Reply With Quotei dont want to even go to the game tonight because its going to drive me crazy seeing jordan abuse AD in the paint....jordan do it to him all the time and AD dont want no part of it lol.....i hope gentry play okafor tonight smh...
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December 5th - New Orleans Pelicans VS Dallas Mavericks - 12-13
Back again, at home, this time versus the Dallas Mavericks. Of course they have one big attraction: Luka Dončić. He is, as far as all appearances go at this point in his rookie year, fantastic. He has real potential to be a serious, serious player in this league: a top 10 or even top 5 player, if all his potential plays out. Unfortunately, the Hawks were wrong again, so he's in the West instead of the East. Nice. Tonight will be a great chance for Pels fans to see one of the NBA's future stars in person; hopefully, his star won't shine too bright tonight and we can get the win.
But of course, Luka is not the only player on the Mavericks, so let's look at the team overall.
Offensive Rating: 12th
Defensive Rating: 10th
Rebounds per game: 25th
Assists per game: 23rd
Steals per game: 20th
Blocks per game: 24th
2pt percentage: 11th
3pt percentage: 14th
This is a team that plays at the league's 14th fastest pace, so they aren't really prepared to run with us, and the stats across the board aren't exactly sparkling, but the fact is that this is a team that's basically top ten in offense and defense. That's why they're 12-10. They won't outrebound you, or swat you at the rim on every possession, nor will they have dazzling playmaking sequences from the whole team, but that doesn't matter when they are hitting shots and getting stops from disciplined defense.
Key players: Obviously, Luka. He is currently averaging basically 19/7/4 on 44/38/79 splits. For a rookie who carries so much attention, that's some pretty good efficiency, especially from three. His real flaw is defense: he isn't a tragedy on that end of the floor, of course, and the fact that he's a small forward who usually ends up on guards helps him with a size advantage, but he does have a negative net rating, and opponents shoot 6.1% better than their averages against him. For all of his talents and promise, he can be exploited on the defensive end of the floor. That, and he gives up basically 4 turnovers a game: he can be too loose with the ball sometimes, and I expect us to try and use that to our advantage on defense.
Next up, they have DeAndre Jordan, who is currently their leader in net rating, win shares, and rebounds. He's putting up 12pts and 14 rebounds a night, which is extremely impressive, although his offensive rebounding rate is down based on past years. The trick here isn't anything special: he's not gonna drop 50 on anyone, but he might grab 25 rebounds if you let him. The key is for AD and Randle to prevent a repeat performance of the Heat game: there, AD had 0 rebounds in the first half, and a large part of that was Whiteside stealing every rebound. We can't allow DJ to give the Mavs the same kind of advantage.
Finally, it's Harrison Barnes, averaging 18 ppg and shooting 40% from 3. He's Harrison Barnes, and he can shoot a little. He can create his own shot, but he doesn't playmake. He's pretty good in the clutch, and he's the kind of guy who can go off for 30 on any night, so he'll need to be given defensive attention.
AD said it himself: the problem on defense is usually not schematic. It's effort. We play hardnosed, gritty defense in the second half trying to make comebacks, but we only need to make comebacks because the defense is nonexistent in first halves. If we rebound hard, keep DJ off the glass, pressure Luka on the ball, and play some defense for once, we should be able to get this home win.
Let's go, and #DoItBig.
Watching Pelicans games is what Georges Bataille meant by limit experiences.
i dont want to even go to the game tonight because its going to drive me crazy seeing jordan abuse AD in the paint....jordan do it to him all the time and AD dont want no part of it lol.....i hope gentry play okafor tonight smh...
#Pelicans Head Coach Alvin Gentry says Nikola Mirotic (illness) won’t play tonight vs Dallas.
— Daniel Sallerson (@dsallerson) December 5, 2018
Still no Niko
I hope Gentry uses Oka and/or Diallo to spell AD and JR. We need 2 bigs on court at all times
good god biting on every pump fake known to man
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Lots of points early for both teams. Both on pace for 40+ in the first.
Gonna say we've seen AD on Harrison Barnes in the post before. If DJ is gonna guard Randle, I want more of that.
timmy frazier copping the freight train!
The defense still isn't perfect, but wow it's improved from those first few minutes.
AD is on fire.
yeah early defense was poor (AD had a handful himself just getting torched), then they picked it up and now its dropped off again with this new lineupOriginally Posted by Pelicanidae
Miller!
Opening this lead up is so encouraging.
I know he can have some dumb moments, but I'm a big diallo fan. in a team that lacks motor and effort at times, dude is just non-stop.
Agreed. For all the things you can say about him, you cannot say he's lazy. He's always trying to do something.
so why the hell are they letting jordan throw Frazier every where
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Man those turnovers and our defence is the worst in the league.
Our defense is actually 24th in the league.
Imagine what being a fan of those teams must be like?
End of the first half and we are... up, by nearly 20?
I like this bizarro world.
I don't believe that someone is actually worst than us! LOL
We better not score another point for the rest of the game. Good half and solid defensively towards the end
When we play hard D, like we have done for most of the half, we are really good.
Denver just lost to Orlando, OKC is down 20 at the end of the third to Brooklyn, Charlotte is up 10 on Minnesota, and we're winning.
Could be a good night.
AD and Randle tryna run the offence = bad
It’s refreshing to see some actual 3 point attempts. We need to at least try to run a modern offense.
I really really really like Julius Randle. He’s so fun to watch.
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