Running in place

A pelican at Mardi Gras time 


Almost to the midpoint of the season and the Pelicans are still sitting at .500.  If you've followed them this year, you probably know enough by now to expect better.  They're not the best roster in the league but they do feature its most exciting young superstar and certainly enough supporting talent to qualify for the playoffs.   When everything is in gear, they can pretty much play with anyone.  But they're still just barely hanging in among the somewhat respectable.

The good news is, in New Orleans, Basketball Season doesn't begin in earnest until after Carnival.  I know it's fashionable to complain about this but I really don't think there's anything wrong with it. It's just a quirk of the local calendar, the franchise is going to have to work around.

Every NBA franchise operates within circumstances unique to its own market.  The Pelicans are always going to be second to the Saints during football season. They are far from the only basketball team in a football town.  They just have the added civic distraction of Carnival season to work around. I would argue that it's probably a worthwhile concession.

What this means, though, is if the Pelicans want to climb out of the basement in terms of average attendance, then they'll have to be out of the basement in the standings when the part of the year comes around when people are finally paying attention.  They've got about another month to do that.