Brandon Ingram injury, Zion Williamson’s recent play | Pelicans Podcast 3/22/24

Brandon Ingram injury, Zion Williamson’s recent play | Pelicans Podcast 3/22/24

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 the end of your work week it is Friday on the New Orleans Pelicans podcast got Captain Kell and jike and Hofer with you as always as we are ready to get the weekend going it’s an important weekend for the Pelicans and he got a lot to get

Into as the pels have got to rebound Following last night’s game against the Orlando Magic 121 106 was the final there Pelicans unable to get the shots from Beyond The Arc to go down didn’t take very many two of eight at halftime but more importantly Brandon Ingram went

Down with an injury was helped off the floor we’ll give you the very latest on that here in a quick second head coach Willie Green on the defeat uh extremely handsy team they got deflections they got steals you know when you have 19 turnovers as a group and they scor 25

Points it’s tough to win on anyone’s home floor and then you add the 22 chance points so those two factors right there that’s you know death in the NBA so we bring in Jim mhof from New Orleans pelicans.com look we can talk about the game obviously would have loved to have

Gotten that one but the most important thing obviously was Brandon Ingram when he went down early in that third quarter it’s extremely difficult to see him go down um our prayers will will will be going up tonight and you know hopefully we get some good news back Jim what’s

The latest with Brandon yeah the Pelicans announced this morning around 9:30 that Brandon Ingram has a left knee bone bruise and he’s going to be re-evaluated in two weeks so I’m sure there was some people out there including I I’ll put myself in this group that had fears that his diagnosis

Was going to be a lot worse when you see a a knee or a leg kind of twist the way that it did where he hyperextended it you you always think of some of the injuries that put a guy out for the season or or long term so I mean I think

There’s definitely some sigh of relief this morning to hear that what his injury is is is um a a bone bruise like I said that was listed I mean obviously he’s such an important part of this team we’ve talked about his defense we’ve talked about his offense we’ve talked

About his availability one of the things the guys touched on the broadcast yesterday Jim that was game 63 for him he’s been available a lot this year and that that was his career high yesterday in terms of being able to be available so we’ll take a look at that time frame

Here in a quick second but I’m with you when we’re watching it look we’re we’re all fans but we’re also you know people and like you feel for some that does that and when you see some immediately grab the knee and holding it and in the

Area that he was um that’s the first thing that you’re thinking of is ligaments you’re thinking of Tears you’re thinking of oh man there goes the season and you start thinking of my Gody what a difference 24 hours makes right you’re you’re sitting there riding High feeling good about yourself and then if

You were to lose a player like that so while he is out for two weeks that that is good news for him and when you hear in the afterwards from CJ to Trey there was concern not only because he wouldn’t be able to play but

Because of who he was as a teammate and it just shows you how close that team is together but it is good news you are going to miss him for two weeks but if things go well and Jimi just look at how this team and its players who have been

Injured this year CJ Zion Trey herb they’ve come back on time around time if not better than that Dyson Daniels is expected but he’s healthy he’s dunking he’s going through practice he’s just getting his conditioning going so I guess what I’m trying to say is for pel fans out there this season the

Organization and its players have shown whatever they’re doing this year Works does that make sense for sure I mean they’ve been able to throughout the course of the season have maybe a guy or two out and still be able to win games at a decent rate now if you go back to

The beginning of the season when we’re talking three four or five guys out that was a lot tougher and they weren’t able to get off to a good start this season when they already had a bunch of players out starting the regular season and then

CJ McCollum went out for a big chunk of November with his lung injury they start out four- six they were only 12 and 11 or 13- 11 after the completion of the inseason tournament but I mean after that when they started getting waves of players back whether that was Naji

Marshall Jose some of the other players Larry Nance they have played at a really high level and won a lot of games even though they haven’t been necessarily 100% like you mentioned Dyson Daniels hasn’t been on the court the last couple weeks either so I mean they have been

Able to to continue to compete and play at a pretty good level now to be clear too with Brandon Ingram um he’s going to be reevaluated in two weeks so that doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s going to be able to play you know two weeks from now but hopefully the timetable

After his reevaluation will be short and he’ll he’ll be able to get back on the court as soon as possible obviously and another thing to be clear too this I mean this was better than a worst case scenario no doubt but it’s still than for Brandon Ingram because I mean like

You said he’s been on the court so consistently this year he’s played in 63 games and the team is been more important than anything the team has been its most successful in the five years since he’s been here it feels like you know maybe his stats aren’t as high

But who cares the the fact that the team is on the plane that it has been on and I mean throughout his career when he was on the Lakers he wasn’t in the playoffs at all and then since he’s been here he’s been in the playoffs once so felt

Really good for him on a personal level just the fact that it seemed like everything was headed towards this guy is finally going to get be in the playoffs on a team that W wins 50ish games and has a good seed and has a good chance to be successful in the playoffs

