The game is really this simple

[BreezyRivers]

It's a 3-point league. Just look at the numbers.

The best scoring big men shoot around 50% while the best scoring wings shoot the 3 at 40%. So if you take the same amount of shots, the 3 point shooters will win.

For instance, if 10 3 pointers are attempted, at 40%, they will make 4 buckets or 12 points.

Whereas the 2 point players will score 10 points.

Just look at the game: the pelicans are trying to bowl through the defense to get a measley 2 points while the rockets are EASILY jacking up 3s at 40%!

3s are easier to get...you can always shoot a 3, but you have to FIGHT for a high percentage 2.

Add to the fact that bigs can easier get in foul trouble, and that's just another knock.

Honestly, the formula for Houston is just much better: they either shoot the open 3 or shoot the layup or dunk 2.

To be honest, the role of Nene and Clint Capella is just as efficient as the Role of AD and Boogie. Nene and Capella simply dunk the ball, fight for a rebound, or hold down the paint on D...that is where the BIG MEN NEED to be.

Meanwhile, AD and Boogie are wasting their time shooting long 2s or 3s and hoping Tim Frazier or E'twaun Moore grab a rebound. That's not the right formula.

Add to the fact that AD and Boogie are just over 30% from 3, and you have a losing formula.

The fact is simple...to win in today's game you need a bunch of Wing Players who can 3 and D or slash for an easy 2 or kick out 3, and they NEED to run people off the 3 on D!

A competent defensive wing in today's NBA MUST BE ABLE TO RUN A 3 POINT SHOOTER off the LINE

40% from 3 is going to kill you any day.

In addition, the main job of the bigs should be to get rough, grab rebounds, and control the paint.

So the main point is: easily shooting 3s all day is SO MUCH EASIER and MORE EFFICIENT than barreling through the D for 2.

AD and Boogie may be the most all-around skilled bigs in the game, but are those skills even necessary in today's NBA? We shall see.

To be clear, I think Boogie and the Brow can be incredible. Of course, they are THE BEST bigs in the game.

However, the guard play and coaching needs to be much better.

The Pelicans need guards who can take care of the ball, run the offense off the 3, and hit a 3 of their own.

If our guards can do that: Championship! Because Boogie and the Brow are GREAT.

[nolaslim213]

Off-season

[BreezyRivers]

Off-season

Exactly.

[luckyman]

AD is just at 30%. Boogie is at a highly respectable 35%. Same as Trevor Ariza and James Harden. The only player on the Rockets team at 40% is Ryno.

Regardless, this game was lost by a team trying to adjust. Outside of AD and Cous the team just stunk on both ends. They would have gotten spanked by the Nets again tonight.

Give it at least 5 games against all level of opponents before making any proclamations. Golden St. started slow as well. Lost by 30 to the Spurs opening night at home.

[specialman]

Well put

[DaPelFromHell]

We need Jrue to play better! This may be the worst game I've ever seen from him. It was like he said "I gotta show the league that I'm part of a big 3", and was pressing like a mofo. The guard play tonight was horrible. I wish we could of gotten Ben McLemore, who I was totally wrong on thinking he could give you some Jason Richardson type of ball lol. I don't like seeing Hill playing the 2 like he did some tonight. Hopefully Hollis Thompson will give us what we need.

[BreezyRivers]

AD is just at 30%. Boogie is at a highly respectable 35%. Same as Trevor Ariza and James Harden. The only player on the Rockets team at 40% is Ryno.

Regardless, this game was lost by a team trying to adjust. Outside of AD and Cous the team just stunk on both ends. They would have gotten spanked by the Nets again tonight.

Give it at least 5 games against all level of opponents before making any proclamations. Golden St. started slow as well. Lost by 30 to the Spurs opening night at home.

It is obvious the Rockets are better 3 PT shooters than us, they are on pace to be the best ever.

I do agree to not be knee-jerk. I am not being knee-jerk: there is hope; but I am pointing out the problem and a potential solution.

[luckyman]

It is obvious the Rockets are better 3 PT shooters than us, they are on pace to be the best ever.

