:05

Welcome in to the New Orleans Pelicans

0:07

Podcast, a podcast dedicated

0:09

to everything you need to know about

0:12

the squad here from players, coaches,

0:14

broadcasters, and those who cover the

0:17

NBA on a daily basis. The

0:21

New Orleans Pelicans Podcast starts

0:23

right now.

0:27

Hello everyone, and welcome to the New Orleans Pelicans

0:29

Podcast. It's another edition. Mister Jim, I

0:31

can offer us cat and go with you on this Friday,

0:34

TGI Jim,

0:36

that's a preview what's coming. Just letting you know

0:40

we got a fun radio roundtable.

0:42

Aaron Summers, John the Sayser, part of the Pelicans

0:44

radio network. We'll be joining us here

0:47

a little bit to kind of go over the first two weeks

0:49

of the season. We're already, if you can believe it, two

0:51

weeks in as the Pelicans

0:53

wrapped up a four game homestand not the way

0:55

they would have liked, Jim. A tough loss

0:58

Sunday, a tough loss Monday and Wednesday.

1:01

Look, you can't fault

1:03

the effort you're seeing. The Pels had leads

1:06

in some of those games, whether it be halftime,

1:08

third quarters, cutting sixteen

1:10

point leads to six. When it comes

1:12

to Cleveland running out of gas,

1:14

Sunday Monday was the issue. As

1:17

far as the game on Wednesday,

1:19

head coach Willie Green said he can point to one quarter.

1:21

It just came out with more force in that third

1:23

quarter. Really, it was one quarter that they

1:26

came out firing on all cylinders and we made

1:28

some some some just mistakes

1:31

that we can clean up. But it's

1:33

what happens when you know

1:36

you've just got got guys out

1:38

there. We're asking more of them and some

1:41

transition baskets, some back cuts, things

1:43

like that that we talked about. But you know, that's

1:45

what good teams do. They make you pay when you make some

1:48

mistakes. And they hit shots too. So you

1:52

know, they came out and played well in the third quarter.

1:53

Hey, forty to twenty nine third quarter led to

1:55

a one win.

1:57

Your row thoughts.

1:58

I thought Cleveland head was coming

2:00

off of two really tough games against Milwaukee

2:03

that they were able to pull out and remain undefeated,

2:05

and then Friday, which tonight, obviously

2:08

Cleveland has a game against Golden State,

2:10

so I thought maybe, you know, people talk

2:12

about this in the NFL a lot. I thought maybe this

2:14

would be a trap game for the Calves that you maybe

2:16

you're overlooking the Pelicans because they have a

2:18

bunch of guys out with injuries, and

2:21

I think I don't think the Calves did that. But

2:23

at halftime, when it was tied, I think at that point

2:26

the Pelicans had gotten their attention and

2:28

that they came out and as Willie Green

2:30

talked about, I mean that third quarter they won forty

2:32

to twenty nine. All of a sudden, they started

2:34

making a ton of shots and I think their

2:37

the Calves intensity picked up a little bit. And then

2:39

the fourth quarter, I mean it was I

2:41

mean, obviously it wasn't a ton of fun because

2:43

the Pelicans lost the game, but I mean it was.

2:45

It was interesting to see New Orleans

2:48

keep fighting back and getting within four

2:50

or five points, and it seemed like the Calves answered

2:53

every time, which is one of the reasons why they're

2:55

nine to oh. They have super talented guards,

2:58

they had some really good ball movement that got

3:00

them easy baskets, and the Pelicans

3:02

just were not able to get those one

3:04

or two crucial stops when they cut it down

3:07

to say, two possessions to get it closer.

3:09

And that was really ultimately what what

3:11

ended up getting Cleveland to win.

3:13

Pels outscored them thirty four to thirty

3:15

two, and that fourth quarter, as I on Williamson, who

3:17

wound up, I almost say not

3:19

miraculously, but miraculously

3:22

having left the game, taken himself out, essentially

3:25

came back and led the Pels in scoring

3:27

with twenty nine points.

3:29

And I had this to say.

3:31

I like the energy we had, But

3:35

you know, if we want to win games, especially tough games

3:37

like this, we gotta can't

3:40

have no slippage

3:42

in any quarter like we had in the third.

3:46

Now, I can't have four turnovers like that. I

3:48

have to give my turnovers down. Been having

3:50

a lot of them lately.

3:52

Twenty seven points from Hosee Vado, seven

3:55

for seven from threes. Man, it's just most

3:58

nights they get that in Cleveland's

4:00

undefeated for reason though, So I half

4:03

full, half empty. Look here, Jim, because I almost

4:05

feel like he can do both right. I mean, the Pails

4:08

are undermanned. They don't have a ton of their

4:10

starters, they don't have a ton of their best defensive players.

4:12

But they just went toe to toe with the best team in

4:15

the league right now. It just so,

4:17

I guess if I can just trade water,

4:19

his team's gonna be good when they get their players

4:22

back man, because they

4:24

almost could have won some of these games.

4:25

Yeah, and I think specifically to Jose

4:28

going seven for seven from three point range,

4:30

not that you're gonna expect him to make every

4:32

three or shoot at that It was

4:35

a good sign though, because he he has

4:37

even talked about how he hadn't shot three as well

4:39

to start the season, So I

4:41

think on TV postgame they talked about

4:43

how that was the Puerto Rican national

4:45

team version of Jose Rodo as

4:47

far as his aggressiveness and looking

4:49

for his own shot. So yeah, that was a

4:51

good sign. I mean, they there's

4:54

no doubt that you can't

4:56

question the effort and the intensity

4:58

that they played with to not only

5:00

you know, be tied with Cleveland at halftime, but also

5:03

they just kept battling back. But ultimately,

5:05

like I said, they weren't able to stop the

5:07

Calves enough to really make it a serious

5:10

threat.

5:10

At the end of the game.

5:11

Yeah, no doubt.

5:12

Let's get to our radio round table. We'll take a look at some of

5:14

the things over the last two weeks. Here's our conversation

5:17

with Aaron Summers and John de Cazer.

5:19

All right, time now to bring it in our

5:21

radio roundtable. Mister, I can offer that means

5:24

we will bring in radio sideline

5:26

reporter Aaron Summers and also part

5:28

of the Gulf Coast Sports and Entertainment Network.

5:30

You'll see her on road games, hosting with Wes

5:33

Johnson and our analysts on the

5:35

Pelicans Radio Network. Mister John the chaser,

5:37

who's out of every long week?

5:40

How you doing, sir? Do well? Hey still

5:43

here kicking a lot, breathing all that

5:45

good stuff.

5:45

So I hear you, man, We got a lot to get into

5:47

here. Let's start with

5:50

give me some silver linings from the first

5:53

two weeks of the season. Obviously, the win loss

5:55

record isn't where you wanted to be, John, but

5:57

there's very real reasons for that. And I

5:59

know sometimes fans and media,

6:02

when you don't have four of your starting five starting

6:04

players in a lot of games, you're not gonna win many

6:06

games. Give me some silver linings.

