April 19th - New Orleans Pelicans @ Phoenix Suns - Playoff Game 2 - 0-1

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Unless there is a structural issue with his foot, debut him in game 3 at home. Give the fans that. Like you say, let him play 20 minutes a game - maybe 25 at an extreme push - against mostly bench lineups (emulating the Zion + Bench juggernaut lineups from last season) and run with it.

If it can't be done for structural health reasons, fine. BUt if you're ever going to do it, do it now.

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Shoot give him 10 minutes! Can you imagine the blender when he takes the court in game 3? Lets goooooooo

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Originally Posted by AusPel

The problem is that he doesn't seal his smaller man and demand the ball, he kind of just runs back out of the key again trying to avoid getting 3 seconds, I suppose

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Yeah I wanted to add that also because it was times where he stood next to Paul and didn't demand the ball come his way....but also we need someone to see that and set him up for that play

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

This is an underrated aspect of why Jax was good this game, and bad in the last few. Tonight he was being used to defend ballhandler in the PnR instead of the roller, and that made a huge difference. Treating Jax like a 7'0 wing instead of a big allowed him to maximise his unique mobility and length while minimising his difficult decision making.

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I know you pay attention to detail..man seeing him switching on Paul and the defense wasn't swarming out of place was just beautiful to see tonight .

Pels rookies with 4 play-in + play-off games

Herb: 9.5pts, 4.3rbds, 1.8asts, 1stl, 0.75blks per game on 48.3%FG and 54.5% 3PT (2.8 per game) - +0 overall
Jose: 6.8pts, 1.5rbds, 2.3asts, 0.5stl, 0.3blk per game on 42.8%FG and 75% 3PT (2 per game) - +10 overall
Trey: 7.8pts, 4.3rbds, 1.3asts, 0.8stl, 0blk per game on 45.4%FG and 50% 3PT (4.5 per game) - +38 overall


Rookies. None from the lottery, one went undrafted.

GSW got three lottery picks and they can barely get minutes in the playoffs.

Pelicans got an Undrafted rookie running the offense , 2nd round pick clocking in 40 minutes as a defensive enforcer, and a basic ****** 18th overall 1st round pick flamethrowing from the perimeter.

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Originally Posted by Taker597

GSW got three lottery picks and they can barely get minutes in the playoffs.

Pelicans got an Undrafted rookie running the offense , 2nd round pick clocking in 40 minutes as a defensive enforcer, and a basic ****** 18th overall 1st round pick flamethrowing from the perimeter.

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Cant say it enough! Love these rookies. Jose is probably my fav player on the team because of the passion that he plays with. Herb is too good of a defender to be a rookie. And even though Trey is giving us everything we desperately needed from the perimeter, we are going to see he is more than that, dude is a complete player!

It was such an amazing win. Jaxson Hayes finally applied himself the way we need him to play. I wonder how big a factor Willie Green is in this series just from having information from being apart of their staff.
I haven't been this happy in a long time as a New Orleans Basketball fan. David Griffin has finally had some things go his way and I'm really happy for him too.

To me, Nance was the X factor. Go back and watch that first 5 minutes again. Pels were super sloppy. Nance came in and stabilized so much and then they were toe to toe with the Suns the rest of the way. Was super impressed with him. Jax, Herb, Trey, and Jose all had their moments. Even Devonte was good. But Nance was the role player that really stood out to me. What a massive throw in to that CJ trade

Nance was everywhere and in everything when he was on court. definitely a massive piece to just get thrown in, thanks portland!

When Zion is healthy and as Hayes gets more experienced, our platoon of bigs are diverse enough to handle just about any situation. Considering two of our best players can spread the floor so well.....we're going places.

Bron calling rob pelinka to trade ad for bi

Would you rather have to welcome back Anthony Davis or Eric Gordon?

Without Booker this year, the Suns are 8-6. But only ONE of those wins came against a winning/playoff team. And even that one has an asterisk, as it was against Boston on December 10th, back when they were terrible.

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

To me, Nance was the X factor. Go back and watch that first 5 minutes again. Pels were super sloppy. Nance came in and stabilized so much and then they were toe to toe with the Suns the rest of the way. Was super impressed with him. Jax, Herb, Trey, and Jose all had their moments. Even Devonte was good. But Nance was the role player that really stood out to me. What a massive throw in to that CJ trade

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Nance stood out to me as well. He's a key piece of this roster now and moving forward. He's also a great mentor for Jax imo

Griffin deserves a raise for getting McCollum and Nance for basically nothing.

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Originally Posted by PaKwAn

Bron calling rob pelinka to trade ad for bi

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I think it's safe to say that BI has no interest in playing with Lebron again.

Stay hungry , stay in course and don’t wake Me up ;)


That win was impresive ! Willie You are the Man!

Suns need CP3 to go to supernova in the 4th qtr to win game 1.

They needed Booker to look prime Jordan and score 31 in one half to even keep up for first half of gm 2.

Suns are not that good. Pelicans are 18-3 with McCollum and Ingram playing together.

Pels need to wrap this up in 6 games especially if Booker is out. Dallas is a VERY good match up for the Pels next round, they have nobody that can defend McCollum or Ingram.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Unless there is a structural issue with his foot, debut him in game 3 at home. Give the fans that. Like you say, let him play 20 minutes a game - maybe 25 at an extreme push - against mostly bench lineups (emulating the Zion + Bench juggernaut lineups from last season) and run with it.

If it can't be done for structural health reasons, fine. BUt if you're ever going to do it, do it now.

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I don't know. If this series was a foregone conclusion, I'd agree. But it's putting a lot on Willie's plate to try and integrate Zion into the gameplan now. Especially on defense. Especially with no game conditioning. Even though I suppose, you could give him Graham's minutes, he might give you a more consistent three point threat ...

Love me some T-Spoon.

T-spoon was getting me hype.

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Originally Posted by Taker597

GSW got three lottery picks and they can barely get minutes in the playoffs.

Pelicans got an Undrafted rookie running the offense , 2nd round pick clocking in 40 minutes as a defensive enforcer, and a basic ****** 18th overall 1st round pick flamethrowing from the perimeter.

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And almost everybody wanted to fire Griff

The rooks have been amazing!! (Including the rookie coach :))

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Originally Posted by DroopyDawg

Love me some T-Spoon.

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I want to see some contrasting Phoenix rooms

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Originally Posted by PolishFan

And almost everybody wanted to fire Griff

The rooks have been amazing!! (Including the rookie coach :))

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Not to mention, Jaxson Hayes did look like Siakam for 3 or 4 mins last night!!

Jax just guaranteeing he'll be cost controlled, because he really wants to stay on this title contending sqwad

25Z Backgammon right there

This has to be one of the better 8th seeds in history. If anything we are a pseudo 8th seed after the acquisition of CJ. We?d probably have a 5th-6th seed if we had this roster and continuity all season. No surprise we have competed

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Originally Posted by AusPel

Jax just guaranteeing he'll be cost controlled, because he really wants to stay on this title contending sqwad

25Z Backgammon right there

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I hope Jax stays to be honest. If he stays on a lowish contract he is useful even with his shortcomings. Best case scenario is he takes the next step after a deal

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Originally Posted by JJackisangry

This has to be one of the better 8th seeds in history. If anything we are a pseudo 8th seed after the acquisition of CJ. We?d probably have a 5th-6th seed if we had this roster and continuity all season. No surprise we have competed

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Depends. In that world, do Nuggets have Porter and Murray? Clips have PG and Kawhi?

Fact is that this might be the weakest WC in a LONG time. And guys keep getting hurt. Why you gotta strike now with Zion. Maybe nobody gets hurt next year and you are better but the road is way harder.

