January 26th - New Orleans Pelicans vs Oklahoma City Thunder - 26-18

Let's Hoop NOLA!

🏀: vs Thunder
🕖: 7:00 pm CT
📺: @BallySportsNO
📻: @995WRNO #Pelicans | @SmoothieKing pic.twitter.com/qPe946sCVJ

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) January 26, 2024

Pels playing again, this time against the young Thunder, one of the better teams in the league this year, led by serial FT grifter SGA and rookie of the year competitor Chet Holmgren.

It's going to be a tough out and I think a loss here is one of those ''it could happen'' things that doesn't get me upset.

But only if we play well. Losing to a great team happens, if they're just on fire and your shots don't go. But losing because we just wet the bed? Unacceptable.

Tonight I'm going to be looking for effort and intensity, and seeing if we continue on the Point Zion train from last game. Hopefully we do and see the positive results continue.

Let's see what happens.

I am usually very pesimistic person but i really like our matchup vs thunder since we are much bigger team. I want us to assert dominance in the paint today, i want everyone to rebound the ball(yes Zion you too) and i want us to hustle. If we do that we are winning this game. Cmn Jonas, dont that skinny Abraham Lincoln wannabe outrebound and outhustle you today, i want to you to put the ball in the basket and him on the floor!

We will have problems with refs and Shai/Herb matchup, that is why i need early tehnical from someone, after the first bull******** foul.

We should win this and this is one of those that will upset me if we don't!!!

And if i am honest, this is the matchup i would like in the playoffs!

Shai gets so many calls, it is sickening. It is almost Harden-like. He's averaging 11 FTs a game in January. Zion is only averaging 5 a game during the same period.

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Originally Posted by PELICANSFAN

Shai gets so many calls, it is sickening. It is almost Harden-like. He's averaging 11 FTs a game in January. Zion is only averaging 5 a game during the same period.

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That is a crime. But it’s part of the reason we need to be careful with how we approach the paint.

Zion is questionable due to a left foot bone contusion........

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Originally Posted by PaKwAn

Zion is questionable due to a left foot bone contusion........

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I think it's probably just them having an excuse to rest him tomorrow, or maybe rest him tonight and play tomorrow.

As soon as they say they are going to ride the point Zion wave. Enough of that BS.

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Originally Posted by donato

I think it's probably just them having an excuse to rest him tomorrow, or maybe rest him tonight and play tomorrow.

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Yeah that’s what it is

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Originally Posted by PELICANSFAN

Shai gets so many calls, it is sickening. It is almost Harden-like. He's averaging 11 FTs a game in January. Zion is only averaging 5 a game during the same period.

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It's a shame because outside of the FTs I actually really like Shai's game. Tons of finesse, really great upper body control, excellent mover in tight spots, and a master of the awkward under-the-hoop finish. It's super fun. But the grifting is egregious and, as you say, so voluminous that it detracts.

Embiid is the same. He's averaging 12 FTAs a game for the entire season and a significant portion of that comes from outright flopping. Marcus-Smart-On-His-Worst-Day level flopping. Makes him intolerable to watch even if I'm happy to admit that he's very talented.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by donato

I think it's probably just them having an excuse to rest him tomorrow, or maybe rest him tonight and play tomorrow.

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they pulled ej up, so maybe zion sit out tonight..

If he’s going to sit, I’d rather it be against an EC opponent.

He’s out so I guess they care more about tomorrow which they will probably sit half the roster

Disgusting preformance. Turnovers and they are killing us in the paint instead of other way around. Jonas is playing like a ********** out there. Dunk the ********ing ball man...

The difference in coaching here is severe. It’s something you can’t make up for.

This is the game that will make you want to trade Jonas and half the roster. I just can’t stand to see them play passive on the home court.

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Originally Posted by Mrakar

Disgusting preformance. Turnovers and they are killing us in the paint instead of other way around. Jonas is playing like a ********** out there. Dunk the ********ing ball man...

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I know some will say that this is ok cause they scored 153 last game instead of being disgusted, like they should be that the game against a good team is the one they stink in. Idc what anyone says. The Pels can destroy this OKC team. This is the game where you decide who is part of the future. Jonas is at the point where they may trade him before the end of the weekend. Like I can deal with anything but being this soft against every high profile team is pathetic.

trey is unplayable while he is in this slump....you know its bad for him when he is missing free throws... hawkins need all of those mins and use zeller for rebounding help....

start cj, ingram, hawkins, nance and jonas to catchup and take the lead...

You can tell at halftime the message wasn’t urgency that’s for sure. Sheesh man I long for the day.

Trey doesn’t even look like an NBA player right now to be fair. Could get his chucks and lack of defense from 90% of the Gleague.

This is why you don’t celebrate one game like they do all the time. They are miserably soft and inconsistent. They refuse to play with urgency and be physical at all.

These guys have been walking the entire night on both ends. That’s the difference in the game.

They will lose the next two.

This is a 7th-8th seed team.

Embrace it and accept it.

They just need a leader in the worst way. Someone that refuses to get punked like this.

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Originally Posted by WhyHornetsWhy

They will lose the next two.

This is a 7th-8th seed team.

Embrace it and accept it.

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Only because they don’t have someone that holds them accountable and demands urgency. Willie said all the right things two games ago and yet his team still walks up and down the court.

Pels have to trade Brandon Ingram in the offseason. He will never be KD. He is an inconsistent mid range shooter who will ask for a supermax. Fans should walk out if Grif pays him.

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Originally Posted by Darkhorse985

Pels have to trade Brandon Ingram in the offseason. He will never be KD. He is an inconsistent mid range shooter who will ask for a supermax. Fans should walk out if Grif pays him.

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Yeah he’s such a beta it makes him inconsistent. A max player has to be an alpha.

I'd rather pay Brandon and move CJ for a young player and an expiring. Not sure what Trey's value is, but he's pretty far from untouchable to me.

Schedule gets brutal now.

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Originally Posted by Fedupfan

I know some will say that this is ok cause they scored 153 last game instead of being disgusted, like they should be that the game against a good team is the one they stink in. Idc what anyone says. The Pels can destroy this OKC team. This is the game where you decide who is part of the future. Jonas is at the point where they may trade him before the end of the weekend. Like I can deal with anything but being this soft against every high profile team is pathetic.

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Exactly, we get pushed around by 200lb rookie... Yes i know Zion didn't play, but still we should be able to fight with those guys and there is no reason they should be stronger then we are...

We need to have reallity check with Trey Murphy. I wrote couple of weeks ago that he was taking though shots and that is why he cant get into rythm, now he started to miss good ones. We just don't generate a lot of easy baskets, especially when Zion is not playing. We have a lot of shooters and when they are hot they are hot, but we need to find a way to score more consistently. I dont care if we play Pistons and then next day the Wolves we cant score one day 150 and next day 80...

That was really terribble game all around....

I'm curious about OKC in the playoffs, though. They are healthy for now, Shai gets an enormous amount of whistles in every Game - generally everything is going according to their plans. The question is, how will they plays in the Playoffs when teams will defend them more physically and Shai won't get all those whistles? I won't be surprised by a 4-0 sweep...

Really getting sick and tired of these fake injuries to
rest Zion. We are talking about a 23 kid and he?s getting
treated like a 20 year vet. They are paying him a full time
salary not part time. In has to be causing some animosity within
the team.

Our #1 player right now is Jonas . He believes in no days off.

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Originally Posted by 13 - 3

Our #1 player right now is Jonas . He believes in no days off.

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he takes them On court

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Originally Posted by Mrakar

he takes them On court

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Exactly. Yesterday should have been 30+ for Jonas, but instead he makes himself look like a clumsy ****** fool. Happens against every playoff team.

https://external-content.duckduckgo....43e&ipo=images

Will the real pels team please stand up? Can we just average it out? Talk about feast or famine. Sheesh.

Looks like we're 5th in the pecking order at best in the west. I'll take playoffs while avoiding the playing this year. I just wamt year over year improvement. Staying healthy for the most part will be an improvement.

Not a good showing. I can see why a long break might throw you off your rhythm but that was weak. As someone said we just don?t have the guy holding everyone accountable and they showed up sluggish as all hell. Gotta wake up.