Jonas Valanciunas' 2023-24 NBA season recap | Pelicans Podcast

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slash podcast. Welcome in to the New Orleans Pelicans ORG podcast, the official podcast of your New Orleans Pelicans,

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a podcast dedicated to everything you need to know about the squad. Hear from players, coaches, broadcasters, and those who cover the NBA on a daily basis. It's time to flock up. The New Orleans Pelicans ORG podcast starts right now.

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Hello, everyone, and welcome to the New Orleans Pelicans ORG podcast, your official podcast of your New Orleans Pelicans. We continue our player profiles as we've been taking a look back at the season that was for a specific player, Jim Eichenhofer, Pelicans.com. We've had many guests kind of go through everyone in the starting lineup, but the man in the middle. Mr. Yonis Valentunis, Ty Grafini PERSON, voice of the Pelicans ORG will have the honors of going backand looking back at his season. But we always start with asking you, sir, what did Jonas this past season? What do you think of when I mentioned him, man? Yeah, I mean,

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Raff PERSON's going to get into this in our discussion with him, but just the reliability that he constantly shows, the fact that you can count on him so much, that was one of the things that I wrote about in the article that goes with this podcast in terms of Yonis PERSON' season review, played in all 82 games.But on the other side of it, too, it's kind of, his usage this year is kind of symbolic of the way the NBA is going, where it's like the traditional fives are, you know, Graf PERSON is going to use the term dinosaur. They're kind of going away. We've seen guys like Roy Hibbert go from all-NBA, All-Star, to two years later, not in the league.And obviously, Yonis PERSON is not at that point at all. I don't want to make that comparison. I mean, he's got, I think he's got a bunch of really good years left. But you're seeing with across the league teams using small lineups, it's harder for those traditional fives, those seven-footers to stay on the court defensively. So, you know, unfortunately, that was part of his season. But he's just such a good dude and so much fun to be around and just a presence in the lockerroom that everybody appreciates.

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Look, I will say this. There's so much to look at from this aspect of it. Fans love him. I mean, fans absolutely love it.

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But when I do my talk show, it's easily, if there's a loss, a fan, we need more Yonis PERSON.

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If there's a win, they won because they used Yonis PERSON.

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I mean, there's no many fans that love Yonis PERSON.

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And I think that, and I bring that up because obviously fans are fans. But at the same time, I think it goes to show you, right? It translates and emotes. And it just, it connects. I think people see,

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because he's not the, the splashy three-point shooter, the high-fying donk, it's easy to see what Anthony Edwards does, Jalen Brunson dropping 40, you know,Laboo PERSON flopping, we get all of that. I had to do that just for you, through the Laker ORG thing. But the fact that you have a guy that brings the lunge pale kind of worker's

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guy, right, has scratches all over him, the beard, is speaking to English LANGUAGE like that. I mean,but fans love him, like believe that the team requires him in order to win games. I think that speaks volumes to what he does on the court.

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People can relate to somebody who shows up to work every single day and plays hard and is a bruiser, plays physical. He's not afraid of contact. He doesn't shy away from stuff. He doesn't flop as a certain player that you may have just referenced, does from time to time on the basketball court.

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So, yeah, you're right. I mean, the fans love him.

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One of the things that you, when you're talking about, one of the things that reminded me of is there was a fan. I think this was either the end of the regular season or maybe the playoffs that had a sign that said something to the effect of our favorite Jonas brother is number 17 on the Pelicans ORG, obviously being a play on words of his name is Yonis PERSON.

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But I thought that was really funny and kind of sums up the way that people in the fan base felt about him.

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Well, I love that.

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Let's hear what Todd Grafini voice of your New Orleans Pelicans had to think of when I and Jim PERSON ask him,

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hey, let's go back and look at Yonis's season that was. All right, Tom now to welcome in today's guest as our player profiles continue, and it's none other than the voice of your New Orleans Pelicans, Todd Graffanini PERSON. Graff, first off, good afternoon, sir. Hopefully you're enjoying your off. No, you're not enjoying your offseason.We should be talking basketball, sir. How are you doing, man?

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I am doing fine, Gus, but no, I am not enjoying my offseason right now. It's still too soon, especially now since, you know, the second round matchups have started, and now you're watching Oklahoma City GPE back in action, and basically doing the Dallas what they did to us last week.

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So anyway, but let's move on to happier talk. Yeah, you know, look, I do want to bring this up because I know, Jim PERSON and I really enjoy this this week talking with our other guests as we've gone through a couple of other players here as well. Jonas is the player you're going to be focusing on today, the last starter of the group so far.But this week, Jim PERSON, as you know, the defensive player of the year awards have come out all the different rankings and everything. Herb Jones was fifth on that. But Graf, I just want you to know you are first. Unanimously, you were voted by all of our guestsas the person most likely to throw something onto a court at some point in the future at this movie.

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So congratulations on that. Well, if I can make it from the top of Section 112 down to the court, then kudos to me. But no, hey, man, if you can just throw stuff on the court and get fine and not suspended when I'm sure that's really going to prohibit other players from doing the same. You know, that's a head scratcher to say the least, but I digress.

