Pelicans Radio Roundtable, NBA Playoff Bracketology | Pelicans Podcast 3/6/24
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Now hello everyone and welcome to another edition of the New Orleans Pelicans podcast I’m ghost cat G will be joined shortly with you Mike and offer from pelicans.com and we’ll have a New Orleans Pelicans radio Roundup with John deshazer and Todd graffan joining us in a March Madness theme segment and I’m
Sure you will enjoy first they’ll give us their thoughts though in last night’s Pelicans win 13998 was the final goodness so much to get into that train Murphy went off the rest of the team went off 20 plus three-pointers you know what this is what it sounded like with JD and graph
On the call on the Pelicans radio network Trey bad pass alen deflected it but there’s McCullum right place right time little Crossover with three drives in right corner herb for three at the shot clock buzzer nothing but net herb now with his third three he’s got 11
Points little bit of chicken salad on that one had a couple of deflections and you wind up with an open three Brandon guarded by Noir crossed him over yes sir oh my goodness oh my goodness Brandon Ingram just threw it down on his head take it take it an absolute Throwdown for
Bi as C just missed a layup that was angry Ingram he cocked that one back with some malice Zion and Barrett bounce Fe to Trey left wing three rainbow and down wait wait why is that the guy you’re doubling off again that’s a them problem that I that
Can’t be the guy you’re doubling off lucky number seven for Kenneth Murphy the third 14 on the shot clock inbound to Herb who’s got a career- high timeing five threes Z to Trey left wing three online and 8 threes for Murphy Kenneth II cooking Murphy left corner step back for
Three and out and back in again Trey Murphy feeling every bit of it nine of 11 the nine is a season high he is one below his career high with 10 ball on the deck Jonas has it Jonas is the only guy down at the rebound and somebody got
To help him out a little bit now Al oh Alvarado to Z coming right side and a two hand throw down go get it big fella he did Barrett blocked at The Rim by on Williamson up the floor Z kick it left corner Murphy Oh yes sir to TI yes sir
His career high yes sir smoke it 10 made threes for Murphy 21 all to for the pals it is a blowout in Toronto somebody turned the hoose on Trey Murphy head coach Willie Green had this to say following the win I love the fact that we had 27 fast break points uh
We shot the three ball well and just collectively as a team uh it was a dominant performance wi to wire as for Trey’s Knight um I think herb Jones started for us he um came out the gates hitting a lot of shots playing well defensively and whenever he is know
Setting a tone for us defensively I feel like our team as a whole you know falls behind him and um yeah I would think that’s what I would owe it to for like the start of the game Zion Williamson’s thoughts uh kind of starting with offense in the sense of not like just
Finding the best shot cuz if you take a bad shot against them I mean early on they they capitalized off it um transition threes layups so I think once we started finding the shots we wanted uh the game was ours from that point the win puts the record now for New Orleans
At 37 and 25 12 games above 500 and that start is the best start at this point of the season in franchise history so we got a lot to get into and let’s do that now as we will do a New Orleans Pelicans radio network round table all right Jim
Town now for another edition of the radio round table with John the Shazer color analyst and TOD graan any voice of your New Orleans Pelicans and there’s so much to get into obviously I know you can’t wait you have like 15 pages of notes but we have to start with last
Night man 13998 the win gentlemen who are still over in Toronto getting ready to head over to Philly I don’t know give me the one thing you take away from last night there’s so many different things that stood out to you JD we’ll start with you and then go to
Graph um the biggest thing that jumped out to me was just the the utter dominance that the pills were able to flex um I thought they started a little bit slow offens on defensively excuse me because the offense was always there for the entire game but you know to play a team that
Short-handed on the road and to kind of suck the life out of them I thought that was a really a really positive thing for the pills because sometimes you you have a tendency to look at a team like that look at the roster maybe not play to
Your level of expectations but I thought the pills did a good job of jumping them and staying on them when they jumped them you know I I’m gonna go with just I I think that we’re so close to the situation and you don’t really take a
Step back um you know we said it on the broadcast yesterday the pels had seven and double figures and everybody who touched the floor last night including Isaiah Brock inton who made his NBA debut scored except for Jeremiah Robinson Earl and he had a couple of
Rebounds and put up a couple of shots but everybody who touched the floor scored but it really hit me after the game when I was perusing the box score I don’t think anybody realizes or you know maybe you guys mentioned it postgame last night um Brandon Ingram had 12
Points last night yeah 12 and the Pelicans won by 41 um and if you know somebody would have asked you before the game hey Brandon Ingram’s going to score 12 points how the Pelican’s gonna do you might be like um I don’t think the answer would be well you’re gonna hand the Toronto
Raptors the largest home loss in the history of their franchise which is exactly what happened last night I didn’t realize that yeah well again you you learn these things after the game but no they’ never lost by that many points in Scotia Bank Arena and it came
