We all know this season is a make or break kind of season. We have to be successful and make the playoffs. How will.we become a much better team? I think it's going to come down to one main thing. How well our coaching staff prepares and adjusts in games. This year Gentry has no excuse.
If you look at the best teams in the west they all do one thing very well. They shoot LOTS of 3s and they have a decent 3 point percentage. The warriors have curry attempting 10 a game, Durant 5, Thompson 6, Green 3.4 and they all have great percentages. Draymond might shoot 35% but the rest are near or at 40%. The SPURS and the ROCKETS do the same thing. CAVS as well. The PELS had Jrue attempting about 3 a game, Hill 3, Cousins, 5, and Crawford off the bench attempting 4-5 a game. This has to change. We are an average 3point shooting team. This has to change.
If I'm coach I would trying to convert Jrue into a scorer/3 point shooter. I would want Jrue shooting at least 4 3pointers a game. Get open and catch and shoot. I would love to see this happen. Also have Jrue attack the basket more. He needs to be aggressive. He will have less pressure on him so I think it's a good situation for him to alter his game to help the team win. If he could get .37-39 percent 3 point shooting that would be solid. I think it's realistic. Also, Hill has to take at least 4 attempts especially if he is open. He can be a better shooter but he has to get open looks. With Rondo and Jrue out there I think he can hit more threes. Another thought, put Rondo on the bench and move Jrue to point and have Crawford at shooting guard. I want Crawford to take 5-6 attempts per game especially if he's hitting them. Also, if Pondexter plays and is health he and Miller need to get shots as well. I'd love to have Crawford at point, Q and shooting guard, Miller at SF, Hill at PF and Cousins at Center. Try that lineup for a few minutes to see what happens. Cousins should get 5 attempts at 3s as well. We should be shooting at least 30 3s a game. Does that sound right? We have Moore who should also get a few shots.
I don't think we will beat teams by shooting more 3s we need to do more than that. We need better ball movement and less turnovers. Rondo will help with this. Have a solid year, last season, of playing with Hill and Moore and cousins will also help. Communication and improved BBIQ adding Rondo will make an impact imo. Also, our defense will likely be a little better. This may not matter because other offenses are better this year. But still, I like our defense. I don't care what people say Rondo is very good on defense and reading other teams. Getting guys like Pondexter and Miller back along with Moore will help. Will won't be weak here. I'd go as far as saying we will be a top ten defense.
We will likely beat elite teams consistently this year. We aren't being taken seriously. I think we are highly motivated right now. It's great. We added Finch who is very qualified to improve this team. I think we will build the offense around Cousins. He is so physical and gets to the line often. I think he and AD will get other teams in foul trouble. If Jrue attacks more he can get to the line too. The biggest thing I think this team will do is be more aggressive this year and play smarter ball. If Gentry makes smart adjustments and players like Miller and Qpon perform well I think we will be similar to Memphis when they were elite. Think Memphis/Detroit pistons when they were champions. If all goes well I see us getting the 5th seed and going deep in the playoffs. You might think I'm being unrealistic but I think teams that are expected to be awesome will have problems.
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Can the PELS become contenders? How?
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07-31-2017, 04:30 AMpelicanchampCan the PELS become contenders? How?
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07-31-2017, 10:01 AMmsw2024
I love how people keep harping on other teams 3 point percentage, but what happens to those teams when they don't get open 3s and 80% of 3s taken during the game are contested? Their 3s percentage goes down. We have a starting 5 (especially guards / forwards) that can guard 1v1 very well so open looks will be minimal. Also, Teams will not want to drive the paint when you have AD and Cousins waiting on you. Our 3 point percentage is below average, but if we defend and cause other teams to shoot worse than their average then it makes up for our lack of 3 point shooting.
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07-31-2017, 11:36 AMpelafanaticI think that's pretty well said. We are team defensively that is built to force teams to shoot from the mid range. With so much length and defending ability at guard and wing, it should be difficult for teams to penetrate initially, so we should be well above average at preventing drive and kicks. Then with AD and Boogie in the lane, most players will be less inclined to initiate a driving sequence in the first place. With AD and Boogie needing less help on the drive for defending and rebounding purposes, that allows our guards and wings to stick to their men instead of crashing for help defense or rebounds.Quote:
Originally Posted by msw2024
People continue to say it but I'll say it again, the only way to beat the Warriors for the next few seasons is to zag. They have 3 of the best pure shooters in NBA history on their roster. Launching 3s will never beat them unless they somehow go on a 7 game cold streak, at which point they still have the ability to be one of the best defending teams in basketball. What they don't have the ability to do, and what no team has the ability to do, is cover the best two bigs in the NBA.
