New Orleans Pelicans Quarter Season Roundtable
Apr 25, 2015; New Orleans, LA, USA; General view of t-shirts placed on the seats before game four of the first round of the NBA Playoffs between the New Orleans Pelicans and the Golden State Warrior at the Smoothie King Center. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Can the Pelicans still make the playoffs?
Nathan: No. Let us do some math. The Pelicans made it in as the eighth seed last year with 45 wins. Assuming the same win total would be needed this season, that means the Pelicans need to win 40 more games. With only 61 games left, the Pelicans would need to go 40-21 just to reach last year’s win total, which only barely squeezed them in. Let’s be honest, has anyone seen anything from this team to make one believe they could go 40-21? I certainly haven’t. It certainly isn’t impossible, but it is highly unlikely. Unfortunately, I’m predicting more of the worst case scenario where the Pelicans get it together in just enough time to win a couple dozen games and lose all chance at a high draft pick. Yeah, we are 21 games in and I’m already talking about draft picks. I feel like I’m writing about the Sixers.
Rick: CAN they? I mean yeah. They’re not mathematically eliminated. Is it likely? No. The team is starting to get healthy yet none of the real problems are seeing solutions. Players are still trying to find their groove and forcing shots that are sub-par. The defense just seems like a bunch of players lost in who they are supposed to be guarding. Just because this team is going to play teams with less-than stellar records does not mean their mistakes are automatically going to get fixed. Something has to drastically change. Otherwise, clear your schedule for the NBA lottery night. The Pelicans might already be there.
Austin: No. This is too big of hole to overcome. They aren’t to far out of it on paper, but with the demeanor of the team and how they are losing some of these games, it doesn’t look like they are going to even get to .500. They’re still trying to adjust to playing with each other and playing through some of the injuries on the team, but by the time they might figure it out, it will already be too late.
Matt: Theoretically they can, as the Western Conference is down a bit this season and with injuries to players like Rudy Gobert in Utah, the eighth seed should be a long-term fight. But I don’t see anything about this team that tells me they are going to put it all together and make the type of run needed to pass as many teams as they need to in order to get there.
Next: The trade questions