« This is not the season we wanted. For her last press conference of the year, Willie Green repeatedly repeats this observation to the air of euphemism. “” We are all disappointed “, Describes the coach whose team, beaten by the Thunder on Sunday, ended his season on a series of seven setbacks in a row.
His pelicans avoided the last place to the west, occupied by jazz, but they finished with a meager review of 21 victories for 61 defeats. Or the second worst assessment of the history of the franchise, behind the 2004/05 exercise of the time when we still talked about New Orleans Hornets.
A serious step back for the coach, in office since 2021, who had improved the assessment of his team for three years, going from 36 to 49 victories. The main explanation is in another observation: “ I don’t think we saw our full workforce only once this season “Note Willie Green who has nevertheless seen” joy In the locker room throughout the season.
Only one player at more than 70 games
As a symbol of the events that were going to follow, the first match of the season was marked by the injury of Dejounte Murray, the main recruit of the offseason. His transition to the infirmary was going to precede physical cascade seeds among the Pelicans.
Zion Williamson lacked 52 games due to several injuries, the most serious being an elongation of the hamstrings. Dejounte Murray missed one less after being touched by hand and the Achilles tendon. Herb Jones lacked 62 games because of his bruised shoulder.
Atest -hit, Brandon Ingram played only 18 games with the team before being transferred to Toronto. Trey Murphy III, for his part, missed 29 games due to multiple injuries. CJ McCollum was not spared either, while the Rookie Yves Missi was the only one to play more than 70 games.
Despite this massacre, Willie Green takes her share. “” I was not very good. I must fully assume the situation in which the team is located. We failed. I failed “, He delivers, before adding:” I know that failure is part of the success. So, with this failure, it will be a moment for me to step back, to think and to see where we can improve. »
An assessment on the whole of his mandate?
Does it feel like they have progressed personally despite this season in hell? “” Absolutely. I say it and I will assess, look at myself in the mirror and see where I can improve. But absolutely, I feel that it will help me in the long term. The whole question being whether this long term will register in Nola …
The coach says that he had no conversation with his leaders, including David Griffin, the man who recruited him four years ago. He hopes that the club’s assessment in his regard will also take into account the three previous seasons, during which he guided his team to two qualifications in the first round of the Playoffs.
« It’s important, you have to try to look at the whole work accomplished “, Judge the coach, aware of the current context:” You look elsewhere in the League, some coaches having won the title are no longer there. »
| Shots | Rebound | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Players | MJ | Min | Shots | 3pts | LF | Off | Def | To | Pd | Bp | Int | Ct | Fte | Pts |
| Zion Williamson | 30 | 28.6 | 56.7 | 23.1 | 65.6 | 2.5 | 4.7 | 7.2 | 5.3 | 3.0 | 1.2 | 0.9 | 2.7 | 24.6 |
| Brandon Ingram | 18 | 33.1 | 46.5 | 37.4 | 85.5 | 0.9 | 4.6 | 5.6 | 5.2 | 3.8 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 2.5 | 22.2 |
| Trey Murphy Iii | 53 | 35.0 | 45.4 | 36.1 | 88.7 | 0.9 | 4.2 | 5.1 | 3.5 | 1.9 | 1.1 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 21.2 |
| C.j. Mccollum | 56 | 32.7 | 44.4 | 37.3 | 71.7 | 0.8 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 1.9 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 2.2 | 21.1 |
| Dejounte Murray | 31 | 32.7 | 39.3 | 29.9 | 82.3 | 0.5 | 5.9 | 6.5 | 7.4 | 3.4 | 2.0 | 0.4 | 2.0 | 17.5 |
| Jordan Hawkins | 56 | 23.6 | 37.2 | 33.1 | 81.6 | 0.4 | 2.4 | 2.8 | 1.2 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 10.8 |
| BJ Boston, Jr. | 42 | 23.6 | 43.6 | 35.0 | 78.8 | 0.7 | 2.5 | 3.2 | 2.2 | 1.2 | 1.3 | 0.2 | 1.7 | 10.7 |
| Kelly Olynyk | 20 | 25.4 | 50.0 | 38.9 | 75.4 | 1.9 | 4.0 | 5.9 | 3.6 | 2.1 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 3.2 | 10.7 |
| Jose Alvarado | 55 | 24.2 | 39.4 | 36.7 | 80.3 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 2.4 | 4.6 | 1.5 | 1.3 | 0.3 | 1.7 | 10.3 |
| Herb Jones | 20 | 32.4 | 43.6 | 30.6 | 82.5 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 3.9 | 3.3 | 1.8 | 1.9 | 0.5 | 3.3 | 10.3 |
| Keion Brooks, Jr. | 13 | 22.5 | 48.5 | 33.3 | 72.0 | 0.8 | 3.2 | 4.0 | 0.8 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.7 | 2.1 | 9.8 |
| Yves Missi | 73 | 26.8 | 54.7 | 0.0 | 62.3 | 3.5 | 4.7 | 8.2 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 0.5 | 1.3 | 2.0 | 9.1 |
| Jaylen Nowell | 8 | 21.0 | 35.6 | 29.6 | 63.6 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 1.0 | 0.1 | 0.5 | 1.1 | 8.4 |
| Bruce Brown, Jr. | 23 | 24.7 | 41.0 | 35.6 | 75.0 | 1.0 | 3.2 | 4.2 | 2.4 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 2.0 | 8.2 |
| Karlo Matkovic | 42 | 18.8 | 57.4 | 31.8 | 77.3 | 1.5 | 3.5 | 5.0 | 1.1 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 1.0 | 2.5 | 7.7 |
| Lester Quinones | 8 | 16.6 | 40.0 | 34.4 | 71.4 | 0.1 | 1.1 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 1.3 | 0.4 | 0.3 | 1.8 | 7.5 |
| Antonio Reeves | 43 | 14.4 | 44.9 | 40.8 | 80.0 | 0.4 | 0.9 | 1.3 | 0.9 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.1 | 0.9 | 6.6 |
| Jeremiah Robinson-earl | 65 | 18.5 | 46.5 | 35.0 | 84.9 | 1.6 | 3.0 | 4.6 | 1.3 | 0.8 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 1.2 | 6.3 |
| Javonte Green | 50 | 21.8 | 44.6 | 35.2 | 75.8 | 1.0 | 2.6 | 3.6 | 0.9 | 0.6 | 1.1 | 0.6 | 1.5 | 5.8 |
| Jamal Cain | 36 | 13.2 | 43.1 | 32.9 | 69.0 | 0.7 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 1.2 | 4.9 |
| Elfrid Payton | 17 | 21.8 | 37.5 | 0.0 | 57.1 | 0.8 | 3.0 | 3.8 | 8.4 | 3.1 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 1.4 | 4.5 |
| Daniel Theis | 38 | 16.3 | 47.3 | 24.3 | 83.8 | 1.2 | 3.2 | 4.3 | 1.6 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 4.3 |
| Kylor Kelley | 2 | 21.9 | 37.5 | 0.0 | 50.0 | 2.0 | 4.5 | 6.5 | 1.0 | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.0 | 3.0 | 3.5 |
| Mohamed Bamba | 4 | 15.3 | 44.4 | 0.0 | 100.0 | 1.5 | 4.8 | 6.3 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.0 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 2.5 |
| Trey Jemison | 16 | 10.4 | 46.9 | 0.0 | 38.1 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 2.8 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 2.4 |
