New Orleans Pelicans vs. Memphis Grizzlies Grades and Awards
Once again, the New Orleans Pelicans were unable to execute down the stretch in order to achieve victory, despite a great performance from Jrue Holiday.
The Pelicans kept this game close up until the final buzzer. How they did that I’m not quite sure. Anthony Davis had an “okay” game by his standards and Jrue Holiday played like a monster, but outside of them almost every other player on the roster severely underperformed.
The Pelicans now sit at 13-27 with the trade deadline approaching and an abundance of bad fits. The question is when and how will the Pelicans try to fix things. Either Demps has moves lined up which he is waiting to finalize, or he is hopelessly still convinced this core is worth committing to.
Games like these are difficult and taxing to watch, but hopefully we can bet on them to incite change where change is necessary.
101. 211. 99. 69. Final
D+. The other day I wrote close to 1000 words on why Norris Cole might be the worst statistical player in the entire league. One of the things I uncovered in that article is that he is a 20.9% shooter on non-corner three pointers. Regardless, Gentry drew up a top of the arc three for Cole in the last-minute of this game, or Gentry drew up something else and Cole decided to take the shot anyway. Cole had 10 points today in 30 minutes, went 0/3 from deep, had four assists with four turnovers to go along with it. Yuck. . PG. . NORRIS COLE
As bad as Cole was, Eric Gordon might have been worse. 37 minutes, 10 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 turnovers, and 3 fouls on 2/7 shooting from the floor. His impact on the game is so negligible that I regularly forget he is even on the floor. Much like Anderson, Gordon is a player who’s value is entirely offensive. That means on nights when he can’t find his shot (like tonight) he is a net negative player to have on the court. The only thing he did well tonight was arguing with the refs enough to earn himself four free throw shots, everything else was a train-wreck.. SG. . ERIC GORDON. F+
C-. Sometimes Dante is able to hustle and grind enough to fool us into thinking he is an NBA rotation player, on other nights it becomes apparently clear he isn’t one. His stat-line tonight was 7 points, one rebound, one steal, two blocks, and three fouls. Unlike some other Pelicans players he was able to maintain a neutral -/+ of zero though, so I’ll give him a passing grade.. SF,PF. . DANTE CUNNINGHAM
B-. Not at all a memorable game from Davis. He ended with 21 points, eight rebounds, two assists, three steals, three blocks, three turnovers, and three fouls. As cool as 5×3 games are, you’d prefer that fouls and turnovers aren’t two of the passing categories. He took just 12 shots tonight and made six of them. His defense looked good, but that “<em>pop</em>” that’s been lacking from his game all season was even less present than usual tonight. I keep hoping he’s going to breakout and regain his elite level play, and I keep getting mildly disappointed.. PF, C. . ANTHONY DAVIS
C+. . Omer basically did his job and avoided making any glaring mistakes. He was atrocious early in the season but lately he’s back to at least being a serviceable rebounder and defender. He ended with eight points, 6 rebounds and two fouls in 20 minutes. That’s acceptable enough for me.. C. . OMER ASIK
Bench:
JRUE HOLIDAY. A+. Jrue continues to show us he is an elite point guard and clearly the 2nd best player on this team. With Tyreke Evans out he put up a stat-line of 23 points, nine assists, and two rebounds while shooting 9/13 from the floor and 1/2 from deep in just 28 minutes. I know starting positions don’t matter <em>that</em> much, but I think he needs to become this team’s clear leading guard and Tyreke needs to go to the bench. I’m aware of the ego issues that might create, but I want to rip the band-aid off as soon as possible.. PG.
RYAN ANDERSON. C+. Anderson hit some clutch shots in the fourth quarter, but he also froze and passed up an open three pointer that could have won the Pelicans the game. He had 14 points, four rebounds and a steal in 26 minutes on 6/14 shooting. He also continues to shoot fade-away post shots over guys who are shorter than 6’7″ which drives me up the wall.. PF.
C. . ALEXIS AJINCA. C. This is a game where Ajinca’s talents could have been utilized really well. He stands at 7’2″ and has the ability to draw Marc Gasol out of the paint. He ended with four points and four rebounds in 11 minutes, wasted talent in a game where his skill set was potentially a valuable asset.
F. Two points on 0/2 shooting in 23 minutes. I don’t want to talk about it.. SF, SG. . ALONZO GEE
MVP: Jrue Holiday
Jrue was like Pablo Picasso tonight. He held the basketball like a paintbrush and carefully painted his impact all over the court. He has a legitimate argument to be considered the smoothest player in the league and he is an absolute joy to watch. Given how hard he works to push the ball in transition I’m surprised Gentry isn’t more in love with him, one would think he could be the perfect player for his system. Without him this game would have been an absolute blowout.
LVP: Eric Gordon
Gordon is unplayable on both ends when he isn’t scoring. To give you an idea of how little help he provided tonight, Gentry subbed him out for Alonzo Gee in the closing minutes who had a miraculous stat-line of 2 points on 0/2 shooting from the floor. If he isn’t traded by the end of the season I’ll be angry, if he is re-signed at the end of the season I might literally pop a blood vessel.
Defining moment:
Pelicans were down by just two points when Courtney Lee missed his second free throw. They had a chance to grab the ball and call timeout but Marc Gasol swooped in and knocked the ball to the other end of the court where time ran out. It’s possible that was the Grizzlies intention from the start, either way it crushed whatever hope was left.
What’s next?
The Pelicans next three games are against the Wolves, Pistons, and Bucks. As we approach the trade deadline the impacts of these games increases exponentially. Hopefully the Pelicans are able to iron out the issues plaguing their current roster.