Training Camp Begins

Love how Gentry mentions Fred Vinson in that interview. ''Took Tyreke and made him a 39% shooter when he was 27%''.

That's actually about right. Tyreke shot 26.8% from deep over his first 5 years. Within 2 years in New Orleans, he was a 38.8% shooter on 3.5 attempts per game. From that season on, he shot 37.7% over the subsequent 4 seasons on 3.8 attempts per game (admittedly, these were injury ridden seasons so the total game sample size isn't as large as 4 seasons implies: only 186 games).

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Have you considered that when people talk about Laker fans doing X, that's not because they're trying to set up some horrible strawman and more likely just because they've seen Lakers fans doing X?

Like Taker, I've also seen a huge number of Laker fans on twitter, Instagram, YouTube comments, talking about how "lol Lonzos shot is so broken he's worthless" and "who cares if we lost those guys they're always injured" Yadda Yadda.

It's possible that the fans on Lakers ground don't do that, but I don't see why we're supposed to use them as the standard instead of the vastly more common other types of Lakers fan.

As a side note, I'm not going to check our Lakers ground because I'm not a Lakers fan, and spending a bunch of time on a forum for a team I don't like or support sounds like a huge waste of time.

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Well obviously they're saying it because they've seen some Lakers fans doing it.. My point is, was a scientific poll or survey conducted? Do you have a percentage of how many fans feel this way? Any sense of whether or not it is a majority or minority view?

Why build a narrative or express agitation based on the viewpoints of individuals who likely represent a minority?

Whether discussing football, basketball, or any other sport. The "blank fans think" comments are odd to me.

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Originally Posted by Nichols

Well obviously they're saying it because they've seen some Lakers fans doing it.. My point is, was a scientific poll or survey conducted? Do you have a percentage of how many fans feel this way? Any sense of whether or not it is a majority or minority view?

Why build a narrative or express agitation based on the viewpoints of individuals who likely represent a minority?

Whether discussing football, basketball, or any other sport. The "blank fans think" comments are odd to me.

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No, nobody has a scientific poll, or survey, and guess what?

NOBODY NEEDS ONE

The post you were replying to specifically says:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Taker597

all those Laker fans that was gassing Lonzo up trade value

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You know what that means? It means he wasn't even referring to all Lakers fans. He had specified a sub-group: that is, those Lakers fans who were gassing Lonzo's trade value up and have now turned on him. That's a significant portion, from my experience, but even if it wasn't, even if it was only 10 Lakers fans in the ENTIRE WORLD, it wouldn't matter. Because he specified the subgroup he was referring to.

Your original response ignored that in order to pull some ''not all Lakers fans!'' nonsense. OF COURSE not all Lakers fans. That would be why he DIDN'T SAY all Lakers fans, and instead pointed out the group he was referring to.

You've done this before, taking obvious references to specific groups or trends of Lakers fans and decontextualising them in order to try and make them sound like Lakers fans are some kind of unfairly targeted group. Please, I am begging you, learn how colloquial language works. Carnap was wrong, and that's okay.

Think about what you just posted.. "It means he wasn't even referring to all Lakers fans." But he say's.. "all those Laker fans that was gassing Lonzo up trade value".. So he's saying every single Lakers fan that gassed Lonzo up are now saying negative things about him. Which simply isn't true.. I would argue you've done this before as well.. and that's misrepresent what's being communicated, and muddle context.

Most of the Laker fans I know who didn't like Ball still don't like him. The ones who do, still do.. I don't want to go back and forth with you though, it has proven pointless on many occasions. This subject matter also has no relevance to the actual thread topic.

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Originally Posted by Nichols

This subject matter also has no relevance to the actual thread topic.

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Extremely odd of you to see a throwaway comment from Taker, then, and start drawing it out into a discussion, no?

Listen, I get it if seeing people say things that are negative about the Lakers and their fanbase grates on you. That's fine, you are/have been a Lakers fan, I get it. But this is a New Orleans Pelicans board: nobody is under any obligation to be nice to LA, or their fanbase, many of whom have spent the last 18 months or so being absolute demons to us with regards to AD, our ''trash team'', our ''poverty franchise'' etc etc. If someone makes a throwaway comment that paints some Lakers fans in a negative light, then that's just too bad.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

It can, as can almost every jump, but one of the things that sets Zion apart from a lot of other explosive dunkers is how sound his landing mechanics are.

