New Orleans Pelicans: Second Term Report Cards
By Seth Nefsky
1. Jrue Holiday: A
When did Jrue Holiday become such a good scorer? Really. Though he has never struggled to score the ball, Jrue Holiday has never been this good at getting the ball to the hoop. From three-point range, Holiday’s early-season struggles have faded away, and in the season’s second term, he has shot 38.7% from three.
And though he had already been having a career-best year, in terms of two-point percentage, he rose that number from 55.2% in his first term, to 57.6% now. His mid-range jump shot has been incredible, shooting 62.2% from there. And most of these attempts are actually coming off of stop-and-pop jumpers, which is even more impressive.
As always, his defensive impact has been incredible. And though his
has fallen slightly, some of this could be due to his playing in the starting lineup with E’Twaun Moore and Rajon Rondo, two very poor defenders. With them off the floor, Holiday lineups have produced a 104.9
, an incredible number, especially for the Pels, who have struggled on the defensive end.
New Orleans Pelicans: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Once again, the New Orleans Pelicans have been fine, not great. That is not new. In the quarter, their record has been ten and eleven, not too far from their eleven and nine from the first term. Their net-rating has improved from .7 to one. In most cases, that would earn the team a ‘B-‘.
But the thing is, the Pels aren’t playing in the same way they did in the first term. Though they are playing at a similar pace, their offense has skyrocketed from 105.5 points per 100 possessions to 111.6. On the other end, their defense has plummeted from 104.9 to 110.6. They have made more threes, and generally shot the ball better, but with that, so have their opponents.
So despite them playing at a similar level, they have not played the same way, and therefore they can not earn a letter mark.