Latest loss for the New Orleans Pelicans tell us the direction the team needs to go in the offseason

Latest loss for the New Orleans Pelicans tell us the direction the team needs to go in the offseason

Yesterday I called the Pelicans lost to the Thunder the most frustrating of the season but I also think it’s the most pivotal for the offseason from both a player and coaching perspective I’ll tell you why in today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans let’s Go you are locked on Pelicans your daily New Orleans Pelicans podcast part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome to another edition of locked on Pelicans the daily podcast covering your favorite team the New Orleans Pelicans in NBA part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day

Available wherever you get your podcast and available on YouTube I’m your host Pelicans Insider credential member the media Jake Madison at Nola Jake on Twitter here with yall on this Thursday and I want to continue talking about the Pelicans loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder but in the larger perspective

Around the team that was a pretty pivotal one to me because I think it points towards changes that have to be made from a number of different areas this coming off season and no if you want the to Long didn’t listen part of this I don’t mean firing the head coach

But there need to be some changes from Willie Green as well the center position and Zion Williamson so we’re going to look at all of that in today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more right now new customers get

$200 in bonus Bets with any winning $5 bet that’s 200 bucks if your bet wins visit fanduel.com lockon to get started and of course thank you for making locked on Pelicans your first listen today and every day we are here the number one Pelicans podcast breaking down everything you want to know about

This Pelicans team subscribe wherever you get your podcast join almost 10,000 other Pelicans fans on YouTube as well and becoming every day or listen Monday through Friday to locked on Pelicans so I want to start with with a word and we talked about it a little bit yesterday

And it also kind of comes from comments that Zion Williamson and Willie Green made after the game and that word is accountability do you feel like there’s been enough with the team you know a lot of these guys are saying the right thing but there also needs to be action behind

Those words it’s one thing to be like yeah my bad but if you keep making the same mistakes is that truly accountability if you’re not making changes you know we talked a lot about the end of that game against the Oklahoma City Thunder where Zion Williamson just didn’t get the ball for

Whatever reason whatever reason right CJ wanting to be a hero though I don’t think it’s quite that just CJ being hot and trying to feed the hot hand Zion maybe being tired maybe them just not being organized not well coach you can point to anything it doesn’t matter

Right Zion said after the game in his postgame media availability he said you know I I need to demand the ball more yes he absolutely does having him take one or two shots in crunch time isn’t enough and that’s where it’s the final 5 minutes of a game and the score is

Within five that’s not okay so saying it though is one thing that’s good acknowledge it that’s more what that is versus accountability in my opinion you know Zion said it felt like a playoff game that’s what the playoffs are like so if you are too tired to have sets run

For you plays running for you you got to deal you got to deal and you’ve just got to make it happen if you need the ball in your hand just call for it demand it or just take it up the court yourself that fixes that sort of situation right

There needs to be actual improvement from this so we’re going to kind of hold him to his words there’s going to be another close game this season how is Zion going to respond and react and if he doesn’t demand the ball if it doesn’t go the way you want it to

What does that say you need to do in the off season right does that mean you’re missing a point guard or just missing Brandon Ingram to keep you organized during some of this right does it mean there need to be some coaching adjustments changes right do

You do you really overhaul the team then from a player perspective right like this is a pivotal game because look they said the thing got to demand the ball then he better in the next situation otherwise when’s it going to happen right you know Willie Green after the

Game called this one a learning experience for the team but they failed to execute in the clutch all season long they were 0 and6 going into this game the number is now 0 and 17 when they’re trailing going into the fourth quarter they haven’t won a game were were the previous 16 not

Learning experiences right we we’ll we’ll get into the center stuff because you can kind of factor that in too and I have as I talked about yesterday a different perspective but there’s also some hindsight with a couple of things with all of that you know there needs to be

Actual Improvement it’s 0 and 17 entering the fourth when you’re losing like that’s not okay so if all of these are learning experiences where is the growth and if you’re not growing what does that say you need to do now I don’t think they’re should or

