New Orleans Pelicans: Player Grades in Disappointing Loss to the Spurs
Orleans Pelicans: Player Grades for the shooting guards.
Shooting Guards
New Orleans Pelicans. NICKEIL ALEXANDER-WALKER. C+. . Shooting Guard
Nickeil Alexander-Walker needs a lot of work. His handles are horrible. He makes bad decisions. But he also plays hard, which got him some minutes in the third quarter against the Spurs. NAW was part of the unit that brought the team back and he played decent defense in his short time on the floor. Gentry clearly stuck with him for too long, and he should NEVER be the primary ball handler, which was evident by his four turnovers. NAW at least played with heart even though he didn’t play particularly well.
A-. . Shooting Guard. New Orleans Pelicans. J.J. REDICK
J.J. Redick was the only big game player for the Pelicans and it was clear he was trying desperately to keep his playoff streak alive.
Redick took two charges in the third quarter that really got the Pelicans going and his timely three-point shooting kept them in the game at times. Redick finished with a game-high 31 points, played with intensity and effort and screamed at the young Pelicans when they didn’t.
Redick showed that he cared, which is more than most of the Pelicans and also that he may have a future as a coach, as he did more to motivate the team than Alvin Gentry.
F. . Shooting Guard. New Orleans Pelicans. JRUE HOLIDAY
Jrue Holiday‘s streak of playing well every other game continued, as he put up an absolute stink bomb against the Spurs after having a good game against the Wizards. Holiday was just two for 12 and turned the ball over a whopping five times after turning it over seven times in the last one. Turnovers have plagued Holiday in the restart, as he now has a combined 26 in just six games, which is not good for a guy who the Pels count on to take care of the ball.
Holiday kept jumping without a plan, getting caught in the air and throwing it away. He had two early turnovers that really set a negative tone for the Pelicans and let the Spurs jump out early.
Holiday is asked to do a lot for this team, sometimes too much, but he was extremely inconsistent as well.
The Pelicans starting backcourt was 4-22 for a combined 12 points and eight turnovers, numbers that are not going to bring home a win against anyone. The entire Spurs’ starting lineup had the same number of combined turnovers as Holiday.
It was a disappointing effort for Jrue when the team needed him most.