December 31st - New Orleans Pelicans @ Oklahoma City Thunder - 2-2

And I’m glad that Stan realizes Rome wasn’t built in a day. Maybe it was the Phoenix game that woke him up, but Nickeil has to get minutes. It was inexplicable to leave him out. He is earning every minute.

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Originally Posted by luckyman

And I've clearly said multiple times I disagree with the RULE. I literally said that every time. Not sure how you keep missing it.

Therefore, I'm not going to criticize Ingram for a rule that imo is extremely overly penal and criminalizes ordinary basketball plays. Can't be any more clear than that.

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Smacking someone upside the head with a lot of force is not a Basketball play. Possibly get away with it in D Grade. But NEVER with World Class athletes taking stage

Unless you learnt your trade in Harlem or somewhere?

NAW's aggression just makes the offense flow so much better. Less Bail out shots from the over passing. Much more decisive.

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Originally Posted by JJackisangry

And I?m glad that Stan realizes Rome wasn?t built in a day. Maybe it was the Phoenix game that woke him up, but Nickeil has to get minutes. It was inexplicable to leave him out. He is earning every minute.

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Stan work the past 2-3 weeks has really impressed me. The ability to pull off wins like this isn't easy.

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Originally Posted by luckyman

Going for the ball is not unnecessary. Basketball is a contact sport. Parts of your body will collide with other bodies. He didnt go for the guy's head on purpose.

But you can have your prerogative and I'll have mine. Simple as that.

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smh.. lol

Lonzo needs to go yesterday. He wants 20 mil and there's just no way

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Originally Posted by Taker597

Nichols, all he look forward to his life is arguing with you dudes on here and it's almost like woah... When people gonna figure out his gimmick?

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I gave my opinion and said why I disagree with the rule.

But your gimmick is to just extremely say stupid things and start dumb threads I avoid. Back to the ignore list for you I guess.

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Originally Posted by Taker597

Stan in 2-3 weeks has really impressed me.

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What impresses me is he isn’t prideful. Not one bit. He won’t die on the rotation hill. He looked for answers. He took the blame for putting BI in a bad situation (can’t remember what game). It takes a big man to admit he was wrong. That’s the difference between he and Gentry

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Originally Posted by luckyman

I gave my opinion and said why I disagree with the rule.

But your gimmick is to just extremely say stupid things and start dumb threads I avoid. Back to the ignore list for you I guess.

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Intentional or not, clobbering someone with the force to injure - like a swift forearm to the face - because you've been reckless, is not going down well with anyone

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Originally Posted by AusPel

Lonzo needs to go yesterday. He wants 20 mil and there's just no way

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Dude took over the game when BI got ejected. He pulled this win together.

Also, friendly reminder that we are still organizing groups to comfort Ball haters and do wellness checks throughout the upcoming months as he continues to play at a high level. Some of our posters are at high risk due to extreme levels of denial and apparent allergic reactions to eating crow (still waiting after the nonsense they said about BI prior to last season) so we'll be assigning several accountabilibuddies to take shifts to rotate. A signup thread will be started shortly.

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Originally Posted by luckyman

I gave my opinion and said why I disagree with the rule.

But your gimmick is to just extremely say stupid things and start dumb threads I avoid. Back to the ignore list for you I guess.

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I don't even know who you are... Lol

Putting someone one on ignore just speaks how fragile you are to be honest. We all here to have a good time not be petty and in our feelings. We got a winning record on New Years. That's been 10-11 years...and you're wasting your breathe on rules.

SVG is very thoughtful in his logic and approach. You get so much out of his pressers and you see his logic translates to the decisions he makes on the court. Good or bad, he always honest about it.

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Originally Posted by msusousaphone

Dude took over the game when BI got ejected. He pulled this win together.

Also, friendly reminder that we are still organizing groups to comfort Ball haters and do wellness checks throughout the upcoming months as he continues to play at a high level. Some of our posters are at high risk, so we'll be assigning several accountabilibuddies to take shifts to rotate. A signup thread will be started shortly.

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Do you think he deserves Brogdon money or better?

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Originally Posted by AusPel

Do you think he deserves Brogdon money or better?

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Brogdon would have gotten a lot more today though.

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Originally Posted by Snarly

Brogdon would have gotten a lot more today though.