My solution would be to go the opposite route, to an extent, of launching 3s. While I agree that Jrue, Hill, and even Rondo's 3 attempts need to be up, specifically from the corners, I think the key for this team is to get into the bonus as quickly as possible every game. We need to feed Cousins and Davis early and often and get opposing bigs into foul trouble because there's not a backup big in the league with a chance at stopping either of those guys. Then when teams have to help, that's when you start kicking out to your wide open shooters. All the while, less usage on the offensive end should allow Jrue and Rondo to terrorize teams defensively, creating some easy fast break buckets in the process. -
07-31-2017, 11:39 AMBricklayer
Well if signing Charles Cooke, Frank Jackson, and Jalen Jones doesn't put them over the top, I don't know what will.
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07-31-2017, 11:53 AM23speedkillzThat's why we have AD, Boogie, Jrue and Rondo to put them "over the top". I prefer to look at the players that will actually play rather than end of the bench inactive during game day players. But to each it's own.Quote:
Originally Posted by Bricklayer
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07-31-2017, 12:12 PMml wave
Since we're talking about style of play, obviously we need to shoot 3s but I think our potential differentiator is on the offensive glass. With AD, Boogie, and Rondo there's no reason we can't be top 1 or 2 in the league in OReb% if we want to be. Last year we grabbed 18.6% of our misses...good for 29th in the league. OKC led the league with 27.8%...that's a huge difference! I don't think we'll go this route, I'd expect a continuation of the "everybody get back" philosophy, but if you're looking for a potential edge, it's much easier to use the skills our players already have than to wish/expect dramatic shooting improvement.
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07-31-2017, 12:34 PMSilver Nailyou are right on. o-boards is how we add 6-10 pts per game. in fact, I wouldn't mind seeing extra biggie offense once in a while w/ lexie at 5, dmc at 4, and ad at 3. who can defend that?Quote:
Originally Posted by ml wave
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07-31-2017, 01:01 PMR Pelly
Regarding Jrue, he definitely needs to drive tot he goal more. He has always been one of the worst guards when it comes to number of free throw attempts per game, which means he doesn't attack the hoop. Think he averages like 2 FT attempts per game. If he attacks more, this will help his spacing on 3-point attempts by keeping defenders honest.
That being said, I think Jrue has his best year in a Pelicans uniform. Finally being able to start the season with himself/family healthy, new contract, and new position. His minutes will maintain or go up, hopefully. The pressure is off of him to be the main distributor and floor general. He can do what he does best: score and defend. -
08-01-2017, 11:15 AMAusPel
Finch knows how
http://www.bourbonstreetshots.com/20...w-role-in-nola -
08-01-2017, 02:20 PMlsutigers33
The way we play i don't see any way we improve on the glass. Boogie and AD are always outside the paint. unfortunately
As for Jrue, I think they just want to see him make more plays off the ball, 3s or driving and dishing. think we stay around 35% on 3 as a team. -
08-01-2017, 03:27 PMPolishFanRandomness - I like :)Quote:
Originally Posted by AusPel
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08-01-2017, 04:46 PMBricklayerAs for the rebounding, after the trade Boogie averaged 12.4reb a game, and I think A.D. was over 11. So you're talking about 2 Top 10 rebounders on the same roster. If you are still having rebounding problems its not really reasonable to ask them to crank things up even further. It's a subtle thing, but when you aren't getting it done on the boards despite having several big rebounders on the team, its about the support personnel not being complete wusses on the boards. rondo could provide a major lift there, he's always been one of the best rebounding PGs. But Jrue is small as a SG, and guys like Hill, Cunningham (if he is back), Grits etc. are weak sisters on the glass who have to man up and chip in. If you have Boogie and A.D. grabbing 22-25 rebs between them, all you need is for the rest of your personnel to just collectively be average on the glass, and you're going to do well. But you just can't have those days like last year where Hill grabs 2 rebs in 36min, Frazier chips in 1, Grits 2, Cuningham 3 etc. No matter how good your main guys are, they need more physical support than that.Quote:
Originally Posted by lsutigers33
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08-01-2017, 04:54 PMMythrol
To be clear we were only bad on the offensive glass. On defensive boards we ranked No. 1 in the entire league last season. Overall we ranked 13th in rebounds.