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Well, we've already had a meeting, Jim, Ikenhofer PERSON, you and I have already talked about it. Look, if it, it will help stop a, you know, a T. Wool's run, a Laker ORG run here.

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Ikenhofer PERSON is just going to toss something, a pencil and notepad. I mean, just stop one. But he's up there too, though, Gus. I mean, that's a long way for him to throw whatever he's going to throw also.

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There's nothing from keeping me from,

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there's nothing keeping me from finding a little, like I could even stand in the aisle, like right behind the bench and get a little closer.

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Well, I was going to say, now, Jim PERSON, if you wanted to rush the court, that would be, that would be a whole different, uh, I was going to say, now, Jim PERSON, if you wanted to rush the court, that would be a whole different dynamic and, you know, just kind of stick a leg out, you know,

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and trip Rudy Gobert PERSON on the way into the back court or what have you. That might be too far.

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I think we need to stick with heat packs and other equipment. Let's find out from the training staff, like what they have that can fly the furthest.

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What is the most projectile equipment that they have available?

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By the way,

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I want to see what this trophy looks like that graph is being awarded for being voted the winner of this award.

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I want to see what this looks like. Yeah, we do need to come up with what exactly that joke would be on that.

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But look, we're going to talk about Yonis PERSON.

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And one of the reasons so many people love Yonis PERSON is the rebounding, the physical presence on that. But just, you know, you can give your be on that. But look, we're going to talk about Yonis. And one of the reasons so many people love Yonis is the rebounding, the physical presence on that. But just, you know, you can give your take on that since Herb was fifth. I mean, he's getting closer to the top. But you look up and down that list of defensive players of the year graph that came out this week.And there's a lot of Western Conference ORG players in there. Victor Wimbaima was second, right? And he was the rookie of the year this year. So just all it does is just go to reiterate. There's defense everywhere at the Western

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conference. Yeah, no. And look, you're seeing the numbers kind of bear that out now, especially when the playoffs begin. And look, we knew going in and you see the physicality of each and every team. And it's not just the Western Conference. I mean, you're seeing in the Eastern Conference ORG playoffs as well.

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But when you're seeing this on a nightly basis and then you throw on top of that,

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that the officiating has allowed the physicality continue without a whole lot of, now, of course, Oklahoma City shot a lot of free throws last night, which I know angered some of the Dallas ORG people. But look, when you throw on top, when you throw the physicality and the way these teams are playing defense. And of course, now when you're in the playoffs as well, guys, there really are no surprises. And of course, now when you're in the playoffs as well, guys, there really are no surprises.Each team knows each other inside and out. They know exactly what they're going to run. And that makes for really tough half-court type games. And then when you throw on top of the individual defenders, I mean, it's really difficult to score when you get to this time of the season. And points are at a premium. Look, I mean, look at the Denver Nuggets ORG.I mean, my goodness gracious, that might have been one of the best defensive performances in the history of the NBA ORG. And I'm not talking about recency bias, what Minnesota did to Denver GPE in game, too, to hold that team to 80 points.They were suffocating. They were, I mean, they were all over the place. And, you know, and Rudy Gobert wasn't even on the court that night. So I just think it's just a very difficult time of the year to score points. And we're seeing it now night in and night out.

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You know, one thing that I heard earlier this week on Zach Lowe's PERSON podcast, John Schumann of NBA.com ORG was on it. And he mentioned a stat or a fact that I thought was really interesting and illustrates the difference between the regular season and the playoffs. And that was of the 16 teams in the playoffs, Minnesota ORG is the only team that has a better offensive ranking rating in theplayoffs than they did in the regular season. Every other team has performed worse offensively in the playoffs than they did during the regular season.

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So I thought that was interesting. That makes a ton of sense.

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But then again, you think about how historic the offense was this year, Jim PERSON,

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across the NBA until they really put a stop to it after the All-Star EVENT break. Again, I hate to bring it up. But the way the games were officiated really stopped those 130, 140, 150-point games that we were seeing on a regular basis every night in the league. So that is very interesting, but, you know, when you think about it, it makes perfect sense.

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In terms of Jonas, the player that we're going to talk about today, I wanted to kind of first, before we into some of the basketball specific stuff, we kind of put it out there to people, the guests that we knew we were going to have of if there was a player that you wanted to speak about specifically, and you mentioned Jonas Graf PERSON, what are some of the things that you kind of respect about him or like about him maybe off the court in terms of just how he carries himself. It seems like he's one of the most popular players on the team among his teammates. What are some of the things that you kind of take away from being around him on a daily basis throughout the season?

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Yeah. I mean, three years now, Jim PERSON, and look, you know, you're not supposed to play favorites in my line of work, but, I mean, I've made no bones about it. He's been my favorite player on the Pelicans the last three years. And, you know, obviously he's an outstanding basketball player, but off the court, you know, just to be around him every day and just to see how he interacts with his teammates and those of us who are with the team and travel and go topractice and everything. He's just he's just a tremendous human being. And the funny part about it is, and I don't know if that's the right word, but I mean, if you didn't know him and you look at him from afar and you see the beard and the hair and the and you know just he's got the look and you're like man that guy if i walked up to him and said something uh something that he didn't agree with he'd take me out at a back alley and andand beat me to a pulp and that could not be farther from the truth. He's a teddy bear. I mean, he is funny. He jokes. He makes jokes with everybody who he talks to, especially, you know, when you get on the plane and, you know, he's he daps you up and he's like,how you do it? You know, I've gotten pretty good at the Yonis PERSON accent. But, and just to see him around his wife and his kids, two little Jonas PERSON's, by the way. And he's just been a joy to be around the last few years. And that's really what has stuck out to me, not just what he's done on the court, but what he's done off of it as well.

