Les East on Pelicans’ rotations, NBA trade deadline, upcoming road trip | Pelicans Podcast 2/7/2024

Les East on Pelicans’ rotations, NBA trade deadline, upcoming road trip | Pelicans Podcast 2/7/2024

Welcome in to the New Orleans Pelicans podcast the official podcast of your New Orleans Pelicans a podcast dedicated to everything you need to know about the squad hear from players coaches broadcasters and those who cover the NBA on a daily basis it’s time to flock up the New Orleans Pelicans podcast starts right

Now hello everyone and welcome to another edition of your New Orleans Pelicans podcast the official podcast of the New Orleans Pelicans I’m Gus katale joined by Jim ien Hoffer of pelicans.com coming up next segment less east of Crescent City Sports and an author as well it’s going to give us his thoughts

On the team the rotation the trade deadline and more importantly the road trip as the Pelicans begin game one of four straight on the road before the Marty break well actually the MRA trip before the allstar break so they take on the Clippers tonight we’ll touch on that

Plus it is Western Conference Wednesday that means something very special the Jim first and foremost Jim you remember what it was like the last time the Pelicans play back on Monday don’t you I do it was fun I think it was one of the most fun nights of the season I mean

There’s been several and we talk about this with les East later in the show about how many you know one-sided wins they’ve had but uh that was that was great and I I noted during the fourth quarter that you know lot of times when

You have a home game and you’re up by a million points a lot of people leave and some people did leave but I felt like a lot of people stuck around because they were just having a blast watching even that second and third unit do what they

Did in the fourth quarter and nobody wanted to miss anything that was just how much fun that game was no doubt people wanted to watch history as Brandon Ingram knocked down eight three-pointers five in a row there at the end of the third quarter Give a listen latter stages of the third

Quarter here Ingram right at the top just pop a wide open three why not Brandon Ingram Ingram stop pop straight away three yes b x i Brandon Xavier Ingram 32 for Ingram five made threes pels up 9664 now Alvarado splits Defenders hangs in the air to Dyson back to bi fly by

Left wing three oh cook him cook him cook him bi he’s cooking he’s not cooking him he is cooking 35 for Ingram why not get some more bi season highs 40 get some more oh he checked he checked he checked he checked he checked deep three from metree

10267 38 for Ingram one more bucket gives him 40 which would tie a season high it’s 10269 well you’re going to have to set a scen to get him open Ingram left wing for three there it is Brandon Ingram doing the Lord’s workout here working them over baptizing

Him season High 83 season High 41 points for bi head coach Willie Green after the game had this to say on bi’s night uh dominant performance by Brandon um when he shoots the ball like that he’s capable of doing that night in and night out uh

You know they it puts the game away and that’s what he did and then just the the total effort from our group from W you know from the start of the game was a wire to wire businesslike mindset knowing that we getting ready to go on a

Tough road trip so you know credit to the guys in the locker room for coming out and playing hard playing together playing with joy it was fun to watch as for bi just felt good coming off my hands I knew once I made that uh that bank three that I was feeling pretty

Good um and the ball just kept finding me and I was able to find an open look tell you what Jim you and I enjoyed it Zion Williamson enjoyed it as well you got to give 14 a ball just let him go to work because he going to make the right play

Whether he whether he’s like shooting like that or if it’s just another game where it’s like he just kind of on Pace to do what he usually do he always gonna make the right play um but when he when he was doing that it was just nah fine

Him it seemed like everything he was throwing up was was going in uh from the start of the game but uh that’s just great energy like it’s a long season so when you have moments like that it definitely brings the team closer together and ever the team leader CJ

McCullum says you see that’s why we keep telling him to take more threes I think it’s really encouraging for him understanding that he puts the working to shoot them you know behind closed doors and just continue to take them in public take them in in the games and do

What you do you know the midies are still going to be there for him he’s still going to be able to get to the cup and he going to have to take some tough ones but it’s about really taking advantage of them catching shoot thre

When you get them you got to take them and then it opens up the floor for everybody opens up the spacing especially when Z’s down there when jv’s down there if he’s taking those threes and then getting downhill um now he’s a three LEL scorer and he’s a high level

Three LEL scorer so Jim here’s the thing right I mean obviously there’s there’s numbers there’s things to back it up and there’s reasoning behind this team wanting to be three-point shooting team in today’s NBA you have to do that listen to what head coach Willie Green

Has to say about the science behind why they keep saying that they’re not just going out there and saying go jack up some shots listen for sure it it’s definitely not just a leap of faith um there’s analytics that go behind it and there’s film work that we put in and

Then there’s work that we get on we get on the floor and we work towards how do we generate these type of shots for our team and so all of those combinations and then you win like you do did tonight allows our guys to see

Why we want to take you know 40 you know 38 43s a a game because we shoot a great a good percentage and we have guys that are capable of making those shots it’s hard to beat us when we are so what do you make of that when Willie Green says

