December 29th - New Orleans Pelicans @ Phoenix Suns - 2-1

Up to 40. Maybe we can get this to 50.

I'm sure we'll take solace in the fact that this will be the highest rated 30 point blow out on TNT the past few season

— Jake Madison (@NOLAJake) December 30, 2020

Zion is a defensive liability and the other teams know it

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Originally Posted by WeatherNLU

Up to 40. Maybe we can get this to 50.

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We can do it!

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Originally Posted by 13 - 3

Great to see you have gotten use to it.

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Shut the hell up.

Zion, Ball, Bledsoe = 1 Rebound between them through three quarters

Does Zion look less motivated this year compared to last year? Last year he would tear the rim down and take people with him. This year he seems too reserved and not as physical. What has Van Gundy done to him? We also need a bench like crazy. Let's keep all our picks going forward and draft SFs and PGs. Hope this team has more toughness than what they are showing tonight.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

Zion, Ball, Bledsoe = 1 Rebound through three quarters

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Maybe if the suns miss a shot we can get a rebound

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Originally Posted by SeapeaNOLA

Shut the hell up.

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Based on the way this is going we're going to be watching Steph Curry not miss for 5 minutes straight in practice like 4 times on TNT soon

— Jake Madison (@NOLAJake) December 30, 2020

Why do we play Zion out on the wing on offense. He doesn't see the ball for several possessions at a time.

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Originally Posted by 13 - 3

Based on the way this is going we're going to be watching Steph Curry not miss for 5 minutes straight in practice like 4 times on TNT soon

— Jake Madison (@NOLAJake) December 30, 2020

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Y'all have fun watching that, I'm taking this game for what it is: a standard Pels getting blown out game. I've seen the Mavs do this to us twice. Enough with this alarmism.

Is right Stan. Put your pride aside and rest the boys. Get into your starters later and fix this Bledsoe problem. Tbh, Nickeil looks infinitely more comfortable running the offense.

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Originally Posted by stevemadden504

Maybe if the suns miss a shot we can get a rebound

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No excuse, tins of opportunities...we are missing tons

So I ended up just watching the game on my phone rather than going to sleep because I'm an idiot, and I'm just returning to say that it's objectively quite funny that we shot 20% from 3 last game, everyone was like ''oh god, how could it get worse'' and then we came out and shot 10% from 3 tonight. Whatever else it is, that's quite funny.

Also, Lonzo with 3/12 shooting, 1/7 from 3, 0 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 turnovers; more shots than Ingram on worse than half the efficiency.

My question is, we were down 40 when Zion and Ingram both had about 22 minutes of playtime. They're both about to hit 30. Why did they play a single minute after we were down 30+? Irresponsible.

Ouch

Zion Williamson is just Julius Randle with clout

— Goran Dragić’s Burner �� (@goransburner) December 30, 2020

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

My question is, we were down 40 when Zion and Ingram both had about 22 minutes of playtime. They're both about to hit 30. Why did they play a single minute after we were down 30+? Irresponsible.

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Pride maybe, I just none of them are hurt. Especially Zion. That would suck if he got dinged up for no reason huh?

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Originally Posted by 13 - 3

Ouch

Zion Williamson is just Julius Randle with clout

— Goran Dragić’s Burner �� (@goransburner) December 30, 2020

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Goran Dragic would never have such a mindnumbingly stupid take, he understands basketball.

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Originally Posted by SeapeaNOLA

Pride maybe, I just none of them are hurt. Especially Zion. That would suck if he got dinged up for no reason huh?

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Gotta swallow that pride. Look silly on national TV for 8 minutes, it's worth ensuring neither of your franchise bedrocks get hurt.

Good to see Kira getting a few possessions under his belt though

We making a comeback with Kira

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

My question is, we were down 40 when Zion and Ingram both had about 22 minutes of playtime. They're both about to hit 30. Why did they play a single minute after we were down 30+? Irresponsible.

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I think it's fair to say these guys need to play more together. There is almost no chemistry between those two players and they are the two most important players on the team.

On a negative note, Zion can't be played against a shooter. His lack of length and half-hearted contests make other players so, so comfortable shooting against him. He turned Jae Crowder into Duncan Robinson tonight.

I'm glad I decided not to watch this game. Oh well. On to the next one.

Lmao they changed game

We watching Buddy now

Kira looks good. NAW should be in the rotation now.

Not a total loss.

They made it look respectable I guess

But this should incentivize Stan to make some changes to the lineup. It's very early in the season and nobody expects anything more than a 9th seed so... go for it.

Welll I don’t think that happened in the Gentry era. TNT pulling the plug

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Originally Posted by 13 - 3

Welll I don?t think that happened in the Gentry era. TNT pulling the plug

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Maybe they should stop trying to do road west coast prime time game with a team that's only been together for a whole week.

