December 7th - New Orleans Pelicans VS Los Angeles Lakers - VEGAS - 12-10

Absolutely embarrassing. And this is pretty much HEALTHY SMH. Fire Wille NOW

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Originally Posted by Mrakar

They play like its playoff game, we play like its pre-season game.

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We play like its a six year old Biddy Game.

And we had an extra day of rest compared to the Lakers as well..

People are gonna act like we're just salty about losing as well, and we're not. Losing can happen. It sucks but it's normal. If you expect to win 50 games, you have to accept losing 32, it's just how basketball works.

But it's the way we lost. They shot 52% from 3, Lebron had 0 turnovers, okay sure, you lost to that, who cares, right?

But that doesn't excuse what we did. Garbage effort from the team, and absolutely zero resistance. It's one thing to lose, it's another to get steamrolled and not even fight back.

We dont have a post season team leader. CJ is a great regular season leader but he doesnt raise his game in the playoffs. Zion wasnt playing with any energy. Seeing Lebron's impact was a demonstration of the mentality it takes to win in the playoffs... side note, that guy has to be on PED right? how does the oldest guy on the court have the most energy and stamina out of everyone

I would trade this entire team for Tyrese Haliburton. Every single player. BI + Zion + every pick we got left.

Pacers wouldn't take it, but I'd do it.

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Originally Posted by hornetsrebirth

Seeing Lebron's impact was a demonstration of the mentality it takes to win in the playoffs... side note, that guy has to be on PED right? how does the oldest guy on the court have the most energy and stamina out of everyone

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Lebron is on HGH and EPO, yeah I think that's broadly believed even if nobody can confirm it.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

People are gonna act like we're just salty about losing as well, and we're not. Losing can happen. It sucks but it's normal. If you expect to win 50 games, you have to accept losing 32, it's just how basketball works.

But it's the way we lost. They shot 52% from 3, Lebron had 0 turnovers, okay sure, you lost to that, who cares, right?

But that doesn't excuse what we did. Garbage effort from the team, and absolutely zero resistance. It's one thing to lose, it's another to get steamrolled and not even fight back.

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W team reflects their HC. Willie is weak and lacks fire and fight. That buddy buddy stuff only goes so far. He's lost the ability to motivate and keep the team focused. That evident in how many 20pt leads we have lost. Also evident in losing to inferior teams. He just needs to go

As good as Ingram is.. and the supporting cast. This team will never do anything significant if Zion doesn't play up to his potential. And he simply can't if he's not in shape. There's no way Bron should be twice as fast as he is. He's also extremely lethargic on defense. The same way that Bron's play elevated the level of play for the entire Laker squad, is the same way that Zion's play would effect the Pels.

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Originally Posted by Nichols

As good as Ingram is.. and the supporting cast. This team will never do anything significant if Zion doesn't play up to his potential. And he simply can't if he's not in shape. There's no way Bron should be twice as fast as he is. He's also extremely lethargic on defense. The same way that Bron's play elevated the level of play for the entire Laker squad, is the same way that Zion's play would effect the Pels.

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Man, nobody played well tonight.

This is not an ''as good as Ingram'' is night. Ingram sucked too. Zion was terrible but he was far from the only one. Entire team needs to be under fire for this. This wasn't a ''team tried but unfortunately Zion let us down'' night, this was a ''good God this team is sorry'' night.

Edit: and it's not a shape thing either. Zion was playing well just a few games ago, making stuff happen. Last two games he's been offensively timid. It's not a shape thing. He hasn't gained 20lbs in the last 5 days. The effort just stopped and I'm not sure why but I don't like it. And he's not the only one.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Man, nobody played well tonight.

This is not an ''as good as Ingram'' is night. Ingram sucked too. Zion was terrible but he was far from the only one. Entire team needs to be under fire for this. This wasn't a ''team tried but unfortunately Zion let us down'' night, this was a ''good God this team is sorry'' night.

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Just can't resist, can you? It's actually funny.

You are going to live or die with # 197. But, dae, at this point, you have to be on life support. Right?

When a WHOLE team plays half-hearted and lackadaisical and without focus , WHO do you think is at fault??? You only get 1 guess

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Man, nobody played well tonight.