And we hope we still see that but it still stinks for him that this happened at this time of the season and to your point look this is a guy that lives in a gym he attacks it he works all the time you’ve heard that ever since he’s really

Been here and what’s good about it is when you think about this maybe a lot of times fans don’t understand is with nothing structural like that it’s it’s a bone bruise which obviously but that means you can start rehabing that means that and and that’s that’s a player that

You know is going to get into the rehab a lot of times uh fans don’t understand what rehab means it’s not easy you got to put in the work you got to show up sometimes it’s painful you got to get that that area that that’s bruised or it’s injured moving and things that

Nature but I guess that’s what I’m getting at that’s a guy that you know is going to do it so when you hear evaluation and things that nature anyway I just pulled it up it’s essentially the end of the home stand two weeks from today would be April 5th that is the

Game against the Spurs at home that is game six of the six game home stand so if you’re listening out there you’re looking at eight games you’re looking at tonight you’re looking at Sunday against the Pistons and then the six-game home stand that’s what is scheduled right now

For him to miss minimum minimum so now what’s left it’s at the Suns on the seventh two days from then um then it’s the Blazers on the ninth two days from there it’s the backto back against I’m sorry then you have the Kings on the 11th and the backto back

The 12th and then you’re ready for the Lakers on the 14th so that is the remaining game so if in two weeks he’s re-evaluated and he’s good to go you probably imagine it’s a day or so for practice and things that nature to get going maybe maybe not he’s ready for the

Suns but he could be available for the Blazers Kings Warriors Lakers if not the final three games Kings Warriors Lakers I’m assuming coming back from an injury like that ain’t playing the back to back so but he that that’s what you’re looking at hopefully the final four

Games five games of the season and also too I mean to kind of look at the calendar a little bit further obviously the Pelicans are not in a comfortable position yet as far as top six seed for the playoffs but that’s the goal still and the playoffs start

April 20th which is four weeks from tomorrow so he has almost a month basically before the playoffs begin hopefully between now and the end of the regular season the Pelicans will be able to win enough games to make it so that they have a good week between the end of

The regular season and the beginning of the playoffs instead of having to play a game or two in the playing tournament and to your point the final game of The Season’s the 14th that is a Sunday April 20th is a Saturday so you will have at

Least a work week to get ready rest and get ready to go and that’s if the pels would play on a Saturday they could start on a Sunday true as well that’s Jim Mike off for New Orleans pelicans.com we wanted to give you that update look we can go into that game but

That was obviously the most important thing it is Friday we’re going to do our radio roundt as we’ve been doing every now and then and joining us will be John the Shazer and to ranini then Jim and I will be right back with you to give you

The Friday trending numbers and is it a team to watch weekend Showdown that’s right it’s not as intense of a weekend Showdown this week but nonetheless I did pick two Western Conference teams that are playing on Sunday so we’ll talk about that later all right let’s do it

All right so we bring in the voices that will call your New Orleans Pelicans game tonight in Miami of course John the Shazer color analyst and the voice of the Pelicans Todd Graff finini Jim we got a Litany of things that we want to

Get into here as well as it is the radio round table so we’re going to have some fun and discussion but first and foremost it is the topic of the day and it was because of what happened last night not just the loss but losing Brandon Ingram graph will start with you

The team as we just tossed on in the opening segment it’s going to be re-evaluated in two weeks a bone contusion guess that’s as good as news as you can get your overall thoughts that happened last night and just what you expect in the next two weeks while

He’s going to be out yeah first of all thanks uh for having us guys look tough news it’s it’s never it’s never good when somebody goes down especially with someone who is as important to the team as anybody as Brandon but uh when you saw that live and JD and I were

Obviously there and saw the replay it looked looked a whole lot worse than what we have found out now that it is so in that sense it is a good good I’m not gonna say good news but I would say it’s probably best case scenario because it could have been a

Whole lot worse um and now you just you you know what the situation is and you have to deal with it he’s not going to be there for at least a couple of weeks we’ll see what happens after that uh the real rough part about it is the timing

Uh we’re at the end of the season here and we’re about to I mean you say about to go on a tough stretch we’re in the tough stretch I mean you don’t have to go back as far as last night um we’ve got some really really difficult games

Coming up and you’d like to have you know your second best player on the team that’s not going to be the case as I was about to say you know that now going in and this has been a next man up mentality uh from the beginning since Willie Green

Took over his head coach because he knows all about next man UPS because he’s been dealing with it since the first day of his coaching regime um and now you know I would imagine Trey Murphy’s gonna move into the starting lineup and he’s gonna have an opportunity now and you’re gonna have

Guys like Jordan Hawkins who we haven’t seen in in a while I would imagine he’s going to be called upon also some good news hopefully we’re going to get Dyson Daniels back very very soon so again it’s not good but I think we’ve been talking about this all year long how