With Brandon Ingram scoring 12 and Zion Williamson scoring 16 uh so it it’s just look when this team is clicking it is really fun to watch if you’re a Pelicans fan and awful difficult to defend if you’re an opponent yeah JD touched on this a
Little bit I mean to me one of my biggest takeaways was they had a 45-point lead over the Raptors in the game in New Orleans they were up by 43 at one point last night ended up winning by 41 and we we discussed this briefly on the radio postgame last night I don’t
Think we should take it for granted of how rare it is that for example the Pelicans have six wins by 30 plus points this season I mean you see teams get big leads across the NBA but it’s hard to hold on to them and it’s hard when you
Get up by 25 30 points to sustain that over the course of the entire game um they also have 15 wins by 20 plus points so we’ve had a lot of nights this season where we’ve been able to relax in the last few few minutes of the fourth
Quarter knowing that a victory was in hand and I think that’s a good sign as far as the future just that the fact that they’ve been able to just completely take over some of these games on a regular basis yeah I think J actually your preparation is outstanding
Because I was going to mention the 20 point uh deal as well 15 by 20 or more that is number one in the league uh even better than the Boston Celtics who have three 50 point wins this year so uh yeah it’s look when pels when Nels win uh
They dominate uh more often than not I haven’t done the research yet and that’s why we have gim but it would be interesting to see because you mentioned 15 wins over 20 more because the thing that stood out to me was no starters we talked about this in the postgame zero
Starters hit 20 points right so was really spread out and a lot of guys did then I wondering those games that you win by 20 more how many games are like that where it’s spread out you know someone off the bench has 20 30 points and you don’t have 20 points scores cuz
I I I remember a couple of games guys where it hasn’t been the case you know where you have something like that where one of the big three done barely get to 15 points and the team wins Big so kind of gives you the idea what this offense
Is capable of and JD we were talking about this last night after the game Zion played 26 minutes last night if he plays 30 minutes he’s got a triple double they took him out after you know Brandon inam is gonna have a triple double if he continues to play so um now
Again that’s it’s a good thing you keep guys minutes down on this long on this trip and of course you’re heading into the real home stretch of the season but um if you can get guys out playing 25 to 30 minutes uh in in mid-march that’s
That’s a good thing what a luxury to be able to have your top guys on your roster your top scorers be able to go into every night saying I don’t have to have a huge game for us to be able to win I mean all three of the top scorers
Last night had below average in terms of Point totals and you still win the game by 40 plus points so it’s nice to know pretty much everyone one doesn’t have to go into any game needing to force things offensively and it’s also a huge luxury to have somebody off the bench that can
Make 10 three pointers in in multiple games of his career yeah and and I think I think one of the things that really jumps out especially the last two games it is such a make or Miss league so you get 38 assists because guys are making
Shots left and right uh you you scor you know you make 20 out of your first 22 field goal attempts against Indiana because guys are making shots I mean it’s huge when you make shots like that the breathing room is so much easier and the ball distribution finds the open guy
And when the open guy makes a shot man it makes guys a lot more willing to be passes and got guys a lot more willing to be movers without the basketball guys one thing I want to bring up and I know Jimmy got a list of things to go but one
Of the Stars last night clearly was Trey Murphy and it’s so nice to see him come back the last couple of games Todd you and I this morning were going back and forth there’s some numbers out there that are real interesting when it comes to Trey Murphy in terms of field goal
Attempts made the win loss record on this team men that he’s playing which is almost gimm like we talked about in postgame yesterday starter minutes 31 31 23 minutes things of that nature Todd when you look at all of that what does that tell you about Trey Murphy on this
Team in the simplest of terms Gus uh when he’s going well the Pelicans are going to win I I I can’t put it any clearer than that um he is such an X Factor to this team and you saw it also when he was quote unquote slumping and it’s no
Secret we talked about it almost every night this wasn’t the tray that we were used to seeing when he was struggling making shots not his credit he never stopped shooting though there were a couple of games when you saw him starts to start to hesitate uh putting up shots
That we normally would see um him make and you can recall in a couple law loses you know he’d get the ball and he’d go down and instead of pulling up and and attempting a deep three he he dish it um I I think that has gone away and you
Know if you go back in the last week really uh about the last week and a half and especially starting with that game in Madison Square Garden uh where he made six threes I think that started to get him going again now the next night
In Indiana he only made two but look the the entire team was exhausted nobody could make a shot that night and then in the next two games he’s made six and he’s made 10 so the confidence is back the point production goes up for the Pelicans and obviously you’re winning
