No reason this team can't get the 8th seed.

With jrue back and zion coming wednesday and with the break out of Ingram they are most talented team. If they get in it would most likely be a matchup vs the lakers.

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Originally Posted by Speakthetruth

With jrue back and zion coming wednesday and with the break out of Ingram they are most talented team. If they get in it would most likely be a matchup vs the lakers.

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We would have nothing to lose vs the lakers and everything to gain. I just wanna see Zion out muscle ad

Yea pels would have house money

Would be like the 2011 playoffs.

Honestly, people might call me crazy.... but I think we can fight for the 7 seed.

I really believe in this team and I think we can make a big run!

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Originally Posted by HartOfaPelican

Honestly, people might call me crazy.... but I think we can fight for the 7 seed.

I really believe in this team and I think we can make a big run!

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Getting Zion his minutes will cause a domino effect. Its like getting a free agent mid season. Plus Zion is a 19 year old rookie, so he has growing pains to deal with.

There still will be lots of hiccups between now and April. Just getting that 8h seed after all the turmoil will be monumental.

8th seed is a given. The SOS lines up do well for us

It's a long climb to 7 or 6, though, but the Rockets, Mavs, and Thunder have dropped a few games, lately. Now, OKC has a slightly easy end to their schedule (not as easy as ours) and Dallas, SA, Portland, and Houston have average SOS to end.....but Memphis, Minnesota, and Phoenix have brutal ones.

1 game at a time

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Originally Posted by luckyman

Getting Zion his minutes will cause a domino effect. Its like getting a free agent mid season. Plus Zion is a 19 year old rookie, so he has growing pains to deal with.

There still will be lots of hiccups between now and April. Just getting that 8h seed after all the turmoil will be monumental.

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I would typically agree in regards to people coming into a lineup mid season, especially rookies. However, I believe Zion is the talent that we all think he is. I give it 4-5 games and this team is rolling!

If we can go one game above .500 in that stretch I think the run is on.

I agree. We've all had issues with this team, and it's been far from pretty at times, but the reality is that the bottom of the Western playoffs is still open, we're still there, and we have all kinds of reasons to expect improvement for our team and our record.

I also agree that getting the #8 seed and going up against the Lakers in the first round would be huge. We almost certainly wouldn't win a 7 game series (we're currently 0-2 against LA so far in the regular season, for what that's worth) but we've played them relatively well for the most part when we matched up with them so far this year. I could easily see us taking a game or two off them, and bloodying their noses in a way nobody would expect.

Given that, I would have to be somewhat concerned about the structural integrity of the Smoothie King Centre. Could it handle the inevitable explosion when Zion dunks on AD in a playoff atmosphere?

That 8th playoff spot is going to be a dogfight there are 7 teams who could realistically get it.I like the Pels chances with Zion.

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Originally Posted by Wecandothis

That 8th playoff spot is going to be a dogfight there are 7 teams who could realistically get it.I like the Pels chances with Zion.

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Luckily, we have tons of games left against those exact teams (we play Memphis 3 more times, Spurs 3 times, Minnesota again, etc) to give them extra losses, and our schedule actually gets easier from hereon in; many of these other teams, by contrast, have had it fairly easy so far and are about to get it worse, like San Antonio.

Like you said, it's a dogfight, but I do think that we have the advantage in terms of scheduling and momentum.

As much as I enjoy getting to the Playoffs. But 85% to play either LA team. That is a soft pass from me.

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Originally Posted by Taker597

As much as I enjoy getting to the Playoffs. But 85% to play either LA team. That is a soft pass from me.

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You're telling me you wouldn't have any fun watching the Pelicans and the former Laker players getting a series against Anthony Davis and Lebron James? Especially if Zion is healthy? I don't really care if we lose, or even get swept, I'd have fun watching that.

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Originally Posted by Taker597

As much as I enjoy getting to the Playoffs. But 85% to play either LA team. That is a soft pass from me.

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You say that, but when we make the 8th seed and take game 1 from the Lakers in the Staples Centre, you'll be having fun with it.

There's almost zero incentive to tanking this year. Anthony Edwards looks a tier above the rest but still not usual #1 pick status. And then 2-15 is pretty much all the same. Its a gamblers draft.

Try to make the playoffs as long as you aren't jeopardizing player health in the process.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

You say that, but when we make the 8th seed and take game 1 from the Lakers in the Staples Centre, you'll be having fun with it.

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I'm not giving into the mid season scramble for a 1st round exit.

I lived through 2014 & 2017 season. I don't want that stress in my life

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Luckily, we have tons of games left against those exact teams (we play Memphis 3 more times, Spurs 3 times, Minnesota again, etc) to give them extra losses, and our schedule actually gets easier from hereon in; many of these other teams, by contrast, have had it fairly easy so far and are about to get it worse, like San Antonio.

Like you said, it's a dogfight, but I do think that we have the advantage in terms of scheduling and momentum.

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Spurs - 4x's.

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Originally Posted by Taker597

As much as I enjoy getting to the Playoffs. But 85% to play either LA team. That is a soft pass from me.

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I would love to play the lakers

http://www.tankathon.com/remaining_schedule_strength this team has the second easiest schedule remaining for now

Memphis and suns have brutal schedule and spurs middle of the pack

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Originally Posted by Taker597

As much as I enjoy getting to the Playoffs. But 85% to play either LA team. That is a soft pass from me.

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Getting into the playoffs, first round sweep or not, is so beneficial at this point in the development of the team. It's such an invaluable experience for the rookies, even for Lonzo, BI, and Hart, who still haven't had a taste of the postseason yet.

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Originally Posted by Pelifan

There's almost zero incentive to tanking this year. Anthony Edwards looks a tier above the rest but still not usual #1 pick status. And then 2-15 is pretty much all the same. Its a gamblers draft.

Try to make the playoffs as long as you aren't jeopardizing player health in the process.

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Is this realgm Pelifan?

I don't understand why some people prefer missing playoffs entirely to a chance to beat the hell out of the Lakers. Even if the draft were strong we are stoked with young prospects so no need for tanking. I fully expect this team when 100% healthy is a formidable matchup for both of the Los Angeles teams.

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Originally Posted by HartOfaPelican

I would typically agree in regards to people coming into a lineup mid season, especially rookies. However, I believe Zion is the talent that we all think he is. I give it 4-5 games and this team is rolling!

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To piggy-back off of this, traditionally rookies are not better than replacement level, so adding them into a lineup would have negative value. In this case, Zion will clearly have a positive impact on the floor as long as he's truly healthy. Even if he's a little lost on the defensive end, you have to look at who he is taking minutes from.

Additionally, Zion is the type of player that is not going to be ball dominant this season and plays extremely well off of others. His skills along with his hustle and effort should blend seamlessly into our system.

7-2 record with Zion coming back is huge!

Hope Brandon is not impacted by all the hype and roster changes.

Think you guys could go 4-1 for rest of Jan just off this momentum. Through to ASG looks tough though!

I for one welcome the influx of n00b posters

Absