Pelicans' Zion Williamson details key difference between Dejounte Murray, CJ McCollum
Yesterday at 07:25 PM
The Zion Williamson-led New Orleans Pelicans wasted no time in sending a message to their fans that this squad is ready for a fast start to the regular season. An in-shape Williamson dished out three assists on the first three possessions, then hit a couple of floaters for good measure. Then Dejounte Murray moved into the offensive driver’s seat and the newest addition to the locker room wasted no time in showing off the new-look offense.
James Borrego and Green are getting more creative in New Orleans and the Pelicans are making some very noticeable changes with Murray as the starting point guard. Willie Green gave a stamp of approval after one game, a half really, of leading the offense.
“Love what I saw from Dejounte and his defense (with Herb Jones),” Green boasted, via the Pelicans’ YouTube channel. “I mean their ability to get steals and deflections ignite our transition opportunities. And then (Murray) can just settle the gym. He can run the pick-and-roll. He can get to his spots. You guys saw a couple of times jump up and shoot the ball. He'll get more comfortable as we continue to progress.”
Williamson (19 minutes) and Murray (17 minutes) made the most of the midday 12:30 pm exhibition run. Still, Green had enough to elaborate on Murray navigating the pick and roll with Williamson and how it differs from last season.
“One of the things that we learned last season is when we would bring a lot of smalls and pick rolls with Zion and then they're fives with track him. They’d meet (Williamson) at the rim,” explained Green. “So we're trying to mix it up a little bit more (with Murray) this season and bring the fives to pick-and-rolls where (Williamson) can see him there in front of them and is not guys coming from the weak side trying to block his shots. We will continue to work on it, but we know watching film from last season. We think we can play with those groups a little bit.”
Zion Williamson appreciates Pelicans PG investment
The Pelicans gave up first-round draft pick Dyson Daniels, respected veteran Larry Nance Jr., second-rounder E.J. Liddell, and draft assets to acquire Murray. Williamson appreciates the team’s investment in a proper point guard, even if it does come at CJ McCollum’s expense.
“With Dejounte, I was telling about making a joke with CJ like, ‘It’s the first time in a while I’ve played with a real point guard,'” Williamson laughed. “Nah, it’s all love though. It’s just there were times CJ would try to play point and it’s like I appreciate it but I need him to score. With Dejounte, I’m setting certain screens and have to roll faster. Before with (McCollum) and (Brandon Ingram) coming off the screen it’s different. Now you have a true PG who is looking to make the pass first.”
Williamson and Murray know that one-half of preseason basketball is not the sample size to bet the house on. The All-Star duo has 82 games to get ready for an NBA playoff run. So how does Williamson feel about things so far?
“It’s just a chemistry we will build as the season goes on,” Williamson replied.
Green sounded a bit more optimistic during the postgame press conference.
“I love the fact that all the concepts that we've been working on in training camp, you can see a lot of carry-over, and that's refreshing, to know that these guys are taking that information and they're applying it,” Green said. “That's what preseason is for, to get your group together, get them on the floor, make sure that we're fundamentally sound.”
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