December 2nd - New Orleans Pelicans @ San Antonio Spurs - 13-8

Pels hoop today! 🏀

🕖: 7:00pm CT
📺: Bally Sports NO
📻: @995WRNO#Pelicans | @SmoothieKing pic.twitter.com/HVdnuNVhjF

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) December 2, 2022

Back playing again, and this time it's a second match with the Spurs. First time we played them was a 129-110 win just over a week ago, in which Zion had 32/11 and Jonas had 22/10. Graham hit 6 threes that night.

Today, we want to see if we can extend the record to 14-8, 6 games over .500. We have a slightly rougher period coming up this month with a lot of games v Phoenix in a short span of time, so we expect a few losses through the middle of this month: now is the chance to pad out the record with some wins.

Let's see if the team is able to take advantage of a Spurs team which has lost 9 consecutive games.

Attachment 6641

#1 Defense and #8 Offense the last 10 games

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Originally Posted by PaKwAn

Attachment 6641

#1 Defense and #8 Offense the last 10 games

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#1 Defense... who would have thunk it?

can the Pel's keep their heads in the game and take another road game they are supposed to win? stay tuned....

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Originally Posted by ramsters60

can the Pel's keep their heads in the game and take another road game they are supposed to win? stay tuned....

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I'm hoping that the Pels realise that they should be able to beat anyone, any night.

We're 13-8. Two of our losses were razor thin losses that could have easily been wins; 15-6 wouldn't have been remotely implausible. We have the 2nd best Net Rating in the West, after Phoenix. We're 4-1 in our last 5. The 2022 Pelicans are a good team, legitimately good. That should make them play with confidence, and I don't think - given the roster and Green - that we're a team prone to arrogance the way some past Pels teams sometimes seemed to be in patches.

That should make games like this more secure than they might otherwise be. Still no guarantees, anything can happen, but it makes me have some belief.

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Originally Posted by ramsters60

can the Pel's keep their heads in the game and take another road game they are supposed to win? stay tuned....

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Pelicans are 7-1 against teams under 0.500.

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Originally Posted by DarkHornet

#1 Defense... who would have thunk it?

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Im even surprised that we are that good defensively... i wonder if they included the celtics game on that, cause the boston and memphis game was so bad for us

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Originally Posted by Taker597

Pelicans are 7-1 against teams under 0.500.

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I know and its extremely important they continue that too.... change of subject... what do ya'll think about Wendell Carter Jr. and what do think it might take to get him?

no injury report?......so who is out?...

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Originally Posted by 6warddude

no injury report?......so who is out?...

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Herb and BI. Obviously so is EJ and Kira and Seabron at Birmingham.

I keep saying it but Jonas can shoot from distance

Trey Murphy dunks like he is angry lol

Interesting that Dyson got the start over Naji in place of Herb

This lineup aint working. Alvarado - Graham - Dyson - Naji - Nance doesnt know what its doing on offense. 11 - 0 run and they blew the lead

Seems like the league got the memo about Zion not getting fouls. He's 9-10 for the FT line, in the FIRST half.

Our guards are having a miserable night offensively and defensively. If I see another possession with JV and Zion in the game and we don't pound it into the lane, I might just break something. DG should never see the court again. He can't shoot...can't defend...please trade him.

The ball comes to a complete stop when its in CJ's hands. He simply isn't suited for the way we play. People say he is part of our BIG 3; I say he's more suited as a sixth man...and maybe a sixth man somewhere else. Dyson should replace him now. He moves the ball and is miles ahead of CJ defensively already.

I agree that CJ needs to play off guard...we need a starting pg who can penetrate and dish but is also good defensively. Oh yeah...we had one with Lonzo. LOL

zion ran the floor and came up with a super nice block to protect the rim. Big fella playing D

Zion's defense has been something else now! You see the effort now compared to the start of the season.

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Originally Posted by hornetsrebirth

zion ran the floor and came up with a super nice block to protect the rim. Big fella playing D

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Been noticing the last week or so, Zion's has some very positive +/- splits. He's +17 again today. 30 points, 14 rebounds at then end of 3.

Trey Murphy is good, like really good. He is a big time player.

Zion at 30, 15 and 8 in 32 minutes. +27.

Zion 2 assists away from a triple double. 30pts, 14 rebounds, 8 assist

Naji played a hell of a last 2 quarters. That was beautiful. Point Zion unlocks all the guys.

CJ went 2-11 for 5 points and we didnt have BI and we still won by 18 points. I know the Spurs suck but we have some chemistry going.