Deep does Pelicans team in that depth is going to be tested now and in the next couple of weeks but I believe that the Pelicans are deep enough and these guys that are be going to be coming off the bench are experienced enough where you can make the best case scenario out of

What is not a very good case J yeah you hope you have the infrastructure on the team to be able to with understand this and um you know Todd mentioned you know Jordan Hawkins and you know Dyson Daniels and Matt Ryan and so and Naji Marshall’s role will

Increase I would imagine and you hope to get a little bit more out of Jose Alvarado because you’re GNA have to peace meal this you’re gonna have to you know get a little bit more or a little bit of something from everyone when you’re missing the Brandon the Ingram

But yeah bittersweet because when he was pound in the court in Orlando last night it looked like it was something that was really really serious and it is serious I mean it’s a bone contusion so we know at least two weeks before he’s re-evaluated but man uh no structural

Damage and that’s the main thing when you’re talking about something like this uh that the guy you know looks like he will be able to come back and play this season because you know the PS you know hopefully will be in the playoffs so he will be back but you when you’re missing

Him because now you you remove one of your you know your second best option sometimes your best option down the stretch in close games we know that Brandon Ingram is a tough shot maker he’s a guy who’s able to get his shots off against tough defense and not just

Get them off but make them and so now you you’re in a situation where you have to put a little bit more on on Zion Williamson’s shoulders U CJ mccollum’s shoulders jonis valent chunis has been in a bit of a slump he’s gonna have to get out of it because they’re going to

Need his production and so you you just go from there all right well guys let’s uh move on to the radio round table here and uh look obviously I think we all just are excited that the team is in this spot it’s crazy how difference of

24 hours you feel in the mood you can just tell in our tone of our voices because early this week graphing the Pelicans have been the talk of the NBA and you know pick a show any show about what they’ve been doing so obviously the team overall has been doing something so

Guys let’s start with this what was your favorite win since the allstar break Todd let’s start with you since then what’s the biggest win to you all right well this is an obvious answer but in honor of uh Jim Hofer I’m going to go a little outside the box here uh again the

Obvious answer is the Clipper game in the in the Smoothie King Center I’m not going that way I’m going Indiana at home um and you’ve got to understand the circumstances that surrounded that game of course two nights before we were in Indianapolis we had all the trouble

Getting out of New York walked into the hotel room at 6:00 a.m. and then the shenanigans that happened when we got to the arena little gamesmanship as Gus catangel would say uh not being allowed to go into the Arena Bowl uh when we got there and was like what in the world is

Indiana doing they didn’t play yesterday why are they having a Clos Bowl practice you know we’re already trudging in exhausted and you know what happened in the first quarter in that game in Indianapolis we lost the game in the first quarter just because of how everything was and just being tired and

Everything we actually won the final three quarters of that game well the Pelicans took that a little personally and then two days later in the Smoothie Kings Center we saw a complete bust out uh pel scored 48 points in the first quarter in that ball game and absolutely

Ran the Pacers out of the gym uh Brandon Ingram scored 34 points remember he came out just smoking hot made everything he put up and uh I I thought that was pretty sweet when again you had to understand the context of it two nights before in Indianapolis I know the

Obvious answer is the Clipper game but I love that Pacer game JD yeah see so grasp on my answer because we’re all trying to think outside the box so I’ll get back in the box and I will say the Clipper game no I I my I did have my

Favorite at that Indiana game obviously because the pills played angry and I I I liked that about them they played with an edge that night but you know um March 15th against the Clippers the 112 104 game uh was a good one for me obviously the the obvious look because the

Clippers had come into New Orleans on January 5ifth and ran the Pelicans into the Mississippi River beat them by by you know 16 11195 and the Pelicans did not look like a team that had the wherewithal to compete against the Clippers I mean the Clippers ran out dominated the game

Start to finish and remember Russell Westbrook came off the bench and ignited them and it just the PS just didn’t have any answers in that game so for them to come back you know a few weeks later a couple months later and to win I know Russell Westbrook didn’t play in that

Game and I think J James Harden didn’t either but still you got to beat the team that’s on the floor and they had a couple of Hall of Famers on the floor Paul George and Kawhi Leonard and the pels were able to put it to him and

Really kind of you know Flex on them a little bit and show them look we’ve got something that can match up against you uh we feel and I and I felt really good about that because you know that was a point too where where the Clippers were

Hot and the pills jumped them and and flexed on them a little bit and kind of not put them in their place but showed them look we we’ve have we have a team when we’re right we can compete with you the Clippers was the most important win that they’ve had since the All-Star

Break the Pacers game was the best revenge win that they’ve had of the season and I’ll throw a third one in there this may be more of a personal thing I really enjoyed the heck out of the Atlanta win just because it was like you’ve already had two really good wins

