Jeremiah Fears is so fearless, he’s made Willie Green just as fearless.
How else do you explain Green’s willingness to throw two rookies (Fears and Derik Queen) into the fire down the stretch of Friday’s overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs?
The closing lineup in regulation consisted of Fears, Queen, Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy and Jordan Poole.
“I saw a lot of poise from both guys at the end of the game,” Green said. “Throughout the whole game, really. Their competitiveness, you can see it. They want it. When you evaluate those two guys on the floor with our group, the future is bright.”
Both Queen and Fears made an impact in what ended up being a 120-116 loss. Of the nine Pelicans who played in the game, four had a positive plus-minus: Fears, Queen, Zion Williamson and Jordan Hawkins.
Fears, who scored 17 points on 7 of 10 shooting in the season-opening loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, followed that up with a 13-point, four-rebound performance. He’s made 12 of 18 shots. He played a little over 28 minutes against the Spurs.
Queen’s workload was even heavier. He played just over 34 minutes and finished with 15 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots against San Antonio.
“It shows that the coaching staff trusts you,” Fears said. “Especially being a rookie and playing in overtime and being able to play the last four minutes of the fourth quarter means a lot. There is still going to be some room for improvement. Continuing to learn, continuing to grow. It’s only the second game of the season, a long season. Stay confident.”
Fears’ productivity shouldn’t really come as a surprise. He showed flashes in the preseason of why the Pelicans drafted him with the No. 7 overall pick.
Queen, however, didn’t even get a preseason. He was busy rehabbing a torn ligament in his left wrist suffered in summer league play. He had surgery in the middle of July and was cleared by doctors just four days before the start of the season.
“Once I got cleared, I thought I was going to be the last man on the bench,” Queen said. “Because I haven’t had time to prove myself or do anything to show that I’m ready. I feel like the few practices I did have definitely helped. Coach Green and everybody saw how hard I was working.”
Queen’s night included having to guard Spurs phenom Victor Wembanyama.
“Everything he asks for, I just try to go out there and do it,” Queen said.
Although Queen is only 20 and Fears just turned 19, their older teammates aren’t surprised they were on the Smoothie King Center floor during crunch time.
Murphy’s assessment of his young teammates?
“Phenomenal,” Murphy said. “I’m not going to say I’m shocked because I’ve seen it in practice. They are fearless. Him and DQ played really big tonight. Their future is so bright.”
While they are getting their minutes and points, they still haven’t got their first NBA win. They get another chance Monday night when the Pelicans host the Boston Celtics. The Pelicans have lost their past eight games against the Celtics. The Pels’ last win against Boston came in March 2021.
Fears was 14 then. Queen was 16.
Now they are rookies in the NBA making an early impact.
“They want to step on the floor and contribute to winning,” Green said. “I can’t say I’m surprised. I get a chance behind closed doors to watch how they work. I’m very pleased with their play on the floor.”