6:08

Well, if you can't go team wise,

6:10

obviously, because the record isn't what you want it to be in

6:12

because it is a depleted team,

6:15

and if you had to go with individuals, I know Jim

6:17

gave us a couple of options, thank god, but

6:21

no, no, I would I would say Brandon

6:23

Boston is a guy that I really have enjoyed

6:25

seeing play well. Obviously

6:27

he's been in the NBA. Didn't

6:30

get a lot of run in earlier stops.

6:32

But sometimes you learn in the NBA

6:35

it can be situational, it can be rotational.

6:37

It can be you know, the wrong fit

6:40

at the right time and the right fit at the wrong time,

6:42

or whatever it is. But he, unfortunately,

6:45

due to injuries here, has been able to step into

6:47

the into the starting lineup and really

6:49

get some nice names. Last four he's averaging fifteen a

6:51

game, and that's that

6:53

means something I mean, and it's been an

6:55

efficient fifteen game. It hadn't been

6:57

you know, a guy just you know, jacking up shots to get

6:59

some numbers. It's been situations

7:02

where he's been pretty pretty efficient, and you

7:04

see that he is able

7:06

to play the game. He didn't

7:08

get those opportunities in other

7:10

places, you know, with the Clippers, he didn't get those

7:12

opportunities. The minutes weren't

7:14

there. And the NBA is all for

7:16

a lot of these guys. The NBA is all about minutes. You

7:18

get enough minutes and you'll probably put

7:21

up some numbers in the NBA. If you're

7:23

with the right team in the right situation. And

7:26

look, we know Brandon Boston will not carry

7:28

over these numbers throughout the season because when the

7:30

rotational guys get back, Brandon

7:32

Boston is probably going to go back into the rotational

7:35

division on the bench. But but having

7:37

said that, I think he's earned a spot

7:39

in the rotation. I think he gets some minutes. I don't

7:41

think he's gonna get you know, twenty eight thirty, but I think

7:43

he'll be on the floor and that

7:46

that's significant for a guy like him, because

7:48

he's been looking for a place in

7:50

the NBA to be able to kind of make his mark, and I

7:52

think we've seen that given

7:54

the opportunities. He's a guy

7:56

who can contribute. You know, he might not be

7:58

your top you know, three four guys, but

8:01

he can play. He can play. He's got some game. He

8:03

can play a point, he can play point for you and we've seen him

8:05

play point for the pills. He can score

8:08

off the wing, he can shoot threes, he can

8:10

get to the rim and finish. He's got

8:12

some things about him that are very likable.

8:15

And so it wouldn't surprise me at

8:17

all when the when every you know, when CJ.

8:19

McCollum gets back, and de Johonte Murray gets

8:21

back, and Hurt Jones gets back and Trey Murphy gets back.

8:23

It wouldn't surprise me at all if he still

8:26

is not in the rotation, because I think

8:28

he'll be a really good addition to that second unit.

8:31

I think he's a guy who we've seen again play

8:33

well and might be able to finish out

8:35

some games for you in some situations. So I

8:38

like what we've seen of it.

8:39

It doesn't hurt when Zion Williamson literally

8:41

says that after the game that he liked him to stick around.

8:43

Aaron give me some silver linings.

8:45

Yeah, I love that Zion said that. He was like, if it's

8:47

up to me, like, yeah, I think he should get a spot

8:49

because he's a two way guy and eventually he'll

8:51

hit that number where he can't play

8:54

any more games up with the Pelicans

8:56

before they have to actually sign

8:58

him or keep him down in

9:00

the G which I know they were really excited when

9:02

they signed him because of obviously.

9:04

What he can do.

9:04

But so far he's been doing good things for the

9:06

Pelicans. I would say overall,

9:09

just the experience that a lot of these players are

9:11

getting is going to be good at is good silver

9:13

lining. When there are injuries, you get other

9:15

people run. Hopefully we're

9:17

never in this situation again where we

9:20

need minutes like that. But if

9:22

so, these players now have had

9:24

the experience playing alongside each other,

9:26

playing in big moments. But I'm

9:28

going to go with brandon Ingram and

9:30

just the leadership that he's shown, because

9:32

I think he's done a

9:34

phenomenal job being

9:37

consistent every night, working

9:39

for the best shot, bringing

9:41

the guys around him along as well, not

9:43

just trying to carry

9:46

everything himself. You know, he's really

9:48

trying to bring everybody along aroundside

9:50

him. And think he's playing really well

9:53

on both ends of the court. The communication that he's

9:55

showing defensively, you

9:57

know, just trying to help and trying

9:59

to be that main, consistent

10:02

cog that we have right now because everybody

10:04

else has kind of been in flux.

10:06

My biggest silver lining so far to me

10:09

is just building up the depth that the wing positions.

10:11

I mean, Jad mentioned how you

10:13

know CJ hasn't

10:15

played in a few games, Herb's been out. Brandon

10:18

Ingram is also a kind of a wing player

10:20

when the team is fully healthy and

10:23

at full strength. But I think Brandon

10:25

Boston might not have gotten opportunity

10:28

at all if it wasn't for the injuries. And

10:30

to me, not only has Jordan Hawkins got to play

10:32

more, but he's also shown that he

10:34

can handle a lot more responsibility.

10:36

If he's in the starting lineup and you need him to have

10:38

a big game, he can do it. So I

10:40

think he was gonna play a good amount no

10:42

matter what. But I mean, obviously now he's

10:44

out tonight as well. But to

10:47

me, that's been if there is a positive

10:49

so far, that's one of them. And by the way,

10:51

too, I believe the rule is that you can

10:53

a two way contract guy can only be up with the NBA

10:56

team for fifty games. So I've already

10:58

seen some high jinks

11:00

on the injury reports with other teams that

11:03

other teams are are putting. And this isn't

11:05

there's nothing illegal about this or whatever. It's just it

11:07

is what it is. But you see teams put guys

11:09

on injury. The injury report is out in

11:11

league assignment, even though they're not necessarily with

11:14

the G League team.

11:15

But part of that is just.

11:16

Because of the accounting for you

11:18

can only be up for fifty games, so that real applies

11:21

to Brandon Boston as well.

11:22

Yeah, and that's a that's a good comment

11:24

on Hawk. He's you know,

11:26

you want you want to see guys make the improvement.

11:28

You want to see guys make a jump. He's made a huge

11:31

jump from year one to year two and

11:33

it's going to be a real asset to this team

11:36

this season.

11:36

What about eve me see give me like ten to fifteen seconds

11:39

on him, because I feel like leaving

11:41

this four game homestand I'm running

11:43

into people saying you're gonna have to increase his minutes

11:46

And is that a pretty big jump.

11:48

He's made hus jumped just from training camp to now.

11:51

Now he's going to have to improve

11:53

offensively. You can't play four on five

11:55

on offense in this league, and

11:57

so that's where his improvement is going to have

11:59

to come in Probably will come when you get back to the rotation,

12:02

because you know, he's a guy who's sitt the high screen road

12:04

to the rim. You don't have to running the offensive plays

12:06

for him. So that part of his game's got to

12:08

get better. But in terms of just

12:10

showing up and improvement and

12:13

a shot blocker for this team, I

12:15

mean, he's been phenomenal He's a

12:17

long athlete and that's something you need

12:19

in the NBA.

