NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) – Joe Dumars revealed that the expectations for the season isn’t about a number of wins, but about winning more.
When you only win 26 games the season prior, Dumars says nothing is set in stone, but the hard work and more effort.
What the Pelicans can lean on is momentum and health entering the new year, which is where they slowly elevated in the back half of 2026.
A new component of success is the work put in this summer, which impressed Dumars and new head coach, Jamahl Mosley, the most.
Dumars saying he felt like the team worked twice as hard this summer compared to the past and Mosely even taking part in some of those personal workout sessions with the mindset to his team, that he’s always available.
“They know I’m there as a head coach and I try not to get too far in the way because they’re going to hear my voice a lot for 82-plus so I just want to be around to let them know that I’m here for them and the coaches as well and that’s that this team is, it’ll be led by those guys.”
“The work that the guys did this summer really stood out to me much more than we did last summer”, says Dumars. “This summer, we worked twice as much. We doubled down on we’ve got to get better. It’s just not good enough.”
Mosley said in his film review of last year, what stood out was the injuries, how they performed under pressure and the lack of finishing games.
He says he noticed how the Pels dropped 20-plus close contests but moving forward, they’ll be better at implementing something like a football two-min drill.
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