Whether it was watching highlights from Zion Williamson’s college season, or the up-close experience of playing against Williamson in a Feb. 4 Milwaukee-New Orleans game at the Smoothie King Center, Eric Bledsoe got the feeling that perhaps the 20-year-old may not be the friendliest guy in basketball. As it turns out, Bledsoe’s first impression turned out to be far from accurate.
“(I’ve learned) how great of a person he is off the court,” Bledsoe said Monday, when asked about his initial time around the forward. “When you see someone from the outside looking in, he plays kind of mean. But how he interacts with his teammates, off the court, is special.”
With 10 new faces on a 19-player training camp roster, the Pelicans will be using the next few weeks to familiarize themselves with each other, which could improve on-court cohesiveness. Under the circumstances of a pandemic, socializing away from basketball in 2020-21 will be at a minimum, making practice time potentially even more important.
“(The key) chemistry part is how you operate on the floor,” said Steven Adams, like Bledsoe a new member of the roster. “It’s not so much off the court, because you can be really cool and friendly with someone, but you just don’t click together with them on the court. Or vice versa, you could really just not like a dude off the court, but really click on the court.”
It will take time for New Orleans to develop additional camaraderie and trust between the lines, but in the meantime, the Pelicans are learning as much as possible about one another. A sampling of some of the insights on a variety of subjects:
Bledsoe noted Monday that he had never met rookie guard Kira Lewis prior to Pelicans training camp – both are Alabama natives, with Lewis having played two years at the University of Alabama – but indicated that he’s impressed with the ability of the 19-year-old point guard.
“Kira is super quick and fast,” Bledsoe said. “Sometimes he moves too fast and too quick. I tell him to slow down a little bit (because) some stuff you don’t have to do as fast. That just comes from the excitement of being here. To play in the NBA at his age, he’s excited to be here. He definitely has to slow down a bit, but I see a great talent in him.” …
Bledsoe on Lonzo Ball: “He’s got great instincts for playing great defense. Me watching from the outside, he definitely has a knack for playing. He’s got great feet and has the length to defend.” …
Williamson, after Sunday’s practice on Adams: “Steven’s a great guy. On the court, you can see that he’s a hard worker. Steven is strong. I thought I was strong, but seeing it up close, on the same team now, it’s crazy. He’s really strong. He’s a great basketball player.” …
Van Gundy on Bledsoe’s ability at the defensive end, as well as that of other key contributors: “Eric is as good an on-ball defender as there is in the league. Certainly that’s where (success on defense as a team) starts. But look, I think we have people to defend. The talent is there to be able to do it. Lonzo can defense. Brandon Ingram can defend. Zion can defend. Steven Adams can defend. I don’t think there’s any doubt that we’ve got enough defensive ability. No. 1, we have to all get on board with a system of play and a system of communication, buy in and do it. It’s not just individual defense – a lot of different situations happen on the floor, and you’ve got to be tied together (as a five-man unit). How long will that take? I don’t know. But it’s not going to be by tomorrow. You need time to learn what you’re doing and really play together on defense.”