Hey look we we practice it we talk about it we show it how to get open looks because sometimes I guess as fans or even media go we’ll just go take a three it’s interesting to hear a coach say they’re being very specific on how to

Open up how to get people open a and to start looking for the three-point shot I there was a lot of Science and I guess reasoning behind that which I I I love to hear yeah I hear coaches all the time say that there’s different types of Threes there’s you know you don’t

Necessarily want it’s good to have players that can shoot pull up threes that can dribble into shots and make those but what you really want more of is just the drive and kicks the where you’re getting into the paint you’re kind of collapsing the defense and then

Kicking it out to somebody who’s open and I mean the philosoph opy in general about taking more threes is is almost like basic math in terms of obviously three is worth more than two we see teams Phoenix is a good example right now where they have two of the best

Mid-range Shooters in the game but sometimes they lose by a close margin because all they took or the vast majority of the shots that they took were 18 to 20 Footers and you might have the greatest mid-range shooter in the game but if you have a pretty good three-point shooter against that you’re

Going to be able to win that math battle so it is interesting ing the way that the game has evolved and for Ingram I think too it’s not just you know obviously the added points of he made eight three-pointers in the game Monday and ended up with 41 whereas if he had

Just taken mid-range shots he would have probably ended up in the mid-30s maybe or the lower 30s it’s also just the fact that you have to respect him out there and the fact that you have to run at he he makes four or five of those in a row

And all of a sudden you’re running at him instead of saying understanding the scouting report on him that he’s a pretty reluctant three-point shooter so you don’t really have to to worry about it as much now now you’re running at him and all of a sudden now he has driving

Lanes and he the way he’s been passing the ball as well in that third quarter he had 20 points but he also had five assists which is incredible just the talent that that guy shows I think that everyone realizes that even though it might not be in his total comfort zone

To be taking six eight threes a game if you can get closer to that I think it’ll help him and the team overall a lot of different that’s what CJ was saying and that’s what I’ve been saying on the talk show here as well Jim that I think for

Him to go to the next level of player which would be elite an elite player in today’s NBA is that threat right when I close my eyes and think of tonight’s opponent the the beating that the Clippers provided the Pelicans here in the blender Paul George was shooting

Threes right Qui Leonard was knocking down threes you know the beard does threes that element of his game because you you just said it with the Suns guys one of the best statistically one of the best mid-range shooters in the NBA is Brandon Ingram right so if he adds the

Three-point shot it just it creates even more space because you you just said it you have to now run out there and do it and if that could become second nature to him that takes him from a 20 25 Point score to now you’re in the mid-30s

Simply by making one or two extra shots that are a little bit further along than where he’s at and that’s the big difference I I think in today’s NBA but especially with him if he wants to go to that next level it’s this yeah and I’m really interested to see how carries

This over to this road trip and including the game Wednesday against the Clippers I mean no one’s going to expect him to start averaging five three-pointers made per game from here on out but be Steph Curry right if he can up that a little bit that’d be great

And I think it is interesting too specifically against the Clippers he’s had 30 plus points in three of his last four games against Clippers and even though the most recent game against La here was ugly from the standpoint that La took over the game and dominated and it was very one-sided

Before that there was a really long stretch where New Orleans was pretty dominant against the Clippers you know they it was something like eight of 10 that they had won over the last few seasons so for whatever reason he’s been really good against the Clippers and

Other than I I guess just like the team overall he didn’t have a a great game against La in the loss in January but before that he had three games in a row where he was at 30 plus so um he’s been really good against them in including in

Crypto.com Arena I mean he’s familiar with that Arena when it was by a different name and he was on a different Los Angeles team but he just seems to do well so I’m curious to see that’s one of the things that I had in the FanDuel

Keys to the game tonight is just the matchup between Brandon Ingram and the Clippers defense it’s going to be interesting then you have the old NBA trade deadline tomorrow how it affects a lot of the NBA and it’s sandwiching between two games and the team that the

Pel’s going to be playing on Friday the Lakers you know LeBron’s going to want a move or two so I mean it’s going to be interesting right I mean who who they play because they actually play Thursday night against Denver so they’ll be on the back to back I wonder if LeBron and

AD play or they don’t or they wrest and waight for the PS do they play on the back toback and I know they’ve been doing that as of late where LeBron said I’m playing the the next day of a back toback but you just kind of Wonder

Especially with the trade if there’s a player or two that they move is there a player they’re going to be ready for the PS all that so it’s a very strange two game 3-day news cycle that yeah it really is you know by the way too I like the fact

That the Pelicans aren’t playing on Thursday because there’s been Seasons where they’ve played a game on that day and it’s just made for like a crazy yeah hectic too much to comprehend day so it’s going to be nice tomorrow to be able to just kind of kick back and and

