The Pelicans Have More Help Than We Thought...

The Pelicans might have more help than we thought. Through the first two preseason games, we saw some incredible play from three role players who are now starting to make noise and maybe starting to work their way up the depth chart. We're going to take a look at these three players and show them love and also see where they could possibly fit in inside this edition of Pelicans Digest. What's going on, my people? It's Melzo, the MIC, back once again inside Pelicans Digest on a little late night tip. Falling behind today. Was hella busy today. But we're back in full effect inside the show today. Of course, everybody's talking about what Gayle Benson had to say about the Saints at that lunch of the day. But I'm more focused on what's going down tomorrow night as the Pels get ready to take on the Dallas Mavericks. One of the few teams that they've dominated last season in some preseason action. The Pels have made their way to Dallas. They're here right now. 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That's $55. That's double your money added to your account instantly when you trade your first $25. And we got to thank Couchy for sponsoring today's video. All right. As we get into this episode of Pelicans Digest, we want to talk about three players who have played their role perfectly for the Pelicans so far in the preseason. And we're looking forward to what they can bring to the table down the line this season. First up, we got to talk about Bryce McGowan. He has shown so much value beyond scoring. And Bryce McGowan, of course, in the last game against Miami, didn't score all that well. But when I show you this other part of the stat line, it's going to show that he is working his way through a lot of what's going on with him right now. And in the Miami game, while he only scored one point, he had seven assists. Seven assists. You'd be hard-pressed to find another player on this team who can put up that many assists that night. that's not an actual point guard okay and uh so he has shown his value in his role way beyond scoring if you get to my drift even though he was a minus seven on the night he also picked up three rebounds in his 19 minutes he also had three steals in that game against miami and and so far he continues to show and prove his role as a second or third unit guy uh one of the things that i like about him especially according to the scout report is that he protects possessions he rarely turns the ball over he has a supporting role uh as a secondary creator as well works very well he can contribute besides a primary ball handler without dominating the ball and that's something we've seen he moves well away from the ball as well gets himself in certain spots where he needs to go but it's also just playing a team basketball role so much better he does have some issues with finishing at the rim and his low assist volume cautions against calling him a full-time lead guard which is fine which is fine but again yeah like we just showed you in the Miami game he had seven assists in that game in the minutes that he was in which means he could do a whole lot more just without scoring and you know so you gotta love that so what I would like to see starting going down the line is is testing his role can he be a secondary creator beside a lead guard maybe in some minutes maybe we can experiment with him and Matherin or him and Pool and see what that comes up with extra passes when scoring dries up it's something that he uh also uh is very well and also can work on as well and accountability on defense he has that in droves he does well on holding himself accountable on defense so uh once again looking forward to seeing what Bryce McGowan's can continue to bring to the table um because also when he's on it on with and without McGowan's on the floor of course this is a sample size based on the results from uh last season and um as you can see his net rating is a negative 2.9 because a lot of times in those possessions they were playing from behind or they were losing but his offensive rating raises when he's on the floor for the pelicans now when he's off the floor the defensive rating it goes down um i mean it actually goes up for the pelicans but again this is a weird sample size to try to gauge from because in a lot of the minutes that he played last year they were in garbage time minutes nothing really important or they brought him in when they were already getting their behinds kicked down 20 so hey plus you know what do y'all had to deal with in the second line last year so um love to see Bryce McGowans would like to see hopefully the Pelicans will continue to develop his role and test him out with some of these other guys the next player on this list is Carlo Markovic he is making a big case to make it into the rotation especially um considering that they got rid of Christian Koloko and i think they got rid of Koloko because they felt comfortable with Markovic and what he's been bringing to the table he's been with this team for several years now, and it just never seemed like he got a fair shot because they were all, it's like they keep pushing him to the back burner. When this is the guy you really need to be pumping up because I'm a real big, big, I'm real big on letting the European players play or any kind of foreign players I'm not saying European as in strictly from a European country, but the way of style that they play basketball, which is much more fundamental as compared to these American kids, is something that the Pelicans need to continue to build upon with Markovic In a Miami game, he scored nine points, had three rebounds it was a plus one on the floor in just 12 minutes of action It was 4-7 and also hit a three-pointer Markovic needs more minutes and I think that's why you got Christian Koloko up out of here And so you can at least start trying to bump him up into that second unit. Trust