New Orleans Pelicans: 5 Reasons To Stay Optimistic
1. They’ve Got A Hulk
Remember that scene from The Avengers when Loki tells Tony Stark that he has an army? And how Iron Man immediately counters with, “We have a Hulk”?
Slight nerd alert there, but the point still stands for the Pelicans: As long as Anthony Davis is healthy, this team is capable of beating almost any given opponent on any given night. (The exception being the Golden State Warriors, who are not mortal and have proven they have NOLA’s number over the last year or so.)
On the one hand, a lot of onus for New Orleans’ poor record has to be put on Davis, who got off to a slow start this season and didn’t look like he was giving his full effort on a nightly basis, especially on the defensive end. Luckily, that’s changed over the last few weeks — when he’s been healthy, at least.
Davis missing four games this season certainly hasn’t helped, but now that he’s healthy again, he’s gotten back on that MVP track after a slow start to the season. For examples of what this monster is capable of, consider his 43-10-4-3-3 stat line against the Hawks or his 36-11-4 outing against the Knicks.
Both those games were losses, but even his 20-point, 18-rebound performance in that win over the Spurs showed the impact he can have on this team, especially when his game-changing block on LaMarcus Aldridge led to him diving into the stands, saving the ball off of Aldridge and rising to pump up the crowd with a bone-chilling roar.
The Pelicans are in a terrible spot already, and in all likelihood, this deficit they’ve built will be insurmountable. But once the Brow has a healthy team around him, we shouldn’t forget that he’s capable of being one of the best five players in this league. If anyone can right the ship, it’s this 22-year-old who is on pace to own the league within the next few years.