And you’re up huge in the game in Toronto and Philly and instead of having a third game that you’re ending that road trip with a let down or kind of a sluggish like one foot out the door one foot already back in New Orleans you

Come out and put it on the Hawks as well so and also we were at Mid City Yacht Club for a watch party and that was just a lot of fun just to me that was one of the moments where I you realize like man this team is legitimate right now this

Team is is rising in the ranks of the Western Conference so those are my three picks that makes a lot of sense he was doing body shots out there in the patio getting everybody up he was basically a human mascot so I get that I understand that um biggest surprise of the team’s

Recent success JD we’ll start with you I’m gonna go with Trey Murphy and not so much that we’re shocked that Trey Murphy is an effective player I think we’re seeing an evolving of his game um where he’s putting it on the on the floor a little bit more getting to the rim a

Little B more we’ve seen him finish with some Force saw him finish with great force last night when he dunked it on somebody’s head and I think we’re seeing a little bit more of him in terms of putting on the floor because what opponents are saying basically is we’re

Not going to let you have uncontested threes and so he’s going to have to evolve some from that standpoint and he’s been doing it last nine games PS seven and two he’s averaging 19 and a half points 5.2 rebounds shooting 45% from three and 30 minutes and that

Production is probably going to have to jump a little bit with Brandon him out so I think he’s evolving a bit he’s going to need to because they need his outside shooting obviously but opponents know that the Pelicans need his outside shooting and so they’re basically rushing him at the three-point line

Daring him to be able to put it on the floor and we’ve seen him finish at The Rim a little bit more so that’s been a nice little bit of a surprise for me I’m gonna I’m going to go not specific player but just team-wise I I

Just think what the pals have done on the road uh this year to me has been the biggest surprise um I mean you know JD and I how many games have we done on the road together last few years and just the the results were not there and to

See uh what the Pelicans have done and they’ve been pretty consistent all year long away from home but e even post All-Star break you know Jim and I talked about this a couple weeks ago um actually was last week you were talking about the Atlantic game the of the times

Starting to run into each you know all the times running together um you know we’ve swept two road trips this year I mean that was unheard of uh even as recently as last year where the pells were were way below 500 on the road um so and despite what happened last night

I I just think that would that that game was was strange after the first five minutes it was just one of those deals um but I I I just think for the pels to be able to go on the road and win consistently and that’s why they’re

Where they are in the standings right now and uh it it’s pretty good when you can take your game away from home and and translated on the road and uh it really starts with defense the old adage defense travels well it certainly does and the Pelicans defense has allowed

Them to win these games away from home and uh it it’s been really really good and and surprising because there’s really no precedent set in the last few years that’s all right the pels are going to be uh you know have 22 wins away from home it’s just it hasn’t happened so uh

That’s what I’m going to go with yeah Graff I mean I feel like we’ve gone from a mode of you know you go into some of these multi-game road trips saying like let’s try to break even to now all of the sudden you’re winning every single

Game so you’re right I mean that is a huge transformation and a huge jump and awesome to see my biggest surprise since the All-Star break has been the three-point shooting of several of I guess what you would call role players on the Pelicans now to use three examples um before the All-Star break

Herb Jones was at 41% from three nii was at 38 Jose was at 36 which those are all really good numbers those are above average three-point shooting especially for her BAGI but since the All-Star break going into last night’s game nii was at 41 Jose was at 44 and Herb was at

55 so all of those guys after they had a really good um first 50 plus games of the season and shown huge strides have been even better over the last collection of games so to me that’s been a big surprise and I just picture Fred Vincent smiling like a proud papa when

He when he sees the way that these guys have progressed and I know all three of us or all four of us have seen the amount of time that especially in particular with Coach Vincent that herb and Naji have spent in the corner of the gym just relentlessly working overtime

On their three-point shots especially from the corners so to see the results that they’ve gotten and to see all of those guys not be just like the guys that okay the ball swung to them you hope it goes in but now I think with all

Of them you’re expecting it to go in and if you look at the way they’ve shot the ball that’s been such a huge boost to why the team has won so much since the All-Star break and henceforth henceforth it is not Nai it is eighth of grade okay

It is it is no longer Naji it is eight to Great although eight wasn’t so great last night in Orlando but you know we’re depending on eight to be great Zion’s been a big topic fellas all season long and obviously in this past week and uh in a very positive way graph

When you look at what he’s done since the allstar break what is it that you’ve enjoyed the most from him it’s a good question I I just think watching him on a night in and Night Out basis how much fun he’s having um I I don’t think he’s had this much fun in

His in his pro career I mean he probably hadn’t had this much fun since he was a Duke uh that that to me I I think is the best part we all knew what he could do we just haven’t seen it on a consistent

Basis um we saw a glimpse of it I’d say a glimpse because it was a pretty small sample size last November and December when he was playing like an MVP um I know it was a bit of a struggle last night excuse me I think he was