Those games JD yeah well it tells me what that we need his mama to get on him a little bit more obviously exactly because that kind of gets him going and but also I mean you know it’s it’s the ABS and flow of of a long 82 Game season
Where guys will have some dips from time to time and and fortunately you know the better players have smaller dips or the dips or are shorter when you’re a guy who relies on shooting like Trey does and he’s doing exactly what he was drafted to do you know you don’t expect
Him to have dips extended and so when he gets out of it he really really gets out of it I mean he’s just he’s been phenomenal especially the last two games but even graph says you know going back to the Madison Square Garden he’s been phenomenal for this stretch where he’s
Been so dependable and gra says when he’s making shots like that if if a team can beat the PS I like to see who it is because when he’s making shots the way he is the way he made shots last night no team in the NBA was gonna beat this
Team nobody was gonna beat this team and if he’s shooting it that way they’re gonna have a chance to beat any team anywhere on any night to wrap up this discussion because we got a lot of fun topics here with the March Madness theme that Jim came up with but you said
Dependable I most say that the word dependent guys when we look at the standings in the Western Conference so many of these teams are dependent on a star or two star players having big nights and that’s the thing that’s standing out to me right now with the
Pelicans graphy said it bi doesn’t have to drop 30 even though he had back-to-back 30 Games JD you mentioned other guys whether it’s CJ he’s had knights with three-pointers where he’s knocked them down Zion leading away when you can have five starters not hit 20
And you can win the way you are that’s the importance of Trey Murphy to me when you look at all these other teams Luca has to have 3040 Kyrie has to have 3040 all these teams around LeBron has to drop 3040 with ad doing it I don’t feel
Like the pels need that to win games and that’s something to keep an eye on I don’t know if that’s going to translate into the post SC but what you guys feel about that when you look everywhere else some teams are dependent on their star players dropping big numbers do you feel
The PS are or they need to well you get to the post season and closer the closer you get the the more the rotation shrinks and then you do have to have those guys to kind of have those games now the the beauty of the Pelicans is they have guys who can give
You those games you know it’s not like you know they’re they’re this team that you know everybody scoring 18 Brandon Ingram can get Brandon Ingram can give you 30 on a given night several nights Zan Williamson can give you 30 on a given night several nights CJ McCollin
Can give you a consistent 20 Jas valent chunis can give you a consistent 17 with 10 or 11 rebounds um now herb Jones is joining into the mix and when herb Jones is making shots my God and so then you get Trey Murphy who’s now confident and
He doesn’t need to give you 34 and 28 tonight but he certainly can give you 15 to 20 and it and it can look pretty easy so yeah you don’t have to have that but it’s nice to have the luxury of having guys who are able and capable of doing
That who’ve done it in the past because again your rotations shrink the minutes go up and guys are going to have to produce in some tight situations where you you know you got to be able to put up then when everybody in the gym knows your offense every there are no secrets
When you come to the playoffs you know so it’s just basically this is what we do can you stop it and if you got guys who can score despite that and Brandon engam becoming one of the best tough shot makers in this league then that is a luxury that is beyond
Words I I don’t have much more to add than what JD just said he’s exactly right you know and just you talked about Luca and of course we watched the uh you know on the bus back to the hotel everybody’s watching the Dallas game and following the the score as Indiana was
Was pulling away from him you think about what LCA donic is doing right now uh I want to say he’s got five straight 30o triple doubles the Mavericks have lost four of those five games that’s incredible what you gonna do you’re gonna put up those numbers big whoop if
It doesn’t lead to wins uh now they’ve got their own issues on the defensive end that’s a them problem but you know what I’m saying um you gota and JD’s right when the playoffs start you’re you’re going down to an 8 n man rotation tops really so your stars
Do have to perform okay uh you can get away with it a little more in the regular season but the pells are so balanced that they can get away with it and and even in the playoffs because you think all these guys that are capable of
Putting up big numbers so you never know who’s going to get hot on any uh on any night and and that’s what’s so fun about watching the Pelicans uh night in and night out because you don’t know who the big guy is going to be that evening all
Right we’re off and running on our radio Round Table I know Jim’s super pumped about this year’s World it’s March 6 already hard to believe but guys let’s transition you want to start humming the uh the theme well he said that I honestly don’t know the lyrics to moment
Isn’t that the SC isn’t that it yeah what is it it starts with the ball is tipped okay no that’s one Shining Moment Shin yeah I was talking about oh yes to kind of explain to people listening yesterday when I was introducing the categories I introduced
All the categories and then in the next message I said I wanted to make sure everyone was paying attention so I put and at the end of the segment where all four of us are going to sing One Shining Moment together how many no one responded so that tells me no one pays