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Originally Posted by HorneyTexan

I agree that CJ needs to play off guard...we need a starting pg who can penetrate and dish but is also good defensively. Oh yeah...we had one with Lonzo. LOL

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Lonzo penetrate and dish? The guy acted like the paint would set him on fire.

This is getting really silly.

Lakers beat the Bucks on their home floor.

Dallas lost to Detroit.

Very important to take care of business against teams you should beat. Even short handed.

Nice win.

I slept through the game, which sucks, so I'll have to watch it back.

But just looking at the box score, I'm pretty pleased by the outcome at least. 18 point win despite CJ and Graham combining for 3/16 shooting. Still no BI, still no Herb, so Zion puts up 30/15/8 with 2 stls and a block.

JV double double, Trey took 12 threes (5/12 shooting), and dyson got the nod to start which I love to see even if apparently he couldn't manage to shoot tonight. That'll happen from time to time, no biggie.

Zion Williamson is done for the night. Here are his numbers in his last 3 games:

28.7 points
11 rebounds
7 assists
2.3 steals
2 blocks
68.1 FG%
84.6 FT% (22/26)

Absurd

— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) December 3, 2022

And 3-0 in those games

Oh and its also nice that Zion is getting the calls now!

Pels 8-2 over their last 10, on a 3 game win streak, currently tied with Nuggets for 2nd seed in the West. Currently playing at a 52 win pace.

Next game is against those same Nuggets who, despite having the same record, have a considerably worse net rating than us and are 6-4 in their last 10 games. I think we can do it.

Suns just lost at home to the Rockets.

Nuggets lost to the Hawks missing Trae, Collins, and Hunter.

Again major props to the Pels handling business when so many other teams are not.

#Pelicans have won twice in San Antonio during the same regular season for the first time in franchise history

— Jim Eichenhofer (@Jim_Eichenhofer) December 3, 2022

"My mom put me on Magic, Bird, MJ... My stepfather is more old school... Kenny Anderson, Earl Monroe, Slick Watts, Fly Williams...

They played fundamentally sound basketball, but they had their own flare to it."

Zion on what PG's he watched growing up pic.twitter.com/cQTE9hfX3p

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) December 3, 2022

supporting cast of trey,,jose and naji stepped up in the second half........good win..

Pels' Trey Murphy III on Spurs guarding Zion: ?I was on the free throw line and one of the guys on the Spurs was telling another guy, 'Don?t let him go left.' The dude was like, ?Bro I?m trying. Like, it ain?t that easy.? I told him, 'Yeah, he?s a big dude, bro. I?m sorry.'?

— Raul Dominguez Jr. (@Abrjsdad) December 3, 2022

ZiOn OnLy HaS oNe MoVe!!

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Originally Posted by hornetsrebirth

Pels' Trey Murphy III on Spurs guarding Zion: ?I was on the free throw line and one of the guys on the Spurs was telling another guy, 'Don?t let him go left.' The dude was like, ?Bro I?m trying. Like, it ain?t that easy.? I told him, 'Yeah, he?s a big dude, bro. I?m sorry.'?

— Raul Dominguez Jr. (@Abrjsdad) December 3, 2022

ZiOn OnLy HaS oNe MoVe!!

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Said it before, I'll say it again.

Saying someone only has one move doesn't matter if nobody can reliably stop that move. It's true in all sports.

When Khabib was dominating everyone he fought in the UFC, he only ever did so with his ground game. Usually shooting for a single leg, with his head outside the leg. His stand-up, especially early in his UFC run, was laughably bad. Everyone knew it was what he was going for, every fight. Nobody could reliably stop him getting there and controlling them all night.

When Lennox Lewis was dominating the heavyweight scene, everyone knew it was going to be with a thudding long jab all night long before going for the right straight. And yet, somehow, he managed to retire 41-2 with his only two losses avenged.

Until recently, Giannis was heavily criticised for having zero 'bag' because all he ever did was straight line drives to the rim. Still won him 2 MVPs and a ring.

Sure, Zion's going left and to the rim about 85% of the time. Have fun trying to stop him - and if you sell out your entire defense to do so, he'll pick you apart with passing and Ingram will have the easiest night of his life.

In the last 10 games (not counting tonight) the Pelicans are 2nd in the league in WIDE OPEN threes generates at 22.7 per game. Ahead of them is Indiana, directly behind them is Golden State.

This is the Zion effect

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) December 3, 2022

I don't want people to take this the wrong way, but the Pels defense hasn't really missed a beat in any games Herb has missed. In fact the Pels defense has been a smidge better when he sits. Same with Larry.