12:20

And you're on the court. Yeah, against Cleveland

12:22

and they got two of the biggest bigs

12:24

that some Bells fans wish would be over here, I mean

12:26

really big biggs.

12:27

And he there are a couple of things about him. A

12:30

he's not afraid, you know, he's going to go

12:32

in there against some of those guys. His

12:34

footworks at times really stands

12:36

out.

12:36

I mean when he stepped out of a bunds, he didn't.

12:38

Step out of aunt, but

12:42

his footwork in the lane I

12:44

think is impressive for a big I

12:47

would like to see him involved in some more of that the

12:50

pick and roll action and is diving to

12:52

the hoop. It'll come, you know,

12:54

we've seen the connection sometimes on the

12:56

alleys. That's a great outlet for somebody

12:58

like Jose if it if they can get there. But

13:01

right now, offensively, there's just a lot

13:03

of focus on a couple individuals,

13:06

not a lot of options because of who's on the court.

13:08

So yeah, he will definitely

13:10

feel less pressure I think when other players

13:13

are back on the court, and then he

13:15

might you know, just kind of continue to flourish and grow

13:17

in the offensive role.

13:18

How about this silver lining too.

13:20

We might have found this out anyways, even if it

13:22

wasn't for multiple guys being out of the lineup.

13:24

But to me, we've found

13:26

that they nailed the last two first round picks,

13:29

that Jordan Hawkins was a really good pick at

13:31

fourteen the lottery, and Eve me see at number

13:33

twenty one.

13:35

I don't think Eve.

13:35

Has played necessarily more because of guys

13:38

being out than he would have because knock on Wood

13:40

the center position actually hasn't had any injury

13:42

so far, so he really has earned.

13:44

That role that he's been in.

13:45

But to me, by giving

13:48

him and some of the other guys in Jordan Hawkins specifically

13:50

more responsibility, we've already

13:53

learned how excellent those

13:55

draft picks were, so I'll throw that into the bin

13:57

of silver linings as well.

13:59

Not only did he step out of bounds, there was a shot clock violation.

14:01

I don't know if you knew that as well.

14:03

We're trying to be positive here, Gus.

14:05

Those are bad calls being completely

14:08

sarcastic on that. Oh, it was crazy to think

14:10

about that. But look, you mentioned Eve me

14:12

Cee working on the short term on his

14:14

offense. What about the Pelts

14:17

working short term? Well, what would you like to see them

14:19

improven? World?

14:20

Well, the things you want to see the Pelts improve on, I don't. I'm

14:23

not exactly sure they can't.

14:25

You can't get taller, you can't

14:27

get taller, you can't get bigger. Now, you want

14:30

to see this team, and they've rebounded fairly

14:32

well. I do want to see because the three

14:34

point shooting efficiency has been

14:36

there, the three point attempts have

14:38

not been there. And I know the self stated

14:40

goal was forty a game. It's hard

14:42

to get the forty unless you really dedicate

14:45

yourself to it. And you're seeing with the Pelicans you

14:47

revert to who your nature

14:49

is. You become what you are, especially

14:52

in stressful situations. And so this team getting

14:54

up twenty seven threes and I think twenty

14:56

seven less than thirty threes in the last game, and

14:58

twenty two threes in one game. If

15:01

you're nine for twenty two, that's a nice percentage,

15:03

but that's not enough. And you've

15:05

got to be able to get those threes up when you're shorthanded

15:08

like this and when you're undersized, because

15:10

that's kind of the equalizer. If you

15:12

can get enough enough of them

15:15

up you can equalize things. It doesn't

15:17

have to be a great percentage if you're shooting forty five

15:19

of them, but you get the attempts

15:22

up, you get those cheap points, the extra

15:24

points. You're trading out threes for twos.

15:26

That's what your goal has to be because again,

15:28

you're missing a ton of production.

15:30

Even though you have Zion Williamson and Brandon

15:33

Ingram on the court, if you have those two guys on the court, you're still

15:35

missing John T. Murray, You're still missing Trey Murphy,

15:37

You're still missing CJ. McCollum. That's

15:39

a lot of points. That's a lot of production.

15:42

So you know, it's a lot to ask

15:44

of, you know, Jose Alvarado,

15:47

Hey, can you give me another seven for seven three point

15:49

range? No, that's not going to

15:51

happen. It's a lot to ask for, you

15:53

know, Brandon Boston to come up and give you fifteen

15:56

a game all the time, because that's not been his

15:58

game. He might be capable of,

16:01

but I mean, again, a lot of production that you're

16:03

missing. The three pointers can kind of balance

16:05

that out. I'd like to see this team, if you dedicate

16:08

it to it, you're gonna have to go through the rough patches

16:10

and you're gonna have to shoot the ball.

16:12

You have to take the shots and

16:15

live with the results. You can't say

16:17

we're gonna do it and then you don't do it

16:20

and you're shorthanded. Now, if

16:22

ever there was a time to do it, now was the time

16:25

to do it.

16:25

Yeah. Right now, the Pelicans are ninth

16:28

in the league and three point percentage shooting

16:30

thirty eight point nine percent. They

16:32

are second to last in attempts.

16:36

There should not be that big of a gap

16:38

when you're shooting that well from outside. So

16:40

that's definitely an area that they need to put

16:43

a lot of focus on.

16:44

It's a great point, maybe sometimes

16:46

up making them, but yeah, you are right.

16:48

So let's let's start shooting a little bit

16:50

more. But also, and I'm surprised,

16:53

and maybe Gus you are the one that's going to bring this up,

16:55

but the two point percentage

16:58

the inside game right now has

17:00

been lacking a little bit. The

17:03

Pelicans are bottom four in

17:05

the league at just fifty percent from

17:08

you know, those those paint shots.

17:10

Some of that's got to be normalized

17:13

with Zion just shooting at the rate that

17:15

he shot his whole career. To me, that's some

17:17

of that is fluky. That's what I want

17:19

to believe.

17:20

At least guys will always say

17:22

God's pluted to the back of the cars. Okay, Zion's going

17:24

to play to the back of his car. Right in the back of his card says

17:26

he's going to shoot sixty percent from the feet and

17:28

all of his shots basically are in the paint. So

17:31

that number is going to go up. You would imagine

17:33

the point scoring and the efficiency

17:35

in the paint will go up with Zion

17:37

Williamson being Zion Williamson

17:39

quote unquote, now, which

17:42

you don't say or I guess,

17:44

you know, I guess we're not forbidden to say. You

17:46

know, you lose young Valanciunis. That's the guy

17:48

who scored around the rim. Yeah, so you

17:51

don't have a lot of guys who are able. Now,

17:54

you do want to see this team converting more layoups?

17:56

Man, I mean finish, yeah, come on, just

17:58

opportunity work again, lay ups?

18:01

No, you want to see dunks.