Watch the trade deadline shows and see what happens but you’re right I mean I’m not going to even try to predict what the Lakers are going to do in terms of who’s going to play which games and like you said they’re going to have their game against Denver is basically seven

Or so hours after the trade deadline so so it’s I mean if they make a couple trades that that’ll affect that game a ton and may even affect the game Friday as well because they might have a situation where they don’t have players that they traded for who are eligible to

Play that’s what I’m getting at by Friday you’re right so it could affect depth and all that so that’s why I’m wondering because of that and when you’re going to se again that that’s the nuggets are you know pretty good team quality team defending NBA champions and

You know the NBA probably once I I didn’t check but it’s Thursday so my guess it’s a probably nationally televised yeah it’s a TNT game there so yeah so yeah the commiss is pacing back and forth it’s interesting too because um I know I’m not sure how the Lakers

See that game and I know today we’re going to talk a lot about the Clippers specifically but we’ll talk more about the Lakers on Friday but I do think it’s interesting that in terms of the Pelicans and the rest of the season and we’re going to talk about this in

Western Conference Wednesday a little bit more towards the end of the show but I think you could make the case that Friday’s game against the Lakers in terms of the cushion that the Pelicans hopefully are trying to build between them in ninth and 10th Place the game on

Friday to me is the most important game they’re going to play for the next couple months and think about this too Gus in terms of that group of teams that are um basically seven through 10 right now um Pelicans are seventh Dallas is eighth Lakers I think are ninth still

Jazz 10th the Pelicans are done with the Jazz they’re done with the Mavericks they don’t play either of those teams again they play the Lakers Friday and they don’t play the Lakers again until game 82 and then you’re talking about the 11th Place team which is Golden State Pelicans don’t play them again

Until game 81 so the the last two games of the season they play teams that right now are in ninth and 11th place so basically what I’m trying to say is the game Friday to me might be the most important game they play over the next

Even like the next month or two in terms of trying to add a little cushion and add a little U security to the position that they’re in ahead of those teams because it’s the only head to head game you play against that entire group between now and April 12th at Golden

State and then April 14th last game of the season against the Lakers here there it is looking forward to it hey let’s bring in Les East our guest coming up next segment as we discuss a various number of topics with him time to welcome in our guest for today’s podcast

And it is the incomparable uh I I I ran out of things to say other than that I think incomparable is pretty good Mr leses isn’t it that’s very good I appreciate the compliment yes yeah yeah Les I I like that as well I think that’s a pretty pretty uh lofty

Way to describe you and very accurate as well Les well I could I could have just started by saying author Les e do you go by that like you know in Seinfeld the guy like to be called conductor do you refer to yourself as author Les East as

Well I haven’t yet but I think maybe I need to start doing that I could maybe start talking about myself in a third person George did for a while I would love that for sure give Les follow by the way over on X or Twitter whatever makes you feel comfortable at L leore

East as in the directions that’s how it goes excellent well we wanted to start with the author Les East right I just want to come great sound amazing I wanted to come in hot with you Les and start with one of the things that Willie Green talked about um Sunday after

Practice was just the difficulty that he has in trying to determine you know if I’m going to narrow this rotation down to nine or 10 guys that’s going to leave out a couple people um I started a Twitter uh Brawl by even just I was just trying to post

The quote and just explain the simple situation and then there was fights and you know fist to CU cuffs everywhere between fans so I feel like no matter what you say there’s going to be people that are upset with you but any anyways I just wanted to ask you what do you

Think about um if you’re if you’re the coach what would you do what what what would you what would be some of the decisions that you would make with the rotation and how difficult do you think that is right now for Willie Green yeah it’s an interesting topic Jim

Because uh you know about a week and a half or so ago at practice I think it was right before the last Road Trip the same topic got brought up and you know I will he was talking about it and I kind of asked him uh you know is that sort of

An art you know figuring out the right combinations which players fit together the best and when to use them during the game and you know not just skills but also personalities and how their games mesh and stuff like that and he said yeah it is sort of an art but he said

It’s also science because you look at the statistics for a foundation I guess like plus minus numbers and you got to be able to you know have a complete team on the floor no matter what the combination is so I think it’s a lot more complicated than a lot of us can

Really appreciate if we don’t have to do it it’s easy to to watch the game and say oh yeah yeah this guy should get more or fewer minutes but it’s not that simple and so I think what the Pelicans have done fairly well this is a credit

To some of the bench guys is that you look at the San Antonio game last week and Jose Alvarado had had kind of gotten squeezed out of the rotation for a while they bring him in in the third quarter to try and get a spark he plays well and

Winds up you know being a key player down the stretch because he stayed ready and we saw geord Hawkins do that when his minutes faded for a while and he stayed ready so uh when you’re trying to get to a nine or 10 man rotation and you