This is not an ''as good as Ingram'' is night. Ingram sucked too. Zion was terrible but he was far from the only one. Entire team needs to be under fire for this. This wasn't a ''team tried but unfortunately Zion let us down'' night, this was a ''good God this team is sorry'' night.

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Nice try.. Your bias against Ingram should have passed by now bro. We both know that Zion is a franchise player, Ingram is an Allstar player on a championship squad. Not the franchise player. You're not going to win championships if your franchise player plays the way Zion does. He has to be better, if he is.. it changes everything. He receives the ball and his man sinks into the paint. Which limits opportunities for those that are cutting and driving. He has to rectify that. You missed a key point in my post. His elevated play will reduce the shot difficulty of others. Including Ingram. He's the franchise player, that's what he's supposed to do. I repeat, Ingram is not a franchise, generational player. He's a very good all-star player that can be the second best player on a championship squad.

flush it. disappointing but probably good for this team and staff.

I got nothing.

Do you think the Starting /Lineup will continue to be:

CJ
Herb
BI
"Big Country"
JV

This loss is on everyone... can't single one person out for this, but I will say that Zion's energy (or lack of) is very noticeable. He was lifeless out there for the 2nd straight game. I didn't think he wanted to play last game against Sac nor tonight.

IDK what's going on with him but I hope he wakes up. he could have stayed home tonight.

That was gutless

Any reason why Hawk gets no minutes??????? We need threes and this kids sitting on the bench twiddling his thumbs because Willie likes to look at Naji and Dyson play defense.

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Originally Posted by jawznola

Any reason why Hawk gets no minutes??????? We need threes and this kids sitting on the bench twiddling his thumbs because Willie likes to look at Naji and Dyson play defense.

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Hawk is, without a doubt, the single worst defender on this team and it is not close.

So the reason you point out - Naji and Dyson play defense - is exactly the reason he's not getting play in a shortened rotation.

The bigger complaint about us needing threes is Trey. Desperate for 3s, Trey is sat right there and you play him 9.5 minutes in the first half. That's inexcusable.

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Originally Posted by DroopyDawg

This loss is on everyone... can't single one person out for this, but I will say that Zion's energy (or lack of) is very noticeable. He was lifeless out there for the 2nd straight game. I didn't think he wanted to play last game against Sac nor tonight.

IDK what's going on with him but I hope he wakes up. he could have stayed home tonight.

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Also, just to be clear. I would never pin a single loss on one player. I'm simply saying your Franchise, generational cornerstone player.. can't be terrible on defense and loaf up the court play after play. Franchise players make play easier for everyone else on the court. I'm not seeing that from Zion, the way we've seen it before. If he wasn't capable I wouldn't be saying this. But I know he is.. He's shown us already.

TnT crew saying the exact same thing I said..

Tis the season. Time to crank up the trade machine

So we don’t win a salad bowl.

We turned the beam off in Sacramento. So we did move a step up.

LeBron played 23mins ....I honestly thought that he would had to play 40mins for them to beat us ....

We played with more hustle and energy in 3 games in four days then today ...maybe the rest days was to much for us...maybe we should have played Wednesday lol..

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Originally Posted by Nichols

Also, just to be clear. I would never pin a single loss on one player. I'm simply saying your Franchise, generational cornerstone player.. can't be terrible on defense and loaf up the court play after play. Franchise players make play easier for everyone else on the court. I'm not seeing that from Zion, the way we've seen it before. If he wasn't capable I wouldn't be saying this. But I know he is.. He's shown us already.

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Simply stated: A $197,000,000 Max Player cannot play like HE DID / DOES. PERIOD!! This team has bent over backwards and mortgaged its future, to provide for his. Can anyone really say that $197,000,000 was something he earned or deserved based on the 114 games he played over the four years prior to this year? Can anyone really say that his dedication to his craft on the court, and off, is deserving of a $197,000,000 Max Contract and a 'safe' investment?

That $197,000,000 Max Contract has made our guy a much bigger liability to the Pels than Greg Oden ever was to the Trailblazers or Ben Simmons was to the 76'ers. Oden, at least had an excuse...a genetic defect, while Simmons, on the other hand, has amassed numerous post-season NBA honors. All our guy can show you is a broken bathroom scale.

