I almost lost my crap right now. The Espn reporters are being an absolute JOKE!! They brought up fatalities. The length that they go to for dramatic effect is shameful!!!
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I almost lost my crap right now. The Espn reporters are being an absolute JOKE!! They brought up fatalities. The length that they go to for dramatic effect is shameful!!!
When people say we have scorers, who all are we talking about? JJ, Jrue. Sure those two are hands down better than Frank, but after that?
The problem for me was that the dribbling was hit or miss. He had some possessions, particularly in the second half where his green light was on, where his dribble game looked good. Then he had plays in the first half where he couldn't hold onto the ball stationary without fumbling it.
The fact is, we know he can shoot, we know he can dunk, we know he can drive. He did all that through last season and he was doing it tonight.
Eman noted that his defense was better tonight, and I mean... I guess? I didn't really see it that much, but okay.
And his passing was still whatever at best. So what am I supposed to take from it? Am I supposed to be excited for his single dimension getting better?
Will the match have to be completed?
Does the word scorer need to be defined as "efficient scorer" or just a regular ole scorer? Because I'd definitely put Ingram in the scorer category though hopefully he improves on the efficiency department.
I'd also say Zion is going to be a scorer for this team, just in a different way than typical scorers. I'd also rank both of Ingram and Zion as hands down better than Frank atm. If we look at last year's stats Josh Hart was also a better scorer than Jackson and while Moore is still on the team he's for sure a better scorer than him.
Alright so now that I've started listing players, like 1/3 of our team is probably a better scorer than Jackson (from what we've seen so far). But Jackson definitely has potential to put up points.
I thought Jackson, Cheatham, and Bigby-Williams looked good. Especially Bigby Williams who was quite athletic and could make a shot. For those of you that don't know him, he transferred to LSU from Oregon. Sat out a year and will be 24 this year. He has more skill than Diallo. Pelicans apparently wanted him bad enough because he was reported to sign with Hornets.
I mean exactly what are you looking for from Jackson then? He had a rough start and then ended up scoring 30pts on 17 shots (64% from the field) while shooting 56% from 3 and getting to the FT line 3 times all while only playing 23 minutes. Do we ONLY measure improvement in one dimension of basketball (assists) that seems like a pretty silly stance.
Some guys are PG's some guys are SG's. Are SG's lacking because they aren't play makers like PG's? Maybe instead of the Pels trying to make Jackson into something he's not, they should let him work at his natural position of SG.
The most impressive names from the game tonight (not counting Zion, who obviously barely played and just did enough to confirm that yes, he's awesome) were as follows:
1) Kenrich Williams - Great feel, obviously the best playmaker on the court, shot looked good but didn't go in, rebounded well. Was on trip dub alert.
2) Zylan Cheatham - Insane hustle, was on course for a double double. Good defense for Summer League, showed real ability to read offenses.
3) Frank Jackson - Obviously scored his shoes off, was very efficient doing so. Stroke looked nice. 0 assists, 3 turnovers isn't a good ratio, had one mode and that was score, but he did it well.
Everyone else was whatever.
I'm not looking at Frank Jackson in a vacuum and saying ''oh hey, is this man A Valid Player?''. I'm looking at him with regards to our needs and expectations, since what he's competing for are rotation minutes on OUR roster.
He can shoot, or at least has real potential for it. He can get his own shot, or at again, has at least showed potential for it. There are plenty of teams who need that desperately, and dammit, a few years back WE would have needed that desperately. But we are entering this season with a bunch of players who can either create their own shots as well as shots for others (Jrue, Ingram, Zion) or who are able to create offense without demanding the ball (Redick, Favors, Moore).
So if Jackson wants minutes in OUR rotation, yes, he needs to be able to do more than just create his own shot in isolation off the dribble.
It's just one game....well...not even that.....but I feel like Bluiett hurt his stock the most.
Bluiett has that Enron level stock.
First game take aways:
1. Zion cause earthquakes
2. Like our G-League chances to win it all
3. Defense and rebounding was solid - like really won that game especially after being down 20 at one point
It was kind of sad because it only lasted 9 minutes and it's clear that he was a little nervous, but it was still fantastic to see Zion dunk in a Pelicans jersey.
And that steal on Knox was special.
“Zion needs to get in better shape” he showed nothing to suggest he was in any worse shape than anyone else on the floor tonight you numbnuts ESPN hacks
My favorite moment tonight...beside the total hustle play from Zion; check out the reaction from Lonzo and Josh at court side. Lonzo in black t-shirt/Josh in white.
Zion is the first player in NBA history to make the hall of fame after one summer league game pic.twitter.com/hcAv0iym0X
— Yu (@YucciMane) July 6, 2019
Along with Zy, K Williams and Frank , I was excited to see Bigby-Williams in the lineup at tip Off. He's strong and I had lost track of him, after LSU and the draft. He was actually better than Naz Reid.... He had 12 pts in 16 mins, shot 83% 5/6. 2/2 on FT, 10 rebounds, 2 blks, 1 asst and +13.
Had to be a really last minute pick up.
I know Zion is better than this but I rate tonight as poor. He mishandled the ball, misjudged his jumps, misjudged his opponent when his 3 was batted down; seemed very slow up and down the court, and poor at free throws even the ones that went in rolled around. His jumpers were off target and slow release. He needs to lose some weight and get in much better shape because in the real NBA his opponents will be light years better than this summer stuff. Quite simply I know he’s better than this showing just really disappointed with what I saw then again the media has a way of over promising.
Wood didn't get a run. He is a lock to miss out now?
That's what you want in Summer League with Zion, TBH. He showed flashes but he also had some things happen to him that never would have happened to him at Duke. You want Zion to have all those things occur so that he can go into TC understanding the adjustments he has to make.
