Halftime...Kind Of

Dylan Mckneely • February 19, 2024

"You're saying we are eleven games over .500, and I'm saying we've got to learn how to maintain leads. So, if we were able to maintain leads, we'd probably be fourteen, fifteen, or sixteen games over .500. So I think we are in an okay spot, but when we come back from break, we've got to be able to fine-tune some of the small nuances of the game." This quote by Zion Williamson is the perfect overview of the pre-All-Star break Pelicans. Blown leads fundamental mind lapses, yet still good enough to be one of the top teams in the Western Conference. More than halfway through the season, the Pelicans are one of the more challenging teams in the league to understand because some of their biggest strengths can also be their biggest weakness, depending on the night. Experiencing exhilarating highs (see 30+ point back-to-back victories over the Kings and Warriors) and debilitating lows (see 20+ point back-to-back losses to Thunder and Bucks), the season thus far has us asking one question:" Would the real New Orleans Pelicans please stand up?" It's halftime(kind of) now, so let's look at what's working, and what needs work.

Point Zion Is The Best Zion

The Zion that posts up is a star-level player, but the Zion that initiates the offense is a superstar-level player. In three of his six appearances before the all-star break, Zion scored 30+ points three times. With a skillset like Zion's, this probably isn't as surprising as him averaging six assists simultaneously! Since becoming the primary ball handler, Zion's scoring has gone up, and so have his playmaking opportunities, which has led to an uptick in his assists per game. Not only has Zion's numbers benefited from him being the primary offensive initiator, but also has The Bayou Sniper's Trey Murphy III and Jordan Hawkins. Trey is shooting a blistering 40.5% on three-point shots created by Zion Williamson, and Jordan is not far behind at 39.6%. One of the more deadly sets that the Pels have often deployed in the Point Zion era is the ghost screen-to-flare screen action often run between Murphy III and Zion. This action creates quite a problem for the defense, having to choose between letting a guy that shoots 40% on passes made by Zion get an open three if you help too hard or overreacting to the screen and giving Zion a straight-line drive to the rim. Point Zion creates the space needed for the shooters around him to do what they do best. It also places CJ McCollum in the more familiar scoring position on the floor. Zion, as the primary facilitator, is already showing positive returns in a small sample size.

"CJ from three....BANG!" - Mike Breen(probably)

After an extended summer break due to the Pelicans' inability to make the playoffs, CJ McCollum has come back  on a tear from three. CJ has bypassed the "make them respect you" level of shooting from deep to the "don't let him see the rim" level. Out of players who have shot 300 or more threes thus far this season, CJ is tied for second place in percentages, shooting a blistering 42% from deep. CJ's ability to space the floor allows Zion and midrange Marxman Brandon Ingram to operate inside the three-point line. McCollum has made a career of being a tough shot-maker from the midrange area, but extending his range has led to a more efficient midrange output from McCollum, shooting 50.9% from two, which is well over his 48.7% career average. CJ's ability to reinvent himself in year thirteen shows his level of commitment not only to winning but also to winning as a New Orleans Pelican, becoming what the Pels need most... a knockdown shooter.

Herb Jones = First Half MVP

From guarding the opposing team's primary scoring threat to hitting timely corner three-pointers, Herb Jones has been the most valuable Pelican thus far this season. Jones's ability to cover his assignment and take on teammates' assignments mid-position without blinking is the primary catalyst for the Pelicans' seventh-ranked defense rating. Not to be outdone by his world-renowned defensive abilities, Jones is hovering around the exclusive 50/40/90 club, shooting 49% from the field, 40% from three, and 86% from the free throw line. Jones is becoming much more than a defensive specialist, making his four-year / $53,827,872 deal one of the most team-friendly contracts in the league. Often the odd man out when the talent level of this team is being quantified, one could argue that the New Orleans Pelicans' stars can be stars because of Jones' ability to cover up their mistakes on defense and become a deadly space creator on offense. Herb Jones is my first half Most Valuable Pelican.

The Adjustments

Paging The Bayou Snipers

Jordan Hawkins and Trey Murphy III have hit a shooting slump. While Hawkins' lack of playing time could be a primary contributor to his dip in shooting percentage(don't even get me started), as a professional player, the opportunities are few and must be capitalized on when they arrive. Murphy III's slump has affected his entire game, often looking stagnant on the offensive end and becoming the primary point of an attack on the defensive end. Hawkins and TM3 are all world shooters. If the Pelicans have any chance at a deep playoff run, they'll need them to be every bit of that down the stretch.


