Really, Anthony Davis? {edited}

[Mythrol]

AD misses games due to injuries.... He's faking injury and already gone.

AD tries to play through the injury and struggles... He's barely/not even a top 10 player, doesn't play hard, throws teammates under the bus.

You guys have set up a situation where if AD does anything other than play perfect then you throw trash on him, then when AD calls you out on it and says he has to play nearly perfect... You use this as another reason to throw trash on him.

It's pathetic. If AD didn't want to leave before the way fans are turning on him will push him out the door. Then it will be on to crying about how bad of a team we are and the franchise can't sustain so much losing.

[Pelicanidae]

I remember, but after all the offseason talk that he wants to prove hes the best player in the world, to basically throwing his teammates under the bus saying he has to play almost perfect to win a game (that to me implies hes saying he has no help), to actually playing like hes not even a top 10 player... If AD is serious, he needs to show he is, not throw shade at teammates, hint about leaving, etc..

He should look no further than Brees to see how a true leader is on a winning team

Basically what Mythrol said, to be honest.

AD doesn't play, we lose. AD does play, but doesn't play incredibly (Spurs game, Warriors game), we still lose. Even with Jrue dropping nearly 30 efficient points and a double double from Niko.

Yeah, it's probably the case that without AD, or without AD at peak, we still win some games. We've done it before , and it's not like the team has no talent on it: Jrue, Niko, Moore, Randle are all good-to-great players. But is he wrong? If he doesn't play, we lose more often than not. If he does play, and he's below average, we still lose more often than not.

That's not a diss to Jrue, or Niko, or Randle. Even AD himself said that those guys play hard to try and win, night in, night out. But the fact is, if your franchise player, a top five player in the league and arguably the best, plays a game where he shoots 5-16, you're probably not going to win.

[6warddude]

its funny how members on this board get mad at espn or nba talking heads for pushing for AD to leave but the meltdown after 9 games is disturbing ....this board is buck wild lol....

[Eman5805]

its funny how members on this board get mad at espn or nba talking heads for pushing for AD to leave but the meltdown after 9 games is disturbing ....this board is buck wild lol....

It's sad. I don't get what benefit they see. "Oh, hey. Let's curse the man who is playing hurt for playing hurt. He needs to put up 38 points, 17 rebounds, 7 blocks, and 5 assists for us to have a chance! Wait. He said he needs to play insanely perfect for us to have a chance? he's throwing his teammates, that I think are trash, under the bus! He wants to go to the Lakers!"

[soggymoss]

Basically what Mythrol said, to be honest.

AD doesn't play, we lose. AD does play, but doesn't play incredibly (Spurs game, Warriors game), we still lose. Even with Jrue dropping nearly 30 efficient points and a double double from Niko.

Yeah, it's probably the case that without AD, or without AD at peak, we still win some games. We've done it before , and it's not like the team has no talent on it: Jrue, Niko, Moore, Randle are all good-to-great players. But is he wrong? If he doesn't play, we lose more often than not. If he does play, and he's below average, we still lose more often than not.

That's not a diss to Jrue, or Niko, or Randle. Even AD himself said that those guys play hard to try and win, night in, night out. But the fact is, if your franchise player, a top five player in the league and arguably the best, plays a game where he shoots 5-16, you're probably not going to win.

Therein lies the problem, the "best player in the world" in his eyes, should never have a below average game.. If his game is suffering because of his elbow, then say it... If we are suffering because we dont have EP on the floor, then say it... I personally think we are missing EP more than we are missing elite AD, we need that true floor general out there.. Hopefully he comes back soon

[AUSSIE_PELICAN]

Man and I thought I was a half glass empty type of guy.
This thread takes the cake.

[Pelicanidae]

Therein lies the problem, the "best player in the world" in his eyes, should never have a below average game.. If his game is suffering because of his elbow, then say it... If we are suffering because we dont have EP on the floor, then say it... I personally think we are missing EP more than we are missing elite AD, we need that true floor general out there.. Hopefully he comes back soon

I agree that we're missing EP a lot.

