As the New Orleans Pelicans begin a blistering holiday schedule, two of their key perimeter threats have unfortunately hit a cold spell from beyond the arc. However, despite the season-long struggles to find a consistent rhythm, interim coach James Borrego is not sounding any alarms about Trey Murphy III or Saddiq Bey. The team's two most trusted floor spacers must keep firing away until the wins come.
Murphy III is averaging 20.5 points (36.3% 3PA) on 46.8% shooting. That three-point percentage is near a career-worst. Bey is sitting at 14.2 points with a 35% success rate from three-point range, also below his career average. Murphy III's numbers have stagnated under Borrego; Bey's three-point percentage dipped (29.3% 3PA) considerably. Thankfully for the dynamic duo, Borrego’s belief in their shooting remains unwavering.
“You've got to just trust that (Saddiq Bey and Trey Murphy III) more times than not,” began Borrego, “they are going to knock those shots down. I trust both of them, especially with high-quality shots too. I think the threes we are getting are high quality. Do we need more volume? Absolutely. That's on me to continue to push this group.”
The Pelicans have excelled at penetrating defenses and attacking the paint in recent weeks. Still, Borrego believes the team must capitalize on those advantages by generating more open looks from beyond the arc. It is not a coincidence that New Orleans is sitting 25th in points scored (112.3) and 26th in threes attempted (32.1).
Getting Murphy III and Bey bombing away from beyond the arc more often is the only way to win the scoreboard's most important math problem.
“We are touching the paint as much as anybody,” bragged Borrego. “We've got to then find those two, especially for more high-quality threes and just more threes in general, because I trust them to knock them down. Those are high-level shooters; I like to see five or six more threes out there in general. We will watch the film and continue to coach our guys on that because we are getting downhill as much as anybody right now.”
With the Pelicans already six games out of the NBA Play-In Tournament picture, Borrego outlined priorities that focused on decision-making at the rim and capitalizing on drive-and-kick chances.
“It's now about rim decisions and kickout opportunities,” explained Borrego. “I'll keep saying it until we figure it out, but we will figure it out and find some more threes. I'm not worried about Trey or Saddiq. They'll bounce back.”
Reflecting on why the Pelicans have fallen short of preseason expectations, Borrego pointed to lapses in sustaining early momentum, particularly in late quarters.
“I wish I had the answer,” Borrego sighed. “Look, I think we are finding high-quality shots early. In a lot of these first quarters, we are finding a lot of high-quality shots when our pace and ball movement tend to be more of a focal point. I feel as if our guys are moving the ball. Our challenge now as a team offensively is, can we sustain it through the third and fourth quarter? I feel that we are doing in thirds, now we have to trust it even in fourth quarters and continue to keep our pace up.”
While offensive rhythm is a point of emphasis, Borrego circled back to defense as the primary benchmark for success down the stretch. He directly linked defensive stops to building the early leads that have slipped away from the Pelicans for years.
“I like the way our guys are playing in the first quarters,” Borrego replied. “They are moving the ball, they are sharing it. The biggest thing is we've got to get stops in the first quarter. I'll take 30 all day. We've got to hold them to 30 and below to go win that quarter. Then we go score 32 instead of 28 or 26, which we are hovering in that range, so we've got to do a better job of getting off to better starts defensively. That is really the key for us.”
Perhaps Borrego should not like those first quarters. The Pelicans are 1-11 in the first quarter since Willie Green was fired, sitting 22nd in points scored in those 12 minutes. They are 26th in Defensive Rating and dead last in Net Rating. That's simply not going to work. It'll take more than Trey Murphy III and Saddiq Bey hitting a few more shots to get the team back on track. They could be the spark, though, as soon as they start celebrating a few more swishes.