Have you know 12 to 14 guys who can contribute it’s really difficult and a couple of guys are always going to be on the outside looking in but that’s going to evolve over the course of time and have to stay ready and I think this is

The time of year when a lot of teams are trying to zero in on what they want to use as their rotations down the stretch and into the postseason if they get there and so you know I think it’s going to be a work in progress for a while

Even after the allstar break and then it still because of injuries and rest it can change from night to night matchups can change that as well so I I think this is constantly going to be invol evolving uh with the Pelicans but I do think you know a couple of things to

Look out for is Maybe Naji Marshall and Dyson Daniels are a couple of guys who might see their minutes go up at some point because Willie keeps talking about the need uh to play consistent defense and how that impacts our offense and I think those are two guys who can bolster the defense

Off the Bench so I think you might see them get a closer look here uh coming up and then you know how it works out is ultimately ter determine what they do down the stretch you know it’s it’s tough for certain individual players when you’re on a team

Where like you said Les there might be 12 to 14 guys that deserve playing time it’s tough if you’re quote unquote the 11th man or the 12th man in that position because you don’t know from night to night whether you’re going to play or not but on the other hand to me

Like to add some context to this and maybe this is just because I’ve been here for quite a while when I hear people say you know they need to cut back uh or they you know I’m sure we’re going to talk a little bit about the TR

Deadline but when people say you know it’s not good to have that many guys who can contribute because you want to have it be like okay here’s our eight or nine best guys and it’s very clearcut to me having gone through the last bunch of years where you had injuries and then

You you’re searching for answers to me it’s gonna it’s really going to be impossible I mean I’ll admit this flat out I don’t think I’ll ever G get to the point where I’m going to be like oh they have too many good players they have too many guys that can contribute because I

Feel like you always have to be ready you always have to be in a position where if you have some guys out especially in 2024 NBA that you’re you have solutions that you’re not just kind of searching for answers the way some teams across the league are yeah that definitely falls under the

Category of a good problem to have uh because like you said you can never have too many good players I don’t think you can ever have enough good players but I think David Griffin and his staff have done a pretty good job o of putting together a complete roster

You know if you have if your bench is comprised solely of defensive players or solely of three-point shooters that that’s not really going to get you to where you need to be you got to be able to mix and match and go deep into the bench sometimes uh because you need

Defense at a certain point in the game or you need rebounding or you need outside shooting or you need ball movement what whatever it might be so you have to have a variety of skills that you can lean on coming off the bench and then you know you’re going to

Want to rest people down the stretch inevitably guys are going to miss sometime because of injuries so far this year it’s been better for the Pelicans and hopefully that continues but you know Jose Alvarado missed a lot of time and that’s part of the reason why he’s

Had trouble getting the type of minutes that he’s gotten in the past when Larry Nance has been out that’s a major problem because he’s your number two Center you don’t have as many options there as you do when say a wing is unable uh to participate and

You know Trey Murphy is really a six starter but when he was sidelined at the beginning of the year that created some problems it also created opportunities and that’s when we discovered that Jordan Hawkins was was really going to be able to contribute as a rookie so

Yeah it’s definitely a good problem to have and much better than the alternative where you dread have having to put that ninth or 10th or 11th person into the game yeah you know you mentioned Les how the the part about the front office creating a a complete

Roster I Feel Like Larry Nance and Jonas valunas are a good example of you have two guys at the same position but they have completely different traits and completely different strengths so depending on the situation or the matchup you always have one guy or another that you can go to I feel like

It’s that way at other positions as well you know for example at at shooting guard you have CJ McCollum and then and Dyson Daniels sometimes where it’s like one guy is definitely more of a offensive player at in terms of his biggest asset and strength and the other

Guy is more of a defensive player so I think it’s it’s good to have like you said all these different options and different directions that you can go especially at the end of the game where sometimes it comes down to you just need a defensive stop or you need the biggest

Basket of the game so I think that part is all valuable um you know obviously the trade deadline is tomorrow and I always say to people I don’t want to I don’t want to put them on the spot and have them make a prediction in terms of

What’s going to happen but based on the Pelican situation in general in their roster that we’ve just talked about for the last few minutes what what do you lean more towards do you lean more towards that they’ll they’ll make a move or they’ll do something significant or

Do you think that it’s more likely that they kind of stick with what they have and try to go forward over the last couple months with this uh group of guys yeah I’d be surprised if they made a significant move now you you always listen when people call and and you you

You talk and you negotiate and you see what’s out there because somebody may knock your socks off with something you didn’t anticipate and all of a sudden you find yourself doing something significant that you didn’t really think was going to happen but I think it’s unlikely that that’s going to evolve

They they could Tinker with this depth a little bit and maybe um move somebody uh and get something comparable in return or maybe they could package some of those draft picks to get another part of the rotation but we’ve been talking about how they have more than enough

