Winning cures all ills, or so the cliché goes. However, defeating the Golden State Warriors did not prevent Dejounte Murray from leading the rebuilding New Orleans Pelicans after a disappointing former All-Star season. The 29-year-old was less modest about what James Borrego has been pushing since last August.
Instead, the veteran guard shared a blunt assessment that balances disappointment with perspective.
Murray cursed, "We didn't have a king rebound. We were terrible. We were terrible. Like, we should have practiced rebounding yesterday." "Literally, Herb Jones didn't rebound. You know what I'm saying? When he rebounds, we all rebound."
Murray finished with three assists and two boards for 13 points in 25 minutes, so there were smiles in the locker room after the game after the quick hit.
Still, he stuck to one particular game while grading the bigger picture after his first game in nearly 13 months.
"We can get better. I think I'd give us a C+ tonight. It's beautiful to get a C+ and win a basketball game in the NBA against a good team," Murray allowed. "I don't care who's in, who's out. Steve Kerr coaches his team very well. He has a system, and he's put the right players in there to be successful."
The forgiving grades underlined the bigger picture. Even a "terrible" performance can serve as a useful building block.
“I think we probably got like a C or C+,” Murray reiterated. "We could have been more solid. Like, I had a little turnover there. I think I got fouled, but there's no excuses. We have to be solid. When teams are stuck and trying to come from behind, we have to stay in our spots and be there for each other. I think that's my job, but also, you know, it's a collective unit. I'm a point guard, and like I said, I'm here to make everybody better. I'm here to win, so we have to be better overall. After we win, you can move on from things and, you know, correct those errors."
Seven of the next nine games are on the road, starting with a six-game trip to the Western Conference. At least the first two games of the trip are against the lottery-picked Utah Jazz. It's the perfect setup for Dejounte Murray's Pelicans to let off some steam before summer break.