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Yeah, you know, in central casting, if I was going to do like the next born identity movie, you know, he's definitely-

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Exactly. Like he looks like a villain. Yes, he opens the steel door where it's just like your face, you know, and he's knocking in an alley door, an alleyway, and he opens the door, and he goes, wrong door, buddy.You know, so that's definitely like that. Exactly. That's definitely the guy that you don't want to mess with for sure. No, I agree 100%. And you throw the accent on top of it.

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But to your point, you talk about the toughness. A lot of times we see the toughness on there. Jim PERSON and I talk a lot about what it's taken, you know, and how OKC and Minnesota ORG and all that. And actually, I brought this up with Zion, too, even on successful shots.He spent so much time on the floor, you know, and to try to avoid that, like Charles Barkley PERSON was saying, the fact that that guy played in every game, you know better than we do, right? I mean, you see them travel, the back-to-backs, the going from Denver to Dallas ORG. He started every game. I mean, is that even more of a reason to just admire what he is as a pro basketball player?

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I, I, yes, Gus. I agree 100%. Jim, you can help me with this one. You know, he was on pace last year to play every game and talked about it in the middle of the season, despite, you know, all the bumps and bruises that he incurs throughout the, the season. And I want to say, Jim PERSON, he missed maybe two games last year,

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one or two tops.

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He missed three last season.

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Three.

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Okay,

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okay.

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He was still tied for the most games played on the,

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on the Pelicans with Trey Murphy also had 79. So, yeah,

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he's played 79 and 82 of the last two seasons. Yeah, yeah. No, played on the on the on the pelicans with trey murphy also had 79 so yeah right okay 79 and 82 of the last two seasons yeah yeah no it's just look in in today's NBA ORG I mean it's just it's an anomaly um and not the norm but the man insists on playing every night he will not even be put on the injury report for any type of situation. You're thinking, you know, if he left the court early, maybe tweaked an ankle and left the court, even the next game, he would not be listed on the injury report because he's notgoing to miss. And that is the way, I mean, look, and you think about it, John DeShazer PERSON and I talked about it a bunch, especially since we played Sacramento, what, six times this year, Demontas Sabotus PERSON is the same way, fellow Lithuanian NORP. Like, we were joking, like, what are they put in the water in Lithuania GPE? I mean, you got to, even though DeM Montes is technically from the United States GPE, his father,Arvinus is Lithuanian NORP, but it's like they're just, they're just different. I mean, they want to play every single night. And the fact that you know going in, you knew that you could count on him every single game of the season, 82 games, knowing he was going to be in the starting lineup. That's got to be a very comforting thing for a coaching staff, knowing that he would be available.And he was. I mean, 82 games nowadays is a tremendous accomplishment.

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You know, one of the things that we're seeing in the NBA ORG, and unfortunately this is affecting Jonas PERSON as well, is partly because of the analytics, you see teams posting up way less than they used to,

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even, say, five years ago.

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You know, because if you look at the analytics,

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overall, the post-ups aren't as effective as, you know, three-point shooting or getting, you know, drives and kicks and stuff like that. But what did you see from Jonas this year, though, when they went in the games where they went through him offensively? It seemed like even though in the second half of the season, his minutes definitely went down,there were a bunch of games in the early part of the season or even through the midway point where he was, you know, a big option on offense and maybe even the number one option in some games where they beat. You know, you mentioned Sacramento going six and no against Sabonis PERSON. They had a lot of wins as well against some of the traditional bigs like Elper and Shengoon PERSON.

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One of the games that Jonas played really well, too, was in the in-season tournament against Yokic in Denver GPE.

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So what did you see from him, you know, on the nights when they really ran things through him?

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Speaker 101240.98s - 1394.22s

Yeah, no, I thought that his most effective games were when he was going up against a traditional five. I mean, I think that's when he was at his best. And then when you would see the offense run through him, I think he's a very underrated passer as well. He was able to find his teammates for open looks. And, you know, you talk about the rebounding and what he was doing on the insideand getting those shots in the paint, which, you know, he missed, I think he missed a lot more this year than he had in the last two years, which maybe hurt a little bit. But, you know, again, going back to a gym, I thought he was very effective when it was strict old school basketball type. And when you're talking about the analytics and you saw the teams, teams not go through their traditional fives, if teams now have traditional fives, that's become a bit of a rarity. It's almost like a dinosaur in today's NBA ORG. That's when you would see the small ball lineups, and that's when Jonas PERSON would not be as effective,and that's why his minutes were down. I thought what hurt him a little bit too, especially midway through this year at the end, was his lack of three-point shooting, which we have seen, you know, in the first couple of years, I thought he was a very solid three-point sure. You remember his first year here, Jim PERSON, I'll never forget it. We're in L.A. playing the Clippers, and he made seven consecutive threes to start a ball game. He missed his last one. He wound up going seven for eight.But, you know, you're watching the game going, now, if you got a guy that is this physical underneath that can step out and knock seven straight threes down, well, that is a force in today's NBA ORG. But it was a struggle for him the last couple of months shooting three. I think he made, you know, John PERSON and I would talk about this.I think he made two, three-pointers in his last 30 attempts. And that is, you know, that's difficult, especially when you're going up against teams that are going to allow him. And by the end, they were allowing him. They were daring him to take those shots. And he was not making them.The only way you can get them out of the defenses that they were playing if you start making those shots.

