Well, Zion

This one is mostly a no brainer. It has been a very long time since we have see who was supposed to be the “face of the franchise” actually play. We saw him in preseason and he looked athletic and explosive as ever but just not quite in full basketball form. I anticipate him to look much better with the other starters around him and CJ and BI around him to not allow teams to backup and prepare to swipe 10 hands at him when he drives to the rack. I feel we will see a small minutes “restriction” set on Zion for the first few weeks of the regular season, but that does not subtract from the fact that Zanos is BACK.

The Brandon Ingram MVP Tour
I am not sure if you know, but Brandon Ingram is very good at basketball. Since he put on a Pelicans uniform he has found a way to improve his game every season. Brandon Ingram wants to win first, but it is that exact mentality that will bring out the best. Most guys who win MVP carry their team, and before CJ’s debut as a Pelican and now Zions return, BI was doing just that. Now, we have both of those guys to ADD to the equation, if the Pels win and win often, the league as a whole will get to see just how Brandon Ingram has improved his game to an elite level.

How The Team Works

We saw a lot of good and bad, but we learned last year. During the preseason we were still seeing Coach Garrett Temple minutes before young guys, and Graham at the 1 over Jose. I hope this is a trend that ends starting with Game 1 of the regular season. I truly believe Graham is the second best true shooting guard on this team behind CJ, but he might be the worst true Point Guard on the team. Graham will succeed next to Jose or really anyone else who controls the rock even if it is Point Zion, but we need to put him in a place to succeed. The GT situation I am telling myself we just wanted to show some decent 14th man potential for filler scenarios in a trade, but I am not sure since we saw him a lot last year when Trey Murphy III was just waiting for his chance. I am excited to see the young talent meshed in nicely with the leaders in the starting 5 we have.

The Trey Murphy III Show

When we drafted TM3 I really thought he was going to be one of those raw shooters who would just stand in the corner and shoot, because that is what I was told he was. I want to believe that they were all right and that if 25 or so other teams would have drafted him it is what he would have remained. I want to believe that Trey saw Jose, Naji, and Herb Jones get minutes because of their desire to PLAY and play hard. I want to believe that whatever is happening with Trey Murphy III is because he WANTS it. He wants to prove that he has that dawg in him and he is ready to be a legit 6th man if not a stretch 5 started in a few years next to Zion. The Trey Murphy III show through the end of last year and the start of this year has been a blast to watch and I cannot wait to see more.

Follow The Kneaux on Twitter