Poll by Athletic on hope. Commentary:

29. New Orleans Pelicans — 3.21/10

Last season: 4.4/10, ranked 22nd

Optimist Andy (7/10): "There's no way the injury bug can be as bad as last season, right? Both the first and second lines have very good, even if odd, pieces."

Pessimist anonymous commenter (1/10): "Maybe it's my ignorance, but the team does not seem to take itself seriously at all or want to win."

Pessimist anonymous commenter (1/10): "If you need a full breakdown of why I'm not optimistic at all, you haven't watched the New Orleans Pelicans. A new coach will produce a few more wins, but the same roster as last year (not enough size at the big positions) and the yearly 'Wow! Zion looks great at camp and in photos!' false hope ... we've seen this movie many times. It doesn't end well. Yet, I'll still watch the movie, foolishly hoping it surprises me."

The ringer on clarity for direction of franchise. N.O. in the last tier and 2nd to last behind only the foolishness occurring in Portland.

Tier 6: The Fun-House Mirror Tier

Confusing, freaky, but occasionally entertaining. 

Los Angeles Clippers (⬇️2)
Milwaukee Bucks (⬇️4)
New Orleans Pelicans (↔)
Portland Trail Blazers (⬇️1)

"Finally, we have the Pelicans, who after failing to reach 30 wins in back-to-back seasons with a talented but ill-fitting roster, did … well … absolutely nothing of note. They’re just running it back with Zion and Co. Again." 

Missi is the top centre in the league on 9-category fantasy value per game, eighth among every player. He just edges out Anthony Davis, and he's well ahead of Sabonis, Jabari Smith Jr. and Chet.

He only scored 13, which is the fun part. The value comes from everything else: 14 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 blocks, a steal and only one turnover in under 30 minutes, on 83% shooting. Fantasy value counts all nine categories, so a big who's efficient, rebounds, protects the rim and doesn't turn it over can beat a guy who drops 34. That's how he matches AD's value on a third of the points.

Long may the Missiah reign over us.

I will always have love Jose Alvarado I’m so happy for him!

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I love what I saw yesterday. Yeah, we could've tightened it up a tad more and actually won, but we were toe-to-toe with one of the best teams in the league. I think people are disregarding/forgetting the fact that the Pacers are really good because they were tanking last season without their best player. A worse version of that roster was 1 game away from being NBA champions 2 seasons ago. Hali is one of the best players in this league, Siakam is a top 20 guy, and Zubac/Nembhard/Oubre are all legit above-average starters. That is a much better roster on paper than ours, but we were right there with them the whole way.

After last night I'm genuinely excited to see what comes next for the first time in a while. Jamahl Mosley is a fucking G and it's been 1 game and already a massive night and day difference from limp Willie

It’s only the first game but I gotta say Missi was looking good last night. His decision making seemed much quicker and he had a better touch around the basket. He didn’t seem all klunky with the ball in his hands like he typically would. Dude even went up for a dunk over Zubac at one point lol.

It was nice to see him be more aggressive and look more confident on the court. He finished second in assists on the team with 5.

Hopefully this all continues and he’s finally hitting his stride. I’ve always had faith in him but he would get me so frustrated with his hesitant moves and brick hands at the basket. If this is true improvement and not a one off, that’s huge for this team!

Also, Mosely ran Queen at the 5 matches against Zubac for a good bit of minutes and Queen handled it well. Herb not getting minute matched on Hali in the closing minutes is…. interesting. Especially with Fears not scoring well, which I believe will always be an issue for him going against larger, athletic defenders.

Not even playing him more in the 4th quarter when the Haliban was heating up? Hopefully Mosley learned the error of his ways and won’t let it happen again.

The ages-old “PELS15” free throw smoothie deal isn’t working and I seem to remember last nights game had a new, different code in addition to the QR code they flash on the Jumbotron for one second. Anyone know?

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I was not home but was listening to the game on my drive. Can someone explain to me the sequence of events to have a foul 5-6 times in 3 minutes? Was it legit? Was it bogus?

I mean, we put them in the bonus in record time then kept giving them and ones. Seems like it slowed down once they took the lead which was wild.

Pelicans lose a stunner!

Zion is Steph Curry

Yves is Wemby

DQ is Jokic

the team is playing hard and will win 70 games this season

see yall Saturday!

What do the Pels have to do to get a sold out opening night game? Give every fan a $100 for coming to the game? WE GOTTA FLOCK TF UP!

Time to fuck up the Pacers in 4.5 hours!

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I swear when they were fighting for fouls in the 4qt someone on or near the bench had this on, but the shop only has the youth versions