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But he wasn't doing it.

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And that was a lot easier for opposing teams to really collapse down low and basically play four on five. Other than that, though, I just thought he had a really good year. You know, the minutes were way down, but he averaged a double, double. He did. He averaged 13 points and 10 rebounds.And you're going to take that every single night in an NBA ORG season. It's just the use that he had. That was really what Wayne this year out of the three,

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he was with the Pelicans ORG. It was interesting because, you know, I talked about how, based on the analytics, the efficiency of post-ups isn't always a great part of the offense. But to me, I thought it was interesting in the playoffs that they went to him so much. And I think we talked earlier about how the offense across the NBA ORG pretty much, other than the Timberwolves ORG has decreased or worsened in the postseason. But I think the post-up becomes more of an element of success and things that you go to during the playoffs when the game slows down. Unfortunately, you know, that was one of the fewthings that did work well for the Pelicans offensively was going to Jonas against Chet Holmgren PERSON.

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But I did think that there were times, and you alluded to this as well, that during the regular

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season where, especially in the first few months, where he just overwhelmed guys. Like, he's just

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bigger than guys. He's more skilled than a lot of people.

Speaker 61487.14s - 1491.84s

And it seemed like that that was part of some of the wins that they got early in the season.

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No, I agree 100%.

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I thought, and again, because other teams don't have traditional fives like Jonas Fallon Chus PERSON,

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the pelicans NORP had a distinct advantage in the paint. And especially when Zion Williamson was playing alongside Jonas PERSON, the Pels ORG were very, very difficult to stop down low. You know, I just go back to the playoffs in the battles that he was having with Holgren PERSON. But, you know, I also go back to, I just don't think he was as efficient as the pelicans NORP needed him to be. And I think he would say the same thing himself.You could hear the frustration on those effects feeds when he was missing those two-foot shots and getting rebounds and missing others. Look, I just saw the box score again, looked up game one, the two-point loss in Oklahoma City in game one. The Pelicans missed 25 shots in the paint in that game.

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25.

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And I actually texted Chuck Cooperstein as the voice of the Dallas Mavericks this morning, just after watching the game last night, which was eerily similar to a lot of the games that the Pelicans in the Thunder played in the in the in their first round playoff series is like what is it about that building that makes teams that know how to shoot forget how to shoot and and and shots in the paint that you know you had last night you had Daniel Gafford missing layups I mean the guy the guy made 22 straight shots at one point this season for the Mavericks ORG. It's like, what is it about that place that, you know, you just, you can't make layups and dunks and wide open threes.

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It's just, you know, head scratching.

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It's funny because if I, if I remember, I think his streak ended in Oklahoma City GPE, too.

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Well, yeah, again, it's, I think he called it a palace.

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He said it was a palace of horror. I mean, I say the House of Horrors FAC. He said the Palace of Horrors on the Plains FAC. I think that's what the technical name that Chuck PERSON told me. But yeah, I mean, I'd like to give credit to Oklahoma City GPE, but I can't. It's too soon.

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I'll give a slight bit of credit to Chet Holgren PERSON because I do think that he factors

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into not just blocking shots, but making people rush a little bit.

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No, no, no.

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He doesn't.

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He absolutely affects shots.

Speaker 101637.04s - 1671.22s

There's no doubt about it. And look, Oklahoma City GPE is playing really, really well right now. But I just, you know, what Yon Jonas did in game one, the 20 rebounds, the 13 points. And again, he left a lot of points out there that game because of the miss putbacks and hook shots. But he was effective in game four as well. I thought it just, you know, we just need a little bit more.But he wasn't alone in that aspect. It was just, it was a tough series.

Speaker 21671.52s - 1672.08s

It was a tough series.

Speaker 101672.08s - 1676.54s

Well, Graff, all I know is I'm watching that game one between Dallas and O KC ORG.

Speaker 41676.54s - 1683.6s

And I'm putting together my little league lineups. I'm on the couch, not watching listening on her was steal dunk, steal, steal, donk. Yeah.

Speaker 101684.1s - 1692.02s

Steel dunk. And I'm like like well maybe well i literally i think i'd text you jim i said maybe it wasn't us you know it's just no oklahoma city's that good no

Speaker 21692.02s - 1705.7s

they're turned down in the open threes i mean that fourth quarter i think that's the thing too i mean it's so easy to look at and say hey well the pel's can't close out they they started on what something like a 16-2 run or something like that in a fourth quarter and it was over.