Wilie speaks on the unit as a collective and this is the unit at work

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) December 3, 2022

Those Ingram/Herb on court DRTGs will go up as the starters figure out their offense together and lean into Zion. This team's defense is tied to their offensive success in a way few teams are

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) December 3, 2022

Trey Murphy is playing like a borderline all star. He pairs perfectly with Zion because he's so good off ball and adds the spacing that Herb doesn't bring to the table. He's going to start eating in to Herb's minutes and the only the stopping him from taking Herb's spot in the starting lineup is that we'd become unbalanced in the 2nd unit and miss his scoring too much. Unless of course, if CJ joined the 2nd unit... i know i know its unlikely but man Dyson - BI - TM3 - Zion - JV is such a well balanced starting lineup. And Jose - CJ - Herb - Nance would be an insane off the bench

Really do not want to give into the narrative, but Zion looks way better without CJ in the lineup with him.


Would rather BI move to the 2 and Trey starts at the 3 and DD at the 1

Would rather CJ coming off the bench with Herb and Jose and Larry.

That will never happen though

That should be "flair" not "flare" though the words sound the same.

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Originally Posted by johnpagenola

That should be "flair" not "flare" though the words sound the same.

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I don't think these rags employ editors like that anymore. I've seen much worse.

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Originally Posted by WhyHornetsWhy

Really do not want to give into the narrative, but Zion looks way better without CJ in the lineup with him.


Would rather BI move to the 2 and Trey starts at the 3 and DD at the 1

Would rather CJ coming off the bench with Herb and Jose and Larry.

That will never happen though

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To be honest, everyone looks better without CJ. They look worse with him on the court. They do a lot more standing around and look way more confused on both ends. With CJ not being able to stop any penetration at all, it makes Zion and Jonas look much worse as defenders. That’s what people didn’t realize until now. CJ is what they needed last year and now he isn’t needed at all. Maybe, he will start to play within the offense, but he isn’t doing that now. He dribbles way too much. They simply need him to come off the bench, but like others have said, he more than likely would disagree with the notion.

At this point in the season, this is how our team's top 5 in EPM stack up:

- Zion Williamson: +5.0, 13th in the NBA (+3.2 offensive, +1.9 defensive)
- Brandon Ingram: +2.8, 38th in the NBA (+2.5 offensive, +0.3 defensive)
- Larry Nance Jr: +0.7, 94th in the NBA (-0.2 offensive, +0.9 defensive)
- Jose Alvarado: +0.5, 102nd in the NBA (-0.2 offensive, +0.7 defensive)
- Jonas Valanciunas: +0.0, 124th in the NBA (+2.1 offensive, -2.1 defensive).

EPM is a pretty volatile stat so it shouldn't be taken as gospel at all, especially this early in the season (for example, I don't think JV is even close to being that big a deficit on defense) but it's fairly telling that the two names you'd expect to see at the top are there*, and CJ isn't even close.

*The names you'd expect to see at the bottom are there too: Jax, Billy, and Temple are the three worst EPM ratings on the team. Jax is currently -6.8 EPM, which is in the 1st percentile. He is ranked joint 403rd out of 404 spots.

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Originally Posted by Fedupfan

To be honest, everyone looks better without CJ. They look worse with him on the court. They do a lot more standing around and look way more confused on both ends. With CJ not being able to stop any penetration at all, it makes Zion and Jonas look much worse as defenders. That?s what people didn?t realize until now. CJ is what they needed last year and now he isn?t needed at all. Maybe, he will start to play within the offense, but he isn?t doing that now. He dribbles way too much. They simply need him to come off the bench, but like others have said, he more than likely would disagree with the notion.

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After the Lakers game AD said point blank their strategy on offense was to attack CJ with whoever he was matched up against. Also agree that the offense seems out of sync with him, but I think he would be great in the 2nd unit where he would be the clear #1 scoring option.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

"My mom put me on Magic, Bird, MJ... My stepfather is more old school... Kenny Anderson, Earl Monroe, Slick Watts, Fly Williams...

They played fundamentally sound basketball, but they had their own flare to it."

Zion on what PG's he watched growing up pic.twitter.com/cQTE9hfX3p

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) December 3, 2022

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Damn, Zion really knows his hoops history. Slick Watts and Fly Williams aren't names you hear referenced every day by guys under the age of 40!

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Originally Posted by Eyquem

Damn, Zion really knows his hoops history. Slick Watts and Fly Williams aren't names you hear referenced every day by guys under the age of 40!

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I remember when Slick played with the Jazz.