Trying to force the issue a little bit too much uh but you know you’ll you’ll take you’ll take that I mean you you know though he’s he’s trying to be the man which if you’re a Pelicans fan you got to love because that’s what he’s supposed to be doing he

Is the man um but he’s having a lot of fun doing it and his teammates are rallying around him it it’s it that to me is the best part again what we see on the court we know he’s capable of doing it uh but we haven’t seen the sheer Joy of him playing

Basketball uh in the last couple of months that we’re seeing him with right now k um I’m gonna I’m G to narrow it down to to Z’s defense um because he’s been engaged he’s really been putting forth the effort on that end look Z’s going to

Score he’s going to score in this league because you play manto man and there’s no man that’s going to be able to guard him and keep him away from the rim for the entirety of the game he’s gonna score but to see the energy he’s expending on defense the chase down

Blocks that’s the kind of energy you see him when he’s running the court for Aly oops uh he’s he’s he’s actively trying to stay doing a great job of making sure he moves his feet and stays in front of people um and it’s not so much you know

The block shots even though that’s up but it’s the challenges I mean you know so the last the last nine games for Z he’s averaging 7.7 rebounds which is you know he was the season he’s at 5.8 so he’s up about two rebounds he’s at 1.2

Steals U before for the for the season he’s at less than a steel a game 0.9 um he’s at 1.3 blocks for the season he’s less than uh less than a blocker game at at six so he’s a guy who’s really gotten engaged defensively and I know you say

Well you know herb Jones ought to run rub off on everybody when you come to defending well not necessarily because look if Zion scores 35 and he doesn’t guard anybody and the pels win who’s talking about his defense nobody you don’t care you just care about the end

Result but he’s really chipped in on that end and theels as a team are defending in a league where defense n always rewarded all the time especially in such an offensive league but I just like the fact that he’s really engaged defensively and it’s not so much you

Know a lot of times you say well you know he’s a willing Defender well you know what that means that means dude ain’t guard nobody that’s what it means that’s just a nice way of say he ain’t guarding anybody he’s a willing Defender well no he’s actually defending people

And I and I like seeing that out of it Dad to what graph mentioned about the way that Zion has carried himself I’ve really loved watching his how happy he is as well and just how much emotion he showed on the court I feel like one of

The best moments of the last month or so was the game where he drove through the entire defense drove like 60 70 feet at the end of a quarter and then made a layup right before the buzzer and then pum was a CP Clipper game yeah he swung

His left arm in in celebration of that and I think that was that was just a really cool moment and and to add to what JD mentioned too um just we’re starting to see the Duke Zion that I think everybody was projecting that he was going to be coming into the NBA and

So and and I mean for me the last thing too with him is just I’ve enjoyed seeing the the consistency the fact that he’s had so many stretches in the first the previous Four Seasons where he wasn’t on the court or he was back for a few games

Then out back for a week or two then out for a game or two that to be able to see this stretch recently where he’s played you know 15 something games in a row and it’s been almost every single game he’s the best player on the court or one of

The best players I’ve had so much fun watching him during this recent stretch yeah and look here’s the other thing too with Brandon Ingram out for a little bit too that’s what the big stars and big players do right put it on literally what I was going to say and I I’m just

Really curious now guys as now that Brandon is going to be out we know he’s going to be out at least a couple of weeks how the minutes are going to be spread out number one and is Zion’s minutes going to go up I mean look I I

Just go to what Josh Hart is doing for the Knicks I mean Josh Hart played 48 minutes the other night he did not come out of the game um which you know I was trying to think I can’t even recall anyone in the NBA all year long playing 48 minutes not

One player yeah um so you know guys in the 80s and 90s are laughing that but that’s the way it is nowadays but I think to Zion’s credit I think he’s put himself in a position condition wise that if his minutes do increase and I wouldn’t have any thought to why they

Would not uh because you’re going to need him on the floor now uh more than ever he’s going to be able to do it so uh that that to me just you know after what happened last night with Brandon what the minutes Situation’s going to be

Was on and and how much are they going to increase game by game all right you know Jim loves the national media so which Pelican should be getting national attention from some of the national media JD for the attention and credit on the team’s Improvement this year that is not getting

It um well he’s been an Allstar but I think I think the guy who got hurt last night I think Brandon Ingram um he’s really somewhat subjugated himself and and been willing to to fall into the background and not you know you get guys who who are stars or who believe they’re

Stars and they their role lessons or they don’t score as much as they’re accustomed to scoring or as much as they’re capable of and you’ll get guys who power who who will kind of I don’t want to say not give the best effort but guys who you can read their body

Language is you know well you know I didn’t get a shot this time so I I gotta take one or or something like that but Brandon inam has been really willing to be a great teammate in in ter and and the trade-off is wins and that’s what you want you want a guy