The Curious Case Of Zion And Brandon

Statistically speaking, Williamson and Ingram have the worst Net rating(2.1) of the top 6 teams in the West. With that being said, the Pelicans should not choose between Brandon Ingram or Zion Williamson. Instead, there should be an honest conversation on roles and complete buy-in. As I previously stated, the New Orleans Pelicans are at their best when Zion is the primary ball handler and facilitator. I want to take it a step further and say when in the game, Williamson should be the primary focal point of the Pelicans' offense. The gravity Zion's presence causes in itself should create efficient looks for Ingram and the rest of the team. Ingram is in line for a significant payday; one could argue that the best way to get that payday is by showing that, like CJ McCollum, winning matters more than shot attempts and touches for Ingram.


Shoot More Three's

The Pelicans are eighth in the NBA in three-point percentage at 37.7% but twenty-third in three-point attempts per game at 32.1. This can be attributed to multiple things, including the need for lineups featuring shooters. Coach Green's commitment to playing defense first lineups hinders the Pelicans' ability to deploy the arsenal of shooters they employ fully. Going into the final stretch of the season, as games get more competitive due to the jockeying for playoff position, the Pelicans could benefit from relieving the paint presence Zion faces on a night-in and night-out basis by willingly committing to a lineup that includes Hawkins, Murphy III, and McCollum and to a lesser extent Matt Ryan. Another factor could be your primary scorer's desire to be midrange and paint guys. Will Coach Green adjust and move forward, or will we run the risk of watching an often-injured Zion play basketball in a phone booth?

In Conclusion

The New Orleans Pelicans currently hold the sixth place in the Western Conference, with a 33-22 record. Achieving a fifty-win season for the first time since 2007-2008 is possible with a few minor adjustments. However, the task won't be easy, as they only have seven matches left against non-playoff teams out of their final twenty-seven games. The Pelicans will be facing the young and energetic Houston Rockets on Thursday night, in their journey towards achieving fifty wins and securing a playoff spot. Let's go Pelicans!The Pelicans sit in the sixth spot of the West with a 33-22 record. We could look at the first fifty-win New Orleans professional basketball team since 2007-2008 with a few minor adjustments. With only seven of their final twenty-seven games against none playoff teams, it will be a challenging feat to accomplish. The journey towards fifty wins and an outright playoff bid continues Thursday night against the young, energetic Houston Rockets. Let's Geaux Pels!

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New Orleans Saints vs Tennessee Titans 2025 Week 17 Recap

