The Dark Side: Q & A With a New Orleans Pelicans Blogger

Tread carefully, Thunder fans…you’re now entering ‘The Dark Side’, a new feature where we talk to the best bloggers in the business that just happen to cover rival teams. As we’re gearing up for the second matchup of a home-and-home set with the New Orleans Pelicans, we reached out to Matt Cianfrone (@Matt_Cianfrone), editor of FanSided’s Pelican Debrief. The Thunder and Pelicans are competing for a playoff spot so we talked about that, Anthony Davis and how New Orleans has improved into a legitimate Western Conference threat.

Q: How have the Pelicans managed to keep going without Jrue Holiday? Injuries have obviously played a part in derailing OKC’s season but the Birds seem to be hanging in there. What are the biggest differences with Holiday in or out of the lineup?

A: The biggest difference without Holiday is in defense. Jrue is a wonderful defender and without him in the lineup the Pelicans can struggle against elite guards as we saw Wednesday. They have survived thanks to the improved play of Eric Gordon who has been lights out lately. Tyreke Evans has been pretty good all year so with Gordon’s improvement things have been ok without Jrue for now.

Q: The Pelicans have obviously put themselves in a position to – at least – compete for a playoff berth. What’s the biggest difference between this year’s team and last year’s and how do you think (relative) inexperience with making a postseason push affects the team?

A: As simple as it sounds talent is a big difference. With the additions of Quincy Pondexter, Omer Asik and Dante Cunningham plus the healthy return (for the most part) of Jrue Holiday, the Pelicans just got more talented. As for how the inexperience affects things I am not sure it really does. The Pelicans are made up of a bunch of 4th and 5th year guys and AD. When the one relatively inexperienced guy of the group is the third best player in basketball you should be ok.

Q: Anthony Davis is a superstar. What’s it like covering him and how has he continued to develop as a player? Did you expect him to reach this skill level and do you think he’s reached his ceiling?

A: It is a blast. AD does things every single night that seem like they should be impossible for a guy his size. From knocking down mid-range jumpers at an unreal clip to tip dunks it feels like there isn’t anything he can’t do at times. I always expected Davis to be great but I’m not sure I saw it happening this quick. The jumper has been a weapon that just came into play this year but there is still a ton of room to grow. If he can stretch that to three and get better as a team and individual defender it is scary where he can be. I think he does all of those things too, making his ceiling unreal.

Q: The Davis/Serge Ibaka matchup is, from my perspective, an intriguing one. How do you think that plays out? Is there another 1-on-1 battle that you’re most interested in seeing?

A: I think Serge is great but with the way AD is playing this year I’m not sure what Serge can do to keep him quiet besides hope he misses mid-range jumpers. The 1-on-1 battle I will be watching tonight is Westbrook and Asik at the rim. If Asik can prevent Russ from getting easy buckets early the Pelicans have a chance. If not then we may get a repeat of Wednesday.

Q: Lastly – and of most importance – the Thunder and Pelicans are actively competing against each other to make the playoffs? Will one of these two teams finish with as the 8th seed or does Phoenix find a way to keep both squads out of the postseason?

A: I am starting to lean more and more to the Suns here but really I have no idea. I don’t trust the Pelicans on the road yet and don’t know if the Thunder supporting cast is as good as it has been in the past. In the end though these are three good teams and I just lean Phoenix because they lead right now. I won’t be surprised at all with whoever it is that ends up taking that spot.

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