Speaker 01705.94s - 1716.24s

I mean, that's what they do. That's what they've done all season. But it's the defense, they're dunking. And then when that three is open, Graff PERSON, they're knocking it down.And that dude Williams PERSON, I think he just hit another three.

Speaker 101716.62s - 1723.62s

Yeah. Well, I mean, look, if Kaysen Wallace PERSON and Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins

Speaker 21723.62s - 1724.72s

are,

Speaker 101724.72s - 1778.2s

look, if those guys are knocking threes down, Isaiah Joe and Aaron Wiggins. Hold on. Let me look. Look, if those guys are knocking threes down, then it's going to be very, very difficult to beat Oklahoma City GPE because of all the other weapons that they have. I mean, those are role players at the epitome of role players. I mean, you think about Aaron Wiggins, you know, there are a lot of nights that you're playing the Thunder that he's playing five minutes, hops. And he was a big time impact player in that game last night. I mean, Josh Giddy, they basically said, hey, Josh Giddy, you can beat us and let everybody else, you know, do what they did.The problem is, is everybody else did what they did. Josh did. Josh Giddy didn't have to beat them. So, um, yeah, you know, like I said, it pains me to say it, but Oklahoma City GPE is, uh, is looking

Speaker 21778.2s - 1783.18s

the part. Well, I thought about you with that left corner Josh Josh Giddy three that hit the,

Speaker 101783.18s - 1793.34s

the rim. I mean, at the back, rim about 5 feet. He couldn't miss. Well, he wasn't in New Orleans GPE. In the smoothie king's center, that is nothing but net.

Speaker 21793.64s - 1811.48s

Not that, this is, it almost feels like this is the offseason theme, but it just is one of them. Jim PERSON, you tweeted something or you text me last night. I saw you, no, you tweeted it. The two teams currently in theWestern Conference playoff that have the lead, what were their seeds last year? They were,

Speaker 61811.66s - 1816.46s

Minnesota was eighth and Oklahoma City was 10th going into the playing tournament. So yeah,

Speaker 21816.46s - 1832.6s

it's quite a change from last year. But it goes to graph what David Griffin said. In the offseason, you have to get better because the other teams are. You're Houston's, your San Antonio's GPE, Ja, when he comes back with Memphis ORG. I mean, but that just speaks to the Western Conference.

Speaker 101832.82s - 1946s

I mean, you know, Lakers and Pat ORG. I mean, that was the eighth and tenth seed, and they literally look like the two best teams right now in the West LOC. Yeah, no, you're right. You know, I'm thinking about Oklahoma City GPE. Again, I hate to keep bringing them up, but they basically ran it back.Now, Chet Holmgren didn't play last year, but they had him. So they added Chet Holmgren, and they added Cason Wallace PERSON. And look, you think, well, Casey Wallace PERSON is a rookie. We were talking during the series on the air. Cason Wallace, at one point, he was about a month and a half through his rookie season,and he led the league in three point percentage. He was higher than Grayson Allen was at one point. He was shooting 50%. But, you know, when all you're doing out there is to shoot threes, well,that helps. They're not asking him to do anything else. He fit a role perfectly. But that's basically all they added. I know they added Gordon Hayward in the trade deadline, but, you know, he's not really, you know, much of an impact on what Oklahoma City GPE is doing.They basically added two pieces. Everybody else was on the roster a year ago. You know, Minnesota, kind of the same way, even though the emergence of Nas Reid PERSON, who is now, you know, what, he's the NBA six man of the year. And our old pal, Nikiel Alexander Walker PERSON, has really stepped his game up. And again, Nikiel PERSON hasgot the perfect role for him. They're not asking him to do too much. There's really not a whole lot of pressure on him. See, when Nikiel PERSON was here, we were counting on him to score 15 to 20 points.They don't ask him to do that in Minnesota ORG. If he scored 15 to 20 points,

Speaker 31946.12s - 1956.18s

all right. That's fantastic. We still have Anthony Edwards and Carl Anthony Towns PERSON to do the dirty

Speaker 101956.18s - 1978.2s

work. So it's, you know, they had solid rosters going into this year. They tweaked them a little bit and now you see where they are. And going back to your original point, Gus, the Pelicans ORG have a solid roster, but obviously it's not good enough. So you got to imagine, and David Griffin PERSON said as much, that there will be some tweaking in the offseason.

Speaker 21978.2s - 1984.2s

And we'll see what takes place. I did come up, guys, with the award, what it would look like the trophy for graph.

Speaker 101984.2s - 1995.96s

Oh, boy. Unanim unanimously winning person most likely to toss something on the court now there's been a while you mentioned your height injuries I mean all that other stuff so I'm going to go with the paper airplane

Speaker 21995.96s - 1998.1s

what do you think oh I like it

Speaker 101998.1s - 1999.26s

a gold plane

Speaker 21999.26s - 2001.32s

and Gus even more

Speaker 102001.32s - 2003.88s

kudos that Gus made the paper airplane

Speaker 22003.88s - 2013.58s

during the interview. There is. I have no idea if this actually will fly, but we'll put it on a little base on something and narrative that way.