Will fire Wily green at all I don’t think that’s a smart move at all I think he’s done a pretty good job this year he’s not perfect I wouldn’t put him in the top five coaches I might not even put him in the top 10 but he’s certainly

Not bottom five or bottom 10 I think he’s in kind of that like mid-range of everything here right that’s not the worst is it holding the team back maybe maybe not I’m not entirely sure on that just yet but now is your opportunity to actually you know be held to your word

What you said this is a learning experience cool so is that mean that in the next close game you won’t go scoreless in the final three minutes of it because that’s kind of what I hope you’re saying right like that seems to be the important thing here so we’re

Going to I’m going to I Hope You Are are as well going to hold this team to that there needs to be some improvement for it you know there needs to be actual growth actual changes made to this sort of thing what those changes are that’s up

To the coaching staff right they know more than us they’re seeing more in practice that’s always worth keeping in mind but you’ve got to do something different you got to do something different I don’t think it was the wrong move to play lar an Jr the and not

Valent junis in the second half of the game I don’t we’ll get into some of the numbers and some of the reasons why and it has to do with the defensive scheme that’s coming up next right but it also points to a roster construction issue because that didn’t work in the final

Five minutes either he got you there but then if you don’t have the thing that can take you home it wasn’t Larry in this game I don’t think that was the main reason I think it goes back to what we just talked about Zion saying he

Needs to demand the ball more to me that was the bigger thing and you’ll hear why when I kind of explain the Larry stuff in the next segment but you got to do something right like that was why I think that loss was so frustrating to me but

Basically it means that when this happens again this this season and it will there will be another close game if they don’t make proper adjustments changes you’ve got to make changes to make that better next season during this coming off season and that’s why I think

You look at this game and their comments after it and can call it a really pivotal thing so let’s talk about Jonas vus versus lar ANS jior in the second half of the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder because I do not think yonis Val chunis was the answer

And I’ve got numbers and stats to back it up that’s coming up here next in today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans right now though I’m excited to tell you about Nissan are you the kind of driver that likes to push things a little further ever wonder what Adventure could be around the next

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And be coming every day or listen Monday through Friday to locked on Pelicans we’ll have some bonus stuff for you this week around the Celtics game since my locked on NBA co-host you’re second listen today is in town we’re going to hang out it’s going to be a lot of fun

So we’ll do a show together in person it’ll be a lot of fun so keep an eye out for that so let’s get into what I think was you know one of the more interesting topics and it’s very interesting I think especially from a team building perspective around the Lost to the

Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday night and that was yonas valunas not playing at all at all in the second half of the game and look I don’t think that was the wrong decision I don’t necessarily think it was entirely the right decision either but I actually don’t fault head

Coach Willie Green for this when you look at this game and and if you want to follow along with what I’m looking at here go to popcorn machine. net and look at the game Flow for this Pelicans game it shows you the rotations the plus

Minus as they were going on so you can see different runs when certain players were on the court this is a really useful tool and something I use it’s completely free for all of my like game analysis when I want to kind of see how

A lineup did in the flow of the game here so when you look at yonas Val junis right who had two stints they did not go particularly well at all for the Pelicans here he was minus six in his first stint in the first quarter and then when they subbed him out the

Pelicans basically immediately went on a 15 to4 run with Larry Nance Jr out there on the court in place of Jonas valent chunis it was a big swing and that’s part of the reason why that Pelicans uh the first the end of the first quarter was close right before they kind things

Got away from them entirely in the second quarter but in the second quarter Jonas valunas started and that team in the five minutes he played was a minus5 now things didn’t go better for Larry Nance Jr in that quarter admittedly for him in the second quarter with yonas was

A minus5 he was a minus 11 in about two to three more minutes than what valent chunis played but you can see that things weren’t going well with valent chunis at all so in the third quarter where basically Larry played the entirety of the second half almost other

Than a quick like five minute rest Midway through the third quarter but he started the third quarter and during that time he so first and foremost in the second quarter here’s the other one right before things really got away from the Pelicans here they went on a run when

