December 25th - New Orleans Pelicans @ Miami Heat - 1-0

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Originally Posted by Wecandothis

Heat are a good team they don't take many bad shots and they really move the ball

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Watching them it almost looks like they went to the finals a few months ago.

I want to know who on our team said some personal stuff about the refs that has them holding a grudge against the team....2 games now and some wild and mom calls

Not too sure what the timeouts are doing. Again, down 5-6. Just get easy buckets. Attack rim, get kickout. Nope, that’s too much like right.

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Originally Posted by DaPelFromHell

Zion with a great first half and disappeared in the 2nd

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Zion had 8 pts 2rbds in the 3rd.

This is what the defense look like without Jrue

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Originally Posted by HartOfaPelican

Refs did THIER job. Took all of our momentum away with the BS foul calls.

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Yeah. Every time we had momentum they’d make a godawful decision and shift the game the other way. Miami has always had this weird pull with officials so no surprise.

Having said that, we’ve fallen into too many bad habits once the dung hit the fan and we have no idea how to play basketball once our starting lineup is out. We need a big response in the next game. Not impressed.

How was that not a blocking foul lmao

We was in a 5min drought until zion points

Reddick gets hacked on 3. No call. LMAO at these refs.

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Originally Posted by stevemadden504

This is what the defense look like without Jrue

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Yeah. We aren’t giving up 120. I kid as that wasn’t Jrue’s fault (Gentry), but for good bits of this game we were fine. Definitely better than before.

Hey we're going to lose but isn't it wild that we can face Toronto/Miami in our first two games, come out 1-1 with the loss being probably by single digits, and still feel like it's a bit disappointing? That's a good sign!

These refs were horrible today. If Bled & JJ have half the game they had the other day we likely win

Boy we're gonna have a wild film session tomorrow (if we don't play idk the schedule). The Defensive trash in the first half and late game. Then the offensive lapses in the 2nd quarter and late game non existent offense. We'll get better as the season goes on. But Bledsoe, Hayes, Melli, and Lonzo needs to show up something heavily. I will say Lonzo played decent the first half... Second half was back to some old Lonzo.

Having said all that, Miami needs to be investigated. They slipped the officials a 20

Bledsoe with the meaningless 3.

The game over put in Kira for Bled

I was like watch him hit when it doesn’t matter for Bled

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Originally Posted by kinglio21093

I like the fight, but too little too late. Can't make a shot tonight either. But they're not winning this game.

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Originally Posted by JJackisangry

Yeah. Every time we had momentum they’d make a godawful decision and shift the game the other way. Miami has always had this weird pull with officials so no surprise.

Having said that, we’ve fallen into too many bad habits once the dung hit the fan and we have no idea how to play basketball once our starting lineup is out. We need a big response in the next game. Not impressed.

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I agree. I played D1 soccer. It’s SO HARD to stay focused and competitive when the refs are so against you. Every single tome we were making a run the refs CLEARLY killed it.

The bam flagrant. The foul on Melli with Dragic wildly running into him. Those were the two big ones. Notice how they took 5 minutes and then gave the Flagrant.

It’s a fact that these refs bet on games and are manipulated. Tonight was a perfect example.

Loving these garbage Zion points lol

Hopefully Stan is open to experimentation if the backcourt continues to struggle (at least for the bench). I haven’t seen a valid reason for keeping Nickeil out at the very least.

The back court is the weakest link. Give NAW his minutes.

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Originally Posted by HartOfaPelican

I agree. I played D1 soccer. It’s SO HARD to stay focused and competitive when the refs are so against you. Every single tome we were making a run the refs CLEARLY killed it.

The bam flagrant. The foul on Melli with Dragic wildly running into him. Those were the two big ones. Notice how they took 5 minutes and then gave the Flagrant.

It’s a fact that these refs bet on games and are manipulated. Tonight was a perfect example.

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That Bradley slap on Ingram made me cry. How do they get away with it. I’m at a loss when I see noncalls like that.

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Originally Posted by luckyman

The back court is the weakest link. Give NAW his minutes.

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There has to be an injury or something. I'm literally crying for him to enter and give us a spark.

Final Stats

Zion: 32pts, 14rbds, 1ast, 1stl - 11/20 (55%) and 10/15 from the line (66.7%). 3TO, 1foul
Ingram: 28pts, 2rbds, 3asts - 7/17 (41.2%), 4/8 from 3 (50%), and 10/11 from the line (90.9%). 4TO
Adams: 6pts, 9rbds, 1ast, 2stl, 1blk - 3/3 shooting
Lonzo: 6pts, 2rbds, 6asts, 2stl - 2/8 shooting (25%) all from 3. 3TO, 4fouls
Bledsoe: 5pts, 2rbds, 6asts, 1stl - 2/10 shooting (20%), 1/6 from 3 (16.7%). 5TO, 2 fouls.