18:02

Yes, opportunities

18:05

there and I mean and even if he had a dunk block

18:07

the other night, but I like but at least he went as

18:10

when you're around there and you have that ability

18:12

punch it. Don't don't finesse it, you

18:14

know, because finessing is where you get

18:16

in trouble. So you like to see the team finish around

18:19

the rim more that way. But again,

18:21

you're an undersized team and a lot of these guys

18:24

their games aren't necessarily predicated on score

18:26

and at the rim. But when you do get those opportunities,

18:29

you get the layups, you got to convert them. You got to finish,

18:31

and sometimes you do have to finish in traffic

18:33

over defenders, over bigger players, over

18:35

shot blockers. You just got to finish. There

18:37

are no excuses. You just got to.

18:39

Finish or draw a foul. And Zion's

18:41

been really good at that lately. He's been really

18:43

aggressive inside even if he's not

18:45

making the basket, he's been drawn

18:48

contact and getting to the line.

18:50

The area that I want to see them improve the most

18:52

is I had to click on this like four

18:55

times this morning on NBA dot Com, But they're

18:57

thirtieth in defensive efficiency right now,

18:59

which is unbelievable if you think about

19:01

I mean.

19:01

We've talked a lot.

19:02

I've talked a lot about how the talent

19:05

that they don't have on the court makes it harder for them

19:07

to score, but I couldn't believe.

19:09

I knew that they were towards the bottom and defense,

19:11

but after that Cavs game, I think it pushed

19:13

them down a bunch of spots. So

19:16

for them to be last in defense, I mean, in

19:18

some ways, obviously that's a

19:21

major concern. But on the other hand, similar

19:23

to what we talked about was Zion finishing in the paint.

19:26

The Pelicans were six in defense the last two

19:28

seasons, So to me, that's also

19:30

a number that I mean, obviously, it can't has

19:32

nowhere to go up if you're thirtieth, but

19:34

I think just them getting

19:37

back to the way that they've played and getting guys

19:39

back will immediately increase

19:41

that improve that number. But

19:43

yeah, that was really surprising. That's

19:46

something that I think, even with multiple

19:48

players out, you can

19:50

easily move far up from the bottom of

19:52

the league in defense with the personnel that they still have.

19:55

You said the magic words, they had the people out, and now

19:57

I'll give you four more words to go with that. Herb Jones

19:59

to John Team, you're missing

20:01

your two best defenders, and people

20:03

feed off that and we see

20:06

the differences that can make. We saw it with Cleveland anyway,

20:08

but Cleveland's got the bigs behind But Cleveland

20:10

chases you on the three point line, they smother

20:13

you because they've got the shot blockers behind you.

20:15

Well, you're missing your two best perimeter

20:18

defenders and those two guys and

20:21

I know Eve Mesi's going to be the guy who's

20:23

going to be on the island back there. But you know, you force those

20:25

guys off the three point line, you funnel them in and

20:27

that's the way you get that efficiency going. But you

20:29

know, we're talking about guys being on the floor who

20:32

are capable of getting steals and deflections

20:34

and just harassing people and who blocks

20:36

better three point shots than Herb Jones. So

20:39

you've got two guys that you're missing that

20:41

you can feed off defensively as a team.

20:43

And then you throw those two guys out there, you

20:45

put Jose Alvarado back in his natural role,

20:47

come off to the bench. He gives you that energy.

20:49

So those are the things that energize

20:51

the team because defense is defense

20:53

is all effort, man, It's just that,

20:56

and you got to have that. That's something that's why coaches

20:58

get so ticked off because that's just

21:00

playing hard and there's no substitute

21:02

for that you can. You can have it off

21:05

night shooting the ball, but you can always

21:07

work called on defense.

21:08

Well, the Pelicans are getting beat down the court a lot

21:10

too because their shots aren't falling, so

21:13

the other team's grabbing the rebounds and

21:15

going so that also, you

21:17

know.

21:18

Rip into the refs, I mean, and I get

21:20

it, man, I get it, I get it. You get foul, you don't

21:22

get the shot. You you know you you don't

21:24

get the call. You're you know, you're chatting with

21:27

the ref. But the game is

21:29

going on. The game

21:31

doesn't stop for you to gripe.

21:34

So you got to move, you know. You see a

21:36

couple of times it's like, dude, get

21:38

back and then right between whistles or

21:40

something. But you got to get back and

21:43

get back on defense. And you can't continue

21:45

to have it going that way because you're giving

21:48

away the easy points that you need to be trying

21:50

to score.

21:50

There was a play in the Portland game where they

21:52

inbounded the ball and somebody

21:55

snuck in and stole it, and then people

21:57

were still complaining into the refs or I know what it was.

21:59

It was Eve hit in the face and people

22:01

were still distracted by that instead of playing

22:03

the game, and it's like, if you're the guy inbounding the

22:05

ball, you're like, hey, guys, I need to.

22:07

Throw the ball to somebody.

22:08

Yeah, I know you're upset that you've got hit in the face, but like

22:10

we got to keep playing. Yeah, so you know another

22:12

thing i'd throw into you know, aarin. You

22:15

mentioned the missshots and you

22:17

know the transition defense. To me, part

22:19

of the defense being poor also

22:22

is because of turnovers. And if

22:24

you get your guys back, you get de Jontey Murray, who's

22:26

the floor general back on the court, you

22:29

would think that the turnovers will decrease, because

22:31

I mean, sometimes you just can't. There's just nothing

22:33

you can do, relatively speaking, defensively

22:35

if you're constantly turning the ball over. I've

22:37

noticed defense to other teams of picking up the pelicans

22:39

in the backcourt constantly too.

22:41

Yeah, And it seemed.

22:42

Like before a lot of teams would pick up the pelicans

22:45

sixty seventy feet from the basket if

22:48

Jose wasn't in the game, and then when Jose came

22:50

in, they would stop doing that because he can

22:52

handle the ball so well. But now they're like, we

22:54

know he's gonna play thirty thirty five minutes a game. Let's

22:56

try to make him work as much as we can exactly.

22:59

So yeah, yeah, you see that

23:02

with this team now, I mean, and don't

23:04

I don't blame opponents. And I'm

23:06

looking at the Pelicans saying, Okay, you don't have

23:08

a point, so we're gonna

23:10

pick you up. And if we can get

23:12

you to eat six seconds off the shot

23:15

clock bringing it up or seven seconds, you're

23:17

getting into your offense with seventeen seconds eighteen

23:19

seconds, and you're basically at the logo

23:21

trying to get into your offense. So you

23:24

are in a rush already. You

23:26

have not done what you wanted to do offensively,

23:29

and we have you where we want you, and

23:31

so now you're in a situation where and then if

23:33

you got you know, a guy like you know, Brandon

23:35

Ingram, who's gonna you know, do some one on one stuff,

23:38

well everybody else defensively, you can kind of

23:40

rest and just watch and guard him

23:42

and wait for him to come to you because the ball isn't

23:44

moving that well. So you know, the Pels

23:46

have some things that they can and will,

23:49

I'm sure work on to be a

23:51

little bit more fluid offensively because the balls

23:54

the ball has to move with this team. It

23:56

has to move with this team. You gotta trust

23:58

your teammates. Were low in the last

24:01

game, and that's one of those things where you

24:03

got to trust your teammates and you know,

24:05

not Wood, your teammates got to make you right. They got to make

24:07

the shot.

