Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans know that they have an opportunity to send a message to their critics with an NBA In-Season Tournament run. Williamson, CJ McCollum, and head coach Willie Green are all taking this chance to win some silverware very seriously. It's not just lip service either. Both their play and their replies to the press indicate this team is not taking anything for granted going into the Knockout Rounds.
Green was unsure of how the In-Season Tournament idea would play out when I asked him during Media Day. Now Green admits that watching the final group stage game “was fun, to be honest with you. We're excited to have this opportunity to play in the In-Season Tournament. We were all at home watching Dallas and Houston first. Then it was going to check the Golden State-Sacramento scores.”
The Pelicans' third-year coach added it was different “watching the other games where it was kind of untraditional where you have to kind of run up the score a bit.” Still, this first-year In-Season Tournament experience has been “a lot of excitement for me just kind of stepping outside of it…I think it is intriguing so we look forward to having this opportunity on Monday. Now, we've got games to focus on before then so it is kind of hard knowing that you're playing in it. We've still got some business to take care of.”
CJ McCollum makes his way back to action before Knockout Rounds
The first order of business for McCollum was to just get back to the court alongside Williamson and Brandon Ingram. By all accounts, his first game back following a collapsed lung issue was a resounding success. The Lehigh alum was on a minutes restriction but still posted 20 points, 5 assists, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and a block in 28 minutes of action. New Orleans' win over Philadelphia was a great first step back, but McCollum has been eyeing the In-Season Tournament win-or-go-home rounds for weeks.
McCollum detailed how the team “looked at the schedule two weeks ago. Obviously, I'm a part of the competition committee so I know the schedule before it comes out, so I had a pretty good idea of timing. We talked to the pulmonologist, the team doctors, our staff…Once we knew I wouldn't be able to fly right away we looked at the dates. It was like, okay, ‘what about these dates we'd gotten cleared?' It was just a matter of whether or not (the Pelicans) qualified. I watched the last three minutes of Dallas-Houston then went to sleep. I didn't know where we were going to play at, I just knew we were in.”
The NBPA President shared that internally, “The way (the In-Season Tournament) is spoken about it has been positive. From players, from staff, from fans. I think it was a of couple buzzer-beater games. The teams play to the final buzzer because of the point differential. Giving fans something in late November and early December that we wouldn’t normally have. Obviously, the stakes, the money, and playing in Vegas matters but I think it’s really cool the competitive nature has been consistent, if not raised.”
Zion Williamson's Pelicans want all ‘Win-or-go-home' smoke
Williamson is ready to shatter some of the negative narratives that have followed his career with the Pelicans. Williamson does not believe this team “has a ceiling.” With qualification hanging in the balance Tuesday night, Williamson, “watched the games. I wanted to make sure Dallas did what they needed to. When we secured a spot it was ‘alright that's one step.' Now we have to take the next step and go out there and compete. We have to get better at all the small nuances before that game happens.”
Williamson's last elimination game “was hurtful…lost to a weak Michigan State team.” It was a joke filled with truth. The knockout round environment might be just what the Pelicans need to make a run through an otherwise easy December schedule.
The former Duke star boasted about the upcoming quarterfinal game, “I think I live for stuff like that. In those moments, it's one of those there ain't no tomorrow, we got to figure this out right now moments. I think that's when you see the best come out of people.”
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