Keep Pounding the Rock

James Borrego is forging belief through a new process—one hammer strike at a time

“When nothing seems to help, I go and look at a stonecutter hammering away at his rock perhaps a hundred times without as much as a crack showing in it. Yet at the hundred and first blow it will split in two, and I know it was not that last blow that did it—but all that had gone before.”
—Jacob Riis

For years, this “Stonecutter’s Credo” by journalist Jacob Riis has been etched into the identity of the San Antonio Spurs as a literal and philosophical fixture in their locker room. The credo defines a philosophy where the breakthrough is merely the final, visible result of countless unseen blows—where the process is the progress.

The Pelicans, under James Borrego’s charge, now live inside that credo. This is a credo Borrego upheld as an assistant in San Antonio is trying to imprint on a young team in the midst of a tough season. The Pelicans are 1-10 since Borrego took the helm, not functionally different from the 2-10 record Willie Green steered the team to before his firing. Yet the process has undeniably changed. If you pay attention, you can hear the steady hammering and witness the groundwork being laid.

The first difference is in the pace of play. You see it immediately— a defensive rebound that turns into a quick outlet, or a rapid inbound push after a made basket as rookie Jeremiah Fears does here:

It’s evident that Borrego’s first directive has been to run, and the numbers confirm the visual shift. The Pelicans have been 4th in pace in the 11 games Borrego has coached thus far, up from 26th in the previous 12 under Green. The transition frequency has skyrocketed from 23rd to 5th! The seconds per offensive possession are down virtually across the board no matter the possessions start type.

The increase in pace has been the primary driver of the offense, which has steadily improved. The Pelicans are seeing real, tangible progress in shot quality and offensive efficiency. In the last six games, they’ve sported the ninth-best offense in the league—a significant jump made even more impressive by key absences in the starting lineup.

For the players inside the daily grind, these statistical shifts are more than just numbers on a spreadsheet. They are proof that the hammer is striking true, that the rock is beginning to show the faintest hairline cracks. “Just being able to see our numbers get better every single game and increase, that means we’re taking steps in the right direction,” says rookie Jeremiah Fears, voicing the quiet optimism that comes from measurable progress. “Eventually things are going to turn and we’re going to turn things around.”

That forward-looking faith is shared by veteran Saddiq Bey, who admits the analytics have become an unexpected source of clarity. “I’m kinda old school sometimes, I’m not a big analytics person because sometimes they don’t show the entire game,” Bey says. “But the analytics he (Borrego) shows us, they actually like really show us our improvements and I’m really starting to understand. It makes sense the things that we are being shown. It’s good for all of us to be able to understand where we are getting better.”

This is the very heart of the credo James Borrego brought from San Antonio. The wins remain a stubborn stone, but the sound in the gym has changed. Every outlet pass thrown ahead, every shot at the rim instead of a long two, every positive metric is the hammer swinging steadily away at the rock. The players are sensing a shift and beginning to understand the weight of consistency.

And from the man tasked with teaching it, the message is a relentless echo of that San Antonio standard. “You just got to keep pounding away,” Borrego insists. “It may not happen on the 1st, it may not happen on the 10th, it may not happen on the 50th. It may take a hundred, a hundred and two. But we’re not going anywhere. The rock’s going to continue to get pounded every day, every night.”

He acknowledges the external noise—the doubt from social media, fans, and the standings themselves—but frames this grind as the forge for something lasting. “These are the moments that build character. These are the fiber moments,” Borrego states. “They’re not easy, but if you can get through it, there’s a reward on the other side of it.”

The final breakthrough hasn’t arrived, but belief is being forged with every swing. This team is learning how to build a win from the ground up. Progress without payoff isn’t easy, but while the wins aren’t there, the Pelicans must keep pounding the rock.