24:08

You know.

24:08

It's funny too, but I can make tough shots.

24:10

But if you're no matter who you are in the NBA, if

24:14

you're taking a lot of tough shots against the shot clock,

24:16

the other team is just licking their chops

24:18

and saying like, we can't wait for them to

24:20

take a tough shot that we know.

24:21

We're going to rebound and we can all start running.

24:23

I mean, it's like guys in the starting

24:25

blocks in a track event, where it's like you

24:27

know that they're headed that way.

24:28

That That's another thing too.

24:30

You just can't constantly take shots

24:32

that are difficult when the shot clock's running

24:34

down.

24:35

And he made a tough fade over Evan

24:37

Mobley, and I think he made a tough fade over Jared Allen

24:39

the other night. But those those shots

24:41

aren't aren't sustainable, right.

24:43

It's hard to continue to do that. Possession

24:46

after possession over two guys like that. So

24:49

that's you know, Cleveland. You're like, okay,

24:51

hey, nice shot, big boy. Do it again, right,

24:54

do it again, and do it again and do it again. So

24:56

you're the percentages don't work in your

24:58

favor. Yeah, you just live with that.

25:00

You guys kept saying they're in the broadcast, it looks

25:02

so easy for them, and every possession

25:04

looks so difficult for the Pels. Look,

25:06

bottom line, we got to wait to see if this team gets healthy.

25:08

In the meantime, I thank you Jim for

25:10

putting us up because you almost lose train

25:13

the thought on it. The NBA cups on its

25:15

way, right, so

25:18

this time Okay, well I was gonna say this time last

25:20

year when it was company, we kind of really didn't

25:22

know what it meant. Whatever.

25:25

It seemed though, like fans really

25:27

liked it. It seemed like the teams really

25:30

liked it. And especially when you look at this team,

25:32

they made their way to Vegas and got into the semi

25:34

finals. So when you look at last year, look

25:37

at this year coming up Denver at

25:39

Dallas, Golden State at Memphis,

25:41

the four games that were count to the Cup, what

25:43

are your fucks about it?

25:46

I like it actually, and I think the players liked it

25:48

because it was something different. You

25:51

placed the carrot in front of them and said, okay,

25:53

if you do this, you get this reward.

25:56

And I think players are competitors.

25:59

Number One guy say you know, hey,

26:01

you know what, that money would be nice

26:03

or you know those kinds of things. So that

26:06

was the carret they placed in front of them, and

26:08

it was good for the league, and hopefully it will continue

26:10

to be good for the league. You know a lot of times, sometimes

26:12

the longest something goes on, the more stale it gets.

26:15

But hopefully it'll be good for the league. And hopefully it will be

26:17

good again for the Pelicans this year because you

26:19

know, it'll be something that can kind of juice up

26:21

the fan base and maybe juice up the

26:23

team and you know, give them a little temporary

26:26

caret to go for. But again, if you're this

26:28

shorthanded, I don't know how realistic it is,

26:31

you know, to be saying okay, we want

26:33

to get you know, we can get back to Vegas. It's going to be difficult,

26:35

but it will be something to

26:37

point to and say, Okay, we want to win

26:39

these these games against

26:42

these opponents, you know, because it's a

26:44

competitive situation and we've

26:46

got something to look forward to at the end of it.

26:48

Then NBA Coup is coming up next week

26:50

and the majority of the games are going to be played by the

26:53

end of like November,

26:56

so three weeks. Yeah, and Pelicans

26:58

are not going to be at health at that point,

27:01

so yes, it's going to be difficult

27:04

still playing shorthanded. We'll have some people

27:06

back. But I think just in general,

27:09

if it makes things more competitive,

27:11

I'm all for it because that's what you want to see.

27:13

You want to see teams compete. You want to see good games,

27:16

games that matter for

27:18

something helps elicit

27:20

that competitive fire, and

27:23

in November, like, yeah, I would

27:25

love to see some more competitive games in November.

27:28

To me, there was two very specific

27:30

memories that I have from the twenty

27:33

twenty three NBA Cup

27:35

that are evidence of why

27:37

I thought it was a good idea. I mean,

27:40

to me, I'm not sure how many people remember this,

27:42

but the last night of pool play or the

27:44

group stage you can call it. Pelicans were not

27:46

playing that night, but there was a game between

27:48

Houston and Dallas that determined whether they

27:50

were going to advance or not. And I mean, people

27:52

would be interested in a Rockets Mavericks game,

27:54

probably, but I don't think to much of a degree

27:57

that, especially that early in the season. Yeah, on

28:00

the standings whatever, But because it

28:02

meant so much to the Pelicans

28:04

as far as specifically their chances to keep

28:06

going on, I think that added some interest. In

28:08

that same night, there was a King's Warriors

28:11

game on National TV on the West

28:13

Coast that a ton of people I think stayed

28:15

up for because there was different

28:17

implications, and there was this weird scenario of

28:19

like I can't remember exactly what it was, but

28:21

it was like one team had to win by a certain number of

28:23

points and then once they were

28:25

down by so many, they they couldn't, you

28:28

know, advance, et cetera. So and

28:30

the other The second example to me was,

28:33

and I was there for this the quarterfinal

28:35

game at Sacramento that the Pelicans won. Once

28:37

they got to the knockout stage, that felt

28:39

like a playoff game. That felt like

28:42

intense, And I was surprised because I thought

28:44

it was going to be a higher level of

28:47

you know, competitiveness and urgency.

28:49

But it honestly did feel like in Sacramento's

28:52

arena and among their fans, like

28:55

something similar to what we

28:57

see in the spring where the intensity of a playoff

28:59

game is there.

29:00

So those two.

29:01

Things, I mean, to me, were

29:04

were reasons why I thought it was a positive.

29:06

To me, you're not taking anything away from

29:09

what is already happening in the regular season. You're

29:11

I mean, some of these games are relatively mundane

29:14

in terms of you play eighty two games,

29:16

and some of these are like the nineteenth game of

29:18

an eighty two game season. There's nothing that

29:21

special about it, and you're not subtracting

29:24

from it.

29:24

To me, you're adding to it.

29:25

So that's why I think it was kind

29:27

of Ultimately, it was kind of a no lose

29:29

situation.

29:30

I think visually too, I think the league did a good job

29:33

with the courts and the uniforms to

29:35

kind of let you know if you didn't know, right if

29:37

you're watching a TV or if you're watching games,

29:40

wow, that is it. Oh, must be a Cup game.

29:42

Because of that with the Pelicans, they're

29:44

going to have a different court here as well. The skull again

29:46

logo was awesome last year, a little different

29:48

this year.

29:49

Aaron.

29:49

Let's start with you on this, because you are a fashion expert.

29:53

Red trim navy blue

29:55

court they are gantuan Pelican in the

29:57

center. What do you think?