But in what universe can the best player not have a bad game? LeBron has been universally regarded as the best player for probably about a decade now. He has had off games during that time. It happens. Before him, either Kobe or Tim Duncan was regarded as the best. They had off games. Before that, Shaq. He had off games. Before that, Jordan. He had off games.

Literally every player will have some bad games sometimes. So what?

[soggymoss]

I agree that we're missing EP a lot.

But in what universe can the best player not have a bad game? LeBron has been universally regarded as the best player for probably about a decade now. He has had off games during that time. It happens. Before him, either Kobe or Tim Duncan was regarded as the best. They had off games. Before that, Shaq. He had off games. Before that, Jordan. He had off games.

Literally every player will have some bad games sometimes. So what?

An off game for those guys is a good game from guys like Jrue, if AD were playing even an "off" game, we would not be getting blown out... He has been very below average, all the way back to the Brooklyn game (which shows we can win even when he is below average)...

I'm not saying he needs to leave, but he needs to embrace his role, and know the he and he alone is the guy that can make this team tick (and that's the case for anywhere he would go even LA or Boston), and stop with the cryptic quotes and throwing teammates under the bus, and get back to being that hungry AD we seen at the end of last year... If he cant do that, then and only then, trade him while his value is at its peak, and get a nice haul in return

The same goes for Jrue, which we seen a good bit of Evil Jrue in the game against the Spurs

[Mythrol]

Omg. Some of you guys are on something crazy.

He got injured in the Brooklyn game. Of course he has struggled since. He's been injured! If he's injured and that's affecting his game he should come out and say it? What nonsense is that? No player does that. The dude has missed multiple games, of course the injury is bothering him. He's been on the injury report since Brooklyn that IS them coming out and saying he's injured and it's affecting him.

It has nothing to do with EP. The dude is injured.

Some of you are so ready to throw dirt on him that you're using sideways logic and any excuse to try and make him look bad. He was top 3 in MVP voting last year but suddenly the reason he magically started struggling when he got injured wasn't because of THE INJURY but because of Payton? FOH with that noise.

Healthy AD has been a baller long before Rondo or Payton were here. You guys need to come off it.

[soggymoss]

Omg. Some of you guys are on something crazy.

He got injured in the Brooklyn game. Of course he has struggled since. He's been injured! If he's injured and that's affecting his game he should come out and say it? What nonsense is that? No player does that. The dude has missed multiple games, of course the injury is bothering him. He's been on the injury report since Brooklyn that IS them coming out and saying he's injured and it's affecting him.

It has nothing to do with EP. The dude is injured.

Some of you are so ready to throw dirt on him that you're using sideways logic and any excuse to try and make him look bad. He was top 3 in MVP voting last year but suddenly the reason he magically started struggling when he got injured wasn't because of THE INJURY but because of Payton? FOH with that noise.

Where did I say HE is struggling because of Payton? It's that WE are struggling as a team without him, way to many turnovers with no true floor general...

And if the injury truly is the problem, he needs to sit out until its healed, because it apparently it holding us back.. Average AD and we win at least 1 of Portland or SA..

He also DOMINATED after the all star break, and you could see that fire in him, I havent seen it yet this year

[Mythrol]

AD sits out due to injury he gets called soft, some say he's faking, that isn't what a top player does...

AD comes back from injury but doesn't play like his usual self he gets called overrated, that isn't what a top player would do...

AD says he has to play nearly perfect some of you guys say he is dogging teammates then you turn around and complain when AD doesn't play nearly perfect and we lose.

The only way AD wins with some of you guys is if he balls out.... But don't say anything because of you talk about how good you have to play then you're putting down your teammates. Some of you guys are on that nonsense.

This team goes as far as AD takes them. We ain't struggling because of Payton being injured. We are struggling because of AD being hurt. Payton is the difference in 5 wins this season... AD is the difference in 25 wins this season maybe even more.

