Play-In Game One - New Orleans Pelicans vs Oklahoma City Thunder

remember when the pels were going to swap picks with the terrible lakers :wow:

Tough end to the season. We fought hard there and had a chance but too much going against the Pelicans this game.

Refs giving Pelicans no respect at home
CJ not hitting shots like CJ
Jose and Nance replacements were a big drop off
Star player “not feeling like himself”

Still feel this team has a super high ceiling we just didnt live up to the full potential this season.

Zion hope you get to feel like Zion again, loser

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Originally Posted by hornetsrebirth

For some reason coach never plays JV at the end of games

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Pelicans are 27th in the NBA in clutch time rebounding and this is the primary reason why.

Willie Green refuses to use JV properly. It's a legitimate, systematic problem.

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Originally Posted by HorneyTexan

We desperately need a smart point guard, an athletic big that can change shots, and someone to come off the bench who can shoot .400 from 3.

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You got your wish and the Pelicans lost, I bet you feel like celebrating

If Zion and Jose play we blow this team out.

No excuse why either of those guys are medically cleared and not playing.

I'm not going to call for a new coach because I'm one of those people who thinks that coaches can improve just like players can, and sophomore coaches who have dealt with masses of injury problems get a little bit of extra leeway.

But Green needs to seriously reconsider his assistants this summer, and next season he should be under extremely close inspection. He needs to decide what style he wants to play and he needs to

A) Inform the FO, so that the appropriate players can be moved/acquired
B) Actually instill that philosophy in training camp

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Originally Posted by ragincaucasian

If Zion and Jose play we blow this team out.

No excuse why either of those guys are medically cleared and not playing.

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Zion said he isn't playing unless he feels 100 %

Zion not feeling like himself mentally to play in a must win game is a huge issue that we will never get full answers for. This is going to be a recurring issue.

Oh well.

Maybe next year.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Pelicans are 27th in the NBA in clutch time rebounding and this is the primary reason why.

Willie Green refuses to use JV properly. It's a legitimate, systematic problem.

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You are right, dae. I'm sure JV could have won us between three to five more games just by being on the court in the fourth. Your numbers support this.

At least this pathetic ending to the season will force people to admit how bad the season went, instead of acting like they see a glimmer of a diamond shining within the steaming pile of poo

The Pelicans lost the game by 5.

The Pelicans lost the third quarter by 15.

The Thunder played 48 minutes without a center.

Jonas Valanciunas went for 16 & 18 on 9 shots.

This was Jonas' shot chart in the third quarter: pic.twitter.com/cB0kP9VdBn

— Mason Ginsberg (@MasonGinsberg) April 13, 2023

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

So do 27 teams in the league.

What we really need is a coaching staff that can actually identify advantages and use them instead of just letting players default to improv at all times.

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WG need some kind of offensive help an offensive guru coach that he will listen to. But that won't happen cause he's too stubborn. he's Monty lite

Had they won who would have been looking forward to Friday? BI hobbled. JV hobbled. CJ been hobbled half the year. Zion doing Zion things.

This was for the best. Lottery odds slotted for 12th or 13th now?

I'll take it.

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Originally Posted by hornetsrebirth

For some reason coach never plays JV at the end of games

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They were working on JV's ankle no?

Zion said today unless he feels 100 percent he isn't suiting up, not even in the pels biggeest game of the season

Anybody buying season tickets going forward for this is crazy

You can see it in the body language. Willy never even acknowledges JV when he's being subed-out. No 'Good job' or high-five. But when JV makes mistakes, Green is on his case stating the obvious. No love.

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Originally Posted by SonOfNOLA

Zion not feeling like himself mentally to play in a must win game is a huge issue that we will never get full answers for. This is going to be a recurring issue.

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Live shot of Zion at home:

Zombieland Money GIFfrom Zombieland GIFs

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Originally Posted by Karas

You can see it in the body language. Willy never even acknowledges JV when he's being subed-out. No 'Good job' or high-five. But when JV makes mistakes, Green is on his case stating the obvious. No love.