Who’s going to be unselfish in the wins and I know the the folks who love him you know the most who saying you know man he he needs to get you know 25 shots a game well he’s satisfied with the results he and Zion both of those guys

Seem like the the highest Priority Priority One for them right now is winning and it doesn’t necessarily mean it doesn’t it doesn’t matter who’s doing the scoring because about since the All-Star break he’s played 12 games he’s averaging 19 points now Brandon NE can roll out of

Bed and get to 25 okay he’s averaging he’s averaging 19 points and but he’s averaging five rebounds and he’s averaging five assists and he’s getting guys involved in his you know his efficiency is up he’s at 49% from the field and so and he’ll have a game where

He’ll bust out and get you 34 but he doesn’t feel the need to force anything and I think that’s really been something that’s been overlooked because you know Zions obviously going to get a lot of a lot of credit for what’s going on he’s number one overall pick he’s carrying

The team he’s got the team on his back but he’s got a guy who there have been clutch moments still during this stretch where Zion’s going well where Brandon England will make a big shot he’ll make a tough shot he’ll make a great pass you know those things that kind of go under

The radar because he’s not jumping off scoring 28 a game and I I think him just being really unselfish is something that’s kind of slid under the radar a little bit R I don’t know how how I can add any more than that than what a

Journalist just said uh I agree um and what you you know see what he’s done on the defensive end it’s never going to be talked about um he’s just been really really good his best defensive year really since his rookie year when he was in LA and just what we’re seeing with

The block shot he’s using that wingspan that you know the 72 wingspan the block shots the rebounding JD mentioned getting other guys involved it’s funny because you know I did a I did a show couple months ago with uh Antonio Daniels and Rick camela they do the give

And go show on NBA radio and I’m Banning myself from NBA radio now because two of the last three times I’ve been on it’s been a disaster the next game uh including last night uh the only game that we actually won after I did a I did

The show with them was the was the ad show so I will be able to go on that but Rick camela asked me about this was prior to the all break he goes you know talk to me about C.J McCullum and Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson do

You Williamson do you think that they’re all stars and I said well in our minds are all stars but they’re not going to be all stars because they’re not putting up the numbers and everything in the NBA is about numbers I mean that’s all it is there’s like how many points is he

Scoring you know how many re none of those guys had the numbers to be all stars but what they do for the team individually you know you can’t put it into into measurables and that’s Brandon Ingram to me and that’s why uh he isn’t going to get any type of

National uh recognition because he doesn’t have the sheer numbers but we’re okay with that because we know what he means to the team and what he does in all the other assets uh all the other facets excuse me uh of this Pelican team so yeah I I’m going with Brandon myself

My answer for most deserving of more National attention and recognition I mean one of the answers I was going to give is Herb Jones but I feel like we’ve talked about him a lot lately and we’re going to be talking about him a lot in the near future that’s a tease for

People you know next week and and Beyond in terms of a certain campaign that he may have for a certain individual award um but if you paid close attention to the the text that I sent with the categories I didn’t say which Pelican player I said which Pelican and that

Left me open be able to use Willie Green as my answer for this outside the box oh the Nuance who deserves more recognition you know Antonio Daniels our guy on TV always talks about how we we as media and even fans to tend to always give

Credit to the players when the team wins but blame the coaches when they lose and I feel like Willie deserves more credit for just the Improvement that this team has made and just I mean he’s has one of the more difficult jobs in the league

Based on how to figure out I have 12 guys who deserve minutes but I can only play nine so that’s part of it but also I think another factor in terms of why he hasn’t gotten as much National recognition is there’s been so many guys that have done a really good coaching

Job across the NBA I mean one of them we saw last night with Orlando that Jamal Mosley I think he’s done an amazing job and yet when you talk about when you hear people discuss best coach of the year it doesn’t seem like that often

He’s in the top two or three because you have guys like mark dnal from OKC he might be the front runner you have Babb bicker staff in Cleveland who’s has them as a top three team in the East despite having tons of huge injuries and key

Guys out of the lineup so there’s been so many coaches head coaches that you can give credit to but I think somewhere in that mix we need to give a nod to Willie Green for the Pelicans being one of the most improved teams in the League

This season is this one of quickly guys in about 30 seconds here is that is this one of the most competitive Coach of the Year Seasons that you guys have seen no doubt about it I mean there there’s a tons of tons of candidates who you could

Give uh who who would be worthy of winning um real quick on Willie on 15 seconds think about this Willie Green started his coaching career 1 and 12 and 3 and 16 without his best player and now he’s above 500 you know he’s seven games

Over 500 now it took him a while he didn’t have his best player for a season basically a season and a half of those three years and Brandon Ingram has missed a bunch of games too and he’s still been able to kind of Wade through

The waters and get to where he is right now right uh final question scale of one to 10 how important to you do you think is to get a four seed and have game one be at the blender JD you know I’m G to go I’m gon to go a