Speaker 102017.9s - 2032.3s

Because I do think both of you guys could, you know, make a little paper airplane. Now, Jim's not going to know this, but Gus, I know you will as well back in the early well not the early stages but in the height stages of the eights PRODUCT and the paper bags

Speaker 02032.3s - 2033.14s

and the Superdome

Speaker 102033.14s - 2044.52s

how maybe the best part of the games when we were kids Gus was watching people throw paper airplanes from the terrace

Speaker 22044.52s - 2046.82s

yeah it was like the place card or whatever you got, right?

Speaker 102046.98s - 2049.82s

It was correct, like the lineup card, the lineup card.

Speaker 22050.02s - 2051.44s

Yes, because there was no one.

Speaker 102051.44s - 2053.24s

No, Jim PERSON, this is true.

Speaker 22053.44s - 2053.7s

Yes.

Speaker 102053.86s - 2074.4s

People would make paper airplanes out of the roster cards that you get when you walk into the games. And the most entertaining part of the games back then was to see people throw paper airplanes from the terrace and if they landed on the field of play, the place went nuts because there was nothing else to cheer

Speaker 02074.4s - 2076.3s

for. And if any

Speaker 32076.3s - 2079.8s

paper airplane landed in the helmet

Speaker 02079.8s - 2082.28s

in the middle of the field or in the

Speaker 32082.28s - 2084.24s

Florida GPE Lee, you're talking about

Speaker 102084.24s - 2085.36s

a Super Bowl EVENT win.

Speaker 22086.82s - 2104.58s

So that's what that paper airplane reminded me of. 100% graft. And that's why we love having you on. As always, man, appreciate the time.And we may bother you again at some point here. As we get closer to the off season, in the off season, the draft, free agency. And then before you know it,new season, sir. We got time, though.

Speaker 102104.64s - 2105.36s

We got time. we got time wow

Speaker 22105.36s - 2112.3s

you know it was funny gosh i was telling my uh my daughter she was talking about yesterday

Speaker 102112.3s - 2117.24s

she was talking about something in november and i'm like may that's a you know

Speaker 22117.24s - 2123.28s

november's a long time away and i'm thinking about i'm going and then i went well actually

Speaker 102123.28s - 2125.46s

because when November hits

Speaker 22125.46s - 2132.8s

daddy's going to be back and doing basketball games again so I guess it's not that far away.

Speaker 102132.8s - 2140.62s

I got one for you that Jim one day you'll understand here 12 my kid when I dropped them off today

Speaker 22140.62s - 2145.52s

12 as in 12 days left to school, Graff PERSON. So just letting you know

Speaker 102145.52s - 2146.32s

what your summer's about.

Speaker 22146.42s - 2150.38s

That's a harsh reality. Yeah, we got 12 days. That's it.

Speaker 102151.78s - 2175.5s

Daddy, Daddy PERSON, Daddy PERSON, that's it. There go my gym. There's 12.When he said that this morning, I'm like, what do you mean you have 12 days? What are you talking about? Yeah. The 12 is not 12 days.Daddy, you don't count Saturday and Sunday. I'm like, you're too smart for your own good kids. And I'll throw, yeah,that's true. And I'll throw that to, you know what, Gus and Jim PERSON, we had a great season. And it really flew by.Yeah.

Speaker 32175.68s - 2179.32s

And the same time flies when you're having fun. Well, we had a lot of fun this year.

Speaker 102179.52s - 2179.7s

Yeah.

Speaker 22179.76s - 2181.06s

And it stunk how it ended.

Speaker 02181.6s - 2181.8s

But,

Speaker 102181.88s - 2193.8s

I mean, you know, 49 wins and the way the team played and now we're here in the second round of the playoffs and it just, it went by like that.So, you know, that's what I chalk it up to.

Speaker 22193.96s - 2208.88s

No doubt. And I don't know if you know this, but Jim PERSON's got some time here in the offseason after we do the player profile podcast, he's available to watch kids. So he will watch Carver, you know, if you'd like them to watch Maven Jack PERSON, I mean, you're welcome to do that. I mean, you know, go ahead and do that. Jim, I hear you're great with kids. So he will watch Carver. You know, if you'd like them to watch Maven Jack, I mean, you're welcome to do that.I mean, you know, go ahead and do that. Jim PERSON, I hear you're great with kids.

Speaker 62210.02s - 2210.18s

Uh, my,

Speaker 22210.28s - 2212s

I just got word.

Speaker 62212s - 2213.44s

I'm busy now this summer.

Speaker 22214s - 2214.44s

Hey,

Speaker 62214.56s - 2215.14s

sorry.

Speaker 22215.22s - 2219.78s

Just got word, huh? Yep, just found out. Got the notification?

Speaker 62220.02s - 2220.36s

Yes,

Speaker 22220.48s - 2222.72s

a 70 day expose.

Speaker 102223.14s - 2223.26s

Oh,

Speaker 82223.38s - 2226.76s

the season in which the Pels won 18 games.

Speaker 102226.86s - 2237.08s

About that, you can go back to that. The season that was. Okay, I'll watch your kids now. You would rather watch kids to go back and look at that 18-win season, huh?

Speaker 02237.2s - 2237.8s

Yes, definitely.

Speaker 62239.1s - 2239.78s

Dan Dick PERSON out.

Speaker 32240.16s - 2241.54s

All right, guys, thank you, always.