Guys uh on the roster to to give them the depth they need so I I don’t think they feel an urgency to make a move there and you know going back to Media day David Griffin said this season is really about hoping that this core can stay together for the whole season so

That they can see what they actually have they believe they have a very good group of players that can be successful if they can stay together well so far this year they’ve been able to keep them together for the most part and at times it’s looked really good there they been

A few bumps in the road but at at times they’ve looked really good so why not ride it out and have an entire season if this run of Health continues and see exactly where this group can take you and then if it’s not what you think then

The off season is when you look at making a significant move but I think to to do something that disrupts what they’ve been building with this group in the middle of the season when they’re in a pretty good position already I I just don’t think makes a lot of sense unless

The value is just too great to pass up and I I just don’t see that happening one of the biggest topics of the N last NBA offseason was the implement ation or introduction of the player participation policy and I guess as we start to look ahead at this road trip that the

Pelicans begin Wednesday night against the Clippers the Clippers two star guys with Paul George and Kawhi Leonard were kind of the poster children for the policy it seemed like every article and this was something that they noticed and didn’t like every article that was posted last season about the new NBA

Policy kind of had their picture in it it was kind of like okay these are the two guys that represent the way that the NBA wants to change things and it’s interesting to me they played those two guys played a combined 108 games all of last season they’re already at 91 we’re

Not even at the All-Star break right now um kawhai played 52 last season he’s at 45 so far so Les I guess what I wanted to ask you and and get get your thoughts on was just what are your thoughts about those new rules those new guidelines um

How much do you think that’s impacted the League this year and how much has it helped it and and is it something that you liked when you first heard about it and in terms of um has it been more effective than you thought what what do you think just overall about the way

That that’s come into place the season yeah that’s really tricky in in theory I certainly like it I think most people do but in practice it gets a little more complicated and I I think we’re really dealing with with two different things here and the NBA is

Trying to figure out how to legislate both of them which is I I think in an admirable admirable goal but I’m not sure that uh it’s that easy to do because one you’re talking about and I think uh George and Leonard both fall into this category when you have guys

Coming back from surgeries major surgeries and and Trey Murphy would be an example on a relatively minor procedure you know guys are coming back from surgery you know you have to kind of bring them along gradually and periodically we saw this happen with Trey with some soreness develops and you

You have to give them some time off here and there as part of the recovery process to get them back to where they can play with more regularity then we get back to the load management thing and and the famous Greg papovich you know calling guys old as the reason for

Not playing on a given night you know if you’re just giving the guys a night off that’s a little bit different it’s tougher you know when you’re you know fans are buying tickets to see a specific player and then he’s given the night off to rest and the fans don’t get

To see them after they bought the tickets that creates another layer to this whole thing so I think for the most part it’s worked out pretty well maybe a little bit better than I would have anticipated going in but there are always going to be complications where people are going to

Say uh you know why is this person getting rested or they’re going to think somebody’s getting rested and really it’s something that’s dictated by the medical staff because it’s part of the recovery process so it’s just like the rotation thing we talked about I think it’s a lot more complicated than it

Might appear on the surface but overall I I think the NBA had Noble intentions and I think so far they’re doing a pretty good job with what is kind of a thorny thing to implement you know it’s interesting because how many years Jim and unless you guys are better with numbers I mean

But it was almost what two years since the Pelicans fans saw Steph Curry right with with the Warriers because they had so many games last year where literally they sat all their STS pre it was preo that he had played in a game with like full he he played a couple games during

The season with restricted attendance but yeah it’s been it been four or five years for him playing here yeah and that that that’s a good example Gus because you know last year that and I think that’s the thing they’re trying to get away from is where it te just says okay

We’re going to rest our five best players in the same game and that happened twice in New Orleans last year and I think the Pelicans beat the Warriors by 30s something both times because they were playing a g-league team right and and that that’s the thing

I think they want to get away from is where one it’s an uncompetitive game and secondly it’s a it’s not the experience that the fans were hoping for so I think in those cases if if one or two guys guys rest one game and you try and rest

The other guys in the next game or two and spread it out so that you not only give the fans a chance to see somebody maybe it’s Klay Thompson and not Steph Curry but whoever at least you have they can see one of the Stars they came to

See and at the same T time you could put a more competitive unit out there and hopefully provide a more entertaining game for everybody yeah I mean I think people have kind of downplay played or underestimated too how much that those decisions kind of tamper with the season

Product I’ll give you an example too at the end of the regular season last year when the Pelicans were in that that fight for you know are they going to finish seven eight n they ended up ninth in the last weekend of the season the sun sat pretty much everybody in a game

Against the Lakers and the Lakers ended up winning that game to no one’s surprise and it wasn’t just that okay Phoenix sat Durant and Booker and a couple other guys in that game and the fans that went to that game were disappointed because they didn’t get to