Hart: 12/9, 50% shooting
Redick: 8/2, 1/7 shooting (14.3%)
Melli: 1 point, 0/2 shooting
Hayes: 1rebound, 1 assist, 0/1 shooting, 3 minutes total.

No takeaways at all from this game. Other than, the Pels were not allowed to compete because the game was completely controlled and one sided by the refs. Constant fouls on Heat, none called when Pels were within single digits. Game was determined before tipoff. We just thought Pels had a chance. If this is how they are going to treat favorites, this will be a long season.

Love going on Twitter after a game like this and seeing all the people I follow who are fans of Eastern Conference teams laughing about how Bledsoe can be.

Watching veteran point guards expose Bledsoe on national TV never gets old.

— Anthony Doyle (@Anthonysmdoyle) December 25, 2020

I wonder if Stan is still trying to figure out the blending of Bled and Zo. Naw needs more PT. Also if Kira keeps making strides like SVG says he is, get him some PT as well. Our Backcourt could use some tweaks when it's not playing well.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Love going on Twitter after a game like this and seeing all the people I follow who are fans of Eastern Conference teams laughing about how Bledsoe can be.

Watching veteran point guards expose Bledsoe on national TV never gets old.

— Anthony Doyle (@Anthonysmdoyle) December 25, 2020

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He just played like he wasn't in an actual game. Just kind of coasted. Good thing Stan is not Alvin and that won’t last long.

Zion Williamson (32 pts) joins LeBron James (34 pts in 2003) as the only players in NBA history to score 30 points on Christmas before turning 21. pic.twitter.com/FAU6LeyGYY

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) December 25, 2020

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Originally Posted by Fedupfan

He just played like he wasn't in an actual game. Just kind of coasted. Good thing Stan is not Alvin and that won’t last long.

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It's a thing. Bledsoe just does this, semi-regularly. Every now and again he will just have a game where he's abominable, usually whenever he's playing in a game that's on National TV.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

It's a thing. Bledsoe just does this, semi-regularly. Every now and again he will just have a game where he's abominable, usually whenever he's playing in a game that's on National TV.

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Looks like we should've kept Hill and gave OKC bledsoe

Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson:

60 points, 18/37 from the field

Rest of the Pelicans:

38 points, 13/41 from the field

— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) December 25, 2020

... well there's your problem

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson:

60 points, 18/37 from the field

Rest of the Pelicans:

38 points, 13/41 from the field

— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) December 25, 2020

... well there's your problem

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This team needs a backup C badly.
Hayes and Melli won't cut it.

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Originally Posted by hornetzplaya

Looks like we should've kept Hill and gave OKC bledsoe

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You say that like it was an option...

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Originally Posted by AUSSIE_PELICAN

This team needs a backup C badly.
Hayes and Melli won't cut it.

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I see Hernangomez getting minutes with Gabriel shortly

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Originally Posted by Fedupfan

I see Hernangomez getting minutes with Gabriel shortly

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Well SVG said in the post game that he needed to give Hayes and Melli more minutes to get into a rhythm. -___- we'll see how they respond in future games

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Originally Posted by Fedupfan

I see Hernangomez getting minutes with Gabriel shortly

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I see neither. If you think we're going 4 deep on bigs, then there's a fundamental disconnect between you and NBA rotations under SVG.

If you think we're even going 3 deep, assuming Hayes is totally cut and Hernangomez replaces him, and you'd rather give those minutes to Wenyen Gabriel than Hayes, then your investment of opportunity is wildly out of whack.

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Originally Posted by hornetzplaya

Well SVG said in the post game that he needed to give Hayes and Melli more minutes to get into a rhythm. -___- we'll see how they respond in future games

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I agree. Tonight Melli played 9 minutes and took 2 shots. He was at his best last year when he was getting about 15 minutes a game and shooting almost every time he got daylight: if you can persuade that back out of him, his value increases dramatically.

Similarly, Hayes played 3 minutes tonight. Not sure how you expect any value out of anyone in 3 minutes.

This was a 2nd straight road game and a VERY early and unusual start. SVG should have been ready to dig a bit deeper into the bench. Especially when your starting guards are hot poop on a stick.

Just really inexcusable to not see NAW today.

This team is 7 deep. Anything else is just noise. Its clear that SVG will lean heavily on our starting line up with Redick and Hart off the bench. Yea he may sprinkle in Hayes, Melli, and NAW but I wouldnt expect them to get consistent playing time of note.

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Originally Posted by Snarly

This team is 7 deep. Anything else is just noise. Its clear that SVG will lean heavily on our starting line up with Redick and Hart off the bench. Yea he may sprinkle in Hayes, Melli, and NAW but I wouldnt expect them to get consistent playing time of note.

