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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Sacramento St - 6, LSU - 1

By David Billiot Jr • March 9, 2026
Lifeless. There’s no better way to describe this LSU team right now, specifically the offense. There are a hundred questions and not a single answer at this point in time. The fans are confused. Those that cover this team are confused. Even Jay Johnson appears confused. Friday night’s offensive explosion seemed like a “we’re back” sort of game, but now appears to be an anomaly. The 8-0 start feels like a century ago. Nothing makes sense. It was another night marred by missed opportunities and letting the opposing pitching staff off of the hook. LSU left 8 runners on base. The strikeouts weren’t as big of an issue tonight as they were on Saturday, but Tiger hitters also only drew 2 walks. As for the pitching, William Schmidt was, once again, pretty good. His final stat line doesn’t do his performance justice, especially considering the mistakes that led to Sacramento St scoring their first 2 runs. The first run the Hornets scored in the 3rd was the first run Schmidt had allowed since his opening weekend start vs Milwaukee. Although he allowed 4 runs on 4 hits, the 0 walks number is the most promising stat from his performance. As he has been for his past three starts, Schmidt lived in the strike zone and attacked hitters throughout his outing. He had his breaking balls working throughout, flashing the ability to throw both at any time. The ability to land a slider and/or curveball for a strike not only in pitcher’s counts, but also in hitter’s counts or to start off an at bat, will make him tough to deal with no matter which team is in the other dugout. It’s becoming more and more evident that LSU’s weekend rotation may have to carry their subpar offense, at least early on in SEC play until they can flip a switch. Pitching William Schmidt picked up right where he left off last week. He struck out two in the 1st inning on just 7 pitches between the two batters. He followed that up with a 1-2-3 2nd inning and sat with only 24 pitches through the two innings. Things got shaky in the 3rd when he gave up a lead off single on a 3-1 count, which was his first 3 ball count of the game. He struck out a batter looking and then got a Superman diving catch by Derek Curiel, adding to the sophomore’s already impressive defensive weekend. On another 3 ball count, Sacramento St leadoff hitter Sam Harry laced a ball over Mason Braun’s head in left field. It goes down as a double, but Braun misplayed the ball and it probably should have been caught, which would have ended the inning. Schmidt looked to have an inning ended strikeout on the next batter, but the ball in the dirt forced a throw and Cade Arrambide threw the ball off of the runner’s helmet, allowing another run to score to give the Hornets a 2-0 lead. He would immediately make up for it, throwing out the potential base-stealer at second. Following that 25 pitch inning, Schmidt got back on track with a quick 3 up, 3 down inning, finishing four innings with 62 pitches. His 5th inning was just as smooth, retiring the side in order, capped off by another silky smooth defensive play by Steven Milam. Schmidt quickly retired two in the 6th before giving up opposite field single, just the third hit of the game for Sacramento St. The Hornets would follow with another single and that would be the end of the day for the sophomore starter. Final line: 5.2 IP / 4 hits / 4 runs / 8 Ks / 0 BBs Cooper Williams entered with runners on 1st and 3rd and looked to build upon a solid 9th inning yesterday. Unfortunately, he only lasted two pitches. After throwing a first pitch strike, he hit the batter on his second one. Jay Johnson was halfway out of the dugout before the runner even got to 1st base and that was all. Final line: 0.0 IP / 0 hits / 1 run / 0 K / 1 HBP With the bases now loaded, it was Gavin Guidry time and you always feel good about that. Tonight was different, as Guidry struggled to find the strike zone upon entering. He walked in a run and then gave up a weak ground ball through the left side of the infield and just like that, LSU was losing to Sacramento St 5-0, once again. He’d record a strikeout to end the inning, but the damage was done. Guidry returned for the 7th and battled past a 2 out walk. Back in the 8th, he drew a flyout to Curiel, but then walked a batter, threw a wild pitch, and gave up a bloop single to set up 1st and 3rd and one out. Sacramento St executed fundamentals and squeezed the runner home on a perfect sacrifice bunt. That’s where Jay would, again, turn to his bullpen. Final line: 2.0 IP / 2 hits / 1 run / 2 Ks / 3 BBs Santiago Garcia entered with a runner on 2nd and two outs and delivered the strikeout LSU needed to avoid further damage. Final line: .1 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 1 K / 0 BBs Hopes of a comeback were slim as LSU entered the 9th down 5-1, but it