29:58

I mean? I love that they wait with

30:00

the blue and the red and like the

30:03

Pelicans colors. I just

30:05

don't know how a dark Navy court

30:07

is going to look and on

30:10

TV playing on it. What uniforms

30:12

are you gonna wear with it? If we do

30:14

go with the New City edition?

30:17

The New City editions are purple.

30:19

And I think I

30:21

think everyone's wearing statement uniforms

30:23

this year. I think the courts match up with

30:25

the statement so that the red. I'm pretty

30:27

sure that the in the Pelicans case, they're going to

30:30

wear the red uniforms for both of their home games.

30:32

Okay, so I can get down with that.

30:34

Yeah, there you go.

30:34

I like that, JD.

30:36

I don't care. I

30:40

don't care. I mean it's something

30:42

different. It's great for the fans, and I'm sure you know,

30:44

and players take notice of stuff like that, so you know, players

30:47

will want to play to a certain level. I mean they're

30:49

competitive, so you know they see something

30:52

different and they want to put on a good show. But

30:54

me personally, I don't care. I just want to see the team

30:56

play well and I don't care if the course, you know, Orange,

30:59

I do not care.

31:01

You know, some of them will be all.

31:03

The basketball is the same, the

31:06

rims are the same. You know, put the ball

31:08

in the hoop, whether it's a blue floor or

31:10

you know, a Turquary's floor or

31:13

you know, Fusia. You know, I don't care if

31:15

it's highlight of green. Just go

31:17

and play well, you know, if you're the Pelicans

31:19

or any other team in the NBA. So but again,

31:22

it is something that's that's visually

31:24

attractive generally, and

31:26

it's something that I think fans. I think fans

31:28

love it. I think fans love it.

31:30

I think the recognition of the new court,

31:33

different court is extremely

31:35

helpful and very well done that they did that, even for

31:37

the players, like you said, if you know the

31:39

court's different, there's something different on the

31:41

line for this game, immediately recognizable

31:43

for the fans. I will say, however, the Timberwolves

31:46

court is ugly. It

31:48

is green, and it is not a pretty green.

31:51

It's it's it's just bad.

31:53

Yeah, there is, Yeah, it's gross.

31:56

I think I like, on average, I think

31:58

the courts this year are lightly more

32:01

conventional, just a touch like

32:03

there's a few that actually look like what pretty

32:06

similar to what you see during a normal

32:08

game. But I do think that last

32:11

year's courts and Aaron you touched on this, last

32:13

year's courts served their purpose because it

32:15

drew people's attention and it made people recognize,

32:18

like, Okay, this is something different. So I

32:21

don't necessarily want it to be like

32:24

I remember specifically the Chicago court

32:26

last year. It was like so red that

32:28

it was distracting from the game. It was like hard to

32:30

watch the actual basketball that was being played on

32:32

it. I don't know if that's a great direction to

32:34

go in, but I mean for the first year

32:36

of it, they definitely did

32:38

what they were supposed to do, And now I'm fine

32:40

if they can kind of tamp it down a little

32:43

bit as we go, we can progressively get a little

32:45

bit less wild with the court

32:47

designs over time, and people will

32:49

recognize that's still the NBA Cup looking.

32:51

Through it again, like you mentioned orange, the Nicks

32:54

is an orange one going to

32:56

be an interesting one. I don't know if you guys have seen the

32:58

Trailblazers one the Roses

33:01

in the back of it, is that

33:04

to the Rose Garden back in the day.

33:06

You see the roses Rose

33:08

City too, That's what people call it.

33:09

I think that is really cool.

33:11

Charlotte has like the honey color roses

33:14

really smell like boo boo.

33:16

So

33:21

I didn't I didn't make that up.

33:22

I'm just I'm really shocked in surprise the Lakers

33:24

didn't go with the you know, defending champs

33:27

on their logo on the court.

33:28

Huh.

33:29

Yeah.

33:30

You know.

33:31

It's funny because I feel like they remember

33:33

there was like a little pushback that they didn't want to

33:35

put up a banner.

33:36

But I think it's all about the banner. Yeah,

33:39

ever, win, are you doing a banner? Do you want a

33:41

banner?

33:42

I mean, you get a trophy, don't shouldn't

33:44

you get a banner?

33:45

I want a smaller banner.

33:46

I don't want one that's like the same size

33:48

as what a champ an NBA title can't

33:52

be.

33:52

I think it cannot be gaudy. You don't want a guarding

33:54

band, right, I don't want a huge but look,

33:57

yeah, I want to ban all right, something all right?

33:59

And I know I'm not usually the one to

34:01

credit the Lakers, but I think the way that they did it,

34:03

actually, whether it was their decision

34:05

or the leagues, was the best way to do it. Where it's like

34:08

they have their championship normal sized

34:10

banners, and they have a separate banner that

34:12

also leaves room for other years that you could win.

34:15

It's kind of like a division championship, like you have one

34:17

banner and it has every year that you.

34:19

Won the division on and it leaves room for

34:21

future years.

34:22

We could do like I saw somebody put on social media,

34:24

maybe do something like the Stanley Cup where that banner goes

34:26

to the city that has it. Like

34:29

to your point, Lakers, this year

34:31

will be whatever team and that not been

34:33

resides in that city.

34:38

We don't have enough banners.

34:40

Okay, you know what's your banner?

34:43

You know what I would like to see is yes,

34:46

okay, so it's more competitive and more fun. Whatever?

34:49

Can we please make this be like

34:51

an auto berth to the playoffs

34:54

if you win.

34:55

I'm not worried. I don't.

34:56

I'm not willing to go that far, but I'm totally

34:59

One of my revolutions stionary ideas is adding

35:01

wins, like you get like five wins

35:03

added to your record.

35:04

I've waited maybe three, two or three.

35:06

I'm willing to negotiate on

35:08

the number, but if you want to talk about it

35:10

could be two or three.

35:11

So you do take away the losses, like because

35:13

you have to equal.

35:14

The same I'm saying, well, I'm saying like, if if

35:16

you go forty five and thirty seven and another team's

35:19

forty five and thirty or forty seven, you

35:21

get five, you get you just get they just give you.

35:23

The fifty wins.

35:24

Well, your record will stay forty five and thirty

35:26

seven. I'm just saying you use this for like playoff

35:28

seedings and stuff like that.

35:30

So I like kind of aarrant idea,

35:32

maybe like a joker where you can maybe choose,

35:35

like if you're already a playoff team.

35:37

But it's your playoff not even playing.

35:39

Right, Like if you're fifth, you can

35:41

cash in your poker, your your joker card

35:44

and you go to four or something of that.

35:45

Yeah, anything that anything that makes

35:48

it more the stakes and extentive

35:50

to me is I think that's great.

35:51

As long as it's not out of control. I'm

35:53

cool with that.

35:54

Thirty seconds here, since this is the first time

35:56

we've gotten this group together. Thirty

35:58

seconds Western and Eastern Conference, biggest

36:01

Surprise, good and bad.

36:03

Western Conference, Eastern Conference. Let's start with

36:05

the West JD.

36:07

West Biggest Surprise.

36:10

Hmm.