DEFENSE...DEFENSE...DEFENSE!!!

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Originally Posted by As I See It

Simply stated: A $197,000,000 Max Player cannot play like HE DID / DOES. PERIOD!! This team has bent over backwards and mortgaged its future, to provide for his. Can anyone really say that $197,000,000 was something he earned or deserved based on the 114 games he played over the four years prior to this year? Can anyone really say that his dedication to his craft on the court, and off, is deserving of a $197,000,000 Max Contract and a 'safe' investment?

That $197,000,000 Max Contract has made our guy a much bigger liability to the Pels than Greg Oden ever was to the Trailblazers or Ben Simmons was to the 76'ers. Oden, at least had an excuse...a genetic defect, while Simmons, on the other hand, has amassed numerous post-season NBA honors. All our guy can show you is a broken bathroom scale.

DEFENSE...DEFENSE...DEFENSE!!!

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I agree for the most part.. But, I believe his pay is justified based on potential.. and what he's shown us he's capable of. With that being said, I have no idea what it would take for him to play up to his potential. He just doesn't seem motivated enough.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Hawk is, without a doubt, the single worst defender on this team and it is not close.

So the reason you point out - Naji and Dyson play defense - is exactly the reason he's not getting play in a shortened rotation.

The bigger complaint about us needing threes is Trey. Desperate for 3s, Trey is sat right there and you play him 9.5 minutes in the first half. That's inexcusable.

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Right, because Dyson and Naji locked down all the Lakers right??? When you?re down 30 it doesn?t matter who the hell is in the game if they don?t have the offensive ability to get you back in there. Miss me with this defensive crap.

I was afraid that Zion's max contract would bury this team. And absolutely nothing happened yet to make me believe otherwise. To disintegrate like this on the national TV is inexcusable. Last night looked eerily similar to that infamous loss to the Nuggets in the 2009 playoffs. This squad is so talented and they are capable of playing exciting basketball, yet when it really matters they just don't show up. I'm really annoyed with this Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde team. It's like a roller coaster. One night you believe they can do anything only to discover next time that they can be as mediocre as the most mediocre team in the NBA.

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Originally Posted by PaKwAn

And we had an extra day of rest compared to the Lakers as well..

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I'm guessing an extra day of "rest" in Vegas didn't do us any favors.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

Simply stated: A $197,000,000 Max Player cannot play like HE DID / DOES. PERIOD!! This team has bent over backwards and mortgaged its future, to provide for his. Can anyone really say that $197,000,000 was something he earned or deserved based on the 114 games he played over the four years prior to this year? Can anyone really say that his dedication to his craft on the court, and off, is deserving of a $197,000,000 Max Contract and a 'safe' investment?

That $197,000,000 Max Contract has made our guy a much bigger liability to the Pels than Greg Oden ever was to the Trailblazers or Ben Simmons was to the 76'ers. Oden, at least had an excuse...a genetic defect, while Simmons, on the other hand, has amassed numerous post-season NBA honors. All our guy can show you is a broken bathroom scale.

DEFENSE...DEFENSE...DEFENSE!!!

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That broken bathroom scale is actually the team’s get out of jail card. I’m pretty sure that Zion is over his weight limit right now. So if the team wants to go nuclear, they can.

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Originally Posted by ml wave

I'm guessing an extra day of "rest" in Vegas didn't do us any favors.

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What happened in Vegas stays in Vegas.

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Originally Posted by Freyfamilyreuni

That broken bathroom scale is actually the team’s get out of jail card. I’m pretty sure that Zion is over his weight limit right now. So if the team wants to go nuclear, they can.

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As long as we beat the good teams like we have been doing we should be okay for the real tournament in April.

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Originally Posted by 13 - 3

As long as we beat the good teams like we have been doing we should be okay for the real tournament in April.

