Those of you who have been reading our page for a long time probably know that I am an optimist by nature. So, it should come as no surprise to you when you visit our website and see a post titled, “3 Reasons you shouldn’t worry about the Pelicans rough preseason,” immediately after a four-game stretch where the team went 1-3 and posted the worst Net Rating of any NBA team not named the New York Knicks (per NBA.com).
But, as you will soon see, there are reasons why Pelicans’ fans shouldn’t spiral into a state of despair after this rocky start. There is still a lot of basketball left to play and plenty to be excited about.
1. These games don’t count for playoff seeding!
In 2008, the Detroit Lions outscored all four of their preseason opponents by a combined score of 80-32 en route to a perfect 4-0 record. And guess what? Those would be the only games they won in 2008, as they became the first team in NFL history to go a not-so-perfect 0-16.
I’ve used this example before, and I will continue to use this example until the end of time because it will never not be true. Just because you are a good/bad preseason team does not mean that you will be a good/bad regular season or playoff team.
While we’re on the subject of Net Rating, the Pelicans had a -9.1 Net Rating through four games. The Milwaukee Bucks – the team that ended 2022-23 with the best record in the league – had a Net Rating of -11.2 in the preseason. Meanwhile, the Houston Rockets – the team with the third-worst record in the league in 2022-23 – had a Net Rating of +11.6.
So, yeah, don’t panic, folks!