Get on board with our best player and stop all this nonsense.

[soggymoss]

Average AD, and we win tonight.. Average AD with EP, or hell any floor general, we go 4-1 or 3-2 on this road trip...

If AD's injury is THAT bad where hes getting outplayed by backups, he needs to step back and rest a couple weeks until its healed, then come back and truly be the MVP player he is and put this team on his back and start blowing people out like we should be doing

[Pelicanidae]

Average AD, and we win tonight.. Average AD with EP, or hell any floor general, we go 4-1 or 3-2 on this road trip...

If AD's injury is THAT bad where hes getting outplayed by backups, he needs to step back and rest a couple weeks until its healed, then come back and truly be the MVP player he is and put this team on his back and start blowing people out like we should be doing

In fairness, average AD is one of the best in the league.

So asking for him to do that is a big ask.

[Mythrol]

If AD sat until he was healthy you guys would roast him alive. Don't give me that nonsense.

[pelicanchamp]

If the pels keep losing fans worst fears could become reality. No way AD will stay in NOLA much longer if they can’t contend. I don’t blame him.

We shouldn’t be losing 6 games straight. AD says he has to play perfect for the team to win. That’s insulting but it’s probably true. He bought a house in LA. He changed agents. If you think he isn’t considering leaving then you’re in denial.

Several things need to happen. We have to get Payton back. AD has to get healthy and we have to start winning. I said AD could be exaggerating or faking his injury. I was wrong about that. I don’t believe that AD is not the source of trade rumors though. I do think he will ask to be traded if we keep losing. I think his comment about having to play perfect was unnecessary. If any star in the league said that their fan base would probably see the player in a more negative light. That kind of comment reveals how he thinks of his situation. The full quote does not change the fact that he made that remark.

Someone mentioned we are better than last year. That might be true but relative to the rest of the league are we really better? OKC got better, Spurs got better, Denver is better, LA is better, GSW is probably the same.

Most teams lose when they lose their best player to injury. But because of the media narrative and the specific situation, AD in prime on a team that isn’t strong enough to contend, we can’t have blind optimism about this team. It’s still early in the season so I will try to reserve judgment until we are 20-25 games in. If things don’t get better we have to make a bold move imo.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[soggymoss]

In fairness, average AD is one of the best in the league.

So asking for him to do that is a big ask.

So, asking him to just be an average player is a big ask? You're perfectly fine with him playing below average? 35% shooting in the last 4 games, hell hes getting outplayed by Diallo IMO... Hes hurting us more playing hurt than him sitting right now...

And Myt, I wouldn't be one to, if a player is injured to the point where its affecting his play THIS bad, then he needs to heal at least another week or 2

[UptownFuz504]

im a pelican fan period...AD leave or stay,,im a pelican fan period...

Facts...Fan of the name on the front of the jersey not the name on the back.

[kinglio21093]

It doesn't matter if AD is injured or not. If he sees that this team can't win without him, then why stay?

Deep teams win championships, and this team is not deep. It has some star power with him and Jrue. Mirotic, Randle, Moore and Payton are good pieces, but that's all they have. You have to have more than those 6 players to compete.

AD has said at the beginning of the season "I want to win, and that's it." This team isn't winning, and if it continues he's out of here. Stop making excuses for this team because now our backs are against the walls.

[UptownFuz504]

Truth of the matter is that you can’t be the best player in the world if you don’t play. Your best ability is availability.

[NMThreeMVP]

If I'm being honest, if you set the o/u for wins through the first 10 games of this season at 4, I would have taken then under at the beginning of the year. It'll be curious to see how other teams do when/if they face similar west coast gauntlets throughout the season.

The Pelicans really should have loss that game to the Nets. That's the part of this 6 game losing streak that's worrisome. It could easily be 7. But if I told you before the season that after the first 10 games the Pelicans would have the same number of wins as the Wolves, Rockets, and Jazz... you'd take that every time!