By Greyson Jenkins • December 29, 2025
New Orleans Saints 34 - 26 Tennessee Titans This is the exact type of game the Saints and Tyler Shough needed, albeit against a weak opponent, to help create assurance that the tides are actually turning. For the last few seasons, anytime the Saints fell behind by 10 or more points, it has felt like 21 or more. However, with Tyler Shough at the quarterback position, when the team starts slow, I don’t feel like they are ever behind by an amount they cannot come back from. In this game, when they fell to a 13-point deficit to start the game, I never once felt deflated as I had in the past few prior seasons, which is an amazing feat for this current roster to achieve. Look at the injuries that have piled up on the offensive side of the ball. Tyler Shough is throwing to receivers and handing the ball off to running backs who weren’t on the 53-man roster to start this season. We saw a similar, if not the same, situation play out last year for Spencer Rattler, who was unable to overcome the situation to win games. The thing with that is, Spencer Rattler is not a BAD quarterback by any means; he’s a high-end backup or bottom-tier starter, but he is 100% an NFL-level quarterback. This just shows that Tyler Shough is the true franchise quarterback for the Saints, and that even when the team is down, both in score and in talent, their current QB can elevate them to wins. With all of that being said, let’s look at the performances of this game and how they are changing how I want the Saints to attack this offseason. Chris Olave I can’t start this breakdown without giving Chris Olave his flowers. He has absolutely destroyed any doubt I had in him being able to be the number one guy for this team on any given week. He finished this one with eight catches for 119 yards and a touchdown. This performance gave him career highs across all receiving categories and also put him in a great spot to get a massive contract from the Saints this offseason, which he deserves. He isn’t in the conversation for comeback player of the year, but after saying he was genuinely considering retirement at the age of 24, he should be. He won’t win the award, as Christian McCaffery has absolutely shattered expectations of what he could be this season, but Olave, having his best season as an NFL player after his worst concussion yet, should not go unnoticed. Tyler Shough Once again, and I will try not to overdo it here, Tyler Shough was the team MVP and the best quarterback on the field for the fourth straight game. That includes games against Baker Mayfield, Bryce Young, and Cam Ward. Are those the best quarterbacks in the league? No. Are they quarterbacks that NFL fans and pundits had much higher hopes for this season than Tyler Shough? Yes. The conversations involving Shough have gone from “How did he go above Shedeur?”, to “Why are the Saints benching Rattler for him?”, to “How is he going to overcome all of these injuries?”, all the way to now “Is he a top 15 quarterback in the league?” If I were to be asked that last question right now, it would be tough to give a definitive answer, but I am definitely leaning towards yes, he is. He has now led the Saints to four straight wins, and the current buzz around the league is that the Saints are the best team in the division, even though they won’t make the playoffs. Shough also surpassed Tetairoa McMillan today as the favorite to win the offensive rookie of the year, even though he has only started eight games. The things Tyler Shough is doing are certainly unexpected, but just because they are unexpected doesn’t mean they should go underappreciated by the league and NFL media. It’s nice to see the media finally starting to pick up on what’s going on in New Orleans. I hope that it continues throughout this offseason. There is a big divide among the Saints fanbase about whether or not the team should really be happy about winning these games, since their draft position has been going down with every win. To me, the answer couldn’t be clearer; these wins are exponentially more valuable than their draft pick position. With these wins, the fanbase and the team have learned that they have a franchise quarterback, and the team culture is being rejuvenated more and more every week. I’m not sure if you have seen it yet, but if not, check out this video from the locker room postgame below. I’m not sure if it’s just because it is the highest quality video I’ve ever seen from a locker room (was this thing filmed with an IMAX camera??), or if it is truly just how happy everyone is, but I am completely bought in on Shough and the future of the organization at this point in time. https://x.com/Saints/status/2005405454608859372?s=20 Kellen Moore Anyone who has read these articles throughout the season knows I have been VERY down on Kellen Moore as the season progressed. That being said, I think he has truly spun my whole image of him and made me buy into what he is doing as the Saints' head coach. Is he perfect? No. Will the training camp next year look the same as this year’s? Again, No. However, Kellen Moore’s playcalling and decisions with timeouts and game management have 100% improved in recent weeks. Maybe he is more confident in calling a broad range of plays with Shough at quarterback, maybe he is simply more confident in the team’s ability as a whole to execute them, or maybe he simply has learned a little bit more every week what works and what doesn’t. He has called a lot more outside runs than he did to start the season, and has also learned how to manage the ends of halves. He had a few blunders of epic proportions to end halves this season due to timeout usage, and this week, Justin Reid ruined a really good job by Moore to use timeouts and display confidence in his QB and offense to go get points in a short amount of time. Kellen Moore’s post-game speeches are very unique in comparison to what I see from other head coaches across the league as well. He is never overly energetic, he never screams just for the sake of screaming, and he never seems to run out of game balls. Moore isn’t a guy who yells like Dan Campbell or Ben Johnson, but you can tell that he is genuinely excited and happy for the team and the players every single week in these post-game speeches. Players can see straight through a fake personality, which is genuinely what I believe happened with Dennis Allen at the helm. In Moore’s case, he is almost genuine to a fault. If he were this nice to a team that continued to underperform and not execute, maybe it would grow old. But the team didn’t do that; they have overperformed expectations, and Moore has continued to be the same guy he has been all year. The players have definitely seen this, and you can tell they are happy to have Moore as the head coach. Moore gives what he calls “shout-outs” to all of the guys who perform well in games. These shout-outs come with game balls for all of the players named, which leads to a LOT of game balls being tossed around the locker room. This may seem corny to those outside of the locker room, but the players love it; they are all getting recognized for what they bring to the table, something that can quickly win over a team to follow a coach to battle every week. Moore gave so many balls last week and also this week that in this week’s speech, he said he may get in trouble with the league. Kellen Moore has completed a full 180 and is now someone I am confident in to lead the Saints to victory in the near future. I love the way he is calling an offense going through injuries left and right, and I love the way he is currently managing the locker room. He accomplished the hardest thing to do in a rebuild: picking the right quarterback. So, now my question is, how will he follow that up? If Moore, alongside Mickey Loomis, enters this offseason and successfully identifies the weakest position groups and gets talent there, he can earn himself a very long tenure with the organization in New Orleans. The Future I was relatively sure last week that the Saints had their quarterback and head coach of the future, but after this performance, I couldn’t be more sure and positive. With both of those things being locked in, where do the Saints go from here? The team is still lacking talent depth at numerous position groups, but to me, the two biggest concerns are the interiors of the lines on both sides of the ball and the weapons Tyler Shough has to throw to. Before yesterday’s game, I would have had running back on this list too, with Kamara, Miller, and Neal all being injured and not seeing much from Estime or Hull the past couple of weeks. However, Audric Estime had the best game of his career on only 14 carries, finishing with 94 yards and a touchdown. If Estime can repeat a similar performance next year, it makes the conversation of who should stay around next season much harder. I could see Kendre Miller being a guy the Saints move in the offseason for a draft pick, simply due to injury history, but man, he can run the damn ball when he is healthy. This conversation could become even tougher if Kellen Moore decides he wants to build the run game for the team up even more by going and drafting the best RB in college football, Jeremiyah Love. If that happens, I don’t think there’s any chance Kendre Miller is back with the team. I have not gotten the chance to scout interior talent from either side of the line much, but the Saints will need to decide whether or not the weaknesses there are something to attack in the draft or free agency. I believe the Saints could find solid fixes in free agency for the defensive side of the ball and try to find young talent in the draft to shore up the interior offensive line. If the Saints go the route I believe they should pursue, which is to go and get a wide receiver with their first round pick, there are a couple of guys I think they should look at. Makai Lemon and Carnell Tate. Some may say I’m crazy for leaving Jordyn Tyson off of this list, but his injury history and competition level both scare me. Another great route the team could go is to go EDGE in the first round, then Elijah Sarratt in the second if he isn’t a shoo-in first-rounder by the time the draft comes around. All of these guys would be great additions to go alongside Chris Olave, Devaughn Vele, and Juwan Johnson in the passing attack for Shough. The Saints are the best team in the division, and I don’t feel like that is a homer take. The Saints have looked the best on both sides of the ball and beat both of the teams above them. In addition, the Saints may end up finishing in second place in the South with a win over the Falcons next week and a Bucs loss to the Panthers. However, the ideal scenario is for both the Saints and Bucs to win, with the Saints finishing on a five-game win streak and getting the third-place schedule next year. The Saints are crushing expectations to end the season, and causing hope to rise over the win-deprived city of New Orleans. What more could you ask for? Offensive MVP: Tyler Shough Defensive MVP: Chase Young Special Teams MVP: CHARLIE “THE IRISH HAMMER” SMYTH