Speaker 62242.08s - 2242.54s

All right, Jeff PERSON.

Speaker 22242.54s - 2243.34s

He's on a billboard.

Speaker 02243.46s - 2245.58s

He's been on a billboard more times than we have, Graff PERSON.

Speaker 102245.64s - 2246.16s

I'm just saying.

Speaker 02247.98s - 2249.64s

And it should be.

Speaker 102250.28s - 2252.86s

I was a part of that season, too, gosh, you forget.

Speaker 22253.24s - 2259.56s

I know. I remember Ty Graffini PERSON, he posted New Orleans Pelicans ORG. Thank you, man. Appreciate it. All right, Jones PERSON.

Speaker 102260.66s - 2262.04s

Our thanks to the graph for that.

Speaker 22262.62s - 2284.66s

You know, one of the things that we look at as well with the owners is just, look, the constant, I guess not only improvement, but just lasting out there,man. That's why I asked him that. Today, you don't see it. You just don't see players start 82 games. And it matters,you know, like it matters to him. Yeah,

Speaker 62284.74s - 2315.4s

you know, one thing that is, I'll say, a positive sign for the NBA ORG is there were 17 players who played in 82 games or more this season. So that actually went up a little bit. And it's funny if you charted this over, I don't know how many years, you would see it keep going down and down and down, decreasing over a long period of time to where I believelast season there was only maybe five guys in the league or maybe I might be thinking of two years ago there was only five guys in the entire NBA that played 82 games which is unbelievable but it went back up to 17 I think the

Speaker 02315.4s - 2320.64s

player participation policy that the NBA ORG put in maybe factored into that a little bit I feel

Speaker 42320.64s - 2325.7s

like there's definitely more of a culture tone being set of it's important to be

Speaker 02325.7s - 2331.04s

on the core. It's important to be available. It's a badge of honor to be able to play all 82

Speaker 62331.04s - 2337.02s

games. And by the way, former Pelican Buddy Heald played in 84 games this year between the

Speaker 32337.02s - 2341.96s

Pacers and the Sixers. So kudos to him. That was the only thing that kept Jonas PERSON from being tied

Speaker 02341.96s - 2345.54s

for the league lead in games played. But you're right.

Speaker 62345.62s - 2356.16s

I mean, that's impressive to be able to play in every single game. And despite sicknesses, despite you're getting in at 5 a.m. in some cases and you're having travel problems.

Speaker 22356.62s - 2376.6s

So excellent job by Jonas PERSON. I would also say this, Jim PERSON, and it's maybe something that's a reason for so many players playing so many games. I think the league is so competitive that if you don't go to the court in battle per se with your best players, you're going to lose. I mean, it's that sitting.

Speaker 02376.96s - 2382.52s

In the Western Conference ORG, you're playing Western Conference team, your top guys aren't playing.

Speaker 22383.32s - 2401.4s

Now, look, we saw the Pels win at Dallas ORG when, you know, you had some players, I get it. You might do it once or twice. But yeah, to your point, you have your top guys missing 15, 17 games, you know, for rest purposes. Let's be honest, that's what it was to save them for the postseason.

Speaker 02401.66s - 2409.12s

Jim PERSON, you're not going to make the postseason. I mean, how many of those teams that we looked at all season were separated by one game? We had three teams,

Speaker 22409.88s - 2420.7s

three teams going to the last day of the regular season tied with at stake, first place in the Western Conference and Home Court ORG throughout. You don't think one game matters.

Speaker 102420.98s - 2432.78s

So if you go three to five games, forget 17, three to five games where you rest your players, you're going to be ninth or tenth. You're going to be battling for ninth or

Speaker 22432.78s - 2435.86s

10th. I feel like we're going to have to get used to this, that this is the way it's going to be

Speaker 62435.86s - 2444.6s

in the West, that there's going to be, at the end of the season, every year, there's going to be teams that say, man, if we had one more win, we would have been able to do XYZ. And I also think,

Speaker 02444.6s - 2450.26s

too, that this year's playoffs to me reestablished the idea that you do not

Speaker 62450.26s - 2459.8s

want to be in the playing tournament because last season, the Lakers in the Heat ORG, went to the playing tournament, still made the conference finals in the Lakers case, NBA Finals in Miami ORG's case.

Speaker 02460.22s - 2464.78s

I mean, we could do a separate podcast, I think, just on Pat Riley's comments this week about

Speaker 32464.78s - 2465.34s

the heat. But I think one of the lessons that it seemed like, I think, just on Pat Riley's comments this week about the heat.

Speaker 02465.7s - 2469.4s

But I think one of the lessons that it seemed like, I don't want to put words in his mouth,

Speaker 62469.52s - 2500.14s

but it did seem a little bit like the heat took the regular season for granted in terms of their players to the point of like, well, you know, last year we were eight seed and we made the finals. And then you come back this year and you think you can do it again. And it's like, that's going to be way more the exception than the rule that you see a team pull off what they did as an eight seed last year. So you want to do everything you possibly can to finish in the top six.And even though there might be cases where you get away with kind of walking through the regular season, whatever, most of the time you're going to get burned by that philosophy.

