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The Crescent City is a frustrated sporting town currently. Practically the whole Gulf South region is agitated sporting-wise. The Saints are dealing with hostile home crowds, Tulane just lost the football program's best coach following an ugly loss, and LSU lacked a defense to support the most recent Heisman winner. This impatience with underperforming teams extends to basketball too.
The New Orleans Pelicans (12-11) are hovering around .500 and are coming off a 44-point blowout loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA In-Season Tournament semifinals.
This season has again been marred by injuries, but that does not excuse multiple off-nights per month. Worse, New Orleans had all of their problems amplified and exposed against the Lakers. All the Pelicans are coming back with from Las Vegas is a microscope on Zion Williamson's fitness and head coach Willie Green's adjustments. The increase in criticism started with the NBA on TNT crew delivering some harsh truths and continued with a scolding from beloved announcer Antonio Daniels.
The response from this team will be very telling, especially after having a few days off. Williamson and Green have one shot at responding to the knockout blow. A home win over the Timberwolves would go a long way to making amends and changing the narratives surrounding the team.
The awful elimination game performance potentially cost 100 ticket holders $10,000. But getting dominated by Anthony Davis and Lebron James was demoralizing for all concerned in the Smoothie King Center.
New Orleans needs to see effort from Pelicans
New Orleans does not ask for much. Fans respect players who appreciate the city and play with effort. Well, there was no effort in the latest defeat. Coach Willie Green even acknowledged the team didn't bring their strongest fight, via the Pelicans postgame show.
“Just a lack of competitive spirit from our group…tonight was a total letdown,” Green said. “We were all disappointed in our competitive spirit against the Lakers.”
“That’s not indicative of who we’ve been and who we are. We took a step in the wrong direction. I am not going to take anything away from the Lakers,” Green continued. “They came out and dominated wire-to-wire. I thought the first quarter was solid. After that, they took it up another level and we didn’t match that up.”
That is simply unacceptable, to the point it puts pressure on the entire franchise. EVP David Griffin's front office has built a solid roster that is ready to compete. However, the “force” and “purpose” that Green likes to stress are lacking far too often to feel completely comfortable with this group.
Repeated lethargic performances after three years in charge are becoming worrisome, and perhaps this team's true identity. Green and Williamson have got to get right quickly or risk further damaging both their reputations and their leverage in any future negotiations.
If Williamson won't listen to advice, what's next?
Williamson, whose five-year, $197,230,450 contract just kicked in, took some blame in the Pelicans' struggles, via William Guillory of The Athletic.
“I got to be better. I have to be more aggressive in finding my shot,” Williamson said. “I have to do more things to get my team going. I think I was too laid back tonight. I can’t do that. Defensively, I have to be better.”
It's a bit late in the game, season, and career to only just now be realizing that something is not working for Williamson. However, the two-time All-Star doesn't listen to conditioning advice, per Christian Clark of The New Orleans Time-Picayune. This is a tough predicament for the small-market Pelicans. New Orleans is already on the third coach in five years with Williamson.
Williamson was noticeably not at 100% in conditioning and/or effort following the In-Season Tournament knockout rounds. He had just three shots and a putback layup in the first half against the Lakers. James gave Williamson just enough space to shoot, but no room to think about driving to the hoop. The mind games worked at the free-throw line too. Williamson was just 1-6 from the charity stripe, another indication that mental focus was lacking as well.
There is no way to outrun the truth. “Does not run hard,” Shaquille O’Neal said on the TNT broadcast. “It’s not a diss. It’s going to be a lesson from one great big man to another guy who can be a great big. Does not run hard. I had the same problem. I thought I was running hard.”
There is no running from the grind of difficult decisions either. The front office has to think about what's next if Williamson continues to ignore Hall of Fame advice. That semifinal loss seemed like an inflection point for this era of Pelicans basketball. As things stand, it will be hard for both Green and Williamson to shed some of the labels starting to be placed on their careers.
As Green likes to mention, the next game is just another opportunity. Well, New Orleans plays three of the next four games on the road. The next home date after Minnesota's visit is likely Ja Morant's return to action for the Memphis Grizzlies.
There is still time to right the ship this season but these Pelicans have just one chance to turn the tides of these negative narratives in front of their fans. For that reason, Monday night against the currently first-place Timberwolves is as close to a must-win game as there is on the calendar.
