New Orleans Pelicans: One Positive/Negative for Each Player this Season

New Orleans Pelicans: One positive/negative for the starting bigs.

The Starting Bigs

Derrick Favors

Positive: Derrick Favors was the defensive anchor the Pelicans lacked for most of the season. His addition was a turning point. He led quietly and by example, playing hard and being a very coachable professional. He was part of most of the Pels’ best lineups and their defense was lost without him.

Negative: The problem was their defense was also lost WITH him. Favors was terrible in the bubble, looked like he didn’t want to be there and really shouldn’t have been on the floor as much as he was. Sadly, watching the last game I was thinking “Should Zylan Cheatham have gotten all of Favors’ minutes?” The Pelicans need to get bigger and more athletic at center, so Favors time with the team may be done.

Brandon Ingram

Positive: Brandon Ingram improved more than any other Pelican this year, and probably more than any other player in the NBA. His stats went up in every category, but what made Ingram such a killer this year was his improved shooting and passing. Ingram raised his 3-point percentage to 39.1 and his free throws to 85.1 percent. His assists went up to 4.2 and Ingram was really dishing at the end of the season when the double teams started to come. Ingram evolved into a young Durant this season as a scorer and could win a scoring title in the near future.

Negative: Ingram still needs a lot of work on defense, though it is improving. I really didn’t like his body language and effort in the bubble, particularly after the first game in which he missed a buzzer beater for the win against Utah. It all went downhill for Ingram after that, and I noticed him sulking every time he was on the bench, and not really supporting his teammates who were on the floor. He also didn’t run back on defense a few times, which eventually got him benched. I don’t think Ingram was happy with Gentry’s rotations (ditto) and thought he should have been featured more in the offense (ditto again). Gentry may be on his way out and he needs to take a lot of the heat, but Ingram didn’t lead by example and your best players have to play hard all the time if you want to have a chance in the NBA. The Pelicans are learning that if you play soft, you are going to lose.

Zion Williamson

Positive: Zion Williamson was a force of nature at times and was clearly the best rookie by a mile. His post game is already there and once he gets rolling to the rim, there is no one in the NBA who can stop him. Zion is a beast on the offensive glass and is already starting to develop more range on his shot. Be scared, NBA.

Negative: I’m not going to list his injuries or weight because they’ve been talked about ad nauseam. Another negative was Zion’s defense. It was a tough year for the rookie and defense takes longer to learn than offense, but Zion has the athleticism and size to be an elite shot blocker and he didn’t show signs of even being a passable one. This is a problem, as the Pelicans like to go small, but if Zion can’t really guard his position, it is a lot harder. He didn’t record a single block or steal in the bubble, which wasn’t unusual, as the Pels had very few as a team. Zion needs to improve his defense, especially off the ball, as he’s not likely to be asked to guard the other team’s best big guy, so can cheat off his man for blocks.

Overall, it was a frustrating ending to what was supposed to be a rebuilding year. The New Orleans Pelicans arrived slightly ahead of schedule and were taught the harsh lesson that the NBA is still a grown adult league and you have to bring intensity and energy every night to be successful.

There are some questions heading into next season but the Pelicans and their fans have to be excited about the future.