March 3rd - New Orleans Pelicans vs Chicago Bulls - 15-19

If Stan wasn't a recent hire this game would honestly be a fireable offense

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Originally Posted by sterlr

12 freakin FTs missed. JJ and BI only players to take FTs seriously. Sickening, every other player needs lasik surgery

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I mean honestly, if you look at the stat sheet, there is only 1 main culprit behind those 12 misses.

On the bright side, I like what I saw from JAX late in the fourth. No idea why we can't then have Kira get minutes too, but maybe JAX starts working his way back in the rotation?

Maybe the bulls are a good team now


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Originally Posted by luckyman

I mean honestly, if you look at the stat sheet, there is only 1 main culprit behind those 12 misses.

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SHHH!! You can't go there in here.

This is what Jaxson is going to do at this point in his career. It's going to be a roller coaster rn. Same for NAW and Kira. They just needs time. Something PR report doesn't know the meaning of.

But they are all good draft picks and will prove worthy in the coming years.

bulls made their free throws and we miss a few of ours......and again the team turned the defensive switch on in spurts which played a part in this loss...

the heat are a decent team so we should win tomorrow..

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Originally Posted by Funcrusher

On the bright side, I like what I saw from JAX late in the fourth. No idea why we can't then have Kira get minutes too, but maybe JAX starts working his way back in the rotation?

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Hard to believe Kira defense is so bad that makes him unplayable considering we are already the worst defense anyways.

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Originally Posted by Taker597

Hard to believe Kira defense is so bad that makes him unplayable considering we are already the worst defense anyways.

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Yeah, but, according to Stan, Kira is an awful on-ball defender, so obviously we should be playing two guards equally bad on-ball instead of at least giving a rookie minutes. It makes sense, no really.

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Originally Posted by Taker597

Hard to believe Kira defense is so bad that makes him unplayable considering we are already the worst defense anyways.

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It was a fishy comment from Stan to be honest. I think we are just putting Bledsoe and company in the shop window personally. 42 minutes tonight

Kiras defense was the excuse to reroute those minutes back

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Originally Posted by JJackisangry

It was a fishy comment from Stan to be honest. I think we are just putting Bledsoe and company in the shop window personally. 42 minutes tonight

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The greatest trick the devil ever pulled, was convincing Griff to keep Bled over Hill

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Originally Posted by 6warddude

bulls made their free throws and we miss a few of ours......and again the team turned the defensive switch on in spurts which played a part in this loss...

the heat are a decent team so we should win tomorrow..

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I dunno. Decent might not meet the threshold.

I wish they were playing the Nets tomorrow...smdh

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Originally Posted by Funcrusher

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled, was convincing Griff to keep Bled over Hill

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Yeah. It all depends on the value we get for Bled, but damnit I’d rather see our young ones get minutes than guys with absolutely no future here

PLAYING TIME

Bledsoe: 41:50
Zion: 37:45
Hart: 33:44
Redick: 28:15
Lonzo: 26:25
BI: 24:53
Adams: 21:16
H'Gomez; 14:44
JAXSON: 11:06

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Originally Posted by JJackisangry

Yeah. It all depends on the value we get for Bled, but damnit I’d rather see our young ones get minutes than guys with absolutely no future here

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Indeed. Bledsoe at this point has shown his value. He could go hot and rattle off 30 triple doubles, but that will not increase or decrease his value. It is what it is, he is a known quantity, and you could sit him and it wouldn’t move his value one way or the other. He won’t win us any more games than he will lose us.

The Kira and NAW’s of this team need to get more run, because we don’t know what their value is, and they can’t do any worse for us than Bledsoe can, they are unknown quantities, and for all we know we are sitting on the guy who can take us to that next level

Even though it seems I am alone, I love the progress of this team.

They are now competing night in and night out with just about every team in the league, yup they lose a lot of close games,
That said, what more did anyone really expect?

A new coach, a short off season, Zion (a 20 year old) as the longest tenured player.
Only Adams, Redick, and Bledsoe have played more than 4 years in the NBA. 2 of which are probably getting traded.

The inconsistencies are noticeable, boys playing against men is hard, give this group time and let them grow up.
When they do, with a few changes, this team will be a problem for the entire NBA!