36:12

We got to think about this for a second.

36:13

I know this wasn't on our list of.

36:15

Time we heard the

36:18

Golden State seven and one. Okay, see

36:20

seven and one, Phoenix seven and one? Is Golden State

36:22

your biggest surprises? The Rockets in fourth

36:24

right now?

36:24

Five?

36:25

No, I would say, actually Phoenix is my biggest surprise

36:27

out of those because I did not Phoenix

36:29

has not been a team that looked like it gelled

36:32

well, and especially last

36:34

year. So maybe the off season helped them, but

36:37

they did not play well together last year,

36:39

and so them being seven and one is a

36:41

bit of a surprise for me. Golden State,

36:44

as long as Steph curries around me and

36:46

he is back on the court, yeah that's nice. But

36:48

but but Phoenix, that's the team that I

36:51

thought might be on the version of implosion Aaron

36:53

biggest surprise.

36:54

I don't know that I'm surprised because I think the way

36:56

that the Nuggets handled the off season

36:59

and as many trades that they

37:02

players that they allowed to go or

37:04

you know, and didn't get much back for, I'm

37:06

not surprised that they're kind of middle of the road Memphis.

37:10

I thought they might get a little bit more of a boost with

37:12

Jaw coming back. And we'll kind of see how they continue

37:14

to gel. But it's just interesting that

37:16

those are middle of the pack

37:18

right now. And then yeah,

37:21

I mean we figured, okay, so you would be up at

37:23

the top. So there's kind

37:25

of still feeling things out.

37:26

I guess I'm gonna say this kind of half jokingly

37:29

and also ask people to not actually look at

37:31

the records in this in the standings overall.

37:33

But my surprise is that right now the

37:35

fore seed in the West is Houston, in the

37:37

fore seed in the East is the Brooklyn

37:39

Nets. So those are standings

37:42

surprises about not surprised that all

37:44

day took.

37:45

Let's see, what's the record for in four eight

37:48

games for JJ Reddick to lose it?

37:50

Yeah already, Yeah.

37:51

I don't even think I don't think it took eight.

37:53

I think it was like probably four or five shock Only.

37:55

The question that made him get up and go already just said

37:58

it didn't walk out of an interview was are you getting

38:00

your players to play hard?

38:02

Yikes?

38:03

On the Eastern Conference? You know you got

38:05

Cleveland nine and oh we just saw them, Boston

38:07

Pacers. Jim just said, Brooklyn, that's right

38:10

there at four hawks. We saw them already.

38:12

The Knicks, Miami, Charlotte, Chicago,

38:14

Orlando. Who the Pells are playing tonight. There's

38:17

Detroit three wins or down. Any surprise

38:19

for me, it's Milwaukee. Milwaukee's

38:21

two and six And every time I turn

38:24

the TV on in his studio on NBA

38:26

today, they're talking about is Joanna's

38:28

going to be available for trade? That that to

38:30

me is a surprise. Yeah.

38:31

Well, I mean when you're not playing well,

38:33

then that Yeah, that's gonna be a question. They're

38:36

they're big two Johannis and Dame

38:38

are playing okay, they just don't

38:40

seem to have a lot around them. I

38:43

did not know Chris Middleton meant that much to

38:45

that team. And also, you know,

38:47

trading way Drew Holliday has meant huge

38:50

for that team. But Chris Middleton was

38:53

the guy when they won the NBA finals. Chris Middleton

38:55

was kind of now Joanna's got the

38:57

finals, but Chris Middleton was like the guy

39:00

putch guy and not having him

39:02

he because he hadn't been right since then and

39:04

they have suffered for it. But you know, the surprise

39:06

to me Cleveland, I mean they're undefeated and

39:09

they've had good parts, but they

39:12

get to the playoffs and they struggle, and

39:14

you know, I know this offseason Donovan Mitchell said,

39:16

you know, look, we want to go to the conference

39:19

finals, you know, and he kind of made

39:21

it sound like it really doesn't count

39:23

unless you get at least to the conference finals the

39:25

NBA Finals, So you know, you

39:27

knew they were were going to come in with maybe

39:30

a little bit different mindset. He and Darius

39:32

Garland are playing really well together. Then

39:34

they got the two bigs Man. They've got a lot

39:37

to like and they're playing

39:40

well together. They don't look like they

39:42

care who's getting the glory and that kind of stuff, and

39:44

it's early in the season, but they just look like

39:46

a cohesive team.

39:48

I think Atlanta is going to continue to get better because they've

39:50

been dealing with a lot of injuries as well, so

39:52

I'm kind of surprised. Obviously, there

39:54

was a huge trade over the summer with us

39:57

getting to John Day Murray and the

39:59

way that team was gelling last year. They

40:01

felt like they needed to separate those two pieces

40:03

with Murray and Chary

40:06

Young. So it's interesting

40:08

to see how it's it's

40:10

working so far, even with the injuries, they're

40:12

doing pretty well. And Dyson

40:14

Daniels has been helpful for them. Really, it's

40:17

been a little surprising.

40:18

I mean, was it surprising when he emptied the clip on the

40:20

Pels bench.

40:21

Yes, that wasn't surprising.

40:23

That was shopping Atlanta was shocked a

40:26

person.

40:26

Yeah, I never

40:29

knew yet.

40:29

Limon pepper Dice.

40:31

You know, you guys, you guys referenced

40:33

the Bucks.

40:34

To me, there's a big general surprise in

40:36

the Eastern Conference, and that is there's a million

40:38

circumstances that explain some of this. But if you told

40:40

someone in the summer, without any context,

40:43

that three of the four bottom teams in

40:45

the East standings are Orlando, Milwaukee,

40:48

and Philadelphia, they would be like, there's no possible way

40:50

that that's the case. But I mean, injuries

40:52

one win have been a huge Yeah, Philly with

40:54

one win. Em Beat hasn't played yet. Bet

40:57

Carrow's out for Orlando, Milwaukee's

40:59

had I had a bunch of issues and they've had a pretty

41:01

tough schedule. But to me, that's the biggest surprise if

41:04

you look at the East, is like those three of those

41:06

four the East is not great.

41:07

And we'll get into that a little bit later in the podcast.

41:09

But yeah, it would be nice to be in the East like we should

41:11

be.

41:11

Yeah, yeah, I mean the East is not good, but those

41:14

for the for that to be three of the bottom four teams

41:16

in a conference that's not too stellar

41:18

right now is pretty surprise.

41:20

To your point, Aaron, Atlanta's fifth se right now,

41:22

four and five below five hundred. It'd be nice

41:24

the Lakers who were laughing at they're

41:27

four and four in tenth.

41:29

So there you go.

41:30

Anyway, thanks so much.

41:31

We can do this forever.

41:32

I appreciate it, Sam Summers's

41:34

thro johnth the Schaser. Look, I know I

41:37

threw win the whole Western Eastern Conference thing, but

41:39

two weeks in I wanted to kind of see there are some surprises.