I do agree to not be knee-jerk. I am not being knee-jerk: there is hope; but I am pointing out the problem and a potential solution.

As a team Houston ranks 11th at .364. Pelicans are 17th at .357.

Obviously that gap may widen since losing Galloway and Heild. But the team did get it to Cous and AD down low and made the Rockets start fouling. The Rockets simply shoot on volume and it will be their undoing at some point.

I still like our core better than theirs. The Pelicans just need to get some confidence in what their doing and be consistent. Looking at you Jrue.

[BreezyRivers]

It is obvious the Rockets are better 3 PT shooters than us, they are on pace to be the best ever.

I do agree to not be knee-jerk. I am not being knee-jerk: there is hope; but I am pointing out the problem and a potential solution.

I also want to note: using percentages is useful IN CONJUNCTION with the eye test. Going off of strictly percentages may cause trouble.

For example, while Solomon Hill, Boogie, and James Harden all shoot 35% from 3 this year, there is no doubt in my mind that Harden is the Better 3 pt shooter.

Harden is an all-star point guard and is constantly getting hounded by the D: he shoots 3s from all over the court and with hands in his face. He is also shooting 3s in addition to thinking about driving and dishing.

Meanwhile, Solomon Hill and Boogie are mainly taking wide open or corner 3s.

The types of 3s that Harden, Boogie, and Solo take are different. The fact that Harden shoots the same as SOLO and Boogie speaks to Harden's excellence, because in additional to shooting the 3 well, Harden is also constantly setting up his teammates for good looks.

By that same note, Clint Capella shoots 65% from the field, while Boogie shoots 45%. Now, who is the better offensive player? Well, some may argue Boogie, but there is also a solid case for Clint Capella. There is little doubt that Boogie is more skilled than Capella, but are these skills necessary? Might Capella be focusing on more important skills? He is certainly a more efficient scorer.

[BreezyRivers]

As a team Houston ranks 11th at .364. Pelicans are 17th at .357.

Obviously that gap may widen since losing Galloway and Heild. But the team did get it to Cous and AD down low and made the Rockets start fouling. The Rockets simply shoot on volume and it will be their undoing at some point.

I still like our core better than theirs. The Pelicans just need to get some confidence in what their doing and be consistent. Looking at you Jrue.

You are right. You are completely right. I like our chances too, we'll see if they can get it done.

[luckyman]

I also want to note: using percentages is useful IN CONJUNCTION with the eye test. Going off of strictly percentages may cause trouble.

For example, while Solomon Hill, Boogie, and James Harden all shoot 35% from 3 this year, there is no doubt in my mind that Harden is the Better 3 pt shooter.

Harden is an all-star point guard and is constantly getting hounded by the D: he shoots 3s from all over the court and with hands in his face. He is also shooting 3s in addition to thinking about driving and dishing.

Meanwhile, Solomon Hill and Boogie are mainly taking wide open or corner 3s.

The types of 3s that Harden, Boogie, and Solo take are different. The fact that Harden shoots the same as SOLO and Boogie speaks to Harden's excellence, because in additional to shooting the 3 well, Harden is also constantly setting up his teammates for good looks.

By that same note, Clint Capella shoots 65% from the field, while Boogie shoots 45%. Now, who is the better offensive player? Well, some may argue Boogie, but there is also a solid case for Clint Capella. There is little doubt that Boogie is more skilled than Capella, but are these skills necessary? Might Capella be focusing on more important skills? He is certainly a more efficient scorer.

We're not discussing who is the better offensive player or player in general. We are discussing a specific skill. Harden does indeed brick a lot of 3s. He's never been top teir in that category. He's always been streaky there. When he's hot, he's hot. when he's not...brick city.

In that one skill he is not better than Solo or Cous.

Tonight was marred by lots of confusion, turnovers, and horrible perimeter play. Our 3rd "big 3" guy had his worst game of the year and it was nothing special the rockets did to cause that.

If they continue to struggle like this all weekend, bump this thread because then maybe you are right.