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I guess instead of using raw numbers you have to use % of the cap, to compare and contrast different eras

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Originally Posted by JJackisangry

What impresses me is he isn’t prideful. Not one bit. He won’t die on the rotation hill. He looked for answers. He took the blame for putting BI in a bad situation (can’t remember what game). It takes a big man to admit he was wrong. That’s the difference between he and Gentry

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I'm really surprised how quickly he'll just be honest in interviews and just be himself. Him willing to change things up is nice. Detroit fans was so ready to trash him. I got a bit worried.

Honeymoon or not... He has handle this off season way above my expectations

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Originally Posted by Snarly

SVG is very thoughtful in his logic and approach. You get so much out of his pressers and you see his logic translates to the decisions he makes on the court. Good or bad, he always honest about it.

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Bingo. We could have used some transparency last year (that goes for Griffin as well as Gentry).

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Originally Posted by AusPel

Do you think he deserves Brogdon money or better?

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Tough to say, currently. If he maintains this level, meh.....but he has been not just steadily improving but immensely improving at a consistent rate. Go back at some of the anti-Ball threads throughout the past year....."he can't shoot threes"....."OK he can shoot threes now but he can't drive to the rim or set a half court offense"....."ok he can now drive to the rim and set a half court offense but he isn't worth Brogdon money"......

And again, these are the same people who called BI trash OR (the best part) would talk about how he probably wouldn't play basketball ever again. At some point, logic would dictate that people would realize these guys are all super young, not even near their prime, yet, and it would be an easier go just to wait and see how people develop.....but.......we wait.

So back to the question. At this level meh but if he maintains the level of development he's had since being here......absolutely.

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Originally Posted by Taker597

I'm really surprised how quickly he'll just be honest in interviews and just be himself. Him willing to change things up is nice. Detroit fans was so ready to trash him. I got a bit worried.

Honeymoon or not... He's handle this off season way above my expectations

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He still has a lot of work to do having been out of the game for a while but I like how he has kept us relatively steady even during a rough stretch. 3-2 ain’t half bad

Jae Crowder just went across Goeberts face the exact same play as Ingram did. Just a common foul.......

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Originally Posted by ragincaucasian

Jae Crowder just went across Goeberts face the exact same play as Ingram did. Just a common foul.......

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Yep. Typical.

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Originally Posted by ragincaucasian

Jae Crowder just went across Goeberts face the exact same play as Ingram did. Just a common foul.......

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Saw that, but calls are never gonna be consistent among different crews. If we can find similar calls by the same crew. Then, it sets a precedent.

I really hope the January/February '20 Zion shows up again soon. It's getting old watching the 'Bubble Version' all over again.

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Originally Posted by Taker597

Saw that, but calls are never gonna be consistent among different crews. If we can find similar calls by the same crew. Then, it sets a precedent.

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Yeah.....but from common foul to ejection is more than just not consistent. If it were one level different, ok.....but that much of a difference is not good.

I'm with Luckyman. They call today's game way too soft and way too different from game to game, play to play, but most importantly player to player.

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Originally Posted by msusousaphone

Yeah.....but from common foul to ejection is more than just not consistent. If it were one level different, ok.....but that much of a difference is not good.

I'm with Luckyman. They call today's game way too soft and way too different from game to game, play to play, but most importantly player to player.

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Yeah, I agree it was a trash call

If the game ended being an L. I would be mad, but it didn't. So, I just let it go.

On a whole, I think it's pretty closed case on the NBA simply being too soft and that's just the way it is. Officiating catering to offense, giving out tech for showing emotion, and etc.

Clarkson just lightly shoved a ref... Shouldn't that be an ejection?

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Originally Posted by msusousaphone

Dude took over the game when BI got ejected. He pulled this win together.

Also, friendly reminder that we are still organizing groups to comfort Ball haters and do wellness checks throughout the upcoming months as he continues to play at a high level. Some of our posters are at high risk due to extreme levels of denial and apparent allergic reactions to eating crow (still waiting after the nonsense they said about BI prior to last season) so we'll be assigning several accountabilibuddies to take shifts to rotate. A signup thread will be started shortly.

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I like you, happy new year :D

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Originally Posted by msusousaphone

Yeah.....but from common foul to ejection is more than just not consistent. If it were one level different, ok.....but that much of a difference is not good.

I'm with Luckyman. They call today's game way too soft and way too different from game to game, play to play, but most importantly player to player.

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SVG: "Didn't seem like a flagrant to me let alone a flagrant 2..."

But what do I know. Something some moron says about Harlem I guess. :rolleyes:

Anyway...Happy New Year!

Good game from the whole team, everyone played well ... Keep it up!

Damn urls


If that don?t get you hyped, I don?t know what will. We are FAR from the finished product and we have already held 3 opponents under 100. We are getting there

https://twitter.com/PelicansPR/statu...291759618?s=20

We are now shooting 31.1% from 3 on the season, rather than sub 30%. Still really bad, but hey, look how small sample sizes work.

We shot 13/36 from 3, good for 36.1% last game. Obviously that is not a torrential shooting spree, but compared to the previous 3 games the efficiency was night and day.

Loved to see more active driving from Bledsoe and Ball, which created a few nice looks.

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Originally Posted by JJackisangry

https://twitter.com/PelicansPR/statu...291759618?s=20


If that don’t get you hyped, I don’t know what will. We are FAR from the finished product and we have already held 3 opponents under 100. We are getting there

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Our defense still has stuff to work on, and part of our success has been shooting variance tbh, but nobody can deny that our defense has been much much better than the last few years.

The issue right now is the offense: we're 25th in the league. Now, of course, that is based on super small sample sizes as well, and my hopes are that as our shooting improves back up to what will end up being the season average, we can crack the top 18. You have something like the 6th best defense in the league and the 14th best offense, that might crack you a playoff spot.

Pelicans PR (@PelicansPR) Tweeted:
New Orleans has held their opponents to under 100 points three times in the first five games...The last time Pelican opponents were held under 100 points at least three times over the first five games was the 2014-15 season (4 times).

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Our defense still has stuff to work on, and part of our success has been shooting variance tbh, but nobody can deny that our defense has been much much better than the last few years.

The issue right now is the offense: we're 25th in the league. Now, of course, that is based on super small sample sizes as well, and my hopes are that as our shooting improves back up to what will end up being the season average, we can crack the top 18. You have something like the 6th best defense in the league and the 14th best offense, that might crack you a playoff spot.

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We definitely need to find better balance. That means Bledsoe and Ball have to either be more effective as scorers or they have to create (they both did well last night). Redick has to find some rhythm as he has been abysmal. That has hurt our 3pt percentage more than anything. Our 3 pt percentage overall and ball movement have to improve or we will just get crowded out as we were against Miami. Still very promising signs on the defensive side

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Our defense still has stuff to work on, and part of our success has been shooting variance tbh, but nobody can deny that our defense has been much much better than the last few years.

The issue right now is the offense: we're 25th in the league. Now, of course, that is based on super small sample sizes as well, and my hopes are that as our shooting improves back up to what will end up being the season average, we can crack the top 18. You have something like the 6th best defense in the league and the 14th best offense, that might crack you a playoff spot.

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After we start clicking on both sides of the ball at a decent rate, I would like to see these high scoring offenses fare against our defense. Like the abysmal Nets vs Hawks game (big LOL at that one). Of course I wouldn't expect us to hold them under 100pts but under 110 pts I'd be happy with.

However let's keep growing and getting better on both sides. Just hope EVERYBODY knows that this process is gonna take TIME. Seems like we have some impatient people here.

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Originally Posted by hornetzplaya

After we start clicking on both sides of the ball at a decent rate, I would like to see these high scoring offenses fare against our defense. Like the abysmal Nets vs Hawks game (big LOL at that one). Of course I wouldn't expect us to hold them under 100pts but under 110 pts I'd be happy with.

However let's keep growing and getting better on both sides. Just hope EVERYBODY knows that this process is gonna take TIME. Seems like we have some impatient people here.

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If Stan turns into Gentry and starts freezing out the young players again, I would be furious. He seems to have the right idea that we are still a rebuilding side which is good to see

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Originally Posted by JJackisangry

If Stan turns into Gentry and starts freezing out the young players again, I would be furious. He seems to have the right idea that we are still a rebuilding side which is good to see

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Oh I refuse to tolerate that crap anymore. You've seen me lobby HARD over getting NAW some playing time all over these threads lol. I'll start lobbying for Kira sooner or later. But I don't have a problem with him being limited a bit at this point though.... AS LONG AS Lonzo & Bledsoe are playing decent.