41:41

I think Philly would have one win

41:44

Milwaukee down there. Some team's

41:46

already kind of showing that they're pretty

41:48

good here. So that's kind of the point. Though, you and I talked about

41:50

it in post Kav. You got time, but

41:52

you don't want to be so far back to where now

41:55

it's almost realistically look like you're

41:57

not gonna be battling for one, two or three or four,

41:59

you know, so you want to start getting

42:01

some wins here this little brief time

42:04

right now, Like the Petals need to get a win

42:06

here against Orlando tonight.

42:08

And unfortunately, this is just reality.

42:10

If you start out one and six in the East,

42:14

it's not the end of the world because you're not

42:16

that far out of a bunch of teams, and

42:18

I mean, there's enough time to make up ground.

42:20

But in the West, you don't want to get more than five,

42:23

six, seven games below five hundred and have to

42:25

fight your way just to get back to five hundred,

42:28

which isn't even As I've said before, five

42:30

hundred isn't even the bar for playing

42:32

tournament.

42:33

Look, I'm not disrespecting the first

42:35

two of the next five. I'm

42:37

not disrespecting Orlando tonight. They've

42:39

been a tough matchup, but they're different without

42:41

Paulo bankcat Right, I'm not disrespecting

42:43

them, but you got to get this

42:45

win. I'm not disrespecting Monday's

42:48

game against Brooklyn. Right, you mentioned

42:50

here one of your surprises. They're in the top four

42:52

right of the Eastern Conference. But

42:56

after that, it's Denver, it's

42:58

the Lakers, and it's okay,

43:00

see

43:03

those are pretty good teams. Yes, So

43:06

even though the Lakers and we make fun of him this food,

43:09

they have Matt pals have not matched up well again, No,

43:11

and they always play well. Anthony Davis miraculous,

43:13

Lee is always healed. He plays well. And

43:16

they got size and all that. Okay, C's got size,

43:18

they've lost one game, they're playing really well,

43:22

and Denver's got yoked. It's just matchups,

43:24

right, so it, Jim.

43:26

It's important to win Monday, and it's important

43:29

to win today.

43:29

You know, Gus, we didn't plan this out, but you

43:31

actually set me up perfectly for my trending number,

43:34

and that is.

43:34

Wait, hold on, are you ready for that?

43:36

Oh?

43:36

Okay, tgi

43:41

Jim.

43:41

It's Friday, which means, mister

43:44

Eichenhoffer as a pair of things for us,

43:47

trending numbers and

43:50

weekends showdown. What

43:53

are we starting with, Jim?

43:56

You like that, buddy, I love it. It's

43:58

kind of a nice groove there. Well,

44:01

thank you, Mallory. The trending

44:04

number is So I'll

44:07

give you a little quiz here. It'll be easy quiz,

44:09

so don't worry. There's been thirty eight games

44:11

played between the West and the East this year,

44:13

teams playing against each other. Of those

44:15

thirty eight games so far, how many would

44:18

you guess the West has won? Of those thirty

44:20

eight, give

44:22

me twenty six. Oh my god,

44:25

Gus, it's twenty seven.

44:26

Wow.

44:27

Yes, that was a very good guess.

44:29

So the West has won seventy

44:31

one percent of the games

44:34

between the West and the East so far. We've

44:37

seen some imbalances between We've seen a lot of imbalances

44:39

between the conferences over the years. Last

44:42

Cup, last year it went back to the West has

44:44

a huge advantage. Before that, it was actually starting to

44:46

get slightly more competitive, and

44:48

I was starting to get encouraged that maybe the East

44:50

was going to hold up its weight a little bit for

44:52

once over the last twenty years. But I mean,

44:55

so far, the trend is definitely headed

44:57

in the direction where the

45:00

West is way better than the East. Again,

45:02

and I mean specifically with these two teams

45:04

tonight, the Pelicans are two and two

45:06

against the East and only one in four

45:08

against the West. Orlando is

45:11

three and three against the East, zero in three

45:13

against the West. They've played three games

45:16

against the Grizzlies, Mavericks

45:18

and Thunder and lost them by an average

45:20

of seventeen points per game. So I mean,

45:23

you see the drastic difference between

45:27

playing the different conferences. So, circling

45:29

back to your original point where

45:31

you talked about the importance of trying

45:33

to get this win against Orlando and trying to get this win against

45:35

Brooklyn. It looks like once

45:37

again, all of the teams in the West

45:40

that have designs on being in the

45:42

playoffs or making the play in tournament,

45:44

being part of the postseason, you're gonna have to

45:46

do some good work against the West or against the Eastern

45:48

Conference, because if you lose those games,

45:50

you're gonna lose ground on pretty much everyone else.

45:53

And by the way, too, the Pelicans were nineteen

45:55

and eleven against the East last

45:57

season. They were thirty

46:00

and twenty two against the West. So

46:02

again you see so much of a

46:05

difference in the competitiveness

46:07

of the two conferences. Next

46:09

two games Friday Monday against

46:11

the East, and then five of the pelicans next

46:14

six after that are against the West. So

46:16

to your point, weekend

46:18

showdown, there's

46:21

Sunday Night. I know a lot of people are gonna

46:23

be watching football. There's a really

46:25

good Sunday night game between the Lions

46:27

and the Texans. But this

46:29

is one of the best nights

46:32

I've seen of the season so far if you look at just Western

46:34

Conference matchups. So the

46:36

weekend showdown that I'm gonna go with is

46:39

Dallas versus Denver, but I'm also

46:41

giving at seven o'clock. But I'm also giving honorable

46:44

mention because at six o'clock on Sunday

46:46

night, the Warriors play at Oklahoma City

46:49

and Sacramento plays at Phoenix at seven.

46:51

So I mean, those are three outstanding

46:54

games in matchups between teams,

46:57

And the reason I picked Dallas versus Denver

46:59

is because I think it's a really

47:01

good test again for the Nuggets in terms

47:03

of which direction is this season going.

47:06

Are they going to.

47:07

Fade out of, you know, competition

47:10

for top four in the West, Are they going to be

47:12

back in that range of the standings,

47:14

And obviously, you know, beating the Mavericks

47:16

would be huge in doing that, and I think the

47:19

Mavericks too have kind of been up and

47:21

down a little bit so far in the

47:23

early part of the season. So

47:25

Dallas versus Denver Ballerina,

47:27

seven pm, Sunday night, get

47:30

your tickets, but also keep

47:32

an eye on the Warriors versus Thunder, two

47:35

teams that are off to incredible starts well not only

47:37

one losses per team.

47:39

And then also on.

47:40

The duck at Kings versus Suns. There's

47:42

your weekend showdown, all.

47:44

Right, we'll see what takes place.

47:45

That is.

47:46

Jamike can offer again our things to Aaron Summer's

47:48

and John de Chazer and thank you for tuning in

47:50

to the New Orleans Pelicans podcast.

47:51

We'll see you on Monday.

47:52

Have a great weekend until then.

47:55

So long everyone. Thanks for listening

47:57

to the New Orleans Pelicans podcast.

48:00

Join us three times per week on pelicans

48:02

dot com, the Pelicans mobile app,

48:05

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48:07

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48:09

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48:11

Pelicans Podcast