Larry n Jr stepped out on the court they had an 8 to2 run so while they finished the quarter real poorly they had an 8 to2 run while he was out there on the court nothing like that happened at all for Jonas V Tunis then in the second

Half the third quarter when the Pelicans got back into this with Larry Nance Jr on the court they went on a 20-2 run right the defense was really important in this then at the start of the fourth when Larry was there they went on a 70

Run they had another 70 run when they got the lead in the fourth quarter and then it all fell apart in the final three minutes when the Thunder went on a 12 to zero run right like that’s the problematic part everything else with Larry n Jr on the court in the second

Half was good other than the final three minutes we’ll touch on that in a moment here so we’re not ignoring that but for the most part his minutes were really good were really good in this game other than when everyone was terrible in that period if you take out that 120 run from

What Larry did here he for a period of time was like a plus 16 and about 12 minutes of action in the second half if you take that 120 run out of this right he was a plus 11 I think on the night it was actually a very good situation for

For the team in what he was doing so when you look at this or I think it was like plus eight maybe it wasn’t I forget exactly what the number is so he was winning the minutes and the Pelicans got back into the game with him

Out there on the court when I see people saying like why didn’t yonas Val chose play at all they had a 20 to2 run with him out there on the court Jeremiah Robinson Earl won his minutes and I think it had to do with what was going

On defensively it’s not I think I know it had to do with what was going on defensively right again we’ll get to the final three minutes here in a second but I want to look at the context of the second half overall JV when you rewatch this got lit

Up defensively lit up defensively he was not stopping Chad homm at all I don’t think he was particularly doing great offensively against ched holgren either he was fine enough but it wasn’t like he was playing Bully ball and they were losing those minutes with him out there they weren’t losing those minutes with

Larry in the second half once they really started to get things going and that’s cuz they were getting stops defensively you know when you look at this team and what they do defensively is they they switch everything right someone comes in and sets a pick okay we’re not going to fight around the

Screen the pick or anything like that we’re just going to switch so you put your big man Jonas valent chunis now on a guard and now your guard is on the big main you saw because of this Jose Alvarado matched up with ched homr a lot actually did a decent enough job there

But what if you can even avoid a situation like that and I think one of the things you saw in this game was Zion Williamson struggle to defend Jaylen Williams the good one Jay will who starts for them and basically plays power forward even if he’s under sized

Zion struggled with them but Larry NES Jr did a good job and held him to 0 for three and then when things switch right so say Jay will comes and sets a screen for Shay gilis Alexander you get Zion switching onto Shay gildas Alexander there and he does a good job with that

Right you also saw Zion guarding chat and when they ran a pick and roll and forced a switch it got Zion on to Shay Zion held Shay to 0 for one did have a shooting foul on him but held him to just two points he did a good job when

Defending him because he’s been very good on the perimeter this season how would Jonas V Tunis defending Shay gilis Alexander have gone and I think we kind of know the answer to that a little bit right you know Larry Nance Jr in this did a decent enough job

Limiting and it wasn’t very much Shay gild just Alexander on the on like the few possessions that that ended up happening on now they all struggled with Josh Gideon in those switches here because giddy was just not missing shots for whatever reason but you don’t normally expect that to happen and I’d

Rather let him shoot and if you lose because he just goes off you lose because he goes off and I think you can live with that so they went with Zion and Larry for the defensive purposes and it worked it worked they did a really

Good job you also saw Zion breaking up a couple lobs to Chad Homen you saw Larry do the best he could with Chad hren which admittedly isn’t great there’s a size disadvantage there and rebounding wasn’t killing the team again until the final 5 minutes or so of the game so I

Think it’s pretty easy to defend Willie Green and say that Jonas on shus in the second half wasn’t the problem the problem was the final three minutes of the game so it wasn’t why didn’t yonas play in the in the second half it’s maybe why didn’t yonas play in the final

Three minutes of the game but again sometimes I think you’ve got to stick with the guys that got you there but also if it wasn’t Jonas and say he’s alive ability in this game and we can debate that or not I don’t know if putting him in for the final three