me, they're going to continue with this Derrick Queen at center experiment which is why Markovic can't seem to get on the floor and which is why it's incredibly frustrating to see this. Does Derrick Queen at center experiment continue with this team? But McAvick provides so much more of a skill set in all aspects of the floor in his shooting, in his spacing, in his rebounding. I've said this before. He is probably your best offensive big on this team right now. Missy's still trying to figure it out, But as of right now, he continues. Carlo McAvick, to me, is your best offensive big. And I would like to see a lineup where you try to put Jeremiah Fierce. I think they worked well together last year in certain situations, in certain sets, where you had McAvick and Fierce together on the floor. I really do think that. And as you can see by these numbers, you know, you can judge for yourself. Without Fierce on the floor with McAvick, whatever. However you want to put those numbers together, you know, I would like to see more of McAvick and Fierce together on the floor but there's a whole bunch of y'all saying that he needs to be the starter I I don't necessarily agree with that as of right now as of right now as of right now because it depends on who you putting them with I don't think he plays well with Zion and Trey and all those guys but I think he does play well and fits better with that second unit if you could get uh Fierce uh Fierce match well Fierce is about to be the starter if we be here they were the boat Fierce up to that start lineup let's say let's say you get a lineup of Poole Mathurin McAvick Bay and Queen you you could probably make some shake right there so before you can even talk about him getting a starter you got to try him out with these different guys and i think you're going to start possibly seeing that over the next few games These last two games, hopefully, they're going to try him out with different guys. And also, you've got to track his rebounding and defensive coverage as well. And you've got to judge the whole lineup, not just all of his scoring. See who's around him before you make your judgment on Carlo Blevins. But I think he deserves a bigger and better role. I really do think that with Carlo McAfee. He deserves a bigger and better role on this team. And hopefully, he'll be able to showcase that here in these last two games. All right? That's the one. So we got Bryce. We got Carlo. And there's one more guy that hits this list for me, and that's Trenton Wofford. He has passing and rebounding to what he brings to the table. And, again, I was unfamiliar with Trenton Wofford's game, but I think his role fits very nicely with this Pelicans team. I think his role is perfect, which is just me. And from what I can tell from the Miami game, he knows his role. He's not focused on scoring. He just knows his role. Seven rebounds was a plus six on the floor, plus two assists. Got to the free throw line several times. Got to hit them free throws, though. He had a blocked shot as well. Even though he only scored two points, again, seven rebounds. You see what I'm getting at here. Each one of these guys are doing well at their roles. You got Bryce McGowan with seven assists in that last game. You got Trenton Wofford with seven rebounds in this game. You got Carlo with a whole bunch of rebounds as well. I have been very pleased with this game. because he is playing his role and playing it perfectly. Passing off is a way to connect bench possessions, and I've seen a lot of that. He does very well with that and spacing as well. And rebounding helps finish defensive possessions. Now, stationary shooting is a little weak, but, you know, again, working out on those rough patches for Wofford right now. But I would like to see him in a whole bunch of different situations and also would like to see if he can work well with that second unit because he has great NBA experience so far, several years of experience. So what can the Pelicans do with all this information that I'm giving out? Well, they have got to figure out how they can turn this fit into the desired role, the defined role. And when you look at their sort of pairing together versus apart, together there's a minus one net rating. It gets worse with each one of them off the floor. So you have got to figure out how McEvick and McGowans can work together versus apart. Because with McEvick and McGowans, they seem to work very well together. Even though I would still like to see some experimenting with Jeremiah Fierce and others. Also, they play different complementary roles as well. See how that continues to work out. Especially when you consider that McGowans and McEvick are probably some of your better three-point shooters on this team. and Wofford is probably one of your better rebounders on this team overall. So I would like to ask y'all a few quick questions. What deserves, who deserves the first expanded role on this team? Bryce McGowans, Carlo McEvick, or Trendon Wofford? Let me know your choices right now. Bryce McGowans is A, Carlo McEvick is B, and C is Trendon Wofford. Let me know your choices right now in the comments as we wrap up this edition of Pelican's Digest. Lots of folks starting to feel a little optimistic, but, you know, I feel optimistic about those three guys and the play that they've shown me so far in preseason. Let's just hope that Jamal Mosley and his staff sees it and wants to give them more minutes. We'll see you tomorrow night. And I'll give you an update tomorrow night. And we might go live tomorrow night. You never know. We might go live if I can find a stream somewhere. but uh thank you so much for tapping in with us tonight here on Pelicans Digest, hit that subscribe button if you haven't done it yet and uh this is where you get the best analysis, opinions and more about the New Orleans Pelicans, it's right here on Pelicans Digest, it's Mel talking about those Pels, I'll let you