ATT Jim don’t take it personally it’s kind of like getting a text from Gus I just ignore it I mean I watch it it’s cool you know I saw I I see the text I just choose not to respond to I know exactly what it was that’s the signal
That Luther van draw sings that and nobody wants to mess that up you don’t want to be messing up when you’re singing behind Luther that’s no want to mess with perfection that’s what it is all right so we’re gonna have a March Madness theme sort of discussion here
Moving forward One Shining Moment all right guys give me a non-star Pelicans player who will most take take the spotlight this month if we already talked about him JD well I you know I’m I’m a Larry n Stan okay but but I’m gonna go with Jose Alvarado because Jose Alvarado is the
Kind of guy who can give you one of those games like La okay last night Five Points six assists three Steals and it’ll be one of those games in a game that’s really tight where he won’t need to get you 15 and he won’t need to get you eight assists but he’ll
Come up with a steal he’ll come up with a clutch three he’ll come up with something to kind of put you over the hump and so that’s why he’s my guy I mean I he’s just one of those guys who he’s Fearless no situation bothers him
And I think when you’re in the playoffs and when you’re in clutch situations you need a guy like that who just got the you know he’s got the guts of a burglar you you you see him do it all the time and I think he’s one of those guys who
When it gets really really clutch clutch time I think he’s going to give you a game or two or three that he really sways it the Pelicans way and that’s why JD is the true journalist and thinks outside the box because yes I’m thinking Trey Murphy but
You know I was also thinking what’s the quote unquote non-star is Trey Murphy a nonar um true you know it’s herb Jones and nonar but JD is exactly right it’s Jose Alvarado and and you guys know it as well as I do he is in the rotation he’s
Not coming out uh I mean Jose’s played in the playoffs he had he has played in that Ser I mean he went toe-to-toe with Chris Paul I was say he REM a couple years ago so Jose’s had the experience at Zan Williamson does not even have as far as playing a playoff
Game he’s been in a playoff series so um that’s a great call JD and look I you know and what’s even better to start watching is his teammates Jose’s teammates are starting to get into the GTA act um you know had that dunk uh in the first half and Naji Marshall’s
Hanging out in the corner and stole the inbounds pass and laid it in and then on that very play Jose was in the other Corner ready to take that inbounds pass so um it is definitely uh as as you would say uh contagious the way that
Jose Alvarado plays defense you know I I don’t think we’ve seen the we still haven’t seen that Nai play because the TV Camera I think cut to whoever scored basket and you know I think Bal and whoever covers the game games has gotten more and more aware of the fact that you
Can’t cut to the guy who just scored if Jose’s on the court but now I think they’re going to have to apply that to nii as well so just a something that they’re going to have to be aware of because I still haven’t seen that Nai
Play to see how he actually did it they cut back to the play and he was putting the ball in the basket so um I like your guys creativity as far as your answer to this question because um I had herb Jones I think people are going to
Realize over the course of March just how much this guy’s improved as the Pelicans get more and more under the national Spotlight the fact that they’re in fifth place and that they’re where they are in the standings um I had Trey Murphy also as a a a selection for this
One and by the way I want to give you a stat in the the last eight days when Trey Murphy doesn’t arrive at the city at 6: a.m. he’s averaging 29.8 points he scored 88 points in the three games when his the team doesn’t arrive at you know
5 or 6:00 a.m. to the team Hotel so that’s a credit to him and lastly um adding to what JD said I had Larry Nance for One Shining Moment as well because I remember two years ago when he was healthy he was a huge part of how they
Got into the playoffs how they got in the playin tournament in the first place and then the game he had against the Clippers in the playin to get them into the series against Phoenix so I’m looking forward to him being able to contribute I know last year he was his
Impact was curtailed a ton by the fact that he was just trying to get through a bunch of different injuries so guys yeah look and rest and Recovery is going to be really big now as we head into the final 20 games and look we we talked about it last night when the
Pelicans have three or more days of rest they’re now five and0 and have looked really good in those games and now we’ve got a couple of days off here before we play in Philly on Friday night so especially those older guys uh that have been in the league a while Leonas valent
Chunis who takes incredible care of himself and Larry uh and CJ uh these rest days are going to be really key for them well one of the things about March Madness that people do love is Cinderella except the teams that lose to them so when you look at the March
Opponent all the teams that the pels are going to be playing it’s got to be a team under 500 who’s the most dangerous of those JD I I Brooklyn to me because Brooklyn’s got some parts and 25 and 37 but they’ve got really good parts when you look at
Mel Bridges and cam Johnson and Dennis schruder and Nick Claxton and cam Thomas didn’t play in the most recent game but if he’s playing in that game when they play the Pelicans you know on March 19th then he adds something else to it so they they’ve got some parts they they
Hadn’t won a lot this year but they’ve got some guys who on a given night can really give you some some some issues and the Pelicans face him on the road which is not where necessarily want to face him this time of year so I I I I’m I’m GNA go with
