When Zion was coming to Louisiana, there was so much hype about how he was going to turn New Orleans into a basketball city. I had so many friends/coworkers asking me questions, and all becoming pretty engaged in the first season.
Then the injuries happened. The turnover in coaching. The Pelicans just kept having long stretches of players being hurt. It wasn’t just Zion, but the entire team that was bogged down.
This year, Zion has the third highest minutes played on the team, but the two who are leading are Hawkins [Rookie] and Dyson [Year 2.] Most of this year has been the same story as last. Injury and after injury. Before last night’s game, we had the third worst bench in PPG in the league.
Zion has been trying to be an active passer all year to soften up the lane for himself. It’s just difficult with all the injuries. He’s still third in the team with 4.2 assists per game. I’ve watched entirely too many possessions where he kicks it out to an open man, but that open man should be playing on a G-league affiliate.
It’s just frustrating.
Last year, the Lakers and the Spurs played each other three times in only four games.