| . |
 |
I think ownership isn't the main problem beside a mandate to win now(which every owner should strive for). I think Benson lets the GM do what they want to do and that is the same with the saints. The difference is Loomis lets Sean pick his players and Loomis signs them. If Dell would let Gentry pick his poison but watch to make sure we are striving in the right direction, that is the way to go. Dell has handcuffed gentry with players he wanted into a system which doesn't fit their talent.
I love people who say things like "my truth". What is that?! Is that similar to an alternative fact?Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara
The problem isn't Benson, per say, but the urgency created by Benson's age and health. When Gayle takes over, she won't run necessarily run the team any differently, the inner circle will remain the same, but the urgency to win NOW will dissipate greatly and they will make decisions in a different way.
This is sports man... it's entertainment...
The Pelicans have one of, if not the best, assets in the NBA right now: Anthony Davis under contract and the ability to offer him his best deal available when he becomes a free agent. Even if this deteriorates to a point where AD goes to Dell (or whomever) and ask to be traded, the Pelicans will get a kings ransom if they trade him.
This team isn't doomed, so long as they can find consistency and a path forward. Some may not like potential, but fans will be entertained by it so long as they understand and see the direction the team is going. The problem the Pelicans have had is that they don't seem to have a consistency of style or approach to building a winner. People will pull for and enjoy the uphill fight, so long as someone sells them on the ascension.
The team is far from doomed.
Pelicans most certainly do give up a 1st for a guy with one year left on his contract..
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/1...ording-sources
They don't give up a 1st for "a guy" with one year left. They did it for Asik. Which after giving a year of what they expected, they could resign relatively cheaply for a starting center.
That doesn't mean they'd do the same for Lopez. Different player. Different situation.
Interesting. When did you stop being a fan and why? Was there a specific moment or just an accumulation of disappointments?
It's interesting because back in the day it was "I will never care about this team with Shinn as the owner" or "I will never care about this team until they rebrand". Well both of those things changed but a lot of the people that were crying for that aren't anywhere to be found. We have a stable owner, a new identity, and people are still apathetic
People are apathetic because you need more than a branding effort to create an identity. We've never had player/system alignment. Not to mention consistent starting lineups. Do you think the casual fan knows who the starting line up is for a Pelicans game when they're thinking about how to spend their disposable income? Hell... I don't even know half the time!
I'd like to see the Pelicans establish an on court identity and go into a season with a marketable and capable trio of players to start, and eventually a healthy starting 5, that the casual fan can name the same way they can name the starters on offense and defense for the Saints. We all know injuries happen, but they've derailed so much for this team, including the connection to the market.
Yeah, I long for the days when we had CP3, Chandler and DWest, or even BD, Mash and PJ.
I agree with McNamara that we're doomed and here's why..
- This franchise will never be an attractive destination for Superstars in their prime even with AD on the roster. You can't win in the NBA without multiple superstars unless you're San Antonio, and I don't see us landing a KD, Chris Paul, or any of the "true max deal players" in any summer.
- Our front office (their philosophy) is horrible... I guess the whole "young vet" thing sounded great when they dreamed it u, but here we are years later and we're worse off now than we were back then. Instead of drafting players and developing them, we traded these picks away for guys that may not be on our roster this summer. And we're doing the same thing by trying to get Okafor. It never ends.
Just my opinion. Until we make drastic changes starting at the top... this franchise will be a fringe playoff team. And by "fringe" I mean no better than 8th seed, to which we're gonna get killed by the #1 seed.
Do you realize how few teams win championships and how great it was to be a fan of this team when we had CP3, Chandler, and West? That's not failure or doomed. That's life in the NBA. We may NEVER win a championship, but part of what fans need to realize is that if that's the only thing that makes the games and the season enjoyable, we're missing the point. Pushing for the 8th seed in Monty's last year was fun. Going up against the Warriors in the first round was fun. I keep telling people, the goal should be the Mavericks at best, Memphis at worst, if we really want to look to a SW Division rival to form our expectations. Holding up San Antonio as the model is setting the bar unnecessarily high.
This part has never, and likely will never change. We could not attract FAs with CP3 here. We improved greatly by trading for a young vet (Chandler) and signing a vet in free agency (Peja) as well as hitting on CP3 and DWest in the draft. Now we have hit on AD in the draft and traded for Jrue. Hopefully, we hit on Buddy and he becomes a cornerstone player. We do not appear to have the room to hit on a player in FA this year, but may have blown an opportunity by spending over $82 million on Hill and Moore. Can this management team correct that? Who knows?
Are we being dumb hoping that Okafor could be the young player that develops into a very good player ala Chandler (but obvious different skill set)? Many thought trading for Chandler and his salary was dumb, but it turned out to be very good. He was a high draft choice that had been labeled a disappointment. Fingers crossed if we trade for Okafor.
I feel you on all of that. But me (and this is how I feel... not saying everybody should join me) I feel you should go into a situation with the end result being winning a (or multiple) NBA titles. You go into it understanding that it may take time, but every move you make should have the end result in mind. Why have a franchise if all you want to be is a first round playoff team?
I'd love to be in portland's position right now. No they're not a title contender yet, but they're making moves to get there. Portland is in a similar situation we are... small market. Not an attractive free agent landing spot. But you look at what they're doing, and compare it to what our front office is doing. Its night and day.
I don't know man. Maybe "doomed" may be too strong of a word, but "hopeless" also comes to mind with the way this front office is managing this team.
I'm crossing fingers and toes Okafor has potential. I love his offensive game.. I'm old school and I like to see bigs with post moves do work. I love Zach Randolph's game. I just wonder if Okafor's game would be another mismatch for what we're doing with Gentry's system and how he likes to speed up the pace.