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Originally Posted by hornetzplaya

Oh I refuse to tolerate that crap anymore. You've seen me lobby HARD over getting NAW some playing time all over these threads lol. I'll start lobbying for Kira sooner or later. But I don't have a problem with him being limited a bit at this point though.... AS LONG AS Lonzo & Bledsoe are playing decent.

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I think the good thing is at least thus far, Stan is looking to get Kira minutes. Maybe he should have stuck him into the OKC game a tad earlier, but he looks to get him those garbage minutes which is good

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Originally Posted by JJackisangry

We definitely need to find better balance. That means Bledsoe and Ball have to either be more effective as scorers or they have to create (they both did well last night). Redick has to find some rhythm as he has been abysmal. That has hurt our 3pt percentage more than anything. Our 3 pt percentage overall and ball movement have to improve or we will just get crowded out as we were against Miami. Still very promising signs on the defensive side

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Yeah, I think the important thing at this stage is to be more concerned with the process than the results. If we're playing well, making the right passes, taking the right shots, then I care far more about that than whether the shots get made right now or not, since that's a very variable process which can come or go on any given night.

Now, of course on the longer term time scale you judge the process by the results, so when we're looking at 35 or 50 games then I think the results become more of a concern, but right now it's so early that all I care about is what we're doing, regardless of whether or not we're winning.

I missed the game, why did Zion only have 15 minutes?

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Originally Posted by HornetGuru

I missed the game, why did Zion only have 15 minutes?

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Foul trouble.

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Originally Posted by HornetGuru

I missed the game, why did Zion only have 15 minutes?

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He had 2 fouls early, so Stan basically sat him the entire second quarter.

Then he came in to start the third, picked up another two fouls, and got sat again for about 10 minutes of game time.

Frankly overzealous conservatism from SVG imo, but that's the reason.

So Mac thinks NAW's ceiling is peak Norman Powell

I see NAW's peak a LOT better than that

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Originally Posted by AusPel

So Mac thinks NAW's ceiling is peak Norman Powell

I see NAW's peak a LOT better than that

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Again.... I said last year's Norman Powell. Why not just post the tweet if you are going to try and represent what I was saying?

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

Again.... I said last year's Norman Powell. Why not just post the tweet if you are going to try and represent what I was saying?

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Last year's Norm was essentially peak Powell

Attachment 6561

We've played some good teams and had a lot of travel during this good start.

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Originally Posted by AusPel

So Mac thinks NAW's ceiling is peak Norman Powell

I see NAW's peak a LOT better than that

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That’s Mr. Secretary of Defense Norman Powell to you.

Just kidding, but I'm a big Powell fam.

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Originally Posted by AusPel

Last year's Norm was essentially peak Powell

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Which is why I said in the tweet last year's Powell. I did not say he would have the same career as Powell. The same ups and downs. I said his ceiling is last years Powell in my eyes....and if you expect him to end up A LOT better than that, I think you should prepare to be very disappointed. A LOT better than that is a multi-time All Star

MY FIVE TAKEAWAYS

1. If he's not inserted into the starting lineup, NAW has to be the 'First Guard Up".
2. The version of Zion we have right now is "Bubble Zion". (His Free Throw Shooting is abysmal. Not so much that he misses; but that he is all arms and misses miserably)
3. Though he's shown signs of improvement, JAXSON has a long, long way to go.
4. We should be shopping JJ now and not wait to the Trade Deadline. Every minute he plays, NAW or Kira doesn't
5. Steven Adams is not Omer Asik (Thank Gawd).

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Originally Posted by As I See It

MY FIVE TAKEAWAYS

1. If he's not inserted into the starting lineup, NAW has to be the 'First Guard Up".
2. The version of Zion we have right now is "Bubble Zion". (His Free Throw Shooting is abysmal. Not so much that he misses; but that he is all arms and misses miserably.

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I know right. How hard is it to remember to bend your knees at the line?

Maybe he's still experencing some sort of knee issues?