The New Orleans Pelicans have won just once in their first seven outings and, to be sure, there are fans who are growing impatient as they wait for the team to fulfill the promise of their potential. But Pelicans guard Jrue Holiday says that struggling early can become a blessing if they learn the right lessons from it.
"I like that right now we're going through this because it'll build character for us," Holiday said. "I think to be able to go through this right now at the beginning of the season is better for us and, again, this has happened before where we've started off kind of slow but we've caught a rhythm. Hopefully we can string some along, but with injuries to myself, [Derrick Favors], I think that we need to kind of get a rhythm that way."
One bright spot from the early going though has been the emergence of offseason pickup Brandon Ingram as a scoring force. The former Los Angeles Laker is averaging 26 points per game and in his most recent outing, dropped 40 on the Nets. But Holiday says Ingram should also get credit for his distribution skills.
"I wouldn't say he couldn't pass before just because I feel like [in Los Angeles] he had guys that did that," Holiday said. "But here he facilitates a lot more when he gets the ball at the top or even when he gets into the paint. He can find somebody. Just from his length and height, he'll be able to find somebody over the top, corner threes, always making good plays."
The Pelicans get another couple of days to regroup. They return to action Friday night in the Smoothie King Center against the Toronto Raptors.
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