Brooklyn JD I wrestled with this myself I literally have flip-flopped on this 10 times and Brooklyn was one of the teams but I’m going to go with the Atlanta Hawks we play them on Sunday afternoon late afternoon um they went into Madison Square guard and beat the Knicks last
Night and as much as this is crazy to to hear they’re maybe a better team when Trey young is not playing because dejonte Murray and Trey young don’t cancel each other out it’s hard for them to be on the court at the same time and you’ve talking about guys uh that can play
They’ve got them too uh their rookie Jaylen Johnson is having a fantastic year he scored 26 in in in Brooklyn last or in New York last night had nine rebounds seven assists uh Bogdan bogdanovic is a three-point Marksman um sadique Bay we’ve talked about him the
The villain Nova guy who who is a corner three specialist um and again dejonte Murray so and uh DeAndre Hunter had 22 points last night so they’ve got some Talent as well um again I went back and forth with this it’s either Brooklyn or Atlanta I’m gonna go with Atlanta just
You know to be a contrarian I guess um but that’s going to be those two games are going to be tough for the Pelicans you cannot uh say all right well these teams are under 500 it’s going to be a win that is not going to be the case and
By the way both those teams are still fighting to try to get into the play their season is not over uh like the even the the Raptors are still I mean technically in it they’re three and a half back of of tenth but these two teams are in it so they’re gonna keep
Playing until they’re mathematically eliminated I went with the Hawks as my Cinderella for March as well partly because you know they’re three and two since Trey young went out so to your point I mean they’re they’re dangerous and I think what kind of with the NCA
Tournament I think what a lot of people look at for a team that could spring an upset or A Cinderella Story it’s a team that has a lot of talent and you’re not quite sure why they have the record that they have and I think that applies to
Both the Hawks and the Nets when I look at those teams on paper I I say I’m really surprised that they’re so they’re both so far under 500 but that makes them dangerous as you guys both alluded to they have multiple players who can
Can hurt you who can get 25 30 points in a game so Hawks the Hawks don’t play defense that that’s their they just try to outscore people every night because they have the capability of doing it all right easy enough all right let’s move
On to nil could be a dirty word for some for others it could be fun uh which visiting team which player or I guess you would look at it that way that’s com to the blender the rest of March you pay your own money your own hard-earned money guys to see Todd
Pretty simple for me uh I mean it’s not a player it’s a team it’s the Boston Celtics look I mean they’re a machine uh they’re number one in the league in offensive rating they’re number two in defensive rating I mean yeah what are you what are you gonna say yeah uh
Everything you need in a basketball team they’ve got they’ve got three-point shooting obviously the best in the league both uh really volume wise nobody jacks up more threes or makes more threes than the Boston Celtics but then you look at what they do on the defensive end and they are just loaded
With stars Tatum Brown porzingis who did not play against the Pelicans in Boston um Drew holiday they’re just they’re just really really good and if you want to watch I mean that’s gonna be a it’s gonna be a heck of a way to end the month of March uh on that Saturday late
Afternoon uh in New Orleans when the Celtics come to town that’s that’s a great way to end the month JD yeah I’m co-signing on that I mean I I thought about like just you know throwing in the Clippers or something like that but I mean it’s Boston we’re talking about a
Team that you by All rights and and and measures right now is the best team in the league uh that is that is really really focusing on playing for the NBA title not the not the Eastern Conference Championship not the division title they think they had they think they they got
The the goods to win it all and and and they probably do I mean they went they went to the finals they’ve been to the Eastern Conference Finals and they’re disappointed in those kinds of finishes with the roster that they have so they go out they get porzingis they get Drew
Holiday and now they really feel like they’ve got a chance at it so you know when you’re talking about Jason Tatum J and Jaylen Brown yeah those are the two the two lead dogs but you know when you can add a guy like porzingis and when
You can add a guy like Drew holiday who Shores up your defense and gives you what Drew holiday does and now Drew holiday can be your what fourth option on offense yeah man that that’s a really really good team that that made some great additions to go with the parts
That they already have and they really don’t even ask him to score at all no don’t need him to nope I went with the LA Clippers on March 15 and the OKC Thunder on March 26th only from the standpoint of that there’s some payback in terms of both of those teams won by
Pretty big margins in the Smoothie King Center earlier this season and and also too if I had to tiebreak between those two I think I would go with OKC I love watching them play their young core between Shay gilis Alexander Chad holgren and Jaylen Williams is just a
Lot of fun unfortunately for the rest of the Western Conference I feel like they’re going to be a force to be reckoned with for a long time but you know it’s interesting though because really Beyond those teams that we’ve mentioned between Boston OKC and the Clippers there’s also a home game