was Mavrick Rizy’s task to keep it right there. Despite hitting a batter, he was able to do his job and get the Tigers back to the dugout for one last chance. Final line: 1.0 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 1 K / 1 HBP Hitting Brayden Simpson drove in the sole LSU run tonight, which makes him the top offensive performer. For the second game in a row, not a single Tiger hitter had multiple hits. Simpson finished 1-4 and also struck out twice. After a 4-5 night that included 3 homeruns on Friday, Jake Brown finished up his weekend with a hitless effort on Saturday and just one single tonight. He hit the ball hard a few times, but it was one of those nights where he didn’t have much to show for it. Brown finished 1-3 with one of the two LSU walks. Derek Curiel’s weekend followed the same trajectory as Brown’s, following up a huge Friday night with just one hit over the next two days. He, too, finished with just a single and went 1-4. Zach Yorke drew the other walk for Tiger hitters and later singled in the 8th inning when they were trying to rally. He finished 1-3. Freshman Mason Braun continues to sting the ball in his early season opportunities. While he only has a 1-4 stat line to show for it, he continues to flash high exit velocity. Obviously that doesn’t put runs on the board, but hard hit balls will eventually start to find grass if he keeps it up. Seth Dardar was another Tiger who stung the ball a few times tonight, also finishing just 1-4. In his post game press conference, Jay specifically mentioned Dardar as someone he was happy with in terms of how they swung the bat. Up Next LSU will remain home and welcome the Creighton Blue Jays for one of the best Tuesday night midweek games you’ll find. The Blue Jays won both the Big East regular season championship and their conference tournament, as well. They made the NCAA tournament as a #3 seed and traveled to Arkansas for the Fayetteville Regional. Creighton made it to the regional final, but lost to the Razorbacks for the second time. So far in 2026, the Blue Jays are off to a slower start with a 5-7 record, but will head to Baton Rouge after taking 2 of 3 from Gonzaga. LSU now sits at 12-5, which looks even worse when you consider they started 8-0. The Tigers will, no doubt, take quite a tumble in the top 25 rankings tomorrow.

Sacramento St - 5, LSU - 4

By David Billiot Jr • March 8, 2026
While everyone was thrilled about the offensive explosion on Friday night, there was still skepticism about whether or not LSU’s bats could keep it up. We saw plenty of it through the 8-0 start, but the six games that followed completely changed the outlook of this team’s actual potential. While it’s naïve to abandon the ship that is a Jay Johnson coached team, the performance of his squad had certainly allowed some doubt to start creeping in. On Friday night, some of that doubt was squashed…temporarily, at least. We needed to see more to feel better about saying that the Tiger offense was all the way back. Well, Saturday was the complete opposite. LSU had one hit going in to the 8th inning. Yes, they were facing the same pitching staff that they hit 6 homeruns and scored 15 on less than 24 hours prior. Nonetheless, the two games were polar opposites. Sacramento St struck LSU hitters out 11 times, 5 of which were looking. It was in the 8th that the Tigers finally got on the scoreboard, putting up a three spot just minutes after a grand slam extended the Hornets lead to 5-0. LSU would truly threaten in the 9th, getting the winning run on base with only one out, but the at bats reverted right back to what they had been for the first seven innings…poor. Despite the one big swing allowed on the other side of the field, the LSU pitching staff did all they could to give their offense a chance to turn the game around. Cooper Moore had his shakiest outing of the season and suffered his first loss of the season, despite only allowing a single run. His record now stands at 3-1, while LSU dropped to 12-4 overall. Pitching Cooper Moore had been marvelous through his first three starts. He was throwing a lot of strikes and piling up zeros on the scoreboard. On Saturday, we saw his command struggle for the first time. He averaged a 77% strike rate coming in to Saturday, which is pretty absurd, but the issues saw that dip to 55%. The 5 free passes nearly doubled his season total of 3 that he entered with. Still, Moore fought and fought, despite having a runner on base in every inning he threw. The one run he did allow came on a 2 out, 2 strike bloop double in to the right field corner. His day would come to an end in the 5th inning following his third walk of the day. With control already being an issue, the rain started to fall just as Moore took the mound to start that inning and that certainly didn’t help. After the game, Jay praised how he battled despite the struggles and stated that he’s comfortable winning or losing with Cooper out there because of his mental