Five I’m I’m mid on that because staying out of the play in to me is is success for the season I want the pills to not be in that sudden death situation in the playin and once they get in the playoffs and they’re healthy with Brandon Ingram

Back not wood I don’t I’ll take my chances I’ll take my chances because you know really the only team in in the top five that I I I have trepidation about is is Denver Denver just has not been a good match up for the P but everybody

Else I’ll take my chances and it doesn’t have to be four in home court it can be five it can be six I’ll take my chances with this team because this team looks the part right now they look like they have the the requisite parts to make

Some noise I again I think JD and I have been working too long together I I was gonna say the exact same thing I’m giving it a five uh I don’t think you need homecourt advant I mean it it’d be nice don’t get me wrong but the pels

Have shown the ability as I mentioned earlier in the show to go on the road and win I think there’s a Western Conference team that’s going to be in the playoffs where you go into that Arena I know Denver’s tough I know it is

But we’ve won there in the past I I just I I don’t think there’s any type of Arena that we couldn’t go into and win uh enough games in a playoff series to get it done and unfortunately now with Ingram out getting that four spot’s

Going to be a lot harder I I just think right now it’s getting into the playoffs hopefully top six but getting in right now is the number one priority and it’s not homec Court my scale of one to 10 is a four which also is coincidentally how

Many games the Pelicans won in a row in crypto crypto.com Arena against the Clippers they’ve also won five out of their last six Road games against La there so obviously if the Pelicans finish as the five seed the most likely opponent they’re going to have is the

Clippers and Beyond the success that the Pelicans have had in away games specifically against them I mean we’ve seen throughout the entire season especially lately that they’re capable of winning on the road so I I’m at a four I feel like obviously the playoffs are different animal in terms of being

Able to win in someone else’s Arena than the regular season but still I feel like their track record that New Orleans has shown is enough for me to not be super preoccupied anymore with trying to get that four seed or home court advantage in the first round yeah just stay out of

The play in guys try to get yourself at least four games guaranteed and we’ll see what happens and this team’s played well on the road and uh I do think the blender’s ready to to get going there we’ve been seeing signs of that especially you go back you you guys were

Talk about the game post All-Star break that Clipper game felt awesome you know and I I think that’s what it’s going to feel like here coming up over the next you know I don’t know 12 13 games so thank you guys as always appreciate it and we’ll be chatting with you here

Shortly as we’ll be at wrong iron for the watch party you guys will be in Miami for what I think will be a highly contested game I would think so uh after what happened a couple weeks ago and uh you know we got the injury report when we

Were on the plane Jimmy Butler’s playing oh is he yeah well bam out ofi is questionable you know he’s playing he’s not sitting this one out um so look let Let’s uh let’s go it’s been a long time since we won in Miami it’s you know 2017

So it is time for that streak to end JD players amp themselves up right when they know they’re about to get into one of those highly contested games what are you listening to music wise in the room while you’re getting ready before you meet on the bus oh oh Eminem Lose Yourself Lose

Yourself let’s get ready to rumble let’s do that again your thunder little ACD thuck yeah thunder struck wow that’s going way back in the well yeah why not little little death metal a little yeah I’m ready either Wayan look that’s the thing I mean you have to get ready for tonight

You know they’re going to get playing here uh no one’s helping you anymore in the standings you got to take care of your business you got to Buck up and play you know it’s going to be chippy and this is where the pills have to be

Have to be mature because you want to play basketball you can’t get caught up in the other stuff Jimmy Jimmy Butler has run his mouth he’s going to run his mouth and you gotta you gotta brush that stuff aside and you got to play the game

Because at the end of the night or at the end of the day that’s exactly you can’t win you know it it doesn’t matter who fights the best it matter who plays the best graph’s going to have to wear dark colored Polo because I feel like you’re going to sweat through it like

Bruce Pearl you know back in the day it’s actually funny you said that Gus uh we’ve got our hoodies because evidently in the broadcast location in Miami it is as cold as the North Pole so um we uh we’re going to be protected from the air conditioning vents there you go and uh

We actually wore our winter clothes in Brooklyn because we were right underneath the Air ac vents so it’s going to be very funny to watch two broadcasters wearing winter gear in Miami in the arena I hear you guys always it’s fun I can’t wait for the broadcast tonight John

Theer to gra thank you so much all thanks guys all right jimr thanks to John the Shazer and tanini as always it’s fun chatting with them we’re GNA actually chat with him here shortly as we have a game tonight against the Miami Heat what is our trending number sir our

Trending number is 4 and two and that is the Pelicans record this season when Brandon Ingram has not played now one of the things that’s interesting if you look at now I’ll quickly go through lost at home to Golden State one these one against Detroit one at Dallas one

Against Houston here um one at Oklahoma City lost at home against Miami now of those six games because several of them were in the beginning part of the Season Trey Murphy’s only played in two of them and coincidentally that was the win right after the All-Star break against