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Willie Green: ''I'm not about calling people out, I call people up.''

Willie Green when JV commits a foul:

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

The Pelicans lost the game by 5.

The Pelicans lost the third quarter by 15.

The Thunder played 48 minutes without a center.

Jonas Valanciunas went for 16 & 18 on 9 shots.

This was Jonas' shot chart in the third quarter: pic.twitter.com/cB0kP9VdBn

— Mason Ginsberg (@MasonGinsberg) April 13, 2023

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Willie Green might be the worst coach in the league. No exaggeration. Can you think of anyone worse?

I have not been impressed with Willie for some time. He will really need to turn it around next year or he might be in trouble.

Willie was a better coach last yr and we were a better team last yr. We started awful and got better last yr BI missed 28 games last yr and we were still better. We start out on fire and BI goes out and we play ok til Z goes out. Even when BI comes back we are still not the same team we were without Z last yr. Green got worse and his buddy-buddy thing was not reaching the players and we played awful for a while. WG has to change things. And DG needs to make him change

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Originally Posted by JJackisangry

I have not been impressed with Willie for some time. He will really need to turn it around next year or he might be in trouble.

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I sympathise to some extent because no coach is going to have an easy year when both of their best players miss 40+ games and they have multiple other players in and out of the rotation with ailments and injuries, and of course that is exacerbated by being a young coach without a ton of experience.

But what I can't grasp about him is why he takes 30, 40, even 50 games to realise things that everyone else realises within 5. Every adjustment has to be clawed from him, tooth and nail. It's like he plans his lineups, rotations, and playbook in September and tries as hard as he can to avoid changing any of it for as long as he humanly can stand it.

Guys, I think it’s time to realize Zion’s step daddy who is advising him wants him out of NO. They took the max deal for the money with every intention of asking out at first opportunity. By sitting out now when physically able to play, they are hoping Pels will be amenable to moving him sooner rather than later. The guy is a big baby. He won’t work to get into shape and stay in shape. What a failure as a professional athlete. He takes the money but refuses to put in the time and work to maximize his value.

Letting lu dort score 27 ...

I'm not going to overreact. But making the playoffs as an 8th seed this year was pointless.

They've got massive issues to fix with this roster.

When your best players are injury prone, you unfortunately have to build the deepest team in the history of sports.

Griff has his work cut out and they need all the help they can get.

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Originally Posted by ragincaucasian

Willie Green might be the worst coach in the league. No exaggeration. Can you think of anyone worse?

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Silas on the rockets

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Originally Posted by Speakthetruth

Silas on the rockets

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?? That was an obvious rebuild job. He's going to be hired again pretty quickly.

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Originally Posted by luckyman

?? That was an obvious rebuild job. He's going to be hired again pretty quickly.

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No he isnt he's really bad

No structure on offense at all

You can rebuild and look somewhat competent. I'm not talking win and loses.


Rockets players look clue less

Even John wall said the coaching is awful

Shame that's how the season ends. Time to wait for next season and see how things are.

Griff is a big part of the problem. His moves have been horrible esp hiring a young coach and the handling of Zion has been disgusting to where it now looks like Zion has the organization over a barrel. My opinion is he wants out and by his lack of effort while here will force the Pels to move him as his value has diminished. And Griff has let this go on from day 1. His lack of conditioning should have been addressed day 1. Fire Griff now!

Fire Coach Green….we shouldn’t need Zion to beat OKC. Rotations were horrible and we didn’t take advantage of the size discrepancy.

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Originally Posted by Jaxpel

Griff is a big part of the problem. His moves have been horrible esp hiring a young coach and the handling of Zion has been disgusting to where it now looks like Zion has the organization over a barrel. My opinion is he wants out and by his lack of effort while here will force the Pels to move him as his value has diminished. And Griff has let this go on from day 1. His lack of conditioning should have been addressed day 1. Fire Griff now!