I hope we can continue this 3 point shooting we had in game 2 where we shot 17/30 56% from 3 while the suns only made 13/35 37%... that's definitely not our normal pels out there

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Originally Posted by JJackisangry

This has to be one of the better 8th seeds in history. If anything we are a pseudo 8th seed after the acquisition of CJ. We?d probably have a 5th-6th seed if we had this roster and continuity all season. No surprise we have competed

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9th seed and hell yeah you right. This team is nothing like what it was at the beginning of the year. Team has rallied behind the coach, the rookies have developed like a MF, and we added an all star caliber veteran leader, and we finally have everyone healthy (except our best player of course). This team is much better than the record indicates.

Another hot take, but hey, I'm on a roll. Deal with it.

Our Pelicans will shift the playing style of the NBA back to big men being more important. Not the slow plodding big men of old, but more versatile big men. When Zion gets back, we can dominate the front court for the full 48 min and people will have to adjust or get owned in the paint and on the glass all game long.

And no. You can't counter this take for at least two more days because I was only 1 off the final score and all the people wanting to counter this were saying we were going to get swept.

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Originally Posted by hornetsrebirth

9th seed and hell yeah you right. This team is nothing like what it was at the beginning of the year. Team has rallied behind the coach, the rookies have developed like a MF, and we added an all star caliber veteran leader, and we finally have everyone healthy (except our best player of course). This team is much better than the record indicates.

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It amuses me when people say this. The best player in the Pelican arsenal is the player many want to kick to the curb...BI. You can't be a team's best player when you are:

1. unavailable (has played way less than 50% of his teams games since being drafted),
2. fundamentally one dimensional offensively,
3. a total liability defensively
4. undersized for the position he plays (funny, huh? who would ever think the words 'undersized' and 'Zion' could be linked).

Right now, as we speak, Garrett Temple is more valuable to this team than our paper superstar. And, that's only a fact.

Nah. Remember that if you do victory laps you are just an attention seeker who has serious mental health problems. Because ONLY Mac does that according to Donato. So, not allowed

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Originally Posted by msusousaphone

Another hot take, but hey, I'm on a roll. Deal with it.

Our Pelicans will shift the playing style of the NBA back to big men being more important. Not the slow plodding big men of old, but more versatile big men. When Zion gets back, we can dominate the front court for the full 48 min and people will have to adjust or get owned in the paint and on the glass all game long.

And no. You can't counter this take for at least two more days because I was only 1 off the final score and all the people wanting to counter this were saying we were going to get swept.

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Teams have already adjusted back to twin/tre tower lineups, tbh. Like, look at the cavs. Or the Lakers two years ago. Even the bucks have had a lot of size during their contender window. Could rattle off more if i wanted too

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Originally Posted by As I See It

It amuses me when people say this. The best player in the Pelican arsenal is the player many want to kick to the curb...BI. You can't be a team's best player when you are:

1. unavailable (has played way less than 50% of his teams games since being drafted),
2. fundamentally one dimensional offensively,
3. a total liability defensively
4. undersized for the position he plays (funny, huh? who would ever think the words 'undersized' and 'Zion' could be linked).

Right now, as we speak, Garrett Temple is more valuable to this team than our paper superstar. And, that's only a fact.

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nah, our best player is still Zion. Also literally no wanted to "kick BI to the curb" that's just head cannon. Honestly, are you like an Ingram family member or something? Weird how you've pitted our two star players against each other

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Originally Posted by Funcrusher

nah, our best player is still Zion. Also literally no wanted to "kick BI to the curb" that's just head cannon. Honestly, are you like an Ingram family member or something? Weird how you've pitted our two star players against each other

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Linking me to Ingram family is hilarious.

Anyways, welcome to the forum, Mr. Anderson. How's your stepson doing these days? Have you and your wife gotten his nutritional needs figured out yet (or his PnR defense for that matter, too). Look forward to your next visit with Jordy.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

Linking me to Ingram family is hilarious.

Anyways, welcome to the forum, Mr. Anderson. How's your stepson doing these days? Have you and your wife gotten his nutritional needs figured out yet (or his PnR defense for that matter, too). Look forward to your next visit with Jordy.