Obviously even with perfect landing mechanics, you still risk injury with essentially every movement, but if you watch Zion in that clip (and in fact, in the vast majority of clips of him dunking) he has a good knack for getting the knee in line with the ankle and bending it with his weight as he comes down, rather than getting awkward angles or landing stiff legged.

Compare the way Zion lands to old clips of D Rose landing, and you'll see what I mean: D Rose looked like his ankles and knees were all over with every landing. Zion looks much safer by comparison.

I worry about him, because I can't help but worry, but I don't think he does much in a way that actively threatens injury more than the bare minimum risk of playing the game.

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Not worried about his mechanics. Worried about when a player accidently takes his feet out and he lands awkwardly. Pick up and game are a whole different animal.

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Originally Posted by AUSSIE_PELICAN

Not worried about his mechanics. Worried about when a player accidently takes his feet out and he lands awkwardly. Pick up and game are a whole different animal.

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Sure, but the mechanics directly apply to the landing. He's much less likely to land awkwardly if he has good mechanics than if he has poor ones.

Of course, anyone can land awkwardly. If you play 82 NBA games, you're going to jump probably close to 1000 times, either for dunks or tip-ins, or rebounds, or jump balls, or blocks, whatever. Even if you have great mechanics, if you jump 1000 times, you're probably going to have a couple of awkward landings. There's pretty much no way around that other than forbidding Zion from jumping, and it's a similar principle: unless you want to forbid him from jumping in practice, he's going to have to do it because that's his game and he's never going to improve if you don't let him do it.

So we bite our tongue, cross our fingers, count on the training staff and Aaron Nelson, and Zion's mechanics. It's worrying, sure, but what else are you gonna do, tell him not to go for the game winning oop?

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Extremely odd of you to see a throwaway comment from Taker, then, and start drawing it out into a discussion, no?

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I wouldn't characterize his comment as a throwaway. He expressed what he felt. I didn't agree with it is all, my intent wasn't to "start drawing it out into a discussion".

Not every exchange necessitates a lengthy back and forth, nor do they need to devolve into contention and veiled insults..

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Originally Posted by Nichols

Not every exchange necessitates a lengthy back and forth

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But if I don't do that, how can I acquire the highest post-count on the site?

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Extremely odd of you to see a throwaway comment from Taker, then, and start drawing it out into a discussion, no?

Listen, I get it if seeing people say things that are negative about the Lakers and their fanbase grates on you. That's fine, you are/have been a Lakers fan, I get it. But this is a New Orleans Pelicans board: nobody is under any obligation to be nice to LA, or their fanbase, many of whom have spent the last 18 months or so being absolute demons to us with regards to AD, our ''trash team'', our ''poverty franchise'' etc etc. If someone makes a throwaway comment that paints some Lakers fans in a negative light, then that's just too bad.

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Again this is you again muddling the argument. This isn't about me being a Lakers fan. This isn't about this being a Pelicans board. As I said before, it wouldn't matter to me if we were discussing football or any other sport. Focus.. Don't read more into my statements.. Try not to glean motive.. Just judge it based purely on the substance of what's communicated. Is there truth in what I said?

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

But if I don't do that, how can I acquire the highest post-count on the site?

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By continuing to post what I believe to be good content.. =) Our exchanges have been less than ideal for the most part lol.. But I can't help but give you credit for being a quality poster.

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Originally Posted by Nichols

By continuing to post what I believe to be good content.. =) Our exchanges have been less than ideal for the most part lol.. But I can't help but give you credit for being a quality poster.

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That'll be a lot easier once the dang season starts. This summer has been ROUGH.

For me the waiting has been rough.. I believe the Pels have had a great summer, considering they lost a franchise player. How fortunate to lose a player the caliber of AD, while at the same time replacing him with a potential hall of famer/freak of nature.. Can't wait to see this team shatter expectations..

Also looking forward to Okafor making a lot of people eat their words. That kid has a lot of talent, I believe he's been unfairly criticized.

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Originally Posted by Nichols

For me the waiting has been rough.. I believe the Pels have had a great summer, considering they lost a franchise player. How fortunate to lose a player the caliber of AD, while at the same time replacing him with a potential hall of famer/freak of nature.. Can't wait to see this team shatter expectations..

Also looking forward to Okafor making a lot of people eat their words. That kid has a lot of talent, I believe he's been unfairly criticized.

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I agree. Really, I don't think it's possible to lose a guy like AD (who I firmly believe is a top 5 talent and, on his best day, is as good as basically anyone) and recover better than the Pelicans have this summer. I mean, how often do you lose the best player in franchise history, and the season afterwards actually looks brighter? That's unbelievable.

I feel good about Okafor as well. There's no question that when he came into the league, he could score, but it was in an antiquated fashion, and he was an absolute turnstile on defense, as well as a black hole in terms of passing. He was criticised for that, and he deserved a lot of it, but he's done a great job turning it around. Physically, he's probably never been better. Dropped a huge amount of weight coming into last season and showed a lot of improvement on the defensive end. He'll never be elite there (I don't think he will, anyway) but he's an efficient enough scorer and big enough body that even being serviceable on D will mean a lot for him.

Okafor will probably never live up to his draft position, but after nearly falling out of the league I think he's done a lot to secure himself a career.

Yea you're right, he did earn the criticisms he received for his defense.. I just felt like a lot of people wrote him off, you'd even read/hear comments and articles about him most likely falling out of the league entirely.

I'm also a bit biased maybe.. sense I still believe there's a place in this league for big men who can get you high percentage opportunities to score on the box.

Well, that escalated quickly unbeknownst to me.


The funny thing about all of it. Fans trying to gas up player trade value like what they say even matter is wild lol..

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Originally Posted by Nichols

Yea you're right, he did earn the criticisms he received for his defense.. I just felt like a lot of people wrote him off, you'd even read/hear comments and articles about him most likely falling out of the league entirely.

I'm also a bit biased maybe.. sense I still believe there's a place in this league for big men who can get you high percentage opportunities to score on the box.

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I do think there's a place for them, I just feel like that place isn't super prominent anymore. Diversifying your game can never hurt, and in a league which has trended more and more towards semi-positionless ball, where everyone switches on defense and plays two or three positions on offense, being a relatively slow footed big who can only play center on both O and D is a huge limitation.

Will Okafor ever be a star? I doubt it. Will he ever be a 30 minute a night guy in today's NBA? Again, doubt it.

Is there a place for him to earn 10-15 mpg a night and contribute decently depending on matchups and stuff, just to come in and get a few post moves in and deter other big men? I certainly think there is, and congrats to him for essentially realising that he had to lose that weight, gain that speed, and change his game a little. Lots of players can't make those adjustments once their calling card fades from prominence *cough* Carmelo Anthony *cough*

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

I do think there's a place for them, I just feel like that place isn't super prominent anymore. Diversifying your game can never hurt, and in a league which has trended more and more towards semi-positionless ball, where everyone switches on defense and plays two or three positions on offense, being a relatively slow footed big who can only play center on both O and D is a huge limitation.

Will Okafor ever be a star? I doubt it. Will he ever be a 30 minute a night guy in today's NBA? Again, doubt it.

Is there a place for him to earn 10-15 mpg a night and contribute decently depending on matchups and stuff, just to come in and get a few post moves in and deter other big men? I certainly think there is, and congrats to him for essentially realising that he had to lose that weight, gain that speed, and change his game a little. Lots of players can't make those adjustments once their calling card fades from prominence *cough* Carmelo Anthony *cough*

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Yea that's all valid.. I'm holding on to hope though lol. Tim Duncan was somewhat limited mobility wise, but he managed to be a really good defender. Maybe JO can end up being a dollar value version of Tim.. With that being said he's likely to be what you've projected.

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Originally Posted by Nichols

Yea that's all valid.. I'm holding on to hope though lol. Tim Duncan was somewhat limited mobility wise, but he managed to be a really good defender. Maybe JO can end up being a dollar value version of Tim.. With that being said he's likely to be what you've projected.

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Duncan was only limited with regards to mobility in his later years. If you go back and re-watch some of his games from before around 2005, he was actually a lot more mobile than most people remember. Rookie Tim Duncan even spent some time at what was essentially small forward, when Pop was rolling out a lineup where he shared the court with The Admiral and Will Purdue.

Plus, one of the things that helped Duncan be an incredible defender his entire career is that he had ridiculous fundamentals and an absurdly high basketball IQ. With all due respect to Jahlil, he doesn't possess anything like the innate understanding of the game that Duncan did, and that's very hard to learn.

One thing I really enjoy looking through from time to time is the BackPicks GOAT list, which attempts to track the 40 best NBA careers in history. It's maintained by Ben Taylor, the same guy who runs the Thinking Basketball YouTube Channel and podcast, if you know him, and it relies on a lot of film, a lot of advanced stats, etc etc. He updates it at the end of every season. He has Tim Duncan ranked 7th all time, and some of the stats he provides in there to back up that position are incredible. Interesting key stats that jump out:

- Duncan provided around 4 good defensive rotations per 100, and 1 elite. That's about 2.5x as frequently as prime Shaq.
- Incredibly low error defender: was still in the 91st percentile as late as 2010-11
- 11 seasons above the 94th percentile as a defensive rebounder, peaking in the 99th percentile
- 13 consecutive seasons above the 86th percentile as an offensive rebounder, starting as a rookie
- 3 of the top 50 individual DRPM seasons of all time, with a 4 year defensive peak second only to Dikembe Mutombo

If Okafor could ever be a dollar store Tim Duncan, he'd immediately be a starter, an all-defense candidate, and worth tens of millions of dollars :hihi:

Here's the link if you ever wanna look at it: http://www.backpicks.com/2018/03/22/...-7-tim-duncan/

Edit: I know you weren't really comparing Okafor to Duncan, I just can't resist the urge to ramble about stats. Especially when it comes to Duncan, who I see underrated so often by so many people (not you, just in general).

Yea I loved Tim, I'd also agree with a top 7 ranking. I guess what I meant by limited mobility is that once he lost a step he was still a good defender, the stats you posted highlight why. The guy was just an intelligent basketball player.

Thanks for raining on my parade lol.. You've made the case that even a dollar value Duncan ceiling is far fetched. lol

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Sure, but the mechanics directly apply to the landing. He's much less likely to land awkwardly if he has good mechanics than if he has poor ones.

Of course, anyone can land awkwardly. If you play 82 NBA games, you're going to jump probably close to 1000 times, either for dunks or tip-ins, or rebounds, or jump balls, or blocks, whatever. Even if you have great mechanics, if you jump 1000 times, you're probably going to have a couple of awkward landings. There's pretty much no way around that other than forbidding Zion from jumping, and it's a similar principle: unless you want to forbid him from jumping in practice, he's going to have to do it because that's his game and he's never going to improve if you don't let him do it.

So we bite our tongue, cross our fingers, count on the training staff and Aaron Nelson, and Zion's mechanics. It's worrying, sure, but what else are you gonna do, tell him not to go for the game winning oop?

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Tell him to swing on the rim until the ball is inbounded, lol.

Jrue Holiday: "Back in the day, point guards set people up, made the right passes. Their role was to quote-unquote make everybody happy, get everybody into a groove. I feel like nowadays it's more of a score-first mentality. But we’re not sleeping on the pass-first (guards) HERE"

— Jim Eichenhofer (@Jim_Eichenhofer) October 3, 2019

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Originally Posted by Nichols

Yea you're right, he did earn the criticisms he received for his defense.. I just felt like a lot of people wrote him off, you'd even read/hear comments and articles about him most likely falling out of the league entirely.

I'm also a bit biased maybe.. sense I still believe there's a place in this league for big men who can get you high percentage opportunities to score on the box.

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There is a place for him. He is skilled and works hard at his craft, so he should always be at least a solid backup

Nicolo Melli in post-practice availability:

On the prospect of guarding Zion in scrimmages: ''It's been challenging. He has some huge qualities, and a few lacks, and I have to play against those lacks, but at 19 years old it's unbelievable how big his body is, how fast he is, how high he can jump.''