Minutes if he hasn’t played basically in like an hour of real time is actually the move look there there’s no answer to this right this is why when you look at the Pelicans in the postseason they there are teams that we are like oh that’ll be a good matchup

Remember I’ve called the Clippers a really good matchup because the center position isn’t an issue for New Orleans like it is in this game against the Oklahoma City Thunder or some of the other teams right center is going to be a problem you play the Denver nuggets I

Don’t know if Center’s necessarily going to be as big of a problem if you play the Minnesota Timberwolves it could be a problem if you play the Lakers depending on what they do with Anthony Davis but against the Clippers not at all and that’s why I like that matchup for New

Orleans here so you don’t have an answer to those final three minutes I think they would have just picked on Jonas V junis the same way they picked on Larry n Jr and I think it would have been worse than a 120 run let’s say or maybe

They would have got it going sooner before those final three minutes maybe in five minutes right I don’t think there was an answer to this and they got back in the game and when you look at the results like that when you look at the defense and getting stops and some

Of the runs that they went on including two 70 runs in the fourth quarter I feel pretty good about what they did here and it’s not something that I was really worried about it’s just figuring out those final three minutes and again I think that has more to do

With Zion Williamson needing to demand the ball than absolutely anything else but but but one of the things I think you’ve got to look at with this is oh boy did the Pelicans make a mistake at the trade deadline they made a mistake at the trade deadline I’m not even in favor of

What I’m going about to say but if you’re going to use yonis funus like this this is a waste of a roster spot and money so I think it was good to do what they did but that also kind of is like a fic Victory is that the right

Word where you just you just don’t have it the answer and that’s a problem and it needs to be addressed this offseason it was plain as day in this game so let’s do a little hindsight is 2020 for the trade deadline this season when it comes to yonis Tunis or maybe a name

Daniel Gafford that a lot of y’all have really liked that’s coming up here next in today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans all right today’s episode of Locked on Pelicans is brought to you by better help sometimes we all need the opportunity to get something off of our

Chest big or small certain things can really start to get to you so it’s important to let that out especially to someone who’s unbiased in your life so today I want to say how I really feel about something and you might even be thinking about the same thing this week

We shouldn’t know referees names they look those moments like Bill Kennedy taking the spotlight the other night is kind of funny don’t get me wrong but look we’re there for basketball and like officiating shouldn’t be the spotlight of this and it gets annoying and tiring

Even if there is some humor in in all of that and I’m sick of it I don’t want to see that in the playoffs whatsoever therapy can be different for everyone most of us have bigger problems than our favorite sports teams and it’s important to get things off your chest

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And thank you for making locked on Pelicans your first listen today and every day we are here Monday through Friday the number one Pelicans podcast breaking down everything you want to know about this Pelicans team subscribe wherever you get your podcast join almost 10,000 Pelicans fans on YouTube

As well and be coming every day or listen Monday through Friday because we are part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day all right let’s let’s let’s put on our hindsight glasses here I should have brought a prop or something for that if you’re

Watching on YouTube that would have been kind of fun at the trade deadline I said don’t make this team worse don’t make this team worse because yonas Valen chunis is going to win you games and he did right like that was a big reason they won that game against the Miami

Heat but look if you’re not going to use him in crunch time and look as well as I thought Larry n Jr played in the second half right like he wasn’t the answer in crunch time and you need something else there again not the biggest problem but we’ve seen regularly the Pelicans

Struggle with this this wouldn’t be a thing if it was you know fixed if Larry was the answer you you’d have seen it by now and it’s not so yonas isn’t the answer Larry’s not the answer to the center position you know for this you can play Larry a

Bunch as a backup that’s fine but you need to figure out your starting center and the guy and more importantly than that your crunchtime Center if it’s not Zion and going small then you need to find somebody else and while I didn’t want to make the team worse again if

You’re not going to use Jonas valunas there’s no point in having him on the roster right like it’s one thing to win one game but if you’re not going to regularly use him this was a mistake this is what I think now looking at it they should have