[BreezyRivers]

We're not discussing who is the better offensive player or player in general. We are discussing a specific skill. Harden does indeed brick a lot of 3s. He's never been top teir in that category. He's always been streaky there. When he's hot, he's hot. when he's not...brick city.

In that one skill he is not better than Solo or Cous.

Tonight was marred by lots of confusion, turnovers, and horrible perimeter play. Our 3rd "big 3" guy had his worst game of the year and it was nothing special the rockets did to cause that.

If they continue to struggle like this all weekend, bump this thread because then maybe you are right.

We do agree on the fact that the guard play was weak and that's why we lost.

I'm thinking of something else:

Solid guard play probably helps the bigs more than solid big play helps the guards.

For example, a solid guard like harden can get capella a dunk while a solid big like Boogie can draw a double and get an open look for a 3 point shooter.

Both are good plays, but which is better?

The answer, for me, is an alley-oop over a wide open 3.

an alley-oop at 90% (or even 65%) still scores more than a wide open 3 at 40%

[BreezyRivers]

I'm remembering more stuff:

Remember the playoff series NO vs GSW 2 or 3 years ago? I clearly remember "walking away" from that series thinking: "when it mattered most, Draymond Green outplayed Davis." Green got under Davis' skin, bullied him around, won the fight for rebounds, and locked down the paint. Not that AD didn't, but Green did it better. That is what I remember. That and the fact that GSW were great on the perimeter.

Now think about the GSW CLE Finals last year.

The turning point was the Draymond Green ejection. Less Big man enforcement. That and the facts that I clearly remember Tristan Thompson becoming a hound at the end of that series as well as Curry and Klay never really playing as well as they did all season, partially due to good permiter defense, which is extremely important; but I also just simply remember them being more off.

So the points here are that you need your big men to be tough, enforce the paint, rebound, and convert easy looks; and you need your wings to hit and defend the 3.

I fully believe AD and Boogie can do that, and that is what they Need to do.

They need to do that, and stay out of foul trouble.

A tough task, so hopefully the refs understand their role, because teams will obviously look to get AD and Boogie into foul trouble.

It's a tough game going at it with 2 highly skilled bigs becuase they are our best players, but also by nature of being bigs they are probably the most prone to foul trouble.

So I just thought of somethig else: maybe the Pels should try a lineup of:

JRUE
DANTE
AD
CUZ
AJINCA

Just for fun. Imagine the matchup.

JRUE / BEVERLEY
DANTE / HARDEN
AD / ARIZA
CUZ / RYNO
AJINCA / NENE

On offense, look for favorable post matchups and BACK THEM DOWN and try to force a foul or an easy bucket. Hey, it's the regular season. Might as well try it.

And this is where the rules of the game and the refs play a huge role. Of course, the addition of the 3 pt line changed the game. That and the fact that teams are allowed to run these exquisite screen and pick plays. The rules of the game and officiating basically enabled the GSW to become very successful.

Therefore, now that a team like NOLA currently has a team full of competent bigs, if the rules and officiating allow NOLA to use their talents, and if the PELS can find a way to make their talent work, they may be onto something.

AD
BOOGIE
CUNNINGHAM
AJINCA
DMO
DIALLO
ASIK

Time to get big!

[msusousaphone]

This thread completely ignores last years NBA Finals. With proper perimeter defense, the strategy dies. Our perimeter defense is atrocious. That, and defense is going to be the thing that takes the longest to come together. But it WILL come together.

So.....offseason.

[BreezyRivers]

This thread completely ignores last years NBA Finals. With proper perimeter defense, the strategy dies. Our perimeter defense is atrocious. That, and defense is going to be the thing that takes the longest to come together. But it WILL come together.

So.....offseason.

The first part is incorrect. I clearly state permimeter defense is extremely important. I also watched every game of the Finals last year, and I talk about the game in the post above.

However, you are completely correct about our perimeter defense being atrocious and that we need time to gel.

Also, while the offseason is approaching, we still have many games this season. We might as well enjoy them and experiment with what we have, such as the Big Man Lineup I proposed in the post above!