Analysis on Pelicans and Saints (and a hint of Alabama) mostly from a stats/math/analytics background
Joined August 2012
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Here are the top 25 teams by power rating based on Vegas Point spreads heading into the season:
For teams in the AP Poll not power rated in top 25:
Illinois ranked 12, Power Rated 31
Indiana ranked 20, PR 30
Iowa St ranked 22, PR 28
Boise St ranked 25, PR 39
Again, the point is that one of these people got lambasted by every local and national outlet for being terrible (but it didn't matter because he didn't care) while the other is ignored by the national media and gets puff pieces by local media (while caring what people think).
Yes, and he was arguably the most criticized owner in America while Gayle Benson has an absolutely pristine reputation with the local media despite being probably a worse owner.
And unlike Dolan who did not really care, Benson does clearly care about her image/reputation.
I actually disagree with this. Between TV deals, luxury tax payouts, third party tickets, and ever-rising franchise values, they are able to operate like this and continuously turn money.
It would need to be stuff that actually embarrasses them: boos/chants/etc aimed at them
Benson’s group has been so insulated from criticism, particularly in the media, that I truly wonder what the fallout would be from something as minor as 25-30 people doing a Mavs Luka style protest or a small “Sell The Team” chant at a Tuesday night Pels game.
The Nets have undoubtedly been a better team than the Pelicans over the last decade+ and are still in a significantly better spot currently with a far brighter future.
The only thing that's kept the Saints above the Jets is that they had Sean Payton/Drew Brees 6-10 years ago.
I've said this in the past, but I think THIS is where the Pelicans/Saints being in small markets have really hurt them. If this were happening in New York, the entire national media would be all over this. But most are happy to ignore how bad things are going in New Orleans.
One thing I will say that surprises me is that I think Gayle and co's local approval was likely well into the 90s pre-Covid.
When cracks really started showing from 2022-2024, it still never got below probably 80%, and I figured that was the floor.
It's much lower now.
It's probably still above 50%, and she'll always have the contingent of people who believe Gayle is the sole reason professional sports in New Orleans still exist, but her group running the teams themselves into the absolute dirt has wittled away at her formerly infallible image.
Whatever is left of the fanbases is absolutely melting down after the Pelicans blew a 20 point lead to fall to 0-3 and the Saints scored 10 points in an island game to fall to 2-5 withing 12 hours of each other, and this letter perfectly encapsulates my perception of ownership.
A letter from New Orleans Saints owner and CEO Gayle Benson
neworlns.co/BensonLetter
The 15% from 3 is a small sample and will revert.
The 43% from 2 while shooting about 4x as many shots from floater range as at the rim and taking 3x as many midrangers as shots at the rim is far more concerning.
In every sport, you’ll get reports of teams keeping bad coaches/GMs(/QBs) because they look down upon teams who are constantly making changes. But the changes are inevitable until you find the right pieces so liberally move on from the wrong answers till you find the right ones.
Mickey and co got fooled into believing that continuity is key when continuity is a lagging indicator.
You have continuity because you have a good coach/QB/etc and get good results. You don’t get good results by keeping people who are mediocre/bad at their job.
It didn’t work out this way, but an added benefit is that you guarantee you’ll get a chance on offense with plenty of time and all your timeouts. A punt can easily lead to 3-4+ minutes + timeouts being taken off the clock by Green Bay.
No I don't think Gayle was in there interviewing NBA GM candidates. It's been pretty well reported that she just hired her friend.
