New Orleans Pelicans: 3 reasons to feel positive about the Pels start

Not everything has gone to plan out of the gate for the New Orleans Pelicans, but there are still plenty of reasons for optimism amidst a slow opening.

The New Orleans Pelicans dreamed of the playoffs when they give comments on media day, but have now picked up the speed, getting their record 4-9 to start the 2019-2020 NBA season.

Last night, the team picked up a victory lacking a lot of their key players, one that would’ve really hurt to lose nevertheless.

Playing with heart (but without Josh Hart), the team out-dueled the league-worst Golden State Warriors 108-100 on Sunday night in New Orleans. The Warriors fell to 2-12 after the loss, extending their losing streak to seven straight games.

The team was boosted in large part due to strong nights from key veterans in J.J. Redick (26 points) and Jrue Holiday (22 points, 9 assists, 8 rebounds).

Even as they continue to look for a clear path towards consistency, this team is showing plenty of positives through its cracks. After all, this team has done a nice job turning a 1-7 start into something positive pretty early in the campaign.

While they’ve had a tough schedule in the outset, games are starting to bounce in the New Orleans Pelicans’ direction.

Seemingly, this team could be a five-game winning streak away from getting right back to where they were expected to be by some at the beginning of the season.

Lacking Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart, Jahlil Okafor, Derrick Favors, and Frank Jackson on Sunday, with J.J. Redick joining that same list on Saturday, this Pelicans team battled serious injury losses to play robust basketball this weekend.

This team doesn’t look as far from the playoff picture as they did even last week, something that’s helped by the New Orleans Pelicans being able to take home victories in three of their last five contests, two of which came against playoff teams a season ago (Warriors & LA Clippers).

Head coach Alvin Gentry is seemingly starting to find the right mix with his New Orleans Pelicans bunch, really starting to nail down rotations and put players in positions to succeed.

Granted, they still have work left to do once their arsenal of injured key men gets back on the floor. This nice run of games means less if they can’t make it last with the main cast.

Overall, there is a lot of reasons to feel positive about this Pelicans team. Growing pains were always going to be a part of the formula. Once the big cast of injured Pelicans comes back into the frame, there’s going to be more experimenting.

Brandon Ingram is giving the New Orleans Pelicans a second star to help build for the future.

One of the more interesting players out of the gate in the 2019-2020 NBA season, Brandon Ingram has turned a lot of heads with his renewed excellence as a member of the Pelicans.

When the New Orleans Pelicans made the swap to bring a trove of assets over from the Los Angeles Lakers, there was hope that at least one superstar could help mend the gap that was the loss of Anthony Davis.

Instead of being in a future draft, the team is finding something in Brandon Ingram, who looks like someone who could very well be in the New Orleans Pelicans plans for the long haul.

Granted, it was a rough week for Ingram, as he warmed up prior to each contest but ultimately missed three straight games.

It’s been more about the games Ingram has played for the New Orleans Pelicans thus far, however, where he’s been a stat sheet filler. Ingram is averaging 25.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 3.9 assists, but has really been the catalyst for all of the team’s offense.

Ingram is off to an incredible start shooting the ball, hitting 53.7% of his shots from the floor, but that’s not as daunting as the lanky finisher’s 46.9% rate from three on what’s been a by-far a career-high in attempts, as he’s taking 5.4 looks from deep per night in New Orleans.

He’s also giving Executive VP of Basketball Operations David Griffin a pretty easy choice to make on the terms of his contract this offseason (if you want a hint, think about the word “MAX”).

Seemingly helped in part by Alvin Gentry’s up-tempo offense and in part by just being able to be himself in a city not so engulfed in as much media pressure, Ingram looks like a new man.

There’s a chance that when Zion Williamson gets back in action, the two could quickly become one of the best duos in the league, potentially the best Under-25 duo in professional sports.

Brandon Ingram is still just 22-years-old and has plenty of room for improvement for the New Orleans Pelicans. The front runner for the league’s Most Improved Player is giving fans plenty of evidence that the expansion to his game might not slow down anytime soon.