As for Chandler I think that was a great pickup because his game was exactly what we needed. CP3 was a master at the PnR, and Tyson was a great PnR big that could elevate and finish. Peja is exactly what we needed in a shooter to knock down open shots resulting form that PnR (albeit his contract was crazy, but we overpay to get guys here).
Those moves are completely different form the moves that Demps has made, and is now making with Okafor. If you want a big that would work in Gentry's system you go and get a guy like Brandon Wright (and other athletic bigs) that can run the floor and finish above the rim. Instead we resign Asik and Ajinca... 2 big slow, lumbering bigs that don't fit what we're trying to do.
I agree Demps has made the completely wrong moves for the styles that our coaches run. Odd that Gentry made the comment during his interview on Final Play that he wanted a big that could bang down low to take the pressure off of AD. I realize he had Bogut in GS, but much of the time, they played small ball. It seems AD may be putting a kink in what Gentry wants to do. Not sure Okafor fits Gentry's style at all, but hopefully he feels he can make it work. I am a bit skeptical (and would just find a serviceable center on the cheap rather than trading away valuable assets for one).
Funny thing about Bogut you think of him as a big ogre that just sat in the paint and beat people up, but he used to get up and down the court pretty good for a big guy. Even finished ally-oops like a boss. Rare to find a big that was mobile, played great defense/rim protected, and also was an intelligent player and great passer.
Too bad he can't stay heathy.
The Utah Jazz w/ John Stockton and Karl Malone
The Seattle Sonics lead by Gary Payton
The New York Knicks lead by Patrick Ewing
The Indiana Pacers lead by Reggie Miller
The Phoenix Suns lead by Charles Barkley
The Miami Heat lead by Alonzo Mourning
The Sacramento Kings lead by Chris Webber
The Portland Trailblazers lead by Clyde Drexler
The Oklahoma City Thunder w/ KD/Harden/Ibaka/Russ
The Chicago Bulls lead by Derrick Rose
The Los Angeles Clippers lead by Chris Paul
The 73 win Golden State Warriors
NBA history is littered with teams just like these that didn't win championships.
It's so difficult to win in the league, there were rumblings that the best player in the league (LeBron James) might never win one early on. The Lakers put together a team of Kobe/Shaq/Malone/Payton and lost. The Rockets had Olajuwon/Drexler/Barkley and didn't get it done. I know some of those players were passed their prime, but the point stands.
You build a team you think can COMPETE for championships and see what happens.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Yeah, I wondered before if we should just explore a swap of Evans for him as Dallas is going nowhere and both are expirings. Maybe we can get him on the cheap next year in free agency.
i feel you on this......im one of those rare fans that dont mind if we are a 8th seed in the playoffs.....my thing is,,once we are in the dance then we have a chance...anything can happen in the playoffs.........fighting for a playoff spot is fun for me....4 guarantee playoffs games is fun for me win or loose.....i just believe that making the playoffs even the 8th seed,,that there is a good FA that is in a bad situation just may see that he can come here and be a major piece to help move up the playoffs ladder.......i get mad but i enjoy my team good or bad....
You're right in one regard. It should be management's job to try and build towards winning a championship. But from the fan perspective, I just want to be entertained. It's entertaining to be in the playoffs, even if you don't ultimately win the championship. This is why I say Dallas and Memphis are the models, not the Spurs. Both of those teams are trying to win championships, but when they don't the fans are still entertained and not apathetic. Memphis has done a great job of building an identity. The Mavericks have a great coach and a Superstar, and found the right pieces, at the right time, to go on a run and win a championship. That's all you can hope for. That and to be entertained!
i like the okafor trade if it happens...im just glad that we are getting a post player finally for when our shots are not falling......
my main concern for the team is that demps is making moves because of AD not wanting to play the 5.....these moves are not within gentry system and either gentry will adjust his game or we will fail.........we are making moves like we did when monty was fired or getting players for gentry that he wont be able to coach because he wont be here to coach them in a couple of years......
I do like AD,Buddy,,,diallo,,,okafor as our young core and wish moore could grow with them too....what coaching style is better for them,,i dont know.....
Gentry can adapt to having a low post scorer. I don't think it's hard adjustment for guys to make.
I wish people would stop trying to accuse Demps for going after players that "don't fit Gentry's system." You would think Gentry works in nola while Demps works in L.A. or something.
They both obviously talk to each other and I would even say AD has input. They ALL want a certain kind of big man on this roster, not just Demps. And again, Asik played in a similar system in Houston and played well. That was before his major back and calf problems started. So you can't claim he is a "mismatch" now.
And what happened to our special advisor Danny Ferry?
This sentence encapsulates my frustrations with most of Dell's moves. It's not championship or bust for me (and I think most of the people against a lot of his moves). But being in the conversation and having the chance to win the title if things break right should be the goal. I feel like most of the moves we have made over the past 5 years put a hard ceiling on the team that puts us well below the contending tier of teams.
My hope for this franchise has changed drastically over the last few years. I thought we may be able to one day win a championship. Then adjusted to hoping we'd one-day build a contender. I think that is even unrealistic at this point. Maybe in the coming years we'll luck into a 65 win team or something but I don't think we'll ever be serious threats to other teams. Anymore I just hope we could build a team that can expect the playoffs and hope for a second-round exit in the next 5 years.
.......if healthy
@Jabberwalker
Contributor
If Okafor improves or plays proportionally as improved as Terrence Jones has, it's a considerable improvement.
This is the problem. I don't care what inside info you have, you don't know the future. Probabaility when talking about why human being are capable of is as scientific as a horoscope or homeopathic medicine.
Okafor could be a perfect fit you don't know.
I'd rather make no deals involving our 1sts at all. But yeah. I'll be cool with Okafor over Brooks.
There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote