Zion Williamson's message to doubters amid Pelicans' slow start
10/31/2024 11:27 AM
The New Orleans Pelicans are off to a slow start to the season, recently losing to the Golden State Warriors on back-to-back nights. As one of the leaders of the team, Zion Williamson knows that the team needs to play better, but he’s also sending a message to the doubters early in the season.
“We’ve just got to find our rhythm, especially me offensively. I’ve just got to make it happen. I don’t put it on nobody else. I take full responsibility,” Williamson said. “Last game, I had more success because I was more patient. Tonight, I was forcing the issue.
“I go through this story every year. It is what it is. People don’t rock with me. They say this. They say that. It’s part of the game. Personally, (I think) it needs to stay like that when the script gets flipped.”
There was a lot of uncertainty surrounding the Pelicans roster coming into the season, with Brandon Ingram still not getting a contract extension with all the trade rumors during the summer. The Pelicans added Dejounte Murray, but there were questions about how he and CJ McCollum would fit together. Now, Murray is out indefinitely with a fractured hand, and Trey Murphy III still hasn’t returned after suffering a hamstring strain.
Zion Williamson highlights issues early in Pelicans’ season
Despite the slow start, Zion Williamson noted that the Pelicans haven’t hit the panic button, but they know what they need to do.
"It’s a high level of urgency [in the locker room]," Williamson said via The Athletic’s Will Guillory. "But not in a panic kind of way. More of a focus and coming together as a team kind of way. I can’t have eight turnovers. That’s just the truth of it…They were in the gaps, baiting us to make those passes. [The Warriors] were on top of things. Now it’s about coming together as a team with the game plan and watching film, then going from there."
It’s still early, and once the Pelicans get healthy, things should be trending upward for them. For now, Williamson and Brandon Ingram can lead the scoring, and CJ McCollum can get the team involved with his playmaking. It would be best if they could fix things rather than later, especially with how competitive the Western Conference will be this season. Like Williamson noted, it’s not time to panic so early in the season.
"You practice a certain way all training camp and then lose [Dejounte Murray]," Williamson said. "But we are NBA players. We have to make that adjustment quick. I don’t think it is a cause for panic. It’s just we need to lock in. It’s 82 games."
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