Us being bad on offensive rebounds is much more about scheme (give up defensive rebounds to get back and set on defense) which worked to at least some degree last year because we were the 9th overall defense in the league. -
08-02-2017, 01:36 AMpelicanchamp
I believe this team is almost built to beat the warriors. The warriors are beatable. I'm convinced that we have the right matchups to really cause them problems. People criticized the rondo signing but I think it may have been a brilliant move.
Rondo AND Jrue are able to be physical defenders. Curry can get exhausted if there's enough aggression on him. I also like that Rondo can get dirty. One way to really disrupt GSW is to get Draymond rattled. Upset him, be hostile, get under his skin, if this happens it can really cause problems. Y'all have seen this happen. The CAVS did it last year and it worked. Rondo is the type of player to do this. I love it.
Rondo is great on the fast break. If we are perfect on defensive rebounding and running the fast break it leads to easy points. Best way to score on the warriors.
I think for the pels to beat the warriors Jrue will have to be very aggressive and do everything he can to get Thompson in foul trouble. If Jrue excels in the shooting guard role and hits more 3s while attacking the basket I think our chance go up even more. He has to be able to take guys on in isolation. We need this. It's critical. AD and cousins can create their own shot but we need a guard who can do this too. The warriors defense is incredible. Irving and Lebron did a lot of damage in isolation. I think that affects the game a lot. I don't know if Jrue can do this but if he can be more dominant on offense 17ppg with more 3s and FTA I will be hopeful. Rondo could make things much easier if he gets Jrue open shots.
Originally I said we have to focus on shooting 3s but some of y'all made strong arguments for why that's not the number one concern. So, I've changed my mind some. We definitely need better 3 point shooting but if you think about it, I think out FT shooting was rather weak. Anyone know the numbers on this? I think if FT percentage improves and 3s improve and we continue good defense and play very physical and get to the line more we will be a real surprise and a CONTENDER this year. Yes. I said it.
Durant can be a ball stopper if you get him in the high post. How do we do that? IDK but I think we can hurt the warriors in many ways. Our coaching better be good. This is it. Gentry better do it now. It's on him. I love our starting 5. The reserves, well the jury is still out on them. Will diallo and ajinca deliver? I think our guards are good. I'm excited.
The warriors have no answer to AD and Cousins. We have to FORCE teams to play our game. I do believe the twin towers experiment is going to be BRUTAL this year.
I'm so excited. I know we will have a great forum here throughout the season!!!
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08-02-2017, 02:21 AMSilverfoxxThis. I got the Pelicans right now as a top 4 seed. People will clown this, but hell even folks like MM has them as a 4th see if Boogie and AD gel and do what they supposed to do.Quote:
Originally Posted by pelicanchamp
Rondo IMO will be an amazing fit. Bobby Portis and Bulls fans know the whole cancer room talk is crap. Dude is an alpha and is exactly what this team need, a leader. We have a bunch of hungry and ambitious guys that just wanna win. Rondo is perfect for us.
Im really starting to drink the koolaid with this team guys, I know the cool thing as a Pelicans fan is to stay realistic and pessimistic and stuff, but each day goes by I just feel this year can be special if healthy. Clark to this team is icing on the cake. Once we sign Gerald Henderson soon it's gonna be even better. -
08-10-2017, 01:59 AMPelifan
If the pelicans want to become true contenders they'll have to become the best defensive team in the league.
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08-10-2017, 09:24 AMJJackisangrySpot on. We have the personnel to do that, but it would all have to click rather quickly. It all depends onQuote:
Originally Posted by Pelifan
1: Our coaching staff
2: Rondo and Jrue
3: Composure
We can't have Cousins acting a fool and drawing a million technicals (I personally think he will chill out a bit this year). Players also have to settle quickly, and there is no guarantee that Jrue and Rondo will be a good fit. I like our bench and our starting lineup, but we could very well have problems stretching the floor. If that is so, we will have to be immaculate inside the paint and beat the zone. I haven't really seen a team in recent years that won a championship without consistent 3 point shooting.