The New Orleans Pelicans' preseason opener was interesting, to say the least. Despite a 116-110 come-from-behind win over the Oklahoma City Thunder, I am seriously disappointed in this team, particularly the stars. Despite rumors that Jordan Poole may start after being seen running with the first unit at practice, Jamahl Mosley rolled with the five-man group most fans expected to see. Zion Williamson and Yves Missi occupied the front court, Trey Murphy III and Herb Jones were on the wings, and Dejounte Murray was at the point.
On paper, that seemed like the Pelicans' best option for balance and a mix of defense and offense. Clearly not. That lineup stunk it up the entire game, with Zion finishing a minus-23 and everyone else finishing as a minus-20.
With a front office that has preached the mentality that continuity can be a major strength, this five-man group looked like they’d never even had lunch together. Whether it was the zero communication on defense, the five total threes they made, or the all-around bad execution on offense, it was a rough watch until the second unit came in.
BUT Chris, it was against the Thunder—they are big scary contenders. True when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander plays, when Jalen Williams plays, and when Chet Holmgren plays, they are a contender. None of those three played last night. Instead, the Pelicans were getting killed by Aday Mara and Bennett Stirtz, two rookies.
I guess that crazy concept that running back a group of players that, injuries aside, hasn’t been very good maybe isn’t going to magically change with a coaching change.
Where does Mosley go from here?
A game like Tuesday night reminds you how weird the Pelicans are as a team and organization. Because after a game like that from your starting five, it’s probably best to shake things up in your next preseason game. But what is the shakeup?
Sure, you put Jordan Poole in the lineup and spacing gets better, but the defense probably gets worse too. You could throw in Bennedict Mathurin, who had a strong debut. But that’s another guy who needs the ball, which may only further throw off the offensive flow. You put Derik Queen in, then you have to put your audience through watching DQ and Zion play together.
There’s no obvious solution at all, and it’s because this roster has been constructed so poorly.
Jamahl Mosley just coached his first game with the Pelicans and instantly jumps to the top of the list of hardest coaching jobs in the league, because what can he really do? I get it’s the preseason, and it’s a good time to experiment because results don’t matter, but it doesn’t feel like there is a single experiment out there for Mosley that has a positive outcome. I also know that in preseason starters aren’t going to overexert themselves, but that wasn’t my beef with New Orleans starters.
It was that it looked like they’d never shared a court together. Also, what was Zion doing? Yeah, great, he hit a three and took two, but where was the aggression? Where was that driving to the rack and trying to post up on Mara? His passing looked great; I’ll give him that, but if this team is going to win games, they need him focused on scoring, and his playmaking will open up as a result. Not being passive and pass-first.
Just a flat-out disaster class from the group of players on this Pelicans roster who are supposed to be leading and have pre-built chemistry together. See ya’ll after Thursday's game.
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