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Hmmm, I am not sure I agree. Yesterday was a preview of a game that really matters. In light of that pressure Pels completely fell apart. Total disintegration! Beating good teams in regular season games is one thing. Based on the Vegas game, does not look like this team and its supposed generational leader are anywhere near ready for Big Time! :(

The most glaring thing was Zion's energy but I'm also realizing that we had a bad game plan. The announcer called out how the Pelicans were running a 4/5 screen with Jonas and Zion which the Lakers loved because they can switch AD and Lebron. As much as Z deserves the blame for not rising to the occasion, we didn't really put him in a great position for success either.

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Originally Posted by hornetsrebirth

The most glaring thing was Zion's energy but I'm also realizing that we had a bad game plan. The announcer called out how the Pelicans were running a 4/5 screen with Jonas and Zion which the Lakers loved because they can switch AD and Lebron. As much as Z deserves the blame for not rising to the occasion, we didn't really put him in a great position for success either.

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barkley was complaining about us using zion as point forward instead of us using him to finish...

i also believe those 2 charging calls took zion out of his game....i saw 3 times that when zion attacked the basket and made contact with lebron,,lebron fell to the floor...

2 charges and a miss layup and zion not getting the calls, i guess took him out mentally....

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Originally Posted by 6warddude

i also believe those 2 charging calls took zion out of his game....i saw 3 times that when zion attacked the basket and made contact with lebron,,lebron fell to the floor...

2 charges and a miss layup and zion not getting the calls, i guess took him out mentally....

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He's 'Charmin' soft.

Of course, this is nothing new coming from me; I've only said it seemingly forever making me the forum's pariah.

Soft coach, soft team. Nuff said

Zion is a fat kid with hundreds of millions of dollars. He doesn't care and never will. Did just enough to get the bag and then shut it down.

He will never be in shape. He will never have a killer mentality. He will never be a leader.

The lazy waddle close outs to defend the 3 ball tells you all you need to know.

At this point just trade for Draymond and let the drama unfold. I need some entertainment of some sort since we are going to be a middling team literally forever.

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Originally Posted by ragincaucasian

Zion is a fat kid with hundreds of millions of dollars. He doesn't care and never will. Did just enough to get the bag and then shut it down.

He will never be in shape. He will never have a killer mentality. He will never be a leader.

The lazy waddle close outs to defend the 3 ball tells you all you need to know.

At this point just trade for Draymond and let the drama unfold. I need some entertainment of some sort since we are going to be a middling team literally forever.

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I?d take this trade:

Zion, Kira, Liddell

For

Draymond, Kuminga, Payton, and GS 2025 1st unprotected

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Originally Posted by Darkhorse985

I?d take this trade:

Zion, Kira, Liddell

For

Draymond, Kuminga, Payton, and GS 2025 1st unprotected

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Is that a joke?

lol. Draymond is almost 34 years old. Hard pass.

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Originally Posted by donato

lol. Draymond is almost 34 years old. Hard pass.

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The prize in that deal is Kuminga and a 1st. Draymond brings a vet to enforce and raise the expectation of the team for a couple years. He is on the same timeline as CJ. I agree that the Pels should fire WG at the end of the year if the team underperforms. Too much talent.

PG: CJ/Daniels/Jose
SG: Ingram/Hawkins/Payton
SF: Jones/Murphy/Ryan
PF: Green/Kuminga/Naji
C: JV/Nance/Zeller

Better and deeper team than a Mr. 50% or less Zion

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Originally Posted by Darkhorse985

The prize in that deal is Kuminga and a 1st. Draymond brings a vet to enforce and raise the expectation of the team for a couple years. He is on the same timeline as CJ. I agree that the Pels should fire WG at the end of the year if the team underperforms. Too much talent.

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Kuminga and a late first is getting very poor value. I think we could definitely get a lot more value than that. If not, then I’d just keep him hoping he turns it around at some point.

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Originally Posted by donato

Kuminga and a late first is getting very poor value. I think we could definitely get a lot more value than that. If not, then I’d just keep him hoping he turns it around at some point.

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Everybody in the league knows Zion is a risk. I don’t think we get much more than Kuminga, a 1st, and a couple years of Draymond .

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Originally Posted by Darkhorse985

Everybody in the league knows Zion is a risk. I don’t think we get much more than Kuminga, a 1st, and a couple years of Draymond .

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Like I said, I’d take the risk of keeping him then if that were the case.