See the what they were expecting with Phoenix but it also had kind of a domino effect on the rest of the West because the Lakers basically didn’t even have to earn a huge Victory and then they end up as the seven seed they end up in the

Western cars finals it’s funny I mean we could play the could have Shoulda if game all day but if they ended up as a eight seed last year they would have played the nuggets in the first round and probably gotten swept and it’s just it’s just interesting to me I feel like

People don’t realize how much potential damage you can do to kind of the Integrity of even the playoff race by having teams do that where they just decide on their own okay this game we’re going to sit all of our guys and it doesn’t matter that you know what what

Impact that has on everyone else I just don’t like that so I I I’m with you 100% on on that whole thing less um you know Sor go ahead gets back to just for a second that gets back to the complicated nature of it because I think the NBA

Should police it differently down the stretch if you have a team that that’s positioned wherever that might be is kind of locked in and they won’t arrest a lot of guys but it’s a game that has a domino effect like you just pointed out you you got to think about the teams

That can be adversely affected by their decision say the Suns for sure to rest all their guys on the same night and it’s also hard for a coach I don’t think any coach says okay we’ll throw away tonight’s game so that we’re fresh for the next game I think they look at it

Strategically and say well if we sit all of our guys tonight that means we’re going to be stronger that’s only one game where we’re not as strong and also they can say that’s an opportunity for a bunch of other guys to step into bigger roles and let’s see how they respond we

Might be able to win this game without three or four of our best guys but it’s going to help our younger guys develop by giving them bigger roles so you know there can be a coaching element where where Steve cerr or whoever the coach is is is trying to

Minimize the impact of absences on the team and yet use it uh to develop players farther down the bench so it’s just a lot more complicated than I think uh a lot of people realize and I’m not sure any of this realized it until we started putting it under the microscope

When it became a big issue during the offseason yeah you know Les in terms of the Pelicans road trip that they’re starting tonight against the Clippers it’s interesting it kind of starts with the toughest opponent in ter on paper and record in pretty much every measurement

Tonight with the Clippers um I I guess I’m wondering two things how do you see the importance of this road trip for the Pelicans in general with the season and what do you think would qualify to you as a successful road trip among these four it’s Clippers Lakers in La then

Portland on Saturday than Memphis on Monday yeah I think it is important and I think the primary reason that it’s important is because of the series of uncompetitive games that the Pelicans have had of late against some of the better teams in the league and it started with the Clippers here uh during

That that stretch of home games you had the the Clippers and you had the Suns and you had okay OKC and then when you went to Milwaukee uh the ones at home were more disturbing than the one in Milwaukee but that was not a a good performance either

And so those are games where you know they they got down more than 30 points on a couple of those games including the Clippers and so when you look at that I think when you see a pattern developing of being uncompetitive against the better teams

In the league that sends up a flag as you get closer and closer to the postseason so I think for that reason uh particularly tonight is really important if they go out and compete with the Clippers a lot better than they did the last time better than they did against

OKC and Phoenix and Milwaukee even if they come up a little bit short I if the performance is much better I think that’s a positive uh I I think you really should be looking at no worse two and two on this trip uh but three and

One is what you should be shooting for because uh the Lakers and Portland and Memphis those are all games you can win even if you don’t win tonight if you stumble in one of those being in the midst of a road trip two and two I think

Would be satisfactory and then let me throw out one other stat that I I noticed the other night and I think this kind of sums up the Pelicans to this point is that when they that lead the other against Toronto started approaching 40 I went and looked up the

Largest margin of Victory this year and it had been 36 which was in three games but then you go back and you look the win in San Antonio was the first time in seven games this season that they won a game decided by three points or less so what

That’s telling me is the Pelicans are good enough to dominate teams uh semi-regularly but when games are decided by one or two possessions in the final minute they’ve been very bad and so that tells me that the talent is there the potential is there to be a

Really good team but until they are able to figure out how to win the close ones at the end especially against the elite teams then their ceiling might be a little lower than we would hope there’s a lot of time for that to change but I thought looking at those two sets of

Numbers I think kind of summed up where they are right now which is periodically really good and then occasionally struggling down the stretch and that kind of goes and circles back L to the conversation we were having a little bit earlier about rotations figure out the lineup and all of that and that

Incredible problem that now head coach Willie Green has to have where you have guys and everyone’s healthy for the most part right I mean it was so funny to kind of hear him say that just a couple games ago where now the you’re you’re trying to figure out who to use what

Your rotations are and things that nature when you predominantly have a healthy roster compared to what you had in the past as Jim mentioned the big three being able to play as many games here in New Orleans you were talking about the Clippers gym but you know Zion

CJ and bi have played the most games I’ve ever played together now so who works best with them and then having your your bench guys healthy so what are those combinations it it it really still is a learning process for this team as crazy as it sounds l