Against Milwaukee and Cleveland so I mean just in the month of March over these next few weeks there’s a bunch of really good games in the blender for people to come and watch so the the opponent list is pretty pretty um outstanding over these next uh this next
Stretch there’s a lot of interesting games I think for people to come and watch well uh the other thing I want to get into is Bracketology we all love that and see what matchups you’re you’re eventually going to see now this one doesn’t include the Pelicans right so realistic possibilities pick which West
Western Conference first round matchup you most want to see not involving the Pelicans now I’m having trouble getting past what I want to see two teams cancel each other out so Suns and clippers but I’m kind of thinking like OKC Minnesota for me uh those games have been fun
Watching already during the regular season I don’t know Todd which which first round series would you want to see just as a basketball fan um again I thought about this a lot too uh Lakers Denver Lakers are getting in look I mean they’re in the play in look the top 10
Is pretty much said I mean there would have to be an absolute and total collapse uh for the Rockets or the Jazz uh to move into one of the top 10 the thing about if the Lakers play the Nuggets somebody’s gonna lose and I think those are those two pose issues
For the Pelicans I I I actually think the Pelicans match up better against Denver than they do against the Lakers uh when both teams are at full strength um but Denver’s got the championship pedigree they’ve been there uh they know what it takes to go through a full
Playoff series get to the finals and win it and now uh despite what happened last night uh they’re starting to hit their stride uh and are playing their best basketball the season so I I’ll go with Lakers against Denver seven no I got seven minutes until my
Zoom knocks out so oh oh got you got sorry um yeah I’ll go Lakers Denver somebody’s gonna lose JD yeah and I think I’m going Minnesota I’m going Minnesota against whomever and I think Minnesota can play you know either seven eight nine or 10 I and here’s my reason for
Minnesota in the previous Seasons they played such dumb basketball in the playoffs yeah that I want to see if they’ve learned anything because I think if there’s a team that can be upset I think it could be them especially if they play as Loose as they have the last
Couple of seasons in the playoffs I want to see if they’ve learned something from their experience I like this category because of the different approaches that everyone took I didn’t really even think of it as who you want to see get knocked out or how do you make it so that
There’s a matchup there that one of the teams is bounced but um I looked at it more as from like an entertainment standpoint and quickly I went with innesa versus Golden State purely for the possible choke hold potential between the two teams so Warriors versus Timberwolves it seems like that’s a
Budding rivalry and it’s interesting too the Timberwolves basically publicly have called the Clippers old and I feel like they probably have said the same things about the Warriors so that’s just a fun matchup that I feel like when it comes to the playoffs we want to see intensity
We want to see a little bit of hatred and I think that that matchup would deliver that maybe in the one versus eight or the two versus seven matchup I like that hey man let’s let’s let’s have an all out brawl get everybody ejected but another reason I say the wolves are
Not a smart team why even say something like that before you get it when you have won nothing you won nothing basketball IQ is not is not very high I I hear you well guys final topic here in our March Madness theme the segment today um there which who’s the most
Unders seated team when you look at the top 10 graphis I agree with you these 10 are going to be in right now going into action tonight on Wednesday is it it’s the Lakers right I mean they’re nine this is a team last year same thing they got in through the
Play and they made it to the Conference Finals you look at their record since the All-Star break you look at DLo I mean you know he’s hitting three I just it’s them I don’t I like that’s a team that while they’re a nin seed if they
Get it together right they gonna get you know when are they going to get Jared Vanderbilt back because he’s a very he’s a big key for them um I I agree it’s the Lakers uh they’re not a nine seed they just aren’t if they’re healthy they’re they’re just really really difficult to
Match up because LeBron is LeBron and and Anthony Davis when he is right is as good as anybody in the league but don’t overlook the Clippers the Clippers are not a four seed they just aren’t uh once they made that trade you know you look at their record uh they could easily be
One or two JD I’m going to be contrary and I’m going to go with the mass and I’m going to go with the mask specifically because of Luca because in a seven game series that dude can get you a 40o triple double for four games and win him and
That’s a team that just if I had to play him they would frighten me because he can do that and then you can you know maybe sprinkling Kyrie iring depending on what his mood is but Luca donic can give you a 40 4 to 50 point triple
Double average in three or four games and that can be enough to sway a series so that that’s a team that and I mean I think they’re number eight right now they’re five and five in the last 10 or whatever and they seem like they’re free
Falling but they’ve got that one guy who can who can put you on his back and and and take it to and take you across the finish line and JD to add on add on top of that I know I gotta be quick us he’s
In the best shape of his career and he is playing more minutes uh this year than heever has in his career I mean you think about what’s going to happen in the playoffs I mean what he’s going to play 45 46 47 minutes they might not