Speaker 22500.74s - 2514.44s

Yeah, no doubt. That's for sure. One of the good things about it while the Pels didn't get into the second round, we're at least not looking at the lottery. You remember a couple years ago we got so excited for the draft lottery. But that is this weekend, Jim PERSON.

Speaker 62526.26s - 2531.14s

It is. And it's really interesting to kind of look at, it's funny, Gus, like I'm sure you've probably experienced this on your daily talk show locally as well, that there's so little draft discussion right now. It's almost like the lottery. Like, I think people today are going to

Speaker 22531.14s - 2535.1s

be like, wait, the lottery is coming up on Sunday. What you mean this year? This year's lottery

Speaker 62535.1s - 2659.28s

is happening in two days. But I'm curious to see what happens. I think I had a couple notes that I wanted to talk about briefly before we wrap up the show on the lottery, which is taking place Sunday at 2 p.m. before the Pacers' Knicks ORG game. One of the things we've talked about in the past is a lot of years, even though the Western Conference has been the Superior Conference ORG, they're still winning the lottery constantly. And it's like if you're, you know, that Spurs obviously won it with Wembe, the Thunder were able to get Chet Holmgren with the number two pick where they moved up.So if you're a Western Conference team, you root for the East LOC teams to win the lottery or get the top picks. This year, maybe finally there will be a break in that front because Detroit, Washington, and Charlotte have the top three odds to win the lottery. So I think if you're a Pelicans fan or any fan in the West LOC, you're hoping that, you know, whether it's teams in the West LOC, they're going to use the number one pick to draft somebody or use it as assets in a trade.You just want to not see the West LOC, you know, dominate the lottery the way that they have, even though they've been the better conference. And a couple of quick things, I think, to kind of watch for. Beyond who wins the number one pick, the Sp ORG. And a couple of quick things, I think, to kind of watch for beyond who wins the number one pick, the Spurs have a really good chance to get Toronto's pick at number six. Or if that drops down below six, the Spurs ORG will have that pick as well as their own.So, I mean, there's a chance that San Antonio could add two guys, say, in the top seven of the draft. The Thunder also have an extremely good chance of getting the 12th pick from the Rockets because of one of the trades that they've done in the past. So it's possible that some of these young teams that we were looking at are going to be loaded up even more with more assets and more ability to add guys through the draftbased on some of the things that could happen. But I think that's going to be one of the biggest things to watch is, does Toronto ORG stay in the top six and keep their pick? Or do they drop down and the spurs end up with two lottery picks in addition to Wembe and all the other young talent they have already?

Speaker 22659.44s - 2666.46s

That's what I was going to ask you because I'm looking at mock drafts. And right now, yeah yeah San Antonio GPE via the

Speaker 62666.46s - 2673.12s

Raptors could have the seventh pick or right yeah Toronto ORG only third Toronto only keeps that

Speaker 22673.12s - 2678.46s

pick if it stays in the top six and if you add their percentages together of doing that

Speaker 62678.46s - 2687.04s

it's only it's under 50 percent so it's more likely they'll have three and and seven. More than likely, yes, that they'll pick seven.

Speaker 22687.28s - 2691.22s

But the Raptors have a 40% something chance to keep the pick.

Speaker 62691.3s - 2693.4s

So that'll be really intriguing to see what happens with that.

Speaker 22693.4s - 2697.32s

So if you're a Pels fan, you definitely want to see the Raptor logo at six.

Speaker 62697.98s - 2698.92s

Right, right.

Speaker 22699.14s - 2699.56s

Yeah.

Speaker 62699.9s - 2702.34s

You don't want to see the Spurs logo come up at seven.

Speaker 22702.48s - 2706.68s

That's definitely true. Oh, by the way, the Grizzlies have the six pick as well.

Speaker 62706.96s - 2742.74s

Not that, you know, they need any help as well. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, this is, they could add somebody really good. I know there's not a lot of enthusiasm or optimism about this draft crop, but, I mean, they've drafted really well. I feel like they're going to come back with the vengeance next season, unfortunately.And hopefully when I say that I mean by that, I mean on the court, they come back with the vengeance and not off the court. But yeah, I mean, that's another team that's in position to add more talent. Utah's in the eighth pre-lottery slot. So you still have a bunch of teams in the West LOC that can do stuff from the, can add somebody in the draft in June.All right.

Speaker 22742.8s - 2746.36s

That is Jim Eichenhofer PERSON, as always. I appreciate the time, sir. Thanks, guys.

Speaker 62746.64s - 2748.98s

Yep, you can be followed at Jim underscore Eichenhofer.

Speaker 22749.04s - 2763.9s

I'm Gus Katengel at G-Cat PRODUCT underscore 17 as well. You want to give a follow. As always, appreciate the time. We'll see you next time on the New Orleans Pelican ORG podcast. Thanks for listening to the New Orleans Pelicans ORG podcast.

Speaker 02764.74s - 2794.16s

Join us three times per week on Pelicans.com, the Pelicans mobile app, the IHeart Radio app, or where you get your podcast. And be sure to give Jim and Gus a follow on X and Jim underscore Ikenoffer and G-Cat underscore 17 PRODUCT. We'll see you next time, right here on the New Orleans Pelicans ORG podcast.Live Nation presents, concert week.

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