Yeah it is but one thing I will say that I think Willie and his staff figured out early this season because particularly Zion and and Ingram had not played together very much at all and I think that they kind of found the way they want to utilize those

Two uh together and aart and you know Zion goes to the bench first in the first quarter they’re always going to start the game with those two and they’re going to finish the game with those too but I think they’ve done a good job of identifying when to take

Zion out in the first quarter when to take Ingram out when Zion leaves so that you get a lot of minutes early and late with them on the floor together but you also space it out so that one of them is usually on the floor when the other when

The other one is resting and that still gives you a dynamic player on the court with some reserves so that you’re trying trying to maximize what you get out of those two guys when they’re on the floor together but also when one of them takes

A rest and so I think early on they kind of found The Sweet Spot there and and that I think that’s something they’ll probably continue with it it’s feeling in around there when you get to those eighth ninth 10th 11th guys uh how that’s going to work and I think that’s

Going to remain a work in progress probably at least into March he’s part of creson City Sports and you can follow the author Les East at lore East over on X on Twitter you like that bud I like that a lot thanks guys sounds good remember when we see him at dinner Jim

The next home game on Wednesday author Les East I definitely will address him properly yeah I think from now on that probably should be the only way the only way I agree the only way because nothing is uh nothing says Fine Dining downstairs there in the dining area than

Dining with an author I mean you know what I’m saying and y’all picking up the check right absolutely it’s absolutely Gratis thank you so much sir enjoy the games enjoy the weekend be safe for Mar gr weekend of course because we know you’re a wild one and we will see you

Wednesday against the Wizards thanks guys happy Marty gr happy Marty Les all right our thanks to Les for joining us here on the day and it’s time now for Western Conference Wednesday jimothy go forward yes G and and I said this last week I want to start with this

Or or most weeks but right now I think one of the key numbers for the Pelicans in Western Conference in the playin race right now is going into Wednesday’s games they’re three games ahead of what I’ve described as the playin danger zone which is Ninth Place so the Pelicans

Will go into this game tonight Three G three full games ahead of the Lakers the Lakers are in ninth um obviously that on Friday the New Orleans will have an opportunity to increase that and the season series against the Lakers is one1 as well so something to look at um I’m

Not sure what term I’ve need to come up with to describe this but they’re five and a Pelicans are five and a half games ahead of 11th Place which is Golden State um that’s not the play in danger zone I guess that’s just the postseason

Danger zone as far as how many games you are ahead of 11th because obviously you need to finish in the top 10 to just to get into the postseason but um in terms of the team to watch let me start with the team to watch last week and I had a

Pretty good run there for a while where the team that I was picking just seemed to be losing at a pretty steady rate um the team last week was Dallas they actually started out that way on Wednesday they lost at Minnesota by 34 Saturday they had a big lead against the

Bucks and lost by 12 but then the Mavericks kind of bounced back they beat Philly by 16 without Joel embiid they beat the Brooklyn Nets last night by 12 and now Kyrie’s back as well so I think things are looking up a little bit for for them

They’re obviously they went two and two over the last seven games they’re one and a half games behind the Pelicans so again a team that we need to continue to keep a really close eye on um their schedule coming up before the All-Star break is a little tougher their next two

Games are at New York and home against OKC on the weekend so you know maybe this will be an opportunity for the Pelicans to gain a little bit of ground on them we’ll have to monitor that and see how it goes um the team to watch

This week and again I feel like I’m rotating between a a few different teams three or four different teams and but for good reason Sacramento Kings are the team to watch right now they’re a half game ahead of the Pelicans at 29 and 20 I feel like it’s been a little bit

Aggravating if you’re somebody who’s as a Pelicans fan or media member who’s been following the standings closely because there’s been so so many times lately where the Pelicans have gotten to within a half game of them or a game and couldn’t quite you know get over the top

There’s also a few times where SEC they were exactly Tied In terms terms of games behind but because Sacramento has played fewer games the Kings had a better winning percentage so I’m sure a lot of fans look at the standings and they’re like how come the Pelicans are listed behind Sacramento when they’re

Tied in games behind and New Orleans has a 40 head-to-head lead in the season series and it’s only because the um standings are ordered by winning percentage so just a small little detail that hopefully will change soon um the week ahead for the Kings the reason I

Pick them beyond the obvious of how close they are to New Orleans in the standings they have one of the tougher stretches I’ve seen of any team lately um they do start tonight home against Detroit which obviously they have the Pistons have the worst record in the

League so that’s a easy way to kind of ease your way into the week but after that this is where it gets really brutal Sacramento is home Friday against Denver Sunday they’re at Oklahoma City right before the Super Bowl on Super Bowl Sunday afternoon game there Tuesday

They’re at Phoenix and then W next Wednesday they’re at Denver so you’re talking two games against the Nuggets one game against the Thunder and one game at Phoenix you know before the All-Star break so I’m curious to see how the Kings fa during that stretch they

