Who says surprise season, says surprise player. In New Orleans we talk about the Playoffs and now we are aiming very high. Yes, the tide has turned a few months ago and one of the factors behind this hype is called Jose Alvarado. Not “José” but “Rossé”, attention is important. NOLA’s new elf? He captured the hearts of NBA fans by showing himself as an elite defender, a top-tier cheat and a full-time Chris Paul pain in the ass during the first round of the 2021-22 playoffs.
Not selected at the world’s best youth recruiting ceremony in 2021, Jose Alvarado entered through the smallest of the NBA’s doors. Although he was a very serious player at Georgia Tech, we all know that getting into the Big League doesn’t just depend on the level of play shown at university. But it was he, the little man from Louisiana from New York, who scored the most in the series between Suns and Pelicans in the first round of the last Playoffs. He may not have been the best statistically, with giants like CJ McCollum and Brandon Ingram on his team, but he’s the one who embodied the anger and new face of a franchise that doesn’t disappoint to the best regular season team. Absolutely unbearable defensively, he put Chris Paul through hell with ball comebacks, soft or dangerous passes and bit all the balls that lay around him. If the Pels have hung Phoenix for this long, they can thank and applaud New Orleans’ now new treasure. The rookie – because let’s not forget that it was only his first season in the league – has even raised the level of play during the six postseason games compared to the regular season (8 points at 48% of shooting, 37.5 from parking against 6 points to 47% of which 29% from a distance). The 24-year-old is clearly not impressed with the great moments or even the great players, he doesn’t hesitate to pick Chris Paul from his side of the pitch, causing repeated rule breaking. 8 seconds, which is pretty rare in the NBA. Exalted to the maximum by his teammates and vice versa, Alvarado won for his self-denial but not only: he was good at long distance and despite his small size he did not hesitate to get on the Arizona defenders to take the baskets.
Jose Alvarado, along with two other rookies Trey Murphy and Herbert Jones, was the revelation for the Pelicans at the end of last season. We leave you with four minutes of pure energy that give us only one desire: to see the elf again at the Playoffs.