Just traded for Daniel Gafford I don’t think Daniel Gafford makes this team better but maybe maybe he helps you in crunch time when you know that Larry and JV aren’t aren’t it it’s got to maybe be somebody else then right and so you had the resources to go get Daniel Gafford

He didn’t cost much you could have made a move like that you could have shipped Larry uh sorry not Larry n Jr you could have shipped out Jonas Val Tunis and gave the team maybe a guy that they would have liked more he would not be playing the same kind of prominent role

That he is on the Dallas Mavericks where he was traded where he’s getting you know a bigger role more minutes things like that playing with Luca also helps but look he was traded for ran homes and a 2024 first round draft pick right like that’s that’s about it right and

It’s like oh it’s a I think it’s a pick swap is what it is um so that’s okay so it’s like barely anything you could have done that like you could have done that and gotten a a trade done like that maybe you’d have to give up a little

Something else it would have been fine but it might make this team better again I think there are plenty of times when they should play through JV more like they did in that win over the Miami Heat but if it was going to be like this in

This game where you just clearly have a glaring hole that’s the center position that’s not going to work so when you know I opened the show we talked about this game kind of being pivotal it it was plain as day it was plain as day that you need to address the center

Position and they tried they tried at the trade deadline the big names the ones that would would be different difference makers weren’t going to be there but this ain’t it right like it’s kind of as simple as that you know one of the things I’ve said when people are

Like well you can’t close with JV so get somebody else yeah but JV also helps you get there but when you saw Larry working with the defense against a very good Oklahoma City Thunder team you you can use him for a while and he can be very

Effective right it’s not going to be a Difference Maker but he can be very effective and we saw it in this game and I just gave you the numbers and the runs the plus minus and all of those things and defensively I thought it really worked but it didn’t address closing

Games and that’s why you’re now 0 and 17 going into the fourth quarter when you don’t have the lead and that I do think is a problem and something this team needs to look at and needs to address so that is where we kind of tie the show

Together with everything and it’s like okay pivotal because it’s on a player front and a coaching front here coaches need to make improvements here so that they don’t keep struggling in the fourth quarter they don’t keep struggling in crunch time Willie Green said this is a learning experience then teach your

Players teach your players he’s proven he can do that right he’s proven he can do that you need to teach them this needs to be like when he said you know we’re losing games in January February but it’s going to lead to us winning games in April and that’s what we want

His first year right and then they made the playoffs you got to do that again you got to do that again right now you know for Zion saying you you want to demand the ball you need to take over yeah you do otherwise they’re going to

Need to get another player who does it because you can’t keep losing these games that’s an offseason thing right the coaching stuff is also an offseason do you need to shake up the staff more same for the center position if you don’t have an answer you got to do

Something you can’t run this all back and I know they’re worried about losing yonas funis and what you don’t have money to replace him what can you do I don’t know if you can run it back after this right like this isn’t it especially if he’s not going to get played so it

Puts the Pelicans going into this offseason in a position where it’s like yeah you got to do stuff and that’s important and we’ll see what they do but it’s not the offseason just yet so we still have the playoffs to get through which means you should be subscribed to

Locked on Pelicans wherever you get your podcast in on YouTube and that’s going to do it for this episode of lock on Pelicans thank You’ all so much for listening as always I’m your host Jake Madison at Nola Jake on Twitter I’ll be back with y’all tomorrow get you set for

The weekend this is a Thursday show so that means we’re going to recount the Bucks game there we go it’s a game day for the New Orleans Falcons when you’re listening to this one we’ll talk about the buck game then get also get you set for the weekend oh boy this schedule’s

Hard okay I’ll see yall tomorrow to talk about hopefully hopefully a win over the Milwaukee Bucks

The New Orleans Pelicans loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder was not just the most frustrating, it may have also been the most pivotal for the offseason. Jake Madison explains how things during and after the game give the Pels direction on what to do about Zion Williamson, Willie Green, and Jonas Valanciunas this offseason.

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