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Which is true of most NBA teams. That still doesnt mean you neglect your young talent.

Duncan Robinson was a UFA and signed with the Heat as a 2-way player. Bounced back and forth in the G-league his first year. They developed him to whoop the Pelicans on Xmas day today.

With the back court being so weak and unpredictable, NAW should see regular minutes imo.

bad refs....bad bledsoe and JJ....to me it seem like SVG dont trust hayes and melli so i guess we need better backups at the center and power forward position....the team showed fight in them so thats good....the team will be ok, we just have to tighten up the front court 2nd unit somehow....

Listen we didn't play (much)(I'm including Hayes and Melli)Thornwell, Naw, Melli, Hayes, or Kira much to none at all. We have people who can give up decent bench play. When some of these are off(cause it happens to the best of us) we need those guys to come in and give us valuable minutes. We HAVE to play them to see what value they bring to the team. If those guys put in 5 points each, as well as some rebounding and defense, this is a completely different ball game.

EDIT: Let's say Bled and Zo are having a tough quarter or so, we should be able to put in thornwell and NAW (and/or Kira) to give us a spark. Same with Melli and Hayes. They're still raw but we gotta be able to evaluate what they bring.

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Originally Posted by luckyman

Which is true of most NBA teams. That still doesnt mean you neglect your young talent.

Duncan Robinson was a UFA and signed with the Heat as a 2-way player. Bounced back and forth in the G-league his first year. They developed him to whoop the Pelicans on Xmas day today.

With the back court being so weak and unpredictable, NAW should see regular minutes imo.

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I agree, although I would rather be playing Kira than NAW out of the two.

The general point, which is basically that you accept some sub-optimal play from young players in order to give them the reps to become valuable in the future, and because the alternative is just having nothing at all in their places and losing anyway, is one that I agree with. It's part of why I was so in favour of giving Hayes minutes last season: Favors can't go 36 minutes, so either you play someone like Hayes and let them develop which risks the loss, or you play no big at all and use stupid smallball lineups with 4 guards and lose anyway - might as well take the option with the development in it.

Same this year. Lonzo/Bledsoe are not 48 minutes of lead guard, they just aren't, so play Kira (or NAW) and maybe we lose those minutes but we lose the final 8 minutes when Bledsoe and Lonzo are gassed anyway so why not get the development out of it?

Great game for us.

Miami is the reigning Eastern Champs and very much looked in form. We looked like a good team that goes hot and cold....which makes sense....because our longest tenured player is a sophomore.

Game one was a dream. This game was still good. More realistic of what we'll see as we build up experience and continuity.

To be fair though, it's a new coaching staff new group of guys and a very short training camp....

Zion through 2 games: 23.5/12/2 on 62.0% shooting (18/29) and 58% from the line (11/19)
Ingram through 2 games: 26/5.5/7 on 47.0% shooting (17/36) and 84.6% from the line (11/13)

Good stuff, I say let's just do that all year from those two.

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Originally Posted by PaKwAn

To be fair though, it's a new coaching staff new group of guys and a very short training camp....

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Big facts. The fluidity and lapses of the offense and defense I'm not too worried about. It'll get better with time. However I visibly show frustration with us not playing our younger guys to see what they offer. The pressure to win a championship isn't a priority. This is mainly a trial and error season (and to also have a winning record). NAW, Kira, Hayes, Thornwell, and Melli need minutes to grow. Can't just play Hart and JJ and expect to be good.

We can also experiment with Wenyan and Hernangomez.

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Originally Posted by msusousaphone

Great game for us.

Miami is the reigning Eastern Champs and very much looked in form. We looked like a good team that goes hot and cold....which makes sense....because our longest tenured player is a sophomore.

Game one was a dream. This game was still good. More realistic of what we'll see as we build up experience and continuity.

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I dont think this game was realistic from the back court standpoint. They wont look as good as game 1 (as far as shooting) but they wont look as bad as today either.

It will be somewhere in the middle with Bledsoe looking mostly better than Zo, but laying eggs from time to time. But in the meantime, NAW has to see the floor. He has the upside to be better than both of them.

I'm absolutely fine with young Kira being a spectator this year.

Few takeaways from the game:

1. Keep Bledsoe away from the 2nd unit. It’s fine if he sees minutes alongside Zion and Ingram, but he just doesn’t fit apart from the defensive side of the ball. He ran them into the ground.

2. We either need to bring in a big personality or start holding the officials accountable. Do the LeBron routine and gather the squad, surround the ref and let your voices be heard. I don’t think we win that game regardless of the officials, but that game is much closer if we weren’t getting hosed every time we make a run. If our players won’t speak up, Stan needs to. It’s the dark side of the NBA that we have to accept. We can’t let them decide the game

3. The 9man rotation failed. Add Nickeil to that 2nd unit. Bledsoe/Reddick no bueno