Suns @ Pelicans Takeaways (Saturday Game)

By Chrissy Smith • December 29, 2025
Team Stats (Suns @ Pelicans) Final Score: 123-114 Rebounds: 55-43 Assists: 26-16 Blocks: 3-7 Steals: 7-11 Turnovers: 16-13 Stat Leaders (Suns/Pelicans) Scoring Leaders: Devin Booker, 20; Trey Murphy III, 24 Rebound Leaders: Oso Ighodaro, 10; Derik Queen, 11 Assist Leaders: Collin Gillepsie, 7; Derik Queen/Jordan Poole/Jose Alvarado, 6 My Player of the Game: Jose Alvaredo Takeaways The Pelicans dropped the second game in a row to the Phoenix Suns, even though they kept Devin Booker to just 20 points. The game got chippy in the third quarter after New Orleans went on a 12-2 run to cut the deficit to 73-71. Following a whistle, Pelicans guard Jose Alvarado and Phoenix center Mark Williams exchanged punches. Both were ejected, and further suspensions are expected. Trey Murphy III had 24 points for the Pelicans, and Zion Williamson scored 22 off the bench on 8-of-11 shooting. Rookie center Derik Queen had 21 points and 11 rebounds, while Jeremiah Fears scored 18 and Saddiq Bey finished with 17.. Follow The Kneaux on X , and follow me there too @SportsChrissy.
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