''Trying to be the backup of Zion, I have to play differently to him. Try to open the court, link up the team, play a little more smartly, and that's what I have to do.''

''Today was Day 3. So it's early: I'm trying to bring all my enthusiasm to the challenge on the court, try to adapt, and help in many ways where I'm able to. For sure, shooting and passing is something that I try to bring into the team.''

Is this the fastest pace you've ever played? ''Yes, but in Europe we don't play with that pace, it's a different game, so it's definitely different.''

''I started 13 years ago playing pro, so I'm feeling old sometimes, but it's so fantastic to see these younger guys here and seeing how they improve every day and they're so eager to learn. I was the young guy 13 years ago, and now I'm in between, not the oldest.''

Good little clip from Melli. His English is very good and he's extremely personable, I think he's going to be a good interview throughout the season. Funny too.

Nicolo Melli thanks the media for posting the video of Zion’s dunk yesterday. He was the one under the goal when Zion caught the oop.

— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) October 3, 2019

Lonzo has caught up to JJ. NAW is still in spot one

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) October 3, 2019

JJ Redick, E'Twaun Moore, Lonzo Ball and Nickeil Alexander-Walker are participating in a shooting game after practice pic.twitter.com/luLlbgT9n7

— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) October 3, 2019

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Jrue Holiday: "Back in the day, point guards set people up, made the right passes. Their role was to quote-unquote make everybody happy, get everybody into a groove. I feel like nowadays it's more of a score-first mentality. But we’re not sleeping on the pass-first (guards) HERE"

— Jim Eichenhofer (@Jim_Eichenhofer) October 3, 2019

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I’d argue that is because there aren’t that many top “floor generals” left in the game. Lord knows some of these teams could use one (including ours).

I’ll take somebody that can run an offense over Jrue at the point any day of the week.

Brandon Ingram is doing extensive work on pick and roll reads

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) October 3, 2019

Brandon Ingram working on breaking down the defense from the top of the key, using the screen to either take a pull-up or get all the way to the rim. Expect to see him initiating the offense from that area of the floor often to either score or find an open teammate. pic.twitter.com/5yDbJt8NuS

— Oleh Kosel (@OlehKosel) October 3, 2019

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JJackisangry

I’d argue that is because there aren’t that many top “floor generals” left in the game. Lord knows some of these teams could use one (including ours).

I’ll take somebody that can run an offense over Jrue at the point any day of the week.

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I feel like a lot of Gentry's view on how a PG should play is based on his experience with Phoenix. It's obvious that playing with Steve Nash, an all time great, will colour your perspective a little. Gentry wants a guy with vision, who is pass-first but can score when needed, who is efficient and can shoot, etc etc.

He's been going through the motions the last few years trying to find that pass-first guy, with Rondo, and then Payton. Hopefully Lonzo will come into his own as a solid shooter over the next two seasons before his contract extension comes up and he can really lock down that spot for us, because he has the vision and feel as a passer.

"Defensively, we were reacting too much last year. We want to force them to react to us."
- Alvin Gentry

— The Bird Writes (@thebirdwrites) October 3, 2019

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

I feel like a lot of Gentry's view on how a PG should play is based on his experience with Phoenix. It's obvious that playing with Steve Nash, an all time great, will colour your perspective a little. Gentry wants a guy with vision, who is pass-first but can score when needed, who is efficient and can shoot, etc etc.

He's been going through the motions the last few years trying to find that pass-first guy, with Rondo, and then Payton. Hopefully Lonzo will come into his own as a solid shooter over the next two seasons before his contract extension comes up and he can really lock down that spot for us, because he has the vision and feel as a passer.

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That will be big if Lonzo can develop a shot/freethrow. We have suffered in the half court game for so long. Jrue, for whatever reason, tends to resort to boneheaded basketball when forced to make the decisions. He is so much better in isolation and off the ball. Payton at least showed glimpses of what Jrue can do when paired with a competent PG. let’s hope Lonzo becomes more than that.

