Jose Alvarado is always bursting with energy

Jose Alvarado will no longer benefit from the element of surprise for his sophomore year with the Pelicans. We have already found the perfect nickname for him to illustrate his ability to fly balloons: GTA, for “Grand Theft Alvarado”.

His overflowing aggressiveness and hyperactivity have become his trademarks. In 22 minutes during New Orleans’ resumption game against Chicago in the preseason, Jose Alvarado took the opportunity to recall how valuable he could be with 6 points, 4 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 steals.

“Jose puts pressure all over the pitch. When I see a player do something like that, I think he’s a real dog, a brave player. Applying all-court pressure like that gets everyone in tune in defence”said Zion Williamson, who was able to play for the first time with the point guard.

Defend strong and penalize opposing defenses

With the aggressiveness and that starving side that propelled him into Willie Green’s rotation last season, Jose Alvarado knows he now has to be a better 3-point shooter, and exceed at least 30% of address behind the arch. On this point, he missed against Chicago (0/3).

“I need a more regular shooter”, did he recognize. “I think I did a lot of good things. I have to improve and be more consistent on certain things like jumpshots too, try to lose the ball less, lead the team better. My state of mind; is that opposing defenses will leave players open. I think they will try to leave me open and I will have to make them pay”.

The leader will indeed have to be able to sanction from afar if he does not want to be a burden for his team on the offensive level. Even if he knows that it is above all his defense that will keep him in the rotation.

“We have so much offensive firepower that we don’t worry about what’s going to happen on offense. My job is not going to be very difficult. I’m going to put pressure on defense every time I’m on the pitch. I have my teammates to do the rest. I can defend for 82 games, regardless of the duration. As long as I’m healthy, I’m going to go out there and push as much as I can.”