Just came off a really good road trip that was impressive um against some pretty good competition maybe not this level of competition that they have coming up but I’m I’ll be interested to see because this could be a huge the Kings could really be kind of the team

That plays the biggest role in between now and the All-Star break are the Pelicans able to move into the top six or not granted we know there’s 20 something games left after the allar break it’s not that big of a deal if they’re in the top six but just from a

From a um mental standpoint from just for my my comfort and for graph’s Comfort it would be nice for New Orleans to move into the top six and I think Sacramento is a team if you look at the schedule on paper that maybe the Pelicans can can pass them if they play

Well during this road trip and in these five games that they have left no I’m with was a lot of basketball that go but it’s sort of like when I look at the scale I want to be under a certain number even if I’m like it’s the0 five

Just under it and I know literally my next sip of water will put me back over the threshold I don’t want to be I feel good just seeing it I like that analogy no it’s true I mean you know what I’m saying I need always try to stay under

195 so I see that 193 and I’m like bab there it is there it is and then literally like the next morning I’m 197 so but but that’s what it is that’s pretty much exactly what I’m what I’m looking at with the going to be up and

Down thing we’ve talked us about this already and we will as we continue here it is going to be a 14 battle I think for five and six I just do I think there’s a four Team Battle for that I think the four teams above that are

Already kind of in there and look you and I kind of looked at it and I know there’s a game tonight against him I don’t think they’re nine and one in the last 10 games unless there’s an injury that happens to the Clippers I think the Clippers will wind up being the number

One seat in the Western Conference that’s just me no I think the best case for what you just said is the fact that if you look at that record over a longer period of time not only are they 9 and one in their last 10 games but if you go

Back to the last 20 games 30 Games 25 and five they have the best record in the NBA over almost any segment that you can find since basically Thanksgiving or a little bit after that which was you know a handful of games after they made the James Harden trade they totally took

Off so I’m with you on that um I’m curious to see the way some of these other teams handle the last 25 30 games of the season in terms of I don’t think it’s important to Denver that they get a one seed so that might affect that the

The way that they you know play guys they maybe sit guys here and there um I don’t think it matters to them that much and then Minnesota Oklahoma City I think are in kind of the same boat in terms of they don’t have a lot of playoff experience and they’re very young guys

This is basically the first time that they think they have a chance to go deep in the in the playoffs so um maybe they do prioritize trying to finish with as high a seed as POS possible but you’re right though I mean regardless of what some of these other teams do if the

Clippers keep playing at the rate that they’re playing they’re going to be the number one seed it’s just it’s just unavoidable the pace that they’re playing at has been extremely impressive and I count myself as a skeptic of them just in general and after the Harden

Trade but I’m totally not that way I’m totally on board now I I’m definitely a believer in them like you said if they stay healthy they’re they’re going to be very dangerous at Jim I can offers the way to give a follow on X and of course New Orleans pelicans.com he will give

You those five things to keep an eye on and a recap after tonight’s game and what we talk again on Friday it’ll be Jim’s favorite team taking on the pels the Lakers can’t wait for that game I know you can’t wait for that it’ll be the day after the trade deadline so I’m

Going to have to budget some time that’s going to be a long podcast cuz we going to talk about what other teams might have done and all that stuff so I’m very interested to see that 9:00 tip time tonight 8:30 pregame over on the radio

And TV hope to see you then on Friday right here on the New Orleans Pelicans podcast thanks for listening to the New Orleans Pelicans podcast join us three times per week on pelicans.com the Pelicans mobile app the iHeart Radio App or where you get your podcast and be

Sure to give Jim and Gus a follow on X at gimore ion offer and gcat 17 we’ll see you next time right here on the New Orleans Pelicans podcast

On the latest New Orleans Pelicans Podcast from Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2024, Jim Eichenhofer and Gus Kattengell are joined by Les East of Crescent City Sports to discuss the Pelicans’ upcoming road trip and the looming NBA trade deadline as he gives his thoughts on the team’s rotations and roster. Later, Jim gives us his Western Conference Wednesday team to watch.
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Latest NBA News & Pelicans News @ https://www.pelicans.com

New Orleans Pelicans Roster
———————————————–
Jose Alvarado #15 Guard
Dyson Daniels #11 Guard
Kaiser Gates #12 Forward
Jordan Hawkins #24 Guard
Brandon Ingram #14 Forward
Herbert Jones #5 Forward
Kira Lewis Jr. #13 Guard
E.J. Liddell #32 Forward
Naji Marshall #8 Forward
CJ McCollum #3 Guard
Trey Murphy III #25 Guard
Larry Nance Jr. #22 Forward/Center
Matt Ryan #37 Forward
Dereon Seabron #0 Guard
Jonas Valanciunas #17 Center
Zion Williamson #1 Forward
Cody Zeller #44 Forward/Center

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