The New Orleans Pelicans are on the verge of failure in the bubble

The New Orleans Pelicans came into the restart bubble with high hopes. Zion Williamson was in great shape, they had a fighting shot, but all has gone wrong.

Whether anybody will admit it or not, Zion Williamson and the New Orleans Pelicans are what the NBA would like to showcase the most in the league’s restart bubble. While the Pelicans are likely not the only reason the list of teams invited expanded to 22 (I think we were all excited to see a bit more of De’Aaron Fox and Ish Smith) instead of just the 16 teams in playoff standing, Zion’s presence didn’t hurt matters.

After weeks of quarantine, camp and practice, Williamson had to depart the NBA’s Orlando bubble in order to deal with an urgent family matter. Upon his return he quarantined eight days, giving him just two practices before the Pelicans’ restart opener against the Utah Jazz.

More from Hoops Habit

The Pelicans lost by two points in a game where Zion played only 15 minutes. He wasn’t especially good in those minutes, mind you, especially on defense, but he didn’t play in the final moments of a tight game. After the game, head coach Alvin Gentry alluded to a minutes limit, which is fine, but if there was a firm limit to his playing time, why were his minutes not staggered in such a fashion that he could be in the closing lineup?

There’s no question that the Pelicans are better with Zion on the floor than with him off, so it seemed like something was missing somewhere along the lines of communication. Whether it be between the medical staff and Gentry, or Gentry and the media, or somewhere else along the line, it’s confusing.

Game 2 devastation for the New Orleans Pelicans

On Saturday night the Pelicans were dealt a beating to remember by the LA Clippers. The 126-103 final score is not indicative of the humiliation dealt to them on national television.

The Clippers led 77-45 at halftime and their biggest lead in this wire-to-wire win was 42 points. It was never close, and the Pelicans barely got out of the locker room before they knew they were defeated, and we could see it in their body language and focus.

As for Zion Williamson (who wasn’t going to save this team no matter how good he was), he played just 10 minutes in the first half, four minutes in the third quarter and didn’t play in the fourth. The Pelicans want to get him up to game speed and had the opportunity to do so in garbage time, so why didn’t they play him late for a few minutes?

It seems like a missed opportunity, and like everything Zion-related since the start of Game 1, it’s confusing and makes us wonder just what the plan is.

Do the Pelicans plan on continuing to work him into shape? Should they just book the season and shut him down for the rest of the bubble? Have they even decided how they’d like to proceed?

These are questions we would desperately like answers for, and it doesn’t appear any are forthcoming, at least at the moment.

The Pelicans can be forgiven for not being certain of how they want to proceed, if that’s the case here. We’re in the most unprecedented of situations right now with the NBA playing in a bubble in the midst of a global pandemic (which burns the hottest right on their own front door in Florida), and players are months removed from actual game action. Injury prevention is vital, especially in the case of Zion Williamson, the most prized rookie since LeBron James.

According to FiveThirtyEight, the Pelicans have seen their playoff odds reduced to a paltry seven percent, and that might be generous. Whatever the plan was for the organization going into the bubble, it might be in the process of evolving into something else entirely after just two games.

Next. Brandon Ingram can cap off superb season in style. dark

Home/New Orleans Pelicans