Another game, another example of guards rolling us. What more can be said about it that hasn't been already? Zero real defensive pride on the team right now, and the we don't have a single legitimate guard defender.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Another game, another example of guards rolling us. What more can be said about it that hasn't been already? Zero real defensive pride on the team right now, and the we don't have a single legitimate guard defender.

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...or PF defender or SF defender (unless one wants to consider JHart), But, alas, it's all on SVG.

Also, it's been said by a ton of people a ton of times, including myself in the past, but man this team needs a legit shooter. JJ just doesn't have it this year, and guys are happy to completely leave Ingram and Lonzo and co wide open on the 3 point line to help on Zion. There's nobody on this roster that teams fear as a shooter, that they panic to stop. What can you say about 3/13 from 3 from your starting lineup?

And of course, Zion should be upset at himself for missing those FTs. In general he's been improving over the course of the season from the line, and he shot well below his recent standard tonight. Glad to see him spending 40 minutes post-game practicing FTs cause it's just not good enough.

pic.twitter.com/sWbYXDxkNp

— Christian Clark (@cclark3000) March 4, 2021

Like, how many open threes would you like to pass up on one possession?

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Also, it's been said by a ton of people a ton of times, including myself in the past, but man this team needs a legit shooter. JJ just doesn't have it this year, and guys are happy to completely leave Ingram and Lonzo and co wide open on the 3 point line to help on Zion. There's nobody on this roster that teams fear as a shooter, that they panic to stop. What can you say about 3/13 from 3 from your starting lineup?

And of course, Zion should be upset at himself for missing those FTs. In general he's been improving over the course of the season from the line, and he shot well below his recent standard tonight. Glad to see him spending 40 minutes post-game practicing FTs cause it's just not good enough.

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Hence a Str-e-e-e-e-e-e-tch 5. Especially if the team's "Face" can only score on one level.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

Hence a Str-e-e-e-e-e-e-tch 5. Especially if the team's "Face" can only score on one level.

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Trade the farm for Mobley

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Originally Posted by Taker597

Trade the farm for Mobley

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Wouldn't say no to that. Love Mobley a lot.

Embarrassment of riches in this draft to be honest. If you can't swing Cade you can probably get Mobley; that's a hell of a consolation prize.

They just put up another 124 points on 55% shooting and we need to find a shooter?

They got back into the game when Chicago stopped scoring....until they started scoring again. I dunno.

I'd say 124 points means a W at least 80% of the time. Unless you can't stop Thaddeus Young from looking like the best 6th man in the NBA. Or Coby forking White.

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Originally Posted by luckyman

They just put up another 124 points on 55% shooting and we need to find a shooter?

They got back into the game when Chicago stopped scoring....until they started scoring again. I dunno.

I'd say 124 points means a W at least 80% of the time. Unless you can't stop Thaddeus Young from looking like the best 6th man in the NBA. Or Coby forking White.

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Obviously the defense is a far higher priority, but it's hard to watch possession after possession after possession where Zion gets triple teamed in the paint because nobody gives a flying **** about any of your perimeter guys who, when they do get the ball, will happily pass on wide open shot after wide open shot.

We have a good offense, especially recently, because Zion is a force of nature and because there's been outlier shooting from guys like Lonzo, but by and large there's a whole lot of empty possessions for this team on offense and it would be quite nice if we could trim them out. One way of doing that is by making the looks we get easier for our key guys - like Zion - and one way of doing that is having someone that they can't just cheat off of to triple team him.

My question is, is the goal to make the playoffs, or are we looking to develop young talent? Because if the goal is developing young talent then tonight’s game didn’t show that. If the goal was to make the playoffs then tonight’s game didn’t show that.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

.......it's hard to watch possession after possession after possession where Zion gets triple teamed in the paint because nobody gives a flying **** about any of your perimeter guys.......

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....and everybody in the gym knows that he can only hurt you if he gets to the rim.

Remind me again; who leads the team in turnovers this year?

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Originally Posted by UNO Gracias

My question is, is the goal to make the playoffs, or are we looking to develop young talent? Because if the goal is developing young talent then tonight’s game didn’t show that. If the goal was to make the playoffs then tonight’s game didn’t show that.

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This, I don’t know what Stan is trying to do

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Obviously the defense is a far higher priority, but it's hard to watch possession after possession after possession where Zion gets triple teamed in the paint because nobody gives a flying **** about any of your perimeter guys who, when they do get the ball, will happily pass on wide open shot after wide open shot.

