Grades: New Orleans Pelicans fatigue catches up with them, defeated by Suns 121-100
The New Orleans Pelicans were back in action against the Phoenix Sun after playing host to the Kobe Bryant farewell tour. Tonight’s home game was subject to a lot less fan fare than yesterdays affair, as both of these teams are lottery bound with not much in terms of recognizable star power. The game itself was sloppy but in a weird way fun. Even with the Pelicans getting stomped by the Suns there was a number of highlight plays hidden by stretches of sloppy play and just overall lack of talent. The Pelicans would hang around in the first half but it was obvious that the Suns wore them down and their fatigue showed in the second half. The result was the Suns blowing the game wide open in a sloppy third quarter by the Pelicans. The 4th quarter featured a number of fun plays from both teams but the Pelicans never seriously threatened the Suns and the result was a 121-100 win for the Suns. Those who are tank enthusiast can breathe a sigh of relief. Here are the grades from tonights affair.
66. 100. 69. Final. 121
New Orleans Pelicans. TONEY DOUGLAS. B+. Ok lets start by saying this, anyone who pays attention to the sport of basketball is aware that Toney Douglas is not a lead guard but he has been pretty good at making shots for the Pelicans. Douglas has been far from the disaster that “starting point guard Toney Douglas” sounds like it would be and has proven to be at the very least formidable. Tonight that did not change, Toney finished the game with a team high 23 points on 8-14 shooting while collecting 5 assist to only 1 turnover. Solid game from Douglas, even with his defense being relatively sub par tonight.. PG
JAMES ENNIS. B-. Ennis, fresh off being signed for the rest of the year put up a career high 18 points on 8-16 shooting. He cooled off a bit after a hot start to the game but its hard to downplay his contributions tonight. Ennis reminds me of Tyreke Evans lite in terms of play style and while he has been good I don’t see a longterm fit on this roster. One thing about Ennis is that he has a high motor and constantly is engaged in the game so that may be something that impresses managment.. G. New Orleans Pelicans
Dante Cunningham put up decent numbers scoring 13 points on 5-11 shooting but he just appeared off tonight. Cunningham was short on a lot of his jumpers including an air balled three and an near air balled free throw. The tired legs and heavy minutes looks to have taken a toll on Cunningham as the season winds down but don’t let the numbers fool you, Cunningham is the best healthy NBA player on this Pelicans roster right now.. SF. New Orleans Pelicans. DANTE CUNNINGHAM. C-
F. Games like tonight highlight the shortcomings of Ajinca, a day after dominating the Lakers in all facets he was non factor and not nearly as engaged as he need to be on defense or on the boards Ajinca is skilled offensively but too often it seems if his shots aren’t falling he doesn’t really give the best effort on defense. His rotations were poor and a day after grabbing 15 rebounds he only was able to mange 4 tonight. Alexis also got hurt in the 4th quarter so fingers crossed on him being ok.. C. New Orleans Pelicans. ALEXIS AJINCA
New Orleans Pelicans. OMER ASIK. I. Asik will get the rare “I” grade tonight because he is basically irrelevant at this point. Playing a player like Asik only 13 minutes is pointless. Asik makes his impact on defense and grabbing rebounds and when you play him such few minutes you are not giving him an opportunity to impact the game. Not saying Asik has earned that chance but it just seems so pointless to just start him and then not play him again at all.. C
Tim Frazier did not shoot well tonight scoring only 11 points on 5-14 shooting but he continued to be the Pelicans best ball handling option as he continually found guys on cuts en route to 7 assist and only 1 turnover. Frazier also chipped in 8 rebounds to put forth a solid all around effort. Frazier might not be the most talented player but their could be a legit argument made that he possesses the highest basketball IQ on the roster.. PG. New Orleans Pelicans. TIM FRAZIER. B+
D. Hamilton struggled to find rhythm as his legs looked tired on all his jumpers. While Cunningham was generally short on his shots Hamilton missed strong. Jordan also chipped in 12 points but it took a 4-12 shooting effort to get their and at times in the 4th he settled for contested layups rather than making the extra pass. One particular instance was when he drove baseline and the entire defense collapsed and rather than kicking it out to the wide open Luke Babbitt he tried to draw contact on a floater attempt.. SF. New Orleans Pelicans. JORDAN HAMILTON
B-. Babbitt has taken the most of his oppurtinity to showcase his entire offensive repertoire. Babbitt has done shockingly well at creating his own shot and while his finishing is shaky he was able to convert a few tough layups tonight (albeit he also blew some easy ones). Regardless 17 points on 7-16 shooting isn’t bad. Luke Babbitt is making a late case to prove he deserves minutes next season.. F. New Orleans Pelicans. LUKE BABBITT
A++++++. Kendrick Perkins still best friends with top free agent and former MVP Kevin Durant ? Don’t you dare argue my grade.. C. New Orleans Pelicans. KENDRICK PERKINS