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you're a funny guy man. I mean, can you actually debate my points and tell me im wrong? doubt you can. Everything you said in your initial post is flat out wrong or easily disputable. The fine eye test plus statistical evidence disagrees with you, and ive presented those points to you many a time, yet you always ignore them and go on with your libel. And, if anything, it's funny that you liken me to Zion's stepdad because i don't try to villanize a 21 year old guy who just wants to play basketball above all else. Kinda sick honestly, but you do you i guess

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Originally Posted by MichaelMcNamara

Nah. Remember that if you do victory laps you are just an attention seeker who has serious mental health problems. Because ONLY Mac does that according to Donato. So, not allowed

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The mental health thing as over the line. Lol

But hey, fwiw, I diagnose for mental health and don't see anything worth diagnosing.

But I'm taking this lap. I was up until 4am finishing a medicaid audit and all I'm running on is dopamine.

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Originally Posted by Funcrusher

nah, our best player is still Zion. Also literally no wanted to "kick BI to the curb" that's just head cannon. Honestly, are you like an Ingram family member or something? Weird how you've pitted our two star players against each other

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Ok....yeah....but like...(shifts goal posts)....in history they never remember who started the movement but who did it best, right? Like Nirvana vs Green River.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

It amuses me when people say this. The best player in the Pelican arsenal is the player many want to kick to the curb...BI. You can't be a team's best player when you are:

1. unavailable (has played way less than 50% of his teams games since being drafted),
2. fundamentally one dimensional offensively,
3. a total liability defensively
4. undersized for the position he plays (funny, huh? who would ever think the words 'undersized' and 'Zion' could be linked).

Right now, as we speak, Garrett Temple is more valuable to this team than our paper superstar. And, that's only a fact.

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seriously bro. If you're gonna spew nonsense like that, pull up actual receipts of posters wanting to trade BI. Again, doubt you can

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Originally Posted by msusousaphone

Ok....yeah....but like.....in history they never remember who started the movement but who did it best, right? Like Nirvana vs Green River.

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no, i get it. Rn now Zion's our best player, but our best player in theory. Until he gets back on the court that title means nothing. So i get it. BI is really freaking good rn, definitely if you're comparing him now to Zion last year it's pretty damn close

BI has been around forever-- six seasons in, it's easy to forget he's only 24. And this was by far the best year of his career in terms of on court +/- and on-off +/-. Very positive signs.

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Originally Posted by Eyquem

BI has been around forever-- six seasons in, it's easy to forget he's only 24. And this was by far the best year of his career in terms of on court +/- and on-off +/-. Very positive signs.

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for real. This forum has more or less showered BI with much deserved praise (amidst the doom and gloom) and it's funny to me that anyone would try to dispute that. I literally said his ceiling was T-Mac at the beginning of the year. Still believe that obviously

There's still an evaluation ongoing on MRI results of Phoenix Suns All-Star Devin Booker's right hamstring, but it appears unlikely he will be able to play in Games 3 and 4 in New Orleans, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 20, 2022

Welp.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

There's still an evaluation ongoing on MRI results of Phoenix Suns All-Star Devin Booker's right hamstring, but it appears unlikely he will be able to play in Games 3 and 4 in New Orleans, sources tell ESPN.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 20, 2022

Welp.

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now's the time to strike

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Originally Posted by Funcrusher

seriously bro. If you're gonna spew nonsense like that, pull up actual receipts of posters wanting to trade BI. Again, doubt you can

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People - including me - have said that they are sceptical about Ingram being good enough to be the number one guy on a championship team, and that he might end up being a DeRozan type guy who is absolutely an all-star calibre player who just ends up being traded for the megastar top-10-player type if championship level progress isn't being made in 3 or 4 years.

For some reason (I'm kidding, I know the reason) people like AISI have decided that this means we all desperately want Ingram off the team because we hate him personally and think he needs to be ''kicked to the curb''.

This is, of course, a completely dishonest and purposeful misrepresentation of the point, but what else do you expect out of AISI?

Suns' Devin Booker (hamstring) unlikely to play in Games 3 and 4 in New Orleans; evaluation of MRI results ongoing - Woj http://espn.com/app

Wow.... We really got something here man

You can grab this series right now. Zion wants to play. I dont see the dilemma.