Gentry in media availability:

Balancing known quantities (Moore) with unknowns (NAW): ''I think what you've got to do is give guys reps so that they can continue to try and get a feel. The more Frank plays, the better he's getting and the better he feels about himself. A lot of it is just going to take time, and that's why we try to do a lot of full-court stuff. We'll play a bunch of guys in the pre-season, but we'll do it where guys can get those consistent minutes, not just 5 minutes or anything like that because it's hard to learn when you aren't getting consistent minutes.''

On Melli: ''Really, really got a really good grasp on the game and what we want. He's a pick and popper who can shoot it with range. Very smart player who can drop it to the basket, make a play. He's just a solid guy, not anything that's great-great-great but just solid in every area. He's a good fit for us. Trajan was the one who brought him to mind and he couldn't be a better fit, really.''

''We're going to be proactive in everything that we do this year, defensively.''

I feel I should also mention (to defend Jrue as well) that we have dearly missed the intelligent cuts and movement of Quincy after he went down. It’s funny to think how such a small transaction turned our season around. Our 3 play has been very mediocre since then.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JJackisangry

That will be big if Lonzo can develop a shot/freethrow. We have suffered in the half court game for so long. Jrue, for whatever reason, tends to resort to boneheaded basketball when forced to make the decisions. He is so much better in isolation and off the ball. Payton at least showed glimpses of what Jrue can do when paired with a competent PG. let’s hope Lonzo becomes more than that.

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Jrue's an excellent player but sometimes I feel like that cerebral side of him that benefits him so well on defense can make him overthink on offense. That's why he works so well when he's just being told to make events happen, rather than to run every single play by himself. He can do that, of course, and you'd be missing out to NEVER put him on ball, but yeah, I agree that he needs someone who is a natural lead guard to take some of the pressure off and let him be himself.

I feel like if Lonzo can become even just a league average shooter, around 36%, he'll end up sticking around. Health permitting, of course.

Kenrich Williams on Nicolo Melli : ''he's been shooting it lights out, and he's real physical.''

On playing more 4: ''They haven't said anything but I'm pretty sure that at the 3 or 4, I'm comfortable at either position.''

On narrowing the rotation with depth: ''It's going to be tough, but we have a bunch of selfless guys that don't really care. All we wanna do is win. So it'll work out.''

Gentry says he wants the bigs playing all the way up on defense this year, not dropping for coverage

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) October 3, 2019

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Jrue's an excellent player but sometimes I feel like that cerebral side of him that benefits him so well on defense can make him overthink on offense. That's why he works so well when he's just being told to make events happen, rather than to run every single play by himself. He can do that, of course, and you'd be missing out to NEVER put him on ball, but yeah, I agree that he needs someone who is a natural lead guard to take some of the pressure off and let him be himself.

I feel like if Lonzo can become even just a league average shooter, around 36%, he'll end up sticking around. Health permitting, of course.

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Yeah Jrue definitely overthinks things. There are nights where he is feeling it, but he already has to carry the defense so giving him that much responsibility limits him.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by JJackisangry

Yeah Jrue definitely overthinks things. There are nights where he is feeling it, but he already has to carry the defense so giving him that much responsibility limits him.

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For sure, and I think you had a good point about intelligent off ball movement, or rather, the lack of it that we've had for a while. I think that will be fixed this year. Zion spent his entire year at Duke playing primarily off ball, and the dude is seriously skilled at it, cutting backdoor, initiating postups, dunkers spot, all that. And then obviously guys like JJ are experts at creating off-ball gravity.

Zion is working on ball handling pic.twitter.com/ClfPEDFMtg

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) October 3, 2019

Please stop. I can only get so excited :hihi:

Zion was highly underrated as a ball handler in college: it was very rarely discussed among his other skills, but he always had a fairly good handle (nothing Kyrie-esque or anything, but he's certainly not incapable) and was able to turn the corner very well on drives, getting that dribble low and his shoulders down. His skillset and unguardable nature will only grow as he develops as a ball-handler, including becoming more ambidextrous. He can go with his right, but he heavily prefers the left, so getting in a lot of practice with both can only help him.

