3Q In: Pelicans Are Not Contenders
If you asked me when I wrote the first and second installment of this series if the 3/4 review would be they are not, compared to are they? I would have assumed a lot went wrong. Frankly, that feels mostly accurate. A lot has gone wrong. Excuses and excuses is what I have but I am writing this from a positive mind frame despite the Pelicans being outright frustrating to watch sometimes, they still hold a lot of upside with nothing but youth from the staff to the players. The Pelicans may not be contenders, and that happening this year required a lot to go right. We were #1 at one point and now risk missing the play in but all at the same time are only a few losses back in the loss column from 4th place. It has been a wild and confusing season, time to dive in and just point out one big positive, one negative, and one big concern.
The youth. As I stated in the intro, this squad is still young. While not the youngest, if you remove Uncle GT from the count we drop in the youngest of young guns in the NBA. Zion is still only 22 and somehow got better despite not playing competitive basketball for what felt like a decade. Jose, Trey, and Herb are all under 25 and came from the same draft year and just 2nd year players. We have the pieces to build long term success, and I know a lot of folks were angry that we did not make a major move at the trade deadline but a part of me figured we would not. This is still not a destination city for NBA super stars, but I feel with time it will become one under the current leadership. The frustrating part is what appears to be a quick retract leash on the young guys. Temple getting time over Trey last year, Graham and Richardson getting a clear nod over guys we have seen grind out their playing time. I don't have a rhyme or reason for this, but I can say I have faith that long term, Willie Green will figure it out because he is the 5th youngest head coach in the association sitting at 41. I was one who gave up on Monty Williams early, and he comes from that tree, I am much more willing to see Willie Green work it out over swapping head coaches every other year.
The energy. Man oh man the energy. What happened to it? We went from Zion breaking an unwritten rule and the team looking like they were best friends forever to... this. The guys just look defeated. We come out flat and feels like we are walking while everyone else is running. Even worse, we have made even the worst deficits into games time and time again. If the energy was there from tip, this team would be the same team we saw earlier in the season. This brings me to my point, the age while a positive, is also a negative. If you listen to Antonio Daniels talk about "young" teams and how you can discourage them. This seems to happen with the Pelicans. We seem to allow the moment to own us and not own the moment. Some folks say "Zion" some folks blame Willie. I am not sure who or what to blame, but this team is nearly identical to the team that knocked out the current GOAT LeBron and gave the championship winning Suns a run for their money in the first round.
The issue. This is a theory, purely and 100% nothing but speculation. I want to really consider what happened in the shift and guys walking instead of running. My theory? Potential trouble in paradise with the Zion and Ingram deadly duo. Again, and I need to stress, this is SPECULATION, but I crave answers. I crave knowing what is going on and this year something is definitely going on. Last year Ingram knew this was his team for that time. Ingram is not a hugely vocal guy but we saw him come out of shell last year and become a young leader budding into his position. Start of the season, BI still had that "look". Then Ingram missed 27 straight games. In a bulk of those games Zion retook the league by storm nearly averaging 30PPG. Treated like the next super start, loved by fans far and wide not just in New Orleans. All of a sudden it looked like Zion's team, all of a sudden the KD rumors came back up. If I was Branon Ingram, and I am not, but if I was, I would certainly feel some type of way. People have short term memory in regards to success. The world of sports is a "what have you done for me.... lately?" world. It is the reason we watch sports. We want that thrill of our favorite team or our favorite player carrying "us" to a win. Zion did that, Zion did it really well. I can't help but think that without Zion everyone looked at Ingram and he carried us. Now people got a small taste of Zion and again, if I was Ingram, I would feel some type of way. He is young and it is easy to feel like people forgot what you did for them or how good you are. By no means do I believe if this is the issue would break up the duo, but I have attempted to think of every other possibility and not many of them make sense. This one hardly does, but I just can't help but feel the "energy" will return when the dynamics are worked out. I think BI and Zion can be an insane pairing for the future of the Pelicans and the future of the NBA, but with what feels like 2 total games played, it will take time. The team is still looking to Ingram, but is he looking back?
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