The daughter of the sixth elder successfully grabbed the camera
Just after midnight, two-year-old Nassanoen and her father, New Orleans Pelicans guard "Old Six" Jose Alvarado, attended the postgame press conference, and the Pelicans defeated the Suns in game four. Dressed in a white T-shirt that read "My Heart is on the Pitch" and a high ponytail, she sat on her father's lap to start the press conference. While "Old Six" waited for the first question, she grabbed the microphone and prepared to speak to the media.
Before she could speak, Jose took the microphone back from her hand and prepared himself to talk about the team's 15-point victory over the Top Seed in the West. Nassanin sat motionless for about four seconds. Then, having had enough, she jumped down and ran to the back of the room, while her father tried to answer questions from the media. Less than 30 seconds later, she was back on the podium, giggling as she was carried to her lap by her father. Ten seconds later, she ran again. "Hey, catch her," Alvarado said to a family member sitting nearby, "stop running around." It's clear where her energy came from, her father is now known for his aggressiveness and defensiveness, and a few minutes before he was still harassing the Suns on the court.
Alvarado, a team-fueled draft for the Pelicans this season, signed a two-way contract early in the season until he was awarded a four-year contract in March. Herbert Jones, a second-round show that starts 68 of 79 games, has made it to the NBA's All-Defensive Team this season. Their debut show, Trey Murphy III, ranked first in three-point shooting out of more than 100 shots this season.
Brandon Ingram, CJ McCollum and coach Willie Green laid the groundwork for a renaissance in New Orleans. But without these rookies, the Pelicans wouldn't have gone from a 1-12 start of the season to a six-game brawl with top seeded Suns. "We wouldn't have come this far without the growth of young players," Green said ahead of Tuesday's fifth game against the Suns. "At the end of the season, everybody played games with content and they were ready."
Rookies are the Pelicans' main force in turning the tide this season. Murphy, who was selected with the 17th pick last year, started the season with normal rotation time, but his playing time stalled after the team's 12-1 win. Just as the Pelicans were embarking on another road trip, Ingram injured his hamstring, which put pressure on the team's rotation. In the final 17 games of the regular season, when the Pelicans entered the playoffs, Murphy averaged 9.7 points per game and a 43.8 percent three-point shooting percentage. In a game that qualified for the los Angeles Clippers' winner two weeks ago, Murphy hit four three-pointers in the final 16 minutes to help the Pelicans later go straight up and lock in the eighth-seed position. Murphy said: "It's cool because earlier this year I had a hard time shooting and being able to score in a very, very, very important game is very important for me."
Then there's the Pelicans' defensive finisher Jones, who is SEC Player of the Year and Alabama Defensive Player of the Year, with the hope that his offense will improve in later games. In last year's summer league, the Pelicans didn't even start him, starting kira Lewis, Didy Ruzada, Murphy, Najib Marshall and Anzes Pasinix, who chose to bring Jones and Alvarado to the bench. But they fell in love with the content of his game, the buzz of training before the camp and the slogan that would soon go viral: "Not grass."
After being injured in the First Game of the Josh Hart Pelicans, Jones was quickly placed in the starting lineup, defending the opponent's best outside offensive player every night. In fact, according to ESPN statistics and information, Jones defended against 1,192 of the 2022 All-Star players, second in the league, behind dorian Finney-Smith. "It's not the same to be thrown into the fire early on," Jones said, "and I think you're just forced to figure it out and adjust." I think my teammates have helped me a lot. My coach did a great job of helping me adapt as quickly as possible. ”
With less than nine minutes left in the fourth quarter of Game TWO, the Pelicans led 95-92 and Murphy received a pass from McCollum on the left and tried to extend the lead with a jumper. The shots didn't go well, and Suns forward Cameron Johnson quickly grabbed the rebound and threw the ball to Chris Paul. And then there's Alvarado, lurking near the Pelicans' bench, ready to steal the point guard god with his stealing talent.
"Get back," Paul said as he waved his arms across the pitch.
This season, the pesky guard has repeatedly hidden in corners behind pelican possession — either missing or scoring — before pouncing on unsuspecting possession, pulling the ball away or forcibly crossing. The 6-foot-tall defender has always been known for his ghosts. He used to tell AAU coaches that it wouldn't work in high school; high school coaches told him it wasn't going to work in college; coaches at Georgia Tech told him it wasn't going to work in the NBA.
At every level, Alvarado tried. On every level, it has played a role. Still, McCollum warned him before the first round of the series, which would never work for Paul. Paul was ready for Alvarado in the second game. But in the fourth game, Alvarado took revenge. With 2:40 left in the game, the Pelicans took an easy lead, and Ingram rushed to the basket for a controversial jumper. Suns forward Mikael Bridges grabbed the rebound and threw the ball at Paul as he turned. Alvarado was waiting, hiding near the bottom corner of the Pelicans bench, sprinting behind Paul and forcing a steal. Ingram picked up the ball and passed it to Jones, who hit the shot and Alvarado screamed and jumped away. Alvarado said: "I saw CJ and told him 'I stole him' and he started laughing."
The Pelicans were the first team to have three rookies playing the series and over 80 minutes after the Boston Celtics and Chicago Bulls in 2005. "They're our foundation," Ingram said after Tuesday's fifth loss. "They give us energy every day, every game, every training session. They are consistent, their work is consistent. They're important to us because we're going to keep trying, shooting, defending, playing. ”