Marc Stein is reporting he's out indefinitely with a torn left labrum (shoulder). Pelicans have a talented, but fragile, lineup.
This is why it's safe to say that the Pelicans won't make the playoffs. We can end all the talk of Davis winning MVP
Shut your pie hole! Who would you rather have in the playoffs? Pelicans will mess with whoever they get in the first round, that's a win win as long as we don't play them.
I would love to see them succeed, but this was the concern about that team. They have too many players that have health concerns
If you are looking for a team to mess with other teams in the first round......Sacramento and Phoenix would be tougher IMO.
Phoenix is going to get crushed if they make the playoffs. 0 playoff experience on that team which doesn't even play playoff style basketball. Same with the Kings for the most part, except a bit more experience and ability to play meaningful defense. The Pelicans can actually play Defense and have some players who have been to the playoffs.
Phoenix seems to play pretty good defense against us. Gay and Cousins have enough experience playing on the US team. Collison and Landry have as much playoff experience than any of the Pelicans.
Thats to bad because Eric Gordon's name would be talked about in the top 5 SG if he wasn't always injured. Then again Derek Rose is pretty much always injured gets mentioned in the top 5 PG.
If they figure out the SF position, this could actually make their starting lineup more balanced by sliding Tyreke over to SG.
Who did not see this coming? What a damn shame. They tried that last year with Aminu at SF and Reke at SG. It failed miserably because neither of them could shoot. Having Anderson back does mitigate the lack of spacing a bit, but an SG being able to shoot is crucial, unless you're the Heat with Bron/Bosh/Wade.
Yep, I hate to see anyone injured, but I just commented about this in another thread last week: "I disagree. Yes, Davis has improved and is putting up huge numbers, but I think the main reason the Pelicans are now a potential playoff team is health. The second biggest reason is the addition of a quality center to play next to Davis. The problem is, if you look at their top 6 players, they missed a combined 175 games last season. Evans was the only one that played at least 70 games. Gordon has had injury issues ever since his rookie year. He played 64 games last year, but only 42 the year before that and only 9 the year before that. Anderson missed 60 games last year, Holiday missed 48 and Asik missed 34. If NOP had been healthy last year, even without Asik, they would have likely been in the running for the 8th seed. So far this season, their top six players have missed a total of 2 games. That's the main reason or their improved winning percentage." BNM
Gordon and Oden were products of the same AAU program. Makes you wonder if there is a connection. Perhaps those kids were worked way too hard when they were young and their bodies still developing. Of course, Mike Conley was also part of that same program and has been pretty healthy. So, maybe not... BNM
Exactly why I said, "If they figure out the SF position..." Just plugging in someone who can't shoot isn't the solution I had in mind. Babbitt might be worth a look, and Salmons always seems to have a career resurgence up his sleeve.