Chris Dodson Articles - Page 24

The New Orleans Pelicans bounced back from a three-game losing streak with four consecutive wins going into a road game against the Los Angeles Lakers on Friday night. Willie Green’s strategy to shoot more three-pointers was working out beautifully, especially when Brandon Ingram was mindful of the directive. Ingram recently set franchise and NBA records […]

Zion Williamson sank the second of two free throws with 8:17 remaining in the first half of what would end up being a 139-122 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. The New Orleans Pelicans would not get another favorable whistle from the referees despite the two-time NBA All-Star taking all 19 shots on the night […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are picking up momentum heading into the NBA All-Star break and there is plenty of credit to go around. The role players are stepping up when needed, which is far less often since former All-Stars Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram have been relatively healthy. The franchise stood pat at the trade […]

The New Orleans Pelicans survived a scare in Hollywood, ending up with a comfortable 117-106 road win over the LA Clippers. They led wire-to-wire but this is a team is a team that has squandered away 16 double-digit leads already and the Clippers sat atop the Western Conference standings for a reason. After Norman Powell […]

The NBA trade deadline is quickly approaching. Once it passes, adding talent ahead of the playoffs becomes difficult. However, the New Orleans Pelicans may have an ace up their sleeve. While the Pelicans are keeping their Karlo Matkovic plans close to the vest, the Slovenian big man has already seen spotted around Crescent City alongside […]

For those unfamiliar with the ever-changing parade schedule, the Monday before Mardi Gras week is usually pretty quiet. New Orleans is nursing a hangover after a weekend reserved for the Krewes of Femme Fatale and Mad Hatters. It’s a calm before the storm, a human hurricane with seven straight days of meandering floats and bar-hopping […]

Mardi Gras and the NBA’s Trade Deadline are creeping up quickly, with Valentine’s Day just around the corner. Unfounded rumors get thrown around more than beads but even a hint of being on the trade block can spark the end of a complex relationship. Fans of the New Orleans Pelicans need not worry about any […]

The New Orleans Pelicans have spent a long time away from home and may be without one key contributor when the Toronto Raptors come to the Crescent City. Herb Jones is listed as questionable on New Orleans injury report However, Jones was active during Sunday’s practice and Monday’s morning shootaround. The Alabama alum gave a […]

Third-year head coach Willie Green’s first two years were mostly spent stitching together patchwork rotations from skeleton crews, yet he kept the New Orleans Pelicans in the postseason conversation. Now with a revamped staff and relatively healthy roster around two former All-Stars, Green has guided the team to one of the best starts in franchise […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are going into the NBA trade deadline armed with two draft picks in what most agree is an uninspiring 2024 class. Odds are the organization opts to defer the selection owed by the Los Angeles Lakers until the heralded 2025 NBA Draft. However, the Lakers’ struggles make it difficult to ignore […]

The New Orleans Pelicans can win the season series over Victor Wembanyama’s San Antonio Spurs but the game is just window dressing for the main attractions. Unfortunately, hoops fans might not get to see a second round of Zion Williamson versus Wembanyama. After yesterday’s practice, head coach Willie Green shared that the 2019 NBA Draft’s […]

The New Orleans Pelicans were going into their third road game in four nights without a two-time NBA All-Star and one of the most respective defensive stoppers in the league. The visitors had neither Zion Williamson nor Herb Jones against the Houston Rockets but still came out ahead 110-99. Willie Green’s locker room gave most […]

The NBA’s February 8th trade deadline is just a week away and a couple big deals have already been made. OG Anunoby and Pascal Siakam found new basketball zip codes so the Toronto Raptors can fanally jumpstart are rebuild. The New Orleans Pelicans got in on that early action, too, sending former lottery pick Kira […]

The New Orleans Pelicans have eight games remaining before going into the NBA All-Star break but the franchise finds itself in a familiar position. The franchise is once again fighting to get above the NBA Play-In Tournament’s cutoff line as the Western Conference playoff race takes shape. The standings are starting to sort themselves out, […]

The New Orleans Pelicans started this season with a revamped coaching staff and a clear message to the locker room: look to take more 3-pointers. Now in his third year in charge, Willie Green has to match that strategy with a new directive coaching-wise: play more shooters or risk getting run out of the gym, […]

Brian Scalabrine pulled no punches when calling Monday night’s game between the New Orleans Pelicans and Boston Celtics. The NBC Boston broadcaster, an 11-year veteran sporting an NBA Finals championship ring no less, called out Willie Green’s lineups. It’s not the first time the Pelicans’ lineup decisions have been under the microscope, and it came […]

Wait, where’d all those draft assets go? The New Orleans Pelicans can be forgiven for not knowing the Milwaukee Bucks have a front office capable of pulling off magic trick trades. Now that Damian Lillard and Giannis Antetoukoumpo have teamed up, Pelicans Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations David Griffin is getting a raw deal […]

What a difference two games can make in changing the water cooler talk concerning the New Orleans Pelicans. Third-year head coach Willie Green was celebrating a franchise record 153 points in a win over the surprisingly competitive Utah Jazz to start the week. Unfortunately, the Pelicans are now traveling to face the Boston Celtics having […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are rolling with the punches and climbing the standings over the last month. They have good reason to confidently chirp at the opponents most nights as Willie Green’s group usually has a lead. The locker room even took a vote to determine the team’s biggest, loudest trash-talker on the team. Unsurprisingly, […]