We have a good offense, especially recently, because Zion is a force of nature and because there's been outlier shooting from guys like Lonzo, but by and large there's a whole lot of empty possessions for this team on offense and it would be quite nice if we could trim them out. One way of doing that is by making the looks we get easier for our key guys - like Zion - and one way of doing that is having someone that they can't just cheat off of to triple team him.

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But is shooting really the problem? We have Lonzo that is shooting a higher percentage than Curry and Lilliard on 8 attempts a game, and we have another good 3 pt shooter in Ingram. I know JJ isn?t having his typical year but he?s been shooting better as of late and is still JJ reddick so teams are gonna respect his 3 ball. I mean is 3 ball shooting the issue? I guess kind of but 2 of our starters are shooting 40% and 39% from three. I think our issue is much more defensive

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Originally Posted by HornetGuru

But is shooting really the problem? We have Lonzo that is shooting a higher percentage than Curry and Lilliard on 8 attempts a game, and we have another good 3 pt shooter in Ingram. I know JJ isn?t having his typical year but he?s been shooting better as of late and is still JJ reddick so teams are gonna respect his 3 ball. I mean is 3 ball shooting the issue? I guess kind of but 2 of our starters are shooting 40% and 39% from three. I think our issue is much more defensive

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Statistically I think you're right on the money in regard to our recent play. Interesting stat as of today, over our last 15 games:

New Orleans Pelicans:

Offensive rating 123.0 - Number One in the NBA
Defensive rating 121.7 - Dead Last in the NBA

WHichever way you look at it, that's quite an achievement :eek:

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Originally Posted by HornetGuru

But is shooting really the problem? We have Lonzo that is shooting a higher percentage than Curry and Lilliard on 8 attempts a game, and we have another good 3 pt shooter in Ingram. I know JJ isn?t having his typical year but he?s been shooting better as of late and is still JJ reddick so teams are gonna respect his 3 ball. I mean is 3 ball shooting the issue? I guess kind of but 2 of our starters are shooting 40% and 39% from three. I think our issue is much more defensive

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It's completely different styles of shooting and I would hope at this point we all know it.

The vast majority of Lonzo's shots are wide open, and he gets left wide open for a reason. He can't shoot off movement, he doesn't fly around off screens warping the defense, and he's not a dynamic guy who can shake the defender to get a shot off from a dribble: he's a set shooter. There is certainly value in that but it's not nearly the same as someone like Curry - who is actually shooting 41.1% from 3 on 12 a game, as opposed to Lonzo's 39.5% on 8 a game, not sure where the idea that Lonzo's shooting better than him has come from - who is bending the defense into a curly straw with his movement. We have nobody like that. Of course Curry is the greatest shooter ever and is therefore an outlier, but the same thing applies in principle to guys like JJ Redick prior to this season, or Duncan Robinson this year: the threes they take are different, and the effect they have is different.

Ingram is a very good shooter but as watching any Pelicans game will show you, players are very very happy to leave him on the perimeter to cheat onto Zion and they do it regularly. They don't want him getting wide open shots with regularity but they're okay with conceding light contests to him if it means blocking off Zion. That's not the case with the kind of shooter I'm talking about: even earlier this season when Redick was shooting like pure garbage, defenses still freaked out reacting to him in a way that just doesn't happen with anyone else on our roster.

Anyway, you saying ''I think our issue is much more defensive'' is fair but it's also something I agree with, as me saying ''obviously the defense is a far higher priority'' would imply. I'm just talking about the long-term teambuilding requirements, not what is immediately most important right this moment.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Obviously the defense is a far higher priority, but it's hard to watch possession after possession after possession where Zion gets triple teamed in the paint because nobody gives a flying **** about any of your perimeter guys who, when they do get the ball, will happily pass on wide open shot after wide open shot.

We have a good offense, especially recently, because Zion is a force of nature and because there's been outlier shooting from guys like Lonzo, but by and large there's a whole lot of empty possessions for this team on offense and it would be quite nice if we could trim them out. One way of doing that is by making the looks we get easier for our key guys - like Zion - and one way of doing that is having someone that they can't just cheat off of to triple team him.