Nickeil media availability:

Makes the argument that NCAA athletes should get paid. Says look at how much money someone like Zion must have brought in. Mentions that the scholarships are good, and obviously it's a good education, but compared to the money they generate it's very little.

"A little bit (of money) would help. You think about Zion. I can't imagine how much money he brought to the NCAA and you think about how he's just getting a scholarship. I think we should (get paid in college)."
-NAW

— The Bird Writes (@thebirdwrites) October 3, 2019

On shooting with JJ: ''You learn stuff watching him shoot. It looks like it's on repeat, like you're watching one shot every time, and the ball even goes in the same way every time. To see his precision, how he approaches every shot, it's really cool. [...] if he misses one after hitting 25 in a row, he acts like he's just missed 30 in a row. His dedication is impressive.''

NAW explained that he tries to leave practice at practice. He further explained that if he worked too hard away from practice, he'd burn out by the end of the year, but that if he had something he was unsure of, the vets were always available to answer questions.

— The Bird Writes (@thebirdwrites) October 3, 2019

Pels practicing late game inbound situations pic.twitter.com/BPSeQAw8hX

— Andrew Smith写真家 (@DruProductions) October 3, 2019

Not quite training camp news here, but did you guys see Scottie Pippen hyping up the Pelicans on The Jump?

It was just after Rachel Nichols had that awful monologue where he said that Zion gave New Orleans a reason to have hope, and that there were rumours of the Pelicans moving to Seattle, and stuff like that. Just a whole heap of nonsense, but then they asked Scottie Pippen about the Pelicans and he said

''I think he [Zion] has an edge compared to most young players coming into the game, he's already physically gifted. He has great explosiveness, but also he's able to run the floor, he has speed. That's a huge advantage to a player. Maybe the one thing he has to work on is extending his shot, but being rookie of the year is not far-fetched, and first NBA rookie team. [...]

I think right now, for him, it's just about staying healthy. He's just about ready for this level, he's ready for the competition, and when you look at this New Orleans team, this offense has to run through this young man. They've cleared the way, there's no veteran [at his spot]. Favors is there, but offensively, I think they will run the offense with Zion as well as Jrue Holiday, and I think that's going to help him develop faster. That's going to propel his growth and hey, we might see him on the all-star team this year.''

Even Scottie Pippen is excited about the Pelicans ��#pelicans pic.twitter.com/mccMytrs0C

— Pelicans Nation (@PelsNationCP) October 3, 2019

JJ and Lonzo during the shooting contest pic.twitter.com/9vuFJp5r26

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) October 3, 2019

In this clip, Lonzo goes 5 for 6 from deep, including 5/5 from the corner.

This is after hitting 9 straight yesterday.

Good signs.

Another thing I noticed was that he was encouraged to relocate back to the 3pt line after kicking the ball out so he could get it back and shoot

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) October 3, 2019

This is absolutely a good sign.

Brandon Ingram's shot profile right now is a little sub-optimal in terms of efficiency. He shot 20% of his shots last season from 10-16 feet, and another 14% from 16-3pt line. That's essentially 35% of his FG attempts coming in the midrange. By contrast, only 12% of his shots came from behind the arc. I don't think I need to tell anyone that shooting a 3 is better than shooting a 20 footer.

If he can cut out a huge chunk of those long 2s and turn them into 3s, and hit them at even league average rates, then that helps spacing so much and also increases his value as an off-ball player (which he will have to do at times). Great to see him working on that, and we actually saw that on Day 1 as well, with him driving, kicking, and then relocating to the corner. T-Spoon was helping him with that.

Always competing ��

JJ and Lonzo had themselves a little three-point contest after practice #WontBowDown pic.twitter.com/W6Jb9IQKKH

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) October 3, 2019

Couple of thoughts about this:

1) I love the sense of fun and camaraderie they already appear to have. Seems to be real.
2) Love the competitive atmosphere they have going on.
3) It's crazy how well Lonzo was keeping up, even if it is only practice
4) Seeing Redick and Lonzo shoot back to back is a shocking reminder of how broken Lonzo's old form was. His new form is so much better, and even that looks awkward, mis-aligned, too low, etc, compared to JJ.