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100% agree

things happen for a reason...the damn pick just might turn into something good...

I have to say, while obviously I'm not pleased, I'm not a big fan of this portion of the year where all the hot takes come out.

My predictions for the next hot takes will be that someone is going to say we need to hire Jeff Van Gundy as a coach, and someone else will say we need to try and bring Boogie back because he can shoot.

Perfect way for this season to end. It really summed up how this season has been for us.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

I have to say, while obviously I'm not pleased, I'm not a big fan of this portion of the year where all the hot takes come out.

My predictions for the next hot takes will be that someone is going to say we need to hire Jeff Van Gundy as a coach, and someone else will say we need to try and bring Boogie back because he can shoot.

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lol....dae, the board is not that far gone lol...

I'm refraining from saying the majority of this fanbase is downright pathetic when it comes to situations like this.

I'm used to this. Team had too many issues, onto next year. I'll give Willie next year to fix these mistakes.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

I have to say, while obviously I'm not pleased, I'm not a big fan of this portion of the year where all the hot takes come out.

My predictions for the next hot takes will be that someone is going to say we need to hire Jeff Van Gundy as a coach, and someone else will say we need to try and bring Boogie back because he can shoot.

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Cheer up, I want Nikola Mirotic. He's only 32. LOL

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Originally Posted by Jaxpel

Guys, I think it’s time to realize Zion’s step daddy who is advising him wants him out of NO. They took the max deal for the money with every intention of asking out at first opportunity. By sitting out now when physically able to play, they are hoping Pels will be amenable to moving him sooner rather than later. The guy is a big baby. He won’t work to get into shape and stay in shape. What a failure as a professional athlete. He takes the money but refuses to put in the time and work to maximize his value.

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You are right ! Alvarado was also eligible to resume basketball activities and didn’t play. Let’s get rid of him also, but let’s fire Coach green 1st. Because we shouldn’t need Zion to beat Okc and the rotations were horrible.

Another game and another disappointment. We just gave up in our house 123 points to OKC - I know that SGA is a All-Star but We just let Lu Dort scores 27 points … yes - 27 ! And another 31 to Giddey?? Bad defence , way to many offensive rebounds and bad tournovers … BI needs some help - so let’s use those f…. Picks Griff!!! It’s Time to make a BIG move in Summer break.

Man that had to be one of the most disappointing seasons of all time. I learned never to have expectations of this organization.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

I sympathise to some extent because no coach is going to have an easy year when both of their best players miss 40+ games and they have multiple other players in and out of the rotation with ailments and injuries, and of course that is exacerbated by being a young coach without a ton of experience.

But what I can't grasp about him is why he takes 30, 40, even 50 games to realise things that everyone else realises within 5. Every adjustment has to be clawed from him, tooth and nail. It's like he plans his lineups, rotations, and playbook in September and tries as hard as he can to avoid changing any of it for as long as he humanly can stand it.

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While I sympathize to an extent as well he still had enough to work with to get the bare minimum done and he didn?t do it. What hurt Willie more than anything is he let things get completely out of control after that Nets game and allowed the players to down tools for a sizable portion of the season. For a coach who?s MO as a motivator that is a tad concerning. Some of his lineups at times have me scratching my head as well. Sometimes he really struggles to adjust on time and it costs us. Other (more experienced coaches to be fair) would have gotten the victories necessary to secure safety in a very even West.

As you said part of it is a systematic problem. He doesn?t use Jonas properly. Even til this day I?m not sure what type of team he wants to build. It?s obvious that shooting is often a key to victory so maybe he should pick up on that by adding talent there in addition to TM3. I wish we had fired Gentry when we had the chance and hired Green to give him a fair four year new coach evaluation. But all in all Green fell short. There is no denying it for me