Once completely lost, the New Orleans Pelicans are (finally) starting to find some sort of identity on defense, perhaps thanks to Kenny Hustle.

Some New Orleans Pelicans might still have their doubts while some might read that statement and hear a choir of angels, but believe it or not, the team is starting to find some flow on defense.

Starting the year as the league’s worst scoring defense, the New Orleans Pelicans knew they had nowhere to go but up on the ball-stopping end of the floor. While they’re still working out the kinks and waiting for full health, there’s finally signs this defense might be kind of solid.

Hiring Jeff Bzdelik as the chief of the New Orleans Pelicans defense in the offseason, this team has looked more interested in playing a round of olé than actually putting bodies on defenders.

Trusting a sturdy force like Kenrich Williams, the Pelicans starting five has seen a boost on the defensive end over the last four games. Giving Williams the call to start in five straight contests,  the Pelicans have given up a much more reasonable 113.6 points per game.

Miraculously, they’re no longer the league’s worst scoring defense, as they’re now allowing just 120 points per game after their solid defensive performance last night.

Allowing 124 points through their first eight games, it seems this team is either figuring out Bzdelik’s system or simply is just playing harder.

What was so frustrating about this team at the beginning of the year, primarily, was not being able to rely on Jrue Holiday to lock-down both ends of the floor.

Seemingly looking back to his All-NBA Defensive Team level, Jrue is back to looking like a ball-stoping shark for Alvin Gentry and the Pelicans.

Some wondered if this New Orleans Pelicans defense would ever get right on defense.

Before the season, the roster dripped with defensive potential, but through the preseason and early season slate, the team looked totally lost on that end of the floor.

Both solid defenders during their time with the Los Angeles Lakers, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball both need to show more on that end of the floor. That’s something that could simply come once both have more time to mesh with Bzdelik and Gentry, but it would certainly help the team.

New Orleans still has work to do on this end of the floor, but it certainly doesn’t seem like the lost cause it was to start the year. After all, it would be hard to get a whole lot worse.

The rookie New Orleans Pelicans are giving fans a lot of reasons to feel excited about the present and future.

In the first round of the 2019 NBA Draft, the New Orleans Pelicans seemingly stumbled upon three pretty good talents, all of whom seem apt at sticking around for the long haul.

Zion Williamson was always going to be special. His blend of basketball skills, athletic ability, and general humanity has made that kid loveable since his early days in Duke blue. His debut will come in the next few weeks.

As many fans were drawing this season up to be all about Zion, the rookie is finally inching closer and closer to being back in the game. Truly, his debut could be right around the corner, as the calendar turns to the first week of December.

What fans needed to learn is what they actually were getting in eighth-overall pick Jaxson Hayes and seventeenth-overall pick Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who were lesser-known college products.

In turn, Hayes and Alexander-Walker have responded with pretty impressive basketball, especially when considering the two still have a few weeks before they’ll have played even 20 NBA games.

Drawing his first start of the season yesterday against the Warriors, Hayes is averaging 7.7 points, 3.8 rebounds, and shooting 68.9% from the floor in New Orleans.

The New Orleans Pelicans are also +2.1 with Hayes on the floor, as the rookie is posting a +1.4 box plus/minus, plus is taking 84.4% of his shots from within three feet. Hayes is playing smart, causal basketball fresh off of the college shelf.

Alexander-Walker took a little longer to find his rhythm in the NBA but after a 27-point outburst against the Heat and posting 19 points, 4 assists performance against the Warriors, the rookie looks a lot more comfortable on the floor.

His numbers don’t look great thanks to some truly ugly shooting performances early in the season, but Alexander-Walker is averaging 7.5 points, 2.6 assists, and 2.4 rebounds while shooting 36.4% from three for the New Orleans Pelicans.

Getting positives out of their rookies so early, the New Orleans Pelicans have a lot to feel good about heading into their next stretch out games.

Truly, this season was starting to feel like something of a lost cause, but players stepping up into their roles could make this team back into a fringe playoff club. On both ends of that argument, there’s still a lot left to learn and a lot of games left to play for these Pelicans.