New Orleans Pelicans: Grades for crushing loss vs. Spurs

New Orleans Pelicans vs. Spurs: Grades for the wings

I thought Brandon Ingram had a frustrating performance against the Spurs.

Ingram’s stats ended up looking pretty good—24 points, six assists, and six rebounds—but he struggled to truly make a mark on the game. It often seemed like the one-time all-star was on a different wavelength to the rest of the New Orleans Pelicans.

Ingram really struggled to get into a consistent groove. He was forcing shots and drives, taking tons of difficult pull-up twos, and was constantly bothered by San Antonio’s defense. I wish he had focused on playmaking a bit more.

Ingram’s performance was momentarily better in the third quarter, scoring 11 points on 5-of-9 shooting, but that shouldn’t conceal a tough outing. I also did not understand Ingram taking an important three down the stretch when that shot had not been going for him all night long.

The important takeaway for Naji Marshall against the Spurs is that he played every minute of the fourth quarter.

That is indicative of how much Stan Van Gundy trusts the former Xavier man, who I expect to see get converted to a regular contract very soon. Marshall wasn’t overly impressive, but he still did some nice things against the Spurs. He was effective pushing the ball and getting downhill to draw fouls, but here’s where the caveat kicks in.

I’ve argued before that shooting is Marshall’s swing skill and, while I still think it is, he has shown that he can impact games even without a consistent three-pointer through his driving game. Because Marshall is so tough and forceful on his drives, he takes plenty of trips to the free throw line—where he shooting just 65 percent.

Since entering the rotation after Josh Hart’s injury, Marshall is taking about four foul shots per game, which would be third-best on the Pelicans. He needs to convert these, as he made just one of his four free throws against San Antonio.

With James Johnson still out, Wes Iwundu once again got some playing time.

Truth be told, I’m not quite sure what Iwundu did during his 10 minutes on the court. He wasn’t a negative or a positive. He was just… there.

Iwundu took no shots, had no assists, no steals, no blocks, and no turnovers. His only stats were a couple of uncontested defensive rebounds and four fouls. For the most part, Iwundu was out there working on his cardio. It seems to me like the former Kansas State wing was just out there to fill a spot in the rotation.

I would have rather seen James Nunnally or Wenyen Gabriel who I believe can provide better value with their three-point shooting and energy, respectively. I’m also anxious to see Didi Louzada enter the wing rotation once he finally makes it to New Orleans.