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Our defense is the main problem as it almost always is every year, but I?m not buying this offense. A team can stop us whenever they feel like it, and for that reason I?d say our offensive numbers are a bit superficial. It?s easy for other teams to let Zion tucker himself out and pick any quarter to build an insurmountable lead by stifling our inside game, then they go back to cruise control. Notice how badly we struggle in the clutch when we?ve actually managed to keep it close. Hardly sounds like a great offense to me. People need to make shots. That statistic the other night about winning by taking so few 3 pointers was damning. That?s not a recipe for success in today?s NBA.

I despise the way this roster is currently constructed. This is all on Griffin. He needs to fix this ASAP.

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Originally Posted by JJackisangry

Our defense is the main problem as it almost always is every year, but I?m not buying this offense. A team can stop us whenever they feel like it, and for that reason I?d say our offensive numbers are a bit superficial. It?s easy for other teams to let Zion tucker himself out and pick any quarter to build an insurmountable lead by stifling our inside game, then they go back to cruise control. Notice how badly we struggle in the clutch when we?ve actually managed to keep it close. Hardly sounds like a great offense to me. People need to make shots. That statistic the other night about winning by taking so few 3 pointers was damning. That?s not a recipe for success in today?s NBA.

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This is kind of what I'm saying, so I mostly agree. Zion is an unstoppable force, but it's also completely unfair to ask him to bail us out every game. Now, the positive side of this is that we don't ask him to do that: we usually ignore him for entire fourth quarters at a time while losing the lead. That's bittersweet at best.

We need legitimate 3pt shooting threats with real gravity, who can drag defenses around with off-ball movement and utilise things like screening action to create good looks for themselves that don't rely on Zion more. This is why the Redick/Zion 2 man game has been so effective when we've run it: Redick has a million flaws, nobody denies that at this point, but the reality is that defenses actually care about him, which makes the game so much easier for Zion as well.

For as well as Lonzo has improved as a shooter, and he has, and the same for Ingram, they don't get their shots in the same way and defenses just flat out do not care about those guys as much as these real motion shooters.

For some evidence of this, watch that clip I posted on the last page where we pass up on all those wide open 3 opportunities. Why do we have all those opportunities? Well, cause Ingram's man is willing to completely ignore him to triple team Zion, to the point that his back is literally turned, and Lonzo's man feels fine sagging 8 feet off him too. They can shoot but they don't warp defense, at least not with Zion as the other guy: nobody is giving up guarding Zion at the basket to try and defend Ingram or Lonzo from the arc.

Someone like Duncan Robinson would change that. That's a different type of shooter, and the impact is very different.

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Originally Posted by UNO Gracias

My question is, is the goal to make the playoffs, or are we looking to develop young talent? Because if the goal is developing young talent then tonight’s game didn’t show that. If the goal was to make the playoffs then tonight’s game didn’t show that.

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And if we are tanking, Monday’s game did not show that either.

We’re trying to do everything and will accomplish less than nothing in the process.

There’s no benefit in this tactic. I don’t care if we make the playoffs. We aren’t ready to do anything once we get there. We should be running lineups with Kira, NAW, and Hayes and let them figure things out. Pop JJ and Bledsoe somewhere else and just chill the F out.

I want SVG to give JAX Adams minutes for a while with Billy as a backup. Let Adams heal his body. Dude isn't the same as the in the start of the year. On JJ's podcast he even as so much admitted to it.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

It's completely different styles of shooting and I would hope at this point we all know it.

The vast majority of Lonzo's shots are wide open, and he gets left wide open for a reason. He can't shoot off movement, he doesn't fly around off screens warping the defense, and he's not a dynamic guy who can shake the defender to get a shot off from a dribble: he's a set shooter. There is certainly value in that but it's not nearly the same as someone like Curry - who is actually shooting 41.1% from 3 on 12 a game, as opposed to Lonzo's 39.5% on 8 a game, not sure where the idea that Lonzo's shooting better than him has come from - who is bending the defense into a curly straw with his movement. We have nobody like that. Of course Curry is the greatest shooter ever and is therefore an outlier, but the same thing applies in principle to guys like JJ Redick prior to this season, or Duncan Robinson this year: the threes they take are different, and the effect they have is different.

Ingram is a very good shooter but as watching any Pelicans game will show you, players are very very happy to leave him on the perimeter to cheat onto Zion and they do it regularly. They don't want him getting wide open shots with regularity but they're okay with conceding light contests to him if it means blocking off Zion. That's not the case with the kind of shooter I'm talking about: even earlier this season when Redick was shooting like pure garbage, defenses still freaked out reacting to him in a way that just doesn't happen with anyone else on our roster.