Take him out I don’t know if they can afford to take him out uh how dominant he has been so uh that’s a good call for underseeded I had two teams I had Golden State at 10 because when they’re not losing by 52 points to Boston they’ve
Been one of the best teams in the west over the last few weeks I feel like they’re trending up other than obviously the the major exception that happened on Sunday and also I had Denver as the three seed is UND seated because I feel like by the end of the regular season I
Think they’re going to be number one the way that the timber wolves have kind of stumbled a little bit and OKC is really good but I don’t know if they’re going to be able to sustain their level through 82 games so Denver so I feel it’s funny because I feel like between
All of us we mentioned almost every team in the west is UND seated so that tells you how good the West is and how formidable it’s going to be when we get to the playoff time yeah it’s going to be you know it’s and Gus and I have been texting this
Morning you know what’s crazy guys we could win the Southwest Division and not even be in the playoffs we not and not even be top six yeah it’s nuts it’s absolutely nuts well didn’t you send me earlier today this is the best start in franchise history yes right and and
We’re also 12 games above 500 and and again we’re not not believing in the Pelicans but it’s a very real possibility you have to play a playin game yeah I mean all we can do is hand our own business and hope and hope the other teams around us lose and you know I
Stayed up late last night here East Coast time listening to Denver who came back and I texted you at halftime Gus when they said when when you sent me the score and the suns were up 15 I said hey man they’re at altitude it’s not over and sure enough uh Phoenix couldn’t make
A shot in the fourth quarter and I listen to the game and Denver got three-point attempt happy and breaked everything instead of giving it yic getting to the rack they started bricking threes up now they W up taking the lead and Durant made the shot with
Two seconds left to tie it up but Denver should have won that game they didn’t play very smart down the stretch last night so you know but that’s what happens when you got to start putting your fate in other team’s hands you got to take care of your own business JD is
That final thought here in about 60 seconds essentially just take care of your business yeah I mean you got it in your own hands you don’t have to depend on anybody else you can you can create your own narrative you know by winning and I mean that you know Al Davis just
Win baby just take care of your own business and you don’t have to worry about looking at the standings and this kind of thing just handle your own and the pels will put them put themselves in position to be able to do that right well graph don’t pull a hamstring
Running up the steps of the Rocky statue over there in Philly JD enjoy yourself well we chat on Friday fellas video will be coming thanks guys welcome back to New Orleans pelic podcast Jim moffer that was fun I love the March Madness theme there it’s good but it is
Wednesday which means we still have some more business to get into including of course Western Conference Wednesday indeed Gus I always look forward to this every week and the Western Conference team to watch last week was the Sacramento Kings I’ve been taking pride in the way that some of these teams I’ve
Picked that the Pelicans need to lose games have struggled and the last stretch of games for Sacramento started out promisingly they lost at Denver but then they came back with a big win on Friday at Minnesota and I was starting to have my doubts like have the powers
Worn off a little bit but then on Monday against the Chicago Bulls in Sacramento sa the kings were up by 20 plus points and blew that lead and lost to the Bulls so bottom line Kings go one and two over the last stretch of seven days they’re
34 and 26 now they’re two games behind the Pelicans which in essence is three games because the Pelicans have the tiebreaker on them as well so starting to see a little bit of Separation happen between New Orleans and some of these teams that they’ve been in a tight race
With lately now the team to watch for the next seven days is the dreaded LA Lakers a I knew you it was a reason why you wore your Lakers jersey today Lakers are 34 and 29 they’re three and a half games behind New Orleans they’re only a half game behind the eighth place
Mavericks right now so they’re really getting close to being in the top eight and putting themselves in much better position than being in that nine and 10 game where if you lose it you’re out and your season’s over right another reason I picked the Lakers ERS for this next
Stretch of games is because their their schedule is really interesting and challenging they host Sacramento tonight in La they host the bucks on Friday and then they host the Timberwolves on Sunday those games on the weekend are both on ESPN so I mean they’re playing
Some of the the best teams in the league over this next stretch I’m really curious to see if they can fulfill ESPN’s wishes and get hot and get into the thick of the playoff race or even the chase for top six or if they go the other way
Which they’ve done most of the Season where as soon as you get a little optimistic they lose they have a bad loss as soon as you think you get discouraged they’ll they’ll win a good game like they beat OKC the other day so those are uh the the Lakers are the team
To watch now I had a couple other quick Western Conference topics that I wanted to to talk about too I saw the news that Luka donic is technical foul was rescinded from the game against Philly which I thought was kind of funny because I watched that game and it