Kenrich's ball handling stood out to me as much improved.
Frank really needs to work on some things still but he's polished to the point where his talent is really showing now.
I disagree. His body was clearly larger and less defined than he was at Duke, and he seemed to get winded more easily despite not playing very much. His movement ability and change of direction did not look quite as special. He was noticeably a step slower tonight than smaller guys like, say, Zylan Cheatham. I wouldn't say that was true at Duke, where he moved more like a really athletic wing than a big man. Tonight, he moved like an explosive big man, but still a big man.
Which makes sense! He hasn't played meaningful basketball in 3 months, and he hasn't gotten into a professional training environment.
But I think there was a change in body and movement skills that wasn't evident in, for example, RJ Barrett. For better or for worse, RJ just looked like RJ, just without the ball as much and on a bad shooting night.
I'm not worried about it in a way that takes the shine off the apple, but as he ages he is going to have to work really hard to remain the good kind of enormous, not the bad kind of enormous. That isn't a real concern for most NBA players, but it probably will be for him. Maybe he's so good it only matters between really really good and dominant, like Shaq or pre-injury Demarcus. Maybe he really works to improve his body, like Kevin Love. Maybe there are times when it's good and times where it's bad, like Draymond or Boris Diaw, and his play oscillates accordingly. I think it'd be a mistake to dismiss it as a total non-issue.
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Did the snap just happen ?
His body was not "clearly larger." Just stop it.
Yeah. He was larger. And winded. No big deal. Dude has been going on a giant press tour and has been wined and dined like none of us will ever even be able to dream off. He is an amazing competitor and will be back in shape before I lose one pant size.
But let's not pretend he hadn't put on a few. Sheeeesh.
I don't see an issue with Frank, I still think he has a place on this team in the Leandro Barbosa role. That's his bright-side future in the NBA imo. I think you can squeeze him in for 12 - 15 minutes to run the floor hard and attack the basket unless NAW is already that ready.
Think Moore and Hart will play a solid bit of 3
:huh: I don't understand how this is even an argument. The movement stuff is completely subjective so I get how one could argue that, but it's clear as day to me his arms look less defined and he looks heavier around his midsection.
On the plus, it was nice to get a feel for his feel in pick and roll. He is going to be a monster as a roll man.
Perkins said before the game he needs to get down to 255. I hope he does just for the sake of ease on his knees long term. Other than that I saw a guy not prepared for the elite athletes he’ll go against but I’m sure he’ll adjust in time.
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This is a useless argument. But I'd say most observers who are not Pelicans fans agree with me. And I'd guess it's closer to 25 pounds than 5. Here's to hoping we find out when he comes into training camp looking great and there's a story about it.
You can get straight jacked up just doing body weight training. NFL great Herschel Walker never touched weights and retired with the same sculpted 235-pound frame that he came into the league with....
undefeated in summer league and pretty much beat the projected summer league champs.....lets go get that chips Pels!!!
Yea I feel many people have never even seen him before tonight.. The same things have been getting said about him since he got to Duke. Like you said 5lbs and maybe 8lbs max of bad weight! That will get cut down just practicing.. Now is he a little out of shape? Sure very possible. All he did to me was just show how hard he is to stop even on a night where nothing was going down for him. 11 points on 4-9 FG in just 9 minutes? This kid without any shot at all and shooting 50% from FT line is a 20ppg scorer.. He just turned 19 years old so people need to calm down a little..
Does Zion need to lose a little weight? Sure, but like I've said before (and plenty of other people have said it too) it's not extra weight. He doesn't need to lose it because he's fat, he just needs to lose it to help preserve his knees. Too much muscle mass can be bad for your joints too: your ankles don't care if it's fat, muscle, or the world's heaviest hat. Weight is weight.
But did he look fat tonight? No. He looked a little tired because, like everyone has said, he hasn't played organised basketball in basically three months. I don't care how good you are at something, if you take a 3 month break, it'll take you more than NINE MINUTES to fully re-integrate it into your system.
He showed hustle, defense, IQ, rebounding ability, and the capacity to get to the line with ease. That's all good enough for me for a summer league game, especially when we already know what he looks like when fully locked in.
These are basically all 1st or 2nd year guys we are bringing in. We have no idea what our true long term needs are for this team. Instead of trying to force a player into a role they aren't as good at for a short term need, I'd much rather we develop them into what position we will need long term.
I don't mind the Pelicans trying to use offseason and summer league to expand Jackson's skillet, it makes sense. But trying to judge a player based on a short term fit right now is silly. We might have more trades coming, players will develop and change this early on, when next year's summer league comes around this team could have an entirely different set of needs.
I heard someone say he was a last minute pull from summer league. I'm not sure what that reason was or if it's even true.
The only thing I could come up with is w eknow one of our 3 non guaranteed contracts have to be cut unless a trade happens so maybe they went with Wood. However we could have entered training camp with 20 players so I'm not sure if we'd make that move this early.
It's not just short term fit. It's longer term too. You're correct that we will have roster changes and player development throughout next season and that by next summer we may have a different lineup with different requirements.
It's that very fact that makes it even more vital for Frank to expand his game beyond one dimensional scoring. When the roster gets turned over, who is it that gets moved? It's the least valuable guys. The guys who have been made redundant (think Moore being upgraded into Redick and now being replaceable) and the guys who just straight up aren't very good (goodbye Diallo).
You say ''I'd much rather develop them into what position we will need in the long term'', in the same paragraph that you write ''we have no idea what our true long term needs are''. It's true: we DON'T know what our long term needs are, so if a player wants to stick around their best bet is being good at more than one thing and having a varied skillset that could fit into multiple lineups. If you have ONE SKILL then you will be the first to go when we get to roster chopping.