Anyway, you saying ''I think our issue is much more defensive'' is fair but it's also something I agree with, as me saying ''obviously the defense is a far higher priority'' would imply. I'm just talking about the long-term teambuilding requirements, not what is immediately most important right this moment.

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Last I looked, the shot still counts for 3 points. There are not many players that teams are not going to lay off of in order to cheat on Zion. What player can we realistically get that checks all the boxes you want from a shooter that scores in the fashion that you want them to? JJ appears to be that type of shooter, but has struggled. Who can we get?

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Originally Posted by sterlr

I want SVG to give JAX Adams minutes for a while with Billy as a backup. Let Adams heal his body. Dude isn't the same as the in the start of the year. On JJ's podcast he even as so much admitted to it.

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Adams has been terrible lately on both ends. His body has a lot of miles on it, so he probably takes a lot longer to heal.

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Originally Posted by sterlr

I want SVG to give JAX Adams minutes for a while with Billy as a backup. Let Adams heal his body. Dude isn't the same as the in the start of the year. On JJ's podcast he even as so much admitted to it.

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It's a bit strange. I thought he came back strong from that ankle injury. Looked like he was fired up. Last night was maybe the worst game I've seen him play. Our guards seem to put our bigs in impossible situations a lot but that was worse than I'm used to seeing. The rebounding was notably bad too.

Just an ugly game overall.

Shooting reverted back to the early-season struggles.
Defense took a big step back, worse than just the recent struggles against 3s.
I don't think they've had a worse game rebounding the ball.
I was surprised they only had 11 turnovers in the box score cause that was really ugly for a while there.

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Originally Posted by Stalwart385

It's a bit strange. I thought he came back strong from that ankle injury. Looked like he was fired up. Last night was maybe the worst game I've seen him play. Our guards seem to put our bigs in impossible situations a lot but that was worse than I'm used to seeing. The rebounding was notably bad too.

Just an ugly game overall.

Shooting reverted back to the early-season struggles.
Defense took a big step back, worse than just the recent struggles against 3s.
I don't think they've had a worse game rebounding the ball.
I was surprised they only had 11 turnovers in the box score cause that was really ugly for a while there.

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I think he's playing with a sprained knee. Really lacking Lateral movement

I gotta admit Zion really wants to be winner. Spent close to an hour after a game shooting FTs and he was heated in the interview

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Originally Posted by Taker597

I gotta admit Zion really wants to be winner. Spent close to an hour after a game shooting FTs and he was heated in the interview

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If that’s the case, Griffin has done a poor job building a winner. Banking on Melli was a mistake. Bledsoe is just a poor fit when it’s all said and done (and unfortunately he realizes he is wasting his time too). Reddick going AWOL absolutely killed this team in the first half of the year. Now it completely lacks confidence and it shows. We would have been well served just tanking or bringing in some shooters at the VERY LEAST. A traditional PG for Kira to understudy would also have been a good idea. I just can’t stand our lack of direction.

Chicago, as a team last night, shot better than 50/40/90. As a team. I mean there is bad defense and then there is the Pelicans defense. I don't get how we can be THIS bad...

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Originally Posted by PELICANSFAN

Last I looked, the shot still counts for 3 points. There are not many players that teams are not going to lay off of in order to cheat on Zion. What player can we realistically get that checks all the boxes you want from a shooter that scores in the fashion that you want them to? JJ appears to be that type of shooter, but has struggled. Who can we get?

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The shot does count for 3 points, but let's not pretend that they impact defenses the same way. They don't, and we both know it. You can't tell me that there's no difference between how teams defend someone like Lonzo and how teams defend someone like (a normal season of) Redick. One, they're happy to ignore. The other, they go into panic mode rushing to try and chase. Movement matters. Plus, of course, while the point value is the same, the circumstances of shooting don't. Someone like JJ has been valuable in his career because he can get that shot off in any circumstance and still hit: it doesn't matter who has been on him or when he catches it or what, if he gets an inch of daylight he can kill. Lonzo is not like that, nor is Ingram: if you make the shot even slightly difficult, their ability to get that shot off is reduced highly, and that changes how you have to defend them. Redick needs to be smothered: Lonzo can kinda just be left and you don't mind recovering a little late on him.