Seemed like he he deserved about five technical fouls five but he only got one but they took that one away so I thought that was interesting I feel like he’s getting he’s heading into Draymond Green territory where they’re starting to ref him on a curve as as far as his
Complaining like he’s allowed to complain and stare down referees and get in their faces more than the average guy just because play too is he’s such a good player and the guy is very talented and can score out of the box but it he’s hard to root for yeah it’s getting to
That point where it’s like in that game Sunday so I just had to chuckle when I saw the news that they were sended a t because I was like he should have got he I mean you can’t get more than two in a game before you get thrown out but there
Were multiple times where they easily could have whistled him for one and my last topic that’s kind of related to the Western Conference as well is I wanted to give a shout out and credit and tip of the cap to Zack low which I’ve done a
Bunch of times because if you watch if you want to see something entertaining as far as me media coverage you got to watch NBA TV when Zack L’s on there because he’s at the point I was watching the show yesterday he’s at the point
Where I feel like he’s at the end of his rope with frustration as far as some of the topics in terms of they constantly talk about are the Lakers turning a corner he’s always like guys can they get through the playin tournament first before we start because one of their
Questions yesterday I think was who would you pick in a series between the Thunder and the Lakers and I think everyone picked the Lakers except for maybe Zack low and so he’s he’s uh he’s just really frustrated at one point they they’ve been calling him the director of
Grouchiness and he was like no no I’m the director of reality here well there’s so many good teams and so many good storylines and look and let’s be honest when you take a look at the Western Conference you actually do have a lot of teams that are I guess new at
The top of that you know I mean Minnesota uh doing that I mean we just remember a couple seasons ago last season they were trying to you know play who’s ninth and who’s eighth and things that I need you’re in seventh you’re looking at OKC that’s a young team that
Literally I mean they went tank mode they went draft pick mode and now look at them they’re battling to be the top team in the Western Conference that’s pretty incredible you look at the Clippers they made bold moves to try to go get things going and here’s a class
Of Hall of Famers seeing if they can do it the Champs can they repeat I haven’t even gotten to the Lakers yet because they we haven’t gotten to the pels which are F the kings are yet one of those teams that just last year got into the
Postseason for the first time and they were a young team so you have all of these different team teams above them that are really good story lines and L to be honest to your point we were talking in the last segment the Golden State Warriors it’s it’s the last gasp
Right for a dynasty the last gasp of a franchise that set a standard at you know in the NBA when when you go back and you think of Splash Brothers the finals against LeBron all of that and and this is this is their last gasp I mean one of their starters
And the Splash Brothers is now coming off the bench draymond’s going towards the end of his career so this is an interesting point there’s so many other story lines to talk about no let’s talk about La booo yeah I mean I think to your point the competition is so good
And so formidable that there isn’t one team that can go into this super confident I think the closest that anyone can be that way is Denver simply because they won the championship last year and I think they’ve kind of it seems like they’re kind of scaling up towards the playoffs where they’re
Playing starting to play their best basketball of the season but just wanted to to give credit and a pat on the back to Zack low because it’s funny I picture him sometimes on the NBA Today Show on the set before the show starts recording and he’s he’s like breaking down film of
Detroit Pistons High pick and rolls and he’s making calls to people and he’s saying like hey how come the Pistons are running so many you know inverted pick and rolls and why are they running some of these motions and sets and everyone else on the set is like checking
Instagram to see what Lakers and Clippers first players have posted lately and it’s just an interesting dichotomy between him and the rest of the philosophy it feels like one of these days he’s going to come in and he’s just going to start throwing things because he he can’t take it anymore so
You fight the good fight Zach keep it up exactly we’ll coign with that as well Jim ien Hoffer give him a follow Jim iOffer on X and of course pelicans.com Jim will’ll see you again on Friday when the Pelicans get ready to take on the 76ers their next game in the meantime
Hope they rest up and hope some other teams lose we scoreboard watching see you then 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 Jim iin offer and gcat un17 we’ll see you next time right here on the New Orleans Pelicans podcast
On the latest New Orleans Pelicans Podcast from Wednesday, March 6, 2024, Jim Eichenhofer and Gus Kattengell are joined by color analyst John DeShazier and voice of the Pels Todd Graffagnini for a Pelicans Radio roundtable. The crew discuss the Pelicans 41-point win against the Toronto Raptors and then look at the remainder of the season using the March college basketball tournament lens: Which teams are under-seeded, bracketology, and who’s this year’s Cinderella in the Western Conference?
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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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