Houston and the loss to Miami almost exactly a month ago um he struggled in those games Trey Murphy he was six for 24 from the field and three for 17 on threes he was kind of going through a little bit of that shooting slump right after the All-Star break that it it

Didn’t take him very long after that to kind of pull himself out of that though but um he’s the guy that I think we’re all going to be watching to see how he performs and I mean obviously what we’ve seen lately he’s more than capable of moving into the starting lineup and

Playing extremely well I feel like his pairing with Zion is is really perfect the fact that he can space the floor for Zion and and open up some room for Zion to drive and vice versa Zion gets into the paint he draws two or three guys it’s a tough decision do I leave

Trey Murphy or do I go try to stop this um linebacker coming through the paint and I think um those guys play off of each other really well so that’s going to be one of the keys for the Pelicans to try to be successful is Trey Murphy

Moving into Brandon Ingram’s spot in the starting lineup I think one of the things that we have to be though is you’re pulling if Trey starts you’re pulling him out of the bench unit which they’re going to have to figure out a way to to replace some of his scoring

Production from that unit Tyson Daniels he scheduled to come back here soon right that could be that could help definitely I refor a little bit there right yeah for sure you want to see him come back soon so that you have another player that you can bring Off the Bench

Obviously totally different player than Trey Murphy in terms of what he brings to the team he’s more of a defensive guy um than a outside shooter offensive player but but yeah I mean having him coming back I think would be really important and crucial especially right

Now with them losing one of the key guys at the top of the roster all right our weekend Showdown is it is Sunday night 6 PM now neither of these teams are really close to the Pelicans in the standings but I thought this was an interesting

Game just based on the way things have been going lately it’s Golden State at Minnesota like I said Sunday 6:00 right now the Warriors are 36 and 32 5 and a/2 games behind the Pelicans so as far as the play in danger zone is looking I think New Orleans is in pretty good

Shape and I mean we’re getting down to the point where most a lot of these teams are going to be have only kind of single digit games remaining so that’s looking good and then on the other side Minnesota is 47 and 22 they’re five games ahead of the Pelicans right now so

That’s again probably looking like a gap that’s not going to be able to be made up over this short amount of time over the remainder of the season but I mean the I think think obviously a reason for people to pay close attention to the Timberwolves even though they’re five

Games away from the Pelicans in the standings is right now they’re in the three spot Pelicans could end up six um Timberwolves could move up they’re not that far behind Denver and Oklahoma City so I mean keeping an keeping an eye on the Timberwolves is important because

That could affect you know the playoff matchups that we’re about to see in April all right let’s see that’s J Mike can offer pelicans.com jimiken Hoffer and if you come over to wrong L for the Pelicans watch party he may or may be behaving himself I I don’t know we’ll

See exactly we’ll see depends how the game goes we will see you on Monday right here we come back hopefully talking about a pair of wins 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 Jim _ ion offer and gatore 17 we’ll see you next time right here on the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast

On the latest New Orleans Pelicans Podcast from Friday, March 22, 2024, Jim Eichenhofer and Gus Kattengell are joined by Pelicans Radio play-by-play voice Todd Graffagnini and color analyst John DeShazier to discuss how the team will handle Brandon Ingram’s recent injury. They’ll discusses what’s impressed them the most about Zion Williamson’s recent play, the importance of the 4th seed in the Western Conference, and their favorite Pelicans win following All-Star break. Jim closes it out with his trending numbers and weekend showdown.
00:00 – Introduction to the New Orleans Pelicans Podcast – Kickoff and welcome by the hosts.

00:34 – Pelicans’ Recent Game Recap and Ingram’s Injury – Discussion on the loss against Orlando Magic and Brandon Ingram’s injury incident.

01:52 – Brandon Ingram Injury Update – Detailed information on Ingram’s injury status and the team’s announcement.

02:35 – Importance of Brandon Ingram to the Pelicans – Analyzing Ingram’s contributions and significance to the team’s performance.

03:46 – Reaction to Brandon Ingram’s Injury

09:27 – Radio Roundtable with Todd Graffagnini and John DeShazier

10:00 – Todd Graffagnini on the impact of Bradon Ingram’s injury

12:27 – John DeShazier reaction to Brandon Ingram’s injury

14:15 – Best Pelicans win since the All-Star break?

18:35 – Biggest surprise from the Pelicans’ recent success.

23:45 – What we’ve enjoyed the most from watching Zion Williamson this season?

30:00 – Which New Orleans Pelicans player/coach should be getting national media attention that isn’t?

37:10 – Importance of getting the #4 seed?

40:13 – Closing Remarks, Miami Heat Preview

42:43 – Jim closes it out with his trending numbers and weekend showdown.

#NBA #Pelicans #NewOrleansPelicans
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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