The Pelicans are reportedly having “serious” internal discussions about head coach Willie Green. Should they fire him?
Rod Walker of NOLA.com explores that subject, writing that while there is plenty of blame to go around for the team’s 0-5 start, the players seem like they’re tuned out to Green’s messaging at times. More importantly, the Pelicans largely haven’t played with the effort required to be competitive in an extremely difficult Western Conference.
After back-to-back blowouts at the hands of Boston and Denver, the Pelicans put up a much better fight in Friday’s game against the Clippers. They were down 17 points in the third quarter, but managed to even the score late in the fourth prior to a Kawhi Leonard game-winner. Yet it still counts as a loss all the same.
“Even through a difficult loss, the response we all saw tonight is a group that is learning each other and coming together,” Green said (story via Walker). “But they care. They went out and competed at a high level and gave everything they got.”
New Orleans has now dropped 12 straight games dating back to last season, Walker notes.
We have more on the Pelicans:
- Jordan Poole, who was acquired in an offseason trade with the Wizards, had his best game as a Pelican in Friday’s loss, Walker adds. The 26-year-old guard came off the bench for the second straight game and finished with a team-high 30 points on 9-of-15 shooting. “Jordan was great,” Green said. “It’s a tough adjustment for him (coming off the bench). We are all aware of that. He’s such a dynamic player. What he does for our second unit is he’s the hub.”
- Kevon Looney is “extremely close” to making his Pelicans debut, Green said on Friday, according to Mark Medina of EssentiallySports. The veteran big man, who is recovering from a left knee sprain, is listed as questionable for Sunday’s contest in Oklahoma City, per the league’s official injury report.
- In an in-depth interview with Medina, Looney says he’s been trying to make his presence felt despite the injury. “I’ve still been trying to use my voice,” the 29-year-old center said. “It’s harder to lead and be that guy when you’re on the sideline. But the team and the guys respect me. I’ve done a lot of practices before I went down. I played two preseason games. So I was able to be on the floor with them some. They’ve been losing some games. So I’ve been trying to use my voice and use my experience. I’ve been in a lot of different circumstances in this league and have played a lot of different roles. So I’m just trying to connect with all the guys, talking to them and leading my way. And hopefully, when I get on the court, I can do even more. It’s been different. But it’s still been fun. We have a great group of guys. We have a young team who is excited to come to practice every day. We’ve had that joy and have been practicing hard. So it’s been a lot of fun just connecting and learning these new guys every day.”
They should fire Dumars, it’s incredible how bad job he did this summer. Going to take them years to recover.
Pelicans are easily the worst team in the NBA. Add in a terrible front office that just gives away premium draft picks and it’s just sad. Doesn’t matter who the coach is they are finishing bottom 3 this year
New Orleans fans don’t deserve this crap
Green is a dead man walking. He’ll be replaced by someone like Malone by January.
Why should any championship coach take this hell of a Job? Zion? Jordan Pool? Jo Dumars trade Desaster?
This Team is doomed for half a decade. Look for a desperate assistant Coach.
Allergic to E’s in words that need them, add them when they don’t need to be there
Malone will lose just as many games. That guy is cooked and won’t inspire anyone to play at a high level.
Can’t win with a Barkley sized player. They never got a real pg or a center to protect the rim. Herb and Murphy are nice role players neither can be the 2nd or 3rd best. Ingram never worked with them.
0-6 now
Mitch is from NO ———. bring him HOME.
Mitch Robinson, Pacome Diadet >>>> to Pelicans
S Bay, K Looney >>>>>>> to Knickerbockers
The Troy Weaver effect is shining strong in New Orleans. Still can’t believe Joe Dumars hired him as GM after all the damage he did to the Pistons organization
The Pels don’t need more potential, they need proven shooters. There is no one on this team anyone should have confidence in them making a shot, not even Z at the basket. It doesn’t matter who coaches this team, if they can’t reliably make shots, then Z’s gravity is useless. When your best player does not play hard for 4 periods, including playing defense and your “best shooter” can’t even get off a shot unless he is not guarded, what can you expect from everyone else? Trey’s face needs to be on the milk carton.
Let’s be honest and not try to get views by writing about pie in the sky possibilities. Since the Lottery format was changed in 2019, NO TEAM WITH THE WORST RECORD HAS RECEIVED THE FIRST OVERALL PICK. Last year, the teams with the worst records were, Wizards, Jazz, Hornets, Pels, 76ers, and Spurs. Their Lottery order, 6, 5, 4, 7, 3 and 2. So tanking or just being horrible will not give you any draft guarantees. The question should be, are any of those young men at the top of the draft generational players or are they young players who will need time to develop and have limitations to their game? The draft is not the solution, if it were we would not see the same teams with the worst records over and over again. Find some knock down shooter like all of the Pels opponents seem to have. If you can’t make shots you can’t win unless you are lights out defenders. T doesn’t make sense to take more 3s when you can’t make them regardless of the analytics, use common sense and get closer to the basket for more high potential shots. Two pointers are better than missed 3 pointers for teams struggling to score.