And that’s a wrap. Apparently the game ended we lose.

Tbh - I?m glad it went down like this in a way.

We needed to get Naw, Kira, and Jax out there. Had to. Felt like it?s been building up towards that ultimate decision so I wasn?t surprised we got smacked to get the wheels in motion. Bledsoe, Zo, and JJ have been so bad.

Funny as it sounds, I saw progress in several areas this game. On to the next.

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Originally Posted by Taker597

Maybe they should stop trying to do road west coast prime time game with a team that's only a week old...

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Watch the Kings instead?

Great minutes for Nickeil and Kira. I can live with a rebuild if we are getting the young guys minutes. Bledsoe is playing himself out of the starting lineup (and any potential trade for that matter). You have to think he will get better, but it is very concerning.

Congratulations Minty on the win. Better luck for us next game.

I’ve never seen JJ so tilted before. That has been an interesting development. Miami broke him a bit.

Player	Points	Rebounds	Assists	Steals	Blocks	TOs	PFs	FG%	3PT%	FT%	Mins
Ingram	13	6	6	1	0	4	0	54.5% (6/11)	20% (1/5)	NA	28
Zion	20	2	0	1	0	1	1	69.2%(9/13)	NA	33.3%(2/6)	29
Adams	11	8	1	0	1	4	1	100% (5/5)	NA	50% (1/2)	23
Bledsoe	7	0	2	1	0	0	0	60% (3/5)	0% (0/2)	100% (1/1)	24
Lonzo	7	0	1	0	0	3	2	25% (3/12)	14.2%(1/7)	NA	23

Some pretty stark issues here. Assists way down on past games among starters. Rebounding, WAY down. Lonzo returned to his usual self with efficiency, and did not make up for it with playmaking or defense. Turnovers cropped up again. Nobody could hit anything from 3. Ingram didn't get *any* whistles. Bledsoe was yet again a non-factor.

Tragic.

Edit: side note, I did a table instead of just a list for the endgame stats, though only for starters. Not sure if I'll keep doing it this way.

Lonzo sucking is the best case scenario so we don't have to pay him. One of the three positives from this game.

The other two being Kira and NAW

If they do to NAW and Kira what they did to Buddy, I'll be mad.

The people to trade are Lonzo and JJ. NAW and Kira are exactly why you draft.

Three Assists combined from your starting guard tandem. SMH

None from ZION.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

Three Assists combined from your starting guard tandem. SMH

None from ZION.

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Give him time. He is still young and can do no wrong. I am sure he made up for it with a bunch of defensive rebounds

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

Give him time. He is still young and can do no wrong. I am sure he made up for it with a bunch of defensive rebounds

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I hear you and agree.

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

Give him time. He is still young and can do no wrong. I am sure he made up for it with a bunch of defensive rebounds

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Lol of course.

Four Personal Fouls from our five starters. Contrary to popular belief, this is a very telling statistic. We are not aggressive defensively!! But the eye test is all you really need to know this.

I say what the heck and get Kira more PT. Imma give Bled and Lonzo a chance. But if it's at 20 games and it's still sub-par, one, if not both, have to go.

EDIT: Melli can also bounce too.

Name	FG%	3PT%
Brandon Ingram	45.7% (32/70)	41.2% (10/24)
Zion Williamson	53.1% (34/64)	0.00% (0/2)
Steven Adams	76.1% (16/21)	N/A
Eric Bledsoe	36.8% (13/38)	28.6% (6/21)
Lonzo Ball	37.2% (16/43)	28.6% (8/28)

Our Starters FG% at this point, 4 games in.

Not the prettiest of numbers, overall. Obviously there are some bright spots, like Ingram's 3pt% and Adams' overall efficiency, while Zion's is still solid even if we hope to see it increase, but Lonzo and Bledsoe are both just glaring voids in the offense so far this year.

Zion has been a liability defensively...just sad that we may never see that Duke Zion especially on the defensive end.... i know it's early, but Ja morant impacts the game way more than Zion and can will his team to wins despite having a pretty meh teammates.

Our starting backcourt is a liability on offense. They offer very little value to Ingram and Zion.

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

Give him time. He is still young and can do no wrong. I am sure he made up for it with a bunch of defensive rebounds

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really guys? There are a hundred milion things you could pick out about Zion's performance tonight and you choose assists? Seriously?

On a positive note, it's been a few years since we were .500 this deep into the season.

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Originally Posted by PaKwAn

Zion has been a liability defensively...just sad that we may never see that Duke Zion especially on the defensive end.... i know it's early, but Ja morant impacts the game way more than Zion and can will his team to wins despite having a pretty meh teammates.

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It's early man, stay patient. Concern is healthy, but there's a long way to go before we start questioning stuff like that.