Third-year head coach Willie Green is getting ‘artistic’ with the rotations a few weeks before the New Orleans Pelicans split for the NBA All-Star break. Switching up what is working for a team 26-18 squad sitting tied for fifth place could ruffle some feathers in some locker rooms. Not in the Smoothie King Center though. […]

The New Orleans Pelicans under third-year head coach Willie Green are in the same spot as last season but have a far brighter outlook. This year’s 26-18 start matches the last but there are a few big differences. First, Zion Williamson and the rest of the Pelicans’ roster are relatively healthy. Secondly, after surviving two […]

The New Orleans Pelicans have 11 games left on the schedule before the NBA All-Star break and that slate is no cakewalk. First is a visit from the Oklahoma City Thunder. Then the Pelicans have eight road games over 17 days with a home date with the Toronto Raptors right in the middle. Willie Green’s […]

The February 8 NBA Trade Deadline is just a few weeks away and the New Orleans Pelicans rumor mill is operating at full capacity. For instance, Herb Jones was reportedly being shopped one day and off the table for any negotiations the next. Cutting through the morass and finding a middle ground is difficult but […]

The NBA Trade Deadline is just around the corner and the rumors mills are churning out possible deals, both the practical and the fantastical. The New Orleans Pelicans haven’t been front of center in the trade market but rather have been working the margins looking for possible updates. They’ve already ducked under the NBA’s luxury […]

Willie Green’s New Orleans Pelicans of the past two years were noticeably hamstrung by their lack of three-point shooting. The front office kept the core of the team together this summer but brought in James Borrego to overhaul the offensive approach. The roster remained mostly intact, but everyone knew they’d be tested on two big […]

The NBA Trade Deadline is just a few weeks away and league sources have indicated the Golden State Warriors would be open to moving Dario Saric before February 8th. Moving Saric’s $2.7 million contract for luxury tax savings and a few future assets would be a sign of the Warriors readjusting expectations for this season […]

The New Orleans Pelicans have a long list of grievances and reasons to play the visiting Utah Jazz with revenge on the mind. First, the Crescent City’s fans want the franchise on the other side of the Rocky Mountains to remove the word Jazz from their vocabulary. More importantly, the Jazz have beaten the Pelicans […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are currently sitting in fifth place in the Western Conference but they’d be battling for the top spot in the standings if not for a few glaring, exploitable weaknesses. Third-year head coach Willie Green broke down what the team has to deal with as this locker room learns to play with […]

The New Orleans Pelicans have had a new look since leaving Las Vegas with an embarrassing 44-point loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on their record. Willie Green’s squad is 13-7 since leaving Sin City and though everyone is deserving of credit, and court time, one player’s return has really allowed the squad to play […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are getting to enjoy a few extra rest days at home before tackling a tough 12-game slate before the NBA All-Star break. It’s been a welcome reprieve considering the team just spent two weeks on the road and has played one of the league’s toughest first-half schedules. Fortunately, the squad is […]

The New Orleans Pelicans have a reputation for playing paint-pounding bully ball, but the team is starting to lean more heavily into their three-point barrage battle tactics. It’s working wonders in opening up what was a ‘congested’ offense a few weeks ago. The Pelicans even set a franchise record in Wednesday’s 132-112 win over the […]

Brandon Ingram had a bit of a wacky Wednesday individual stat line in a lopsided 132-112 home win over the Charlotte Hornets, but the New Orleans Pelicans were downright historic shooting from beyond the arc. The cause and effect is obvious. Coach Willie Green’s pairing of Jordan Hawkins and Trey Murphy III has been getting […]

Fans in the Crescent City can be forgiven for thinking that a trip to the city cures all ills for NBA All-Stars looking to return from an injury. Ja Morant made not one but two statements in the Big Easy starting with his season debut and ending with a bit of it-happened-again game-winning shot deja […]

The NBA Trade Market is starting to become a lot more active and the New Orleans Pelicans were quick to move on from one former draft lottery pick. Kira Lewis Jr. is headed to the Toronto Raptors as part of the Pascal Siakam trade in exchange for cash considerations in a move that is beneficial […]

After two and a half seasons covering the New Orleans Pelicans under Willie Green, it’s hard to find any similarities between the third-year head coach and The Wire‘s Marlo Stanfield. However, the religiously grounded basketball boss does have one thing in common with the fictional Baltimore shot-caller. They’ve both had to deal with what “sounds […]

Larry Nance Jr. is not surprised the New Orleans Pelicans are coming back to the Smoothie King Center sporting three more wins in the standings. In fact, the Wyoming alum expected more out of this team and he’s not alone. So does head coach Willie Green but this Pelicans locker room is not getting worked […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are headed home to Smoothie King Center for a four-game homestand with three West Coast wins in their pocket. Going 3-2 while playing back-to-back sets and fighting late-night travel logistics should be seen as a win. That is a victory, all things considered, but the way the losses are piling up […]

The New Orleans Pelicans are going into a three-games in four-nights situation against two tough NBA Western Conference contenders. First up for CJ McCollum and company is a visit to the reigning champion Denver Nuggets to battle that altitude. The Dallas Mavericks await a visit from the Pelicans less than 24 hours later. New Orleans […]

The New Orleans Pelicans came into this season with a message reverberating from the Big Easy-based front office all the way to Birmingham Squadron practices. Willie Green’s revamped coaching staff added James Borrego in an attempt to boost both the quality and quantity of the team’s three-point opportunities. CJ McCollum heard the directive loud and […]