Anthony Davis wasn’t willing to call the New Orleans Pelicans‘ season a success.
Not that Davis dismissed the determination Ryan McLeod Oilers Jersey , grit and growing chemistry the Pelicans showed in the way they adjusted to a season-ending injury to fellow All-Star DeMarcus Cousins.
New Orleans exceeded expectations by getting to the postseason and sweeping third-seeded Portland . Then came a second-round matchup with defending champion Golden State, and the Pelicans were reminded why bringing back a player of Cousins’ caliber could be crucial to going farther next season. The Warriors needed only five games to end New Orleans’ season.
”Any time you don’t win a championship, I don’t see how it could be successful,” Davis said. ”We can take a lot of positive things from the season. Of course, one of our main guys went out and everybody doubted us. Everybody counted us out and we were able to keep fighting, keep pushing as a unit and able to come this far.”
This offseason could go a long way in determining if they go any farther.
Not only is Cousins a free agent, but so is assists maestro Rajon Rondo . Further complicating matters is that Cousins’ injury – a torn Achilles – has been a historically difficult one from which to come back. So the Pelicans’ faith could be tested if Cousins declines to take less than the maximum he can get under the NBA’s current collective bargaining agreement.
Also, Rondo and Cousins are friends. Bringing back one could raise the prospects of keeping the other.
Rondo, who averaged 10.3 points, 12.2 assists and 7.6 rebounds in the postseason, asserted that bringing back Cousin will be ”very important.”
Cousins averaged 25.2 points and 12.9 rebounds in 48 games http://www.dolphinsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-josh-sitton-jersey , during which New Orleans went 27-21. But the Pelicans assert that when Cousins went down, they only beginning to figure out the most effective way to play with him and Davis in the lineup together. As evidence, they pointed to the fact that they won seven of the last eight games Cousins played, including a victory at Boston and a home triumph over Houston.
”We felt like, you know, we were able to play against the elite teams in the league,” Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry said. ”We felt great about it, and then he got hurt and we struggled for four or five games.”
Once the Pelicans adjusted to life without Cousins, they shot up from sixth in the NBA in pace of play to first, with Rondo pushing the ball up the court and using his precision passing to put Davis, Jrue Holiday and mid-season trade acquisition Nikola Mirotic in prime positions.
The Pelicans won their final five regular season games to finish as the sixth seed in the highly competitive Western Conference http://www.bengalsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-billy-price-jersey , and Gentry was informed the team was picking up his option for next season.
While Rondo couldn’t promise he’ll be back, he made it clear his affection for many on the roster grew considerably this season.
”Can’t say enough about this group – a group of men that came together and found a way to sacrifice for one another and try to come with a common goal,” Rondo said. ”I love our chemistry.”
The Pelicans played so well at times that Gentry found himself answering questions about whether the Pelicans might be better without Cousins. Gentry called that notion ”ludicrous.” He also said, ”It goes without saying” that the Pelicans want Cousins back.
If Cousins and Rondo both return, and team chemistry continues growing, the Pelicans could blossom into a team with the requisite combination of size and skill to punish teams like the Warriors which thrive on ”small ball.”
In any event, Davis’ ability to carry the team in Cousins’ absence only elevated his status as an elite player. He posted averages of 28.1 points, 11.1 assists and 2.6 blocks.
Meanwhile, playing more shooting guard than point guard seemed to suit Holiday, who averaged a career-best 19 points per game this season.
And for at least three more seasons, the Pelicans will have both Davis and Holiday under contract.
Maybe it’s too late for Jesse James and the Steelers or Zach Miller and the Bears.
No matter, the NFL has a simplified catch rule designed to eliminate confusion – and, the league hopes, controversy – about receptions.
Team owners unanimously approved the new language Tuesday, with basically three elements defining a catch:
-having control of the ball;
-getting two feet down or another body part;
-making a football move, such as taking a third step or extending the ball.
”We wanted to simplify and provide clarity,” Pittsburgh coach and longtime competition committee member Mike Tomlin said. ”It was time to do so after we got caught up in language that didn’t do that. The language was obscure and confusing.”
The committee cited overturned receptions by tight ends James and Miller last season among the dozens of plays they reviewed ”dozens of times,” according to committee chairman Rick McKay, president of the Atlanta Falcons.
The James call was particularly impactful because the Steelers wound up losing to New England in a December game that determined home-field advantage for the playoffs. The Patriots got it and wound up in the Super Bowl. Pittsburgh lost its first postseason game to Jacksonville.
Just as infamous were negated catches by Dez Bryant of the Cowboys in a 2015 playoff game at Green Bay, and Calvin Johnson of the Lions in 2010 against the Bears.
”I think the third step recommendation was excellent,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. ”It cleans up a majority of the (catches) that were in question. The old rule was so technical. We’re better off today than in the past.”
“First of all, simplicity is the key. I think this is a fan-driven concept here because a lot of people have no idea why was this thing called that way and why was the next one not called that way. … I think we’ve cleaned up a lot of that, and that will get the fans more engrossed in the game. It’s going to be much easier for them to understand what is and what isn’t.”
Late Tuesday, the owners rewrote the rule on using the helmet, making it a 15-yard penalty for any player to lower his head to initiate any hit with the helmet.
McKay called it ”a significant change,” noting that it was a ”technique too dangerous for the player doing it and the player being hit.”
McKay said the tackle made by the Steelers’ Ryan Shazier last season that resulted in the linebacker suffering a spinal injury – Shazier underwent spinal stabilization surgery two days later – was not the impetus for the change. But it was an example of what needs to be eliminated from the game.
”This one technique, we saw so many hits when a player lowered his head and delivered a hit and either hurt himself or the player he was hitting,” McKay said. ”It was time for a change of this magnitude.”
While the offender could be disqualified, owners did not call for an automatic ejection on such a play – at least not yet. In college football, when a player is penalized for targeting and a replay review affirms it, he is ejected.
Also approved Tuesday was making permanent spotting the ball at the 25-yard line after a touchback on a kickoff; allowing players on injured reserve to be traded; and authorizing a designated member of the officiating department to instruct on-field game officials to eject a player for a flagrant non-football act when a foul for that act is called on the field.
Withdrawn by the Jets was a proposal to limit defensive pass interference to 15 yards Authentic Lamar Jackson Jersey , the penalty in college, except for egregious incidents. The competition committee was not in favor of such a change, but McKay and football operations chief Troy Vincent said the idea has ”some momentum.” It is likely to come up again in future meetings.
Tabled was a proposal to allow an assistant coach whose team is still playing in the postseason to sign a contract to become head coach elsewhere. That’s been dubbed the ”Josh McDaniels Rule” after the Patriots offensive coordinator agreed to become the Colts coach in January, then reneged and returned to New England soon after the Super Bowl.
That suggestion also is expected to come up at future meetings, beginning in May at the Atlanta owners get-together.
Also tabled was whether to allow video on sideline Surface tablets that teams use now to view photos. McKay said the voters weren’t there to pass it.
On-field officials supported having a member of the staff in New York calling for an ejection in certain blatant circumstances that involve non-football acts such as fighting. They cited the difficulty of determining the culprits in a fight or other such situations.
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AP Pro Football Writer Rob Maaddi and Sports Writer Mark Long contributed.
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08.08.2018 10:07
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