When it comes to the New Orleans Pelicans, trust your gut

After a tough loss to open the season against the Memphis Grizzlies yesterday, New Orleans is one of many cities feeling like the overreaction capital. Just like the preseason, it’s difficult to lose or gain complete hope from one game. With Golden State up next, the Pels have a tough road, but we should all still trust the elements that make this team exciting.

Overreacting is apart of life, sports has a way of taking it to a whole new level. A player or coach can be a hero one day and a villain the next. Pressure and nerves are high in New Orleans as the Pelicans don’t have long to get things right, getting off to a good start may be as important as ever.

Yes, the Pelicans lost to a team in Memphis that embarrassed them days prior in the final preseason game. Yes DILLION BROOKS destroyed New Orleans again while outscoring Jrue Holiday.

But, is that really enough to garner, for example, this type of overreaction?

Think about how you felt when the New Orleans Pelicans acquired DeMarcus Cousins last year. You were ecstatic, you thought the Pelicans had the perfect counter attack for the new aged NBA.

Now be honest, the Pelicans preseason scared you. The defense looked sketchy, the offense looked stale, and of course, key pieces are injured. Game one didn’t really do much to make you feel better.

So, what do you do?

You smile and think positive, most importantly trust

the process

your gut. We would be rich if we had a dollar for every Pelicans non-believer we’ve heard this year. On the other side, we’ve seen analysts that do believe in New Orleans simply because of the elite duo we saw dominate last night.

They’re trusting what their gut tells them.

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When we overreact, we often lose perspective, along with any positives that may have taken place. Anthony Davis and Boogie Cousins both had great nights that arguably should have ended up better, as they seemed to be hacked more inside than the free throw numbers will suggest.

Boogie looked like the weight loss did him wonders as he moved extremely well defensively and finished with seven blocks. As a team the Pelicans rotated, and switched well for stretches, playing relatively good defense outside of a few breakdowns and some foul trouble.

The bench play left much to be desired, there are some question marks about the minutes, rotations, and where the hell Jrue Holiday will be offensively some nights. New Orleans isn’t the only team that has question marks if we judge them solely offseason openings.

A predicted bottom finishing Atlanta Hawks team beat Dallas at home. For the second straight year, Golden State lost on opening night. The Nuggets lost to Utah, and the T’Wolves lost to a San Antonio Spurs team missing Kawhi Leonard. Should we throw them away too?

Don’t forget to remember the work this team put in this offseason. No matter the fit, the placing of pieces takes time. You may paint a house exactly the way you dreamed of, but you still have to wait for the paint to dry. No matter your fear, trust your belief that this is the most talented New Orleans basketball team in its young history.

Well maybe not, Lil Wayne and Young Money once formed a fun squad for Birdman’s “Pop Bottles” video.

Besides that, this Pelicans team still sits tall. Never has the franchise possessed two top players at once (I can feel David West scowling now). The rest of the core will have their moments, Jrue Holiday won’t average 10 points a game, and Rajon Rondo will return soon and play well.

No matter the outcome of Friday’s game against Golden State, everyone should stay the course, in a season that will have it’s highs and lows.

Next: New Orleans Pelicans drop season opener to Memphis Grizzlies

Truthfully nobody knows a damn thing after the first week of basketball, so the first game is a completely different equation. Be happy Pelicans fans, be excited, and more than anything be optimistic. This should still be a fun season, so don’t just re-tweet #doitbig, believe in it.