Game Thread: Pelicans vs Clippers - 1-30-15

[Perth_Hornet]

This team is a piece or two away from contending for the title.

Every time we win without AD against good teams it must warm the cockles of his heart a little bit more.

[DroopyDawg]

Monty post-game

http://www.nba.com/pelicans/video/te...015mp4-3505534

[DroopyDawg]

We are a jump shooting team. When we are on, we can beat anyone. Off - lose to anyone.

We went 13-25 tonight from 3. Monty didn't do anything to make those shots go in that he failed to do prior to Denver.

Reddick and Crawford went 1-11 from three, and the Clips in general missed a lot of open looks. That won't happen on most nights either.

Its a make or miss league and until we get a low post threat and/or guards who can get to the line more for those nights when the jumpers aren't falling, we will continue to be maddening inconsistent. I think it is more about that then Monty getting guys ready by going bowling or not going bowling or yelling or not yelling or serving chicken fingers instead of Quinoa salad.

Truth.

But its easier to blame the coach when we shoot like crap.

[nolaslim213]

We are a jump shooting team. When we are on, we can beat anyone. Off - lose to anyone.

We went 13-25 tonight from 3. Monty didn't do anything to make those shots go in that he failed to do prior to Denver.

Reddick and Crawford went 1-11 from three, and the Clips in general missed a lot of open looks. That won't happen on most nights either.

Its a make or miss league and until we get a low post threat and/or guards who can get to the line more for those nights when the jumpers aren't falling, we will continue to be maddening inconsistent. I think it is more about that then Monty getting guys ready by going bowling or not going bowling or yelling or not yelling or serving chicken fingers instead of Quinoa salad.

Unfortunately... I'd like to see us attack more. We need to get more FTs, especially when you consider all the guys that we have that can attack the rim: Davis, Reke, Gordon, and Jrue.

But I think that what frustrates me the most is how many jumpers we take in the dumb zone. You look at how many mid-long range 2s we take, and it drives me crazy! I'd be okay with all of the jumpers we take if more of them were 3s.

[MichaelMcNamara]

Unfortunately... I'd like to see us attack more. We need to get more FTs, especially when you consider all the guys that we have that can attack the rim: Davis, Reke, Gordon, and Jrue.

But I think that what frustrates me the most is how many jumpers we take in the dumb zone. You look at how many mid-long range 2s we take, and it drives me crazy! I'd be okay with all of the jumpers we take if more of them were 3s.

Thing is that we do attack. We are actually #1 in the NBA in most FGA's inside of 5 feet. But 19th in FT attempts.

Either refs don't respect us or our guys avoid contact. Either way, our guards need to get to the line more. Westbrook, for instance, averages more FT attempts per game than Jrue, Gordon, and Tyreke COMBINED

[luckyman]

I think it is more about that then Monty getting guys ready by going bowling or not going bowling or yelling or not yelling or serving chicken fingers instead of Quinoa salad.

Or getting more off the ball movement and making that extra pass in crunch time. When they don't do this, then yes..yell or whatever it takes to hold players accountable.

Now that I've seen that play more clearly, I don't even think that was a set play. Just a good read by Cunningham to pivot back toward the basket and Tyreke read it and pulled the trigger, instead of holding on to the ball for another iso.

This can come with experience, but a coach can also drill this into his player's heads that this is how we want our offense to run... (i.e. Atlanta, SA)

[Writhe]

Man, it's always sweet to beat the Clippers. We get to show CP3 what he's missing out on. Gordon gets a little revenge. Also, now AR gets put in his place. Thank god chinese new year break is almost here. I can finally start watching every game in full time rather than being at work at 9am and seeing a few minutes at a time.

That reke to Ajinca dunk over rivers at the end of the third was nice

[Topdawg26]

Thing is that we do attack. We are actually #1 in the NBA in most FGA's inside of 5 feet. But 19th in FT attempts.