I've argued for Duncan Robinson for a long time, won't go over all the reasons again cause I think they're quite obvious from context and everything. I do think he's gettable, though the price is up for debate: I don't think he'll be quite as expensive as some people fear, though, and I think the value he'd add to this time would be worth it.

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Originally Posted by new city champ

Chicago, as a team last night, shot better than 50/40/90. As a team. I mean there is bad defense and then there is the Pelicans defense. I don't get how we can be THIS bad...

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Our best perimeter defender is probably Josh Hart, who is a high-intensity/mediocre skill guy. That's how our defense can be this bad. Not a single real defensive 'stopper' on the roster. Not one.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

The shot does count for 3 points, but let's not pretend that they impact defenses the same way. They don't, and we both know it. You can't tell me that there's no difference between how teams defend someone like Lonzo and how teams defend someone like (a normal season of) Redick. One, they're happy to ignore. The other, they go into panic mode rushing to try and chase. Movement matters. Plus, of course, while the point value is the same, the circumstances of shooting don't. Someone like JJ has been valuable in his career because he can get that shot off in any circumstance and still hit: it doesn't matter who has been on him or when he catches it or what, if he gets an inch of daylight he can kill. Lonzo is not like that, nor is Ingram: if you make the shot even slightly difficult, their ability to get that shot off is reduced highly, and that changes how you have to defend them. Redick needs to be smothered: Lonzo can kinda just be left and you don't mind recovering a little late on him.

I've argued for Duncan Robinson for a long time, won't go over all the reasons again cause I think they're quite obvious from context and everything. I do think he's gettable, though the price is up for debate: I don't think he'll be quite as expensive as some people fear, though, and I think the value he'd add to this time would be worth it.

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I get that someone who is chased causes more issues with defenses. However, if defenses are willing to leave a 39% 3pt shooter wide open, you take the 3 points. JJ has shown that it is not that much different with the way the defenses are playing Zion. They seem to cheat regardless. Seems like we would need 2 or more consistent threats to chase some players off of Zion.

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Originally Posted by PELICANSFAN

I get that someone who is chased causes more issues with defenses. However, if defenses are willing to leave a 39% 3pt shooter wide open, you take the 3 points. JJ has shown that it is not that much different with the way the defenses are playing Zion. They seem to cheat regardless. Seems like we would need 2 or more consistent threats to chase some players off of Zion.

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Defenses are willing to leave that 39% shooter open because they know he can only shoot it wide open. So they're happy to settle with a late closeout if he decides to gear up, and you can see that they're right to do so when you look at the difference between Lonzos widen open percentages versus his contested percentages. Right now, he can only shoot reliably if his feet are set and he has wide open airspace. When people close out hard, he panics.

As I said before, if you want to see what playing Zion alongside a shooter who can and will let it fly, look at the numbers on Zion/Redicks 2 man game. It's hard to play Redick often and for long minutes because of his other issues but that play is by far our most reliable and effective at creating points and it's no mystery as to why.

I agree that having more good shooters would amplify the effect, yeah.

Stan made a good point last night. Zion stayed after the game to work on his free throws. Which is very good. Cool. Awesome.

But he doesn't see his players putting in that extra work or be as pissed off about giving up 125+ points and 120+ offensive ratings. Chicago's was 124 last night against the Pelicans' 119. Those are awesome offensive numbers where the median team (Chicago at that) this year is at 111. At this point offense is bottom of the totem pole as far as problems to fix.

Bledsoe also remains the most awful perimeter defender that is causing these break downs. He gets beat even without a screen and is still losing track of the man he's guarding.

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Originally Posted by luckyman

Stan made a good point last night. Zion stayed after the game to work on his free throws. Which is very good. Cool. Awesome.

But he doesn't see his players putting in that extra work or be as pissed off about giving up 125+ points and 120+ offensive ratings. Chicago's was 124 last night against the Pelicans' 119. Those are awesome offensive numbers where the median team (Chicago at that) this year is at 111. At this point offense is bottom of the totem pole as far as problems to fix.

Bledsoe also remains the most awful perimeter defender that is causing these break downs. He gets beat even without a screen and is still losing track of the man he's guarding.

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I completely agree with your point, which makes this so hard to explain:
Bledsoe:
2019-2020 all nba defense second team
2018-2019 all nba defense first team

gets to the Pels and looks like one of the worst, least interested defensive players ever.