We're only 10 games in. AD has played like an MVP, and he's also played like a distracted and injured overhyped guy. The first 10 games have been disappointing, but if I had to give it a grade I'd give it the shoulder shrug emoji. Let's at least wait until we're a quarter of the way through the season, or until Demps inevitably trades our 1st round pick for a SF, to really plant our flags on what is and what isn't with this team.

[Pelicanidae]

So, asking him to just be an average player is a big ask? You're perfectly fine with him playing below average? 35% shooting in the last 4 games, hell hes getting outplayed by Diallo IMO... Hes hurting us more playing hurt than him sitting right now...

And Myt, I wouldn't be one to, if a player is injured to the point where its affecting his play THIS bad, then he needs to heal at least another week or 2

No, but you're being a little silly.

Asking him to be an average player is pointless because he's already doing that.

So far this seasom, if you take a wide range of centres (I used Miles Turner, Joel Embiid, Nikola Vucevic, Steven Adams, Robin Lopez, and Clint Capella) and you average out their statistics, you get 14.8ppg, 8.6rpg, 2.2apg, 0.6 stls, and 1.7blks.

Through the last three games he played, AD has averaged 18/9.7/3.7/0.7/2.3

That is, he's put up numbers that are above average for a centre right now. They've been inefficient, sure, and not nearly as good as we expect from AD, but in terms of league wide, he's been totally fine. We need him to play average for Anthony Davis, not just average in general. He's already doing that, and it's not good enough for us to win.

No, I'm not fine with him shooting 35% over the last four games. You'd have to be very uncharitable with your reading to think I said that. What I said is that there's a different between asking for AD to be average, which he is already doing, and asking him to be average for AD, which he is falling short of but which is also a very big ask.

Also, he's not getting outplayed by Diallo. Just put a cork in that one.

[bigfanfromaus]

My thoughts on AD. He can't be the best player on a championship team. He's got a heap of limitations in his game. Pels rely wayyyy too much on him to be a high volume scorer. AD is an amazing hustle guy. Just look at his impact on that Kentucky team.

[Pelicanidae]

My thoughts on AD. He can't be the best player on a championship team. He's got a heap of limitations in his game. Pels rely wayyyy too much on him to be a high volume scorer. AD is an amazing hustle guy. Just look at his impact on that Kentucky team.

A man who has averaged at least 24ppg for 5 straight seasons on 50+% from the field is the exact type of guy you wish you had to be your volume scorer. He can take it coast to coast, he can set up in the half court, he can drive on people from the outside.
Yes he relies on teammates to set him up a lot. So did Shaq, are we gonna complain that Shaq had a heap of limitations in his game? Come on.

It's popular to dog on AD right now because he's looked mediocre recently. Not even bad. Mediocre.

In a month we'll be a +500 team and AD will drop five straight 30 point games and everyone will go back to pretending like they didn't have a tantrum about four games in early November

[bigfanfromaus]

His 24ppg average over 5 seasons is a reflection of the team not performing. Yes we've tasted a bit of playoff success, but overall he's been putting up big numbers on a team devoid of talent/scoring. In no way am I having a tantrum. I love AD and his game. So I'll rephrase myself, AD can't be the best scorer on a championship team, but he can be your best player.

[Pelicanidae]

His 24ppg average over 5 seasons is a reflection of the team not performing. Yes we've tasted a bit of playoff success, but overall he's been putting up big numbers on a team devoid of talent/scoring. In no way am I having a tantrum. I love AD and his game. So I'll rephrase myself, AD can't be the best scorer on a championship team, but he can be your best player.

Completely disagree. Stats exist that can show you exactly how much "winning" a player contributes to his team, and AD is consistently near the top of the league in win shares and win shares per 48. We've tasted some playoff success, yes, but that success is ENTIRELY the result of And being as good as he is. Like Mythrol said, AD is the difference of 25 wins here.

We won 48 games last year. No AD, that number is sub 30. Even if Cousins never got injured.