Either refs don't respect us or our guys avoid contact. Either way, our guards need to get to the line more. Westbrook, for instance, averages more FT attempts per game than Jrue, Gordon, and Tyreke COMBINED

That's horrible considering Reke game is based on him driving to the lane.

[MichaelMcNamara]

Or getting more off the ball movement and making that extra pass in crunch time. When they don't do this, then yes..yell or whatever it takes to hold players accountable.

Now that I've seen that play more clearly, I don't even think that was a set play. Just a good read by Cunningham to pivot back toward the basket and Tyreke read it and pulled the trigger, instead of holding on to the ball for another iso.

This can come with experience, but a coach can also drill this into his player's heads that this is how we want our offense to run... (i.e. Atlanta, SA)

This team shot 30% on uncontested jumpers vs. Denver. They were well above their norms on contested ones tonight. I just personally don't see how Monty can normalize stuff like that.

[Writhe]

This team shot 30% on uncontested jumpers vs. Denver. They were well above their norms on contested ones tonight. I just personally don't see how Monty can normalize stuff like that.

The spurs also have on nights and off nights. Monty just needs to be able to slow the tempo down, get the defense focused, and run effective driving/post plays when we're not shooting well.

[HornetGuru]

westbrook gets more FTs than us, because his name is russel westbrook. Tyreke never shies away from contact, he just doesn't get the calls.

[luckyman]

This team is a piece or two away from contending for the title.

Every time we win without AD against good teams it must warm the cockles of his heart a little bit more.

Whats a cockle? I'm too scared to google it.

[wuggie]

Great win tonight! Ever since the returning from the injury and really ever since the season started EG has been a different person it seems and his play has been reflecting it lately. Honestly without him playing the way he has been playing, we probably wouldn't be so close to the 8th spot.
And why are Bulls helping PHX right now stay in the playoffs? lol

Thing is that we do attack. We are actually #1 in the NBA in most FGA's inside of 5 feet. But 19th in FT attempts.

Either refs don't respect us or our guys avoid contact. Either way, our guards need to get to the line more. Westbrook, for instance, averages more FT attempts per game than Jrue, Gordon, and Tyreke COMBINED

I can see why that is true especially with Reke, he is an expert at avoiding contact to make layups and he takes pride in that. In his case it may be he's too good for his own good(or the team's)

[ItIsRynosTime]

We are a jump shooting team. When we are on, we can beat anyone. Off - lose to anyone.

We went 13-25 tonight from 3. Monty didn't do anything to make those shots go in that he failed to do prior to Denver.

Thing is that we do attack. We are actually #1 in the NBA in most FGA's inside of 5 feet.

How can the Pelicans be both a jump shooting team and #1 in FG's attempted within 5 feet? The Pelicans are 25th in the league in 3's attempted. The jump shots aren't coming from 3 so you're saying the Pelicans are a mid-range shooting team? The game Ryan didn't play against Minnesota the Pelicans attempted only 4 3's.

The top 5 teams in 3's attempted:
1 Houston
2 Portland
3 Phoenix
4 Golden State
5 Dallas

The bottom 5 teams in 3's attempted:
26 Charlotte
27 Memphis
28 Washington
29 Sacramento
30 Minnesota

[HornetGuru]

When was the last time the Pelicans attempted 25 3's? It was probably a game the Pelicans won. The Pelicans take jump shots but are near the bottom of the league in 3's attempted. The Pelicans will win more games if they can create more long ball opportunities.

i agree with this 100%.

[kclaboy504]

Just got done watching game. Awesome win. Nights like this is what makes nights like last game even more frustrating. Good grief. I don't think we've ever had a more Jekyll Hyde team before. It's very frustrating for. Die had pels fans. It was very encouraging to see Gordon go off and reke distributing the ball like he did. It's when we are at our best. We need reke in the 8-12 assist range and our odds go up big time to win imo. Let's go knock Atlanta off that winning streak now.