resilience that the staff trusts. Final line: 4.2 IP / 4 hits / 1 run / 4 Ks / 3 BBs / 2 HBPs / 89 pitches (49 strikes, 55%). Ethan Plog took over in the 5th and was phenomenal. Not only did he enter and end the 2 out threat with 2 runners on base, but he followed that with back to back 3 up, 3 down innings. He started the 8th, but was relieved after recording a strikeout on the first batter of the inning. Plog filled up the zone with 16 of his 26 pitches being strikes. His only blemish was a leadoff walk in the 7th, but he immediately induced a groundball back to himself which started a 1-6-3 double play. Following Wednesday’s loss to ULL, Jay mentioned that he had four relievers that he absolutely trusts at this point in time. Many speculated that Plog was one of them and if there was any doubt that was the case, there shouldn’t be now. Final line: 2.2 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 2 Ks / 1 BB Deven Sheerin entered in the 8th with no one on base and one out following Plog’s strikeout. This would be his 6th appearance of the season and in the moment, there was no reason to feel anything but great about seeing him jog out to potentially finish the game. Sheerin had yet to allow a hit coming in to Saturday, while striking out 13 and only allowing 2 walks. Well, much like Moore, he was due for a shaky performance. He walked the first batter he faced, but followed that with a flyout to record the second out of the inning. That’s when the impressive hitless streak came to an end with a bloop single in to left field. Sheerin then walked another batter to load the bases and Jay had seen enough. Final line: .1 IP / 1 hit / 3 runs / 0 Ks / 2 BB Ever since his rough debut on the Monday following opening weekend, Jaden Noot had been fantastic. He hadn’t allowed a single baserunner through his next three appearances. On Wednesday, he threw a scoreless 8th inning in which he threw 11 pitches, with all 11 being strikes. But, despite turning things around, Noot came back down to earth in a brutal way. It was a huge spot with the bases loaded and down 1-0, considering the offense had a single hit up to this point. Any more runs would make the comeback feel closer to impossible. After working ahead to his first batter with a 1-2 count, he just missed a called strike three to even it at 2-2. He then left a pitch up in the zone and one swing later, LSU found themselves down 5-0. The spot made sense to go to Noot, but he simply just didn’t execute. A pitch later, he recorded a flyout to end the inning, but the damage was done. Final line: .1 IP / 1 hit / 1 run / 0 Ks / 0 BB Cooper Williams had a brilliant opening day performance when he followed up Casan Evans, but his outings went down hill after that. With how strong he came on down the stretch a season ago and how dominant he was in preseason scrimmages, his poor performances were a big surprise. He entered for the 9th on Sunday following the Tiger offense finally scoring a few runs to close the deficit to 5-3. Williams task was simple. Hold the rope right there and give LSU’s offense a chance to get back to work and pull off the comeback. He did just that, recording a quick 1-2-3 inning on just 10 pitches. While the comeback fell just short, we can only hope that Saturday’s performance was a sign that Williams is getting back on track. Final line: 1.0 IP / 0 hits / 0 runs / 1 K / 0 BB Hitting Daniel Harden made his first start of the season in Lafayette on Wednesday and it did not go very well. But he bounced back in a big way when he got his chance on Saturday. To lead off the 9th inning with LSU down 5-3, Harden blasted a solo homerun in to the Diamond Dech in right field. It was a no-doubter, traveling 392 feet to get the Tigers within a run. It’s not often that you find yourself on the list of top offensive performers with a 3 strikeout game, but Cade Arrambide had one of the only three hits for LSU all day. He finished 1-4 with two of his Ks being caught looking. Zach Yorke had the other of the three hits, a ground rule double in the 8th that drove in the first LSU run of the game. It almost certainly would have scored both Jake Brown and Steven Milam, but the bounce over the 1st base line wall bailed the Hornets out. Both Milam and Yorke would eventually come around to score before the end of the inning, which is what set up the 5-3 deficit going in to the 9th. Up Next LSU and Sacramento St will face off in a rubber match on Sunday at 6 pm central. The game was originally scheduled for 1 pm, but was moved back due to inclement weather between Saturday night and Sunday afternoon. William Schmidt will take the mound for the Tigers with his 3-0 record and have the chance to be the first to record a fourth win. The Hornets will answer with Carson Timothy, a sophomore RHP with a record of 0-1. Timothy has started all three Sundays for Sacramento St, so far, and enters with a 2.45 ERA in 11.0 innings pitched.
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