[SilkySlim]

I really think if we should trade Withey, Salmons and our second for Mo Williams (if we can retain his bird rights).

Our team would be sick next season:

Holiday/Williams
Gordon/Evans
Cunningham/Q-Pon
Davis/Anderson
Asik/Ajinca

and still the MLE to use!!!

No. Reke is not a bench player no matter how much it gets said. Id put Jrue on the trade market and see what kind of a sf that could get. Jrue and Eric look better together then any combo thats been put out there and Erics not getting value in a trade.

Get Luol Deng here and its a playoff team and fellas are jumpin with joy. Then get a backup pg like sessions who kings are tryng to get rid of for cheap. Or Williams. It'll be a party.

Jrue is trade bait.

[redrum]

This team shot 30% on uncontested jumpers vs. Denver. They were well above their norms on contested ones tonight. I just personally don't see how Monty can normalize stuff like that.

Monty can help with this by telling Tyreke not to hold the ball at half court until there are 7seconds on the clock before he drives. If he does not make it to the rim, chances are someone has to force a bad shot.

I know you are a basketball coach, so how would you describe Monty's offense? Pick and Roll, kinda, Asik wasn't even trying to pick at the end of the game. Motion, sometimes a little? Fastbreak bullyball? Slowdown ISO with three kicks? I really can't tell, it seems they run something different every time down. What am I missing?

[Pelicans78]

Ajinca has been fantastic this season when given minutes.

[BlueJay]

Great win. A few thing crossed my mind.
Our guards man up on D instead of sending them to the help the last few games, good job Monty.
This team is a backup point guard away from getting that 8th seed, rather that is Jrue or Reke.
We need more good Reke, someone need to tell him 11-8-8 > 20-5-5
Monty need to do a better job integrating AD into the team, NOLA feel more "in sync" when AD miss the game. Same to with Jrue and Reke.

Please lockup AA and Dante asap, give them Q like contract and out bench is set.

[Kibner]

The spurs also have on nights and off nights. Monty just needs to be able to slow the tempo down, get the defense focused, and run effective driving/post plays when we're not shooting well.

The first and third things are actually what he's good at.

[Topdawg26]

This team is a piece or two away from contending for the title.

Every time we win without AD against good teams it must warm the cockles of his heart a little bit more.

Yeah we need some veteran experience on this team to push us over the top. Which is why I say we need a veteran back up PG to control the second team and possibly a 3 and D SF that has been in the league for more than 3-5 years.

[Kibner]

Monty can help with this by telling Tyreke not to hold the ball at half court until there are 7seconds on the clock before he drives. If he does not make it to the rim, chances are someone has to force a bad shot.

I know you are a basketball coach, so how would you describe Monty's offense? Pick and Roll, kinda, Asik wasn't even trying to pick at the end of the game. Motion, sometimes a little? Fastbreak bullyball? Slowdown ISO with three kicks? I really can't tell, it seems they run something different every time down. What am I missing?

They run a dribble penetration offense, primarily, but also run lots and lots of offs-ball screens. Both are used to create space for shooters and get looks at the rim.

If the on-ball screens were better, I think the offense would take another leap.

[Pelicantoo]

These victories over Toronto and L.A. w/o AD and Holiday confirm what I believe. This roster for the most part is fine. Demps has done his job well. It up to Monty to get them to play right.

Like that play they ran for Cunningham to pretty much seal it. Tyreke can make that pass all day. More of that and less iso goofiness.

This is where I completely disagree. That last play was a high IQ basketball player making a heady play. That was a back screen for Ryno that he read and slipped, beating his man. The difference between now and earlier this year is that Babbitt, Rivers, Jimmer, Miller, Salmons, etc.. are NEVER making that read.

[NMThreeMVP]

Phoenix is playing at a high level, but if we can play with a full healthy roster down the stretch and Dell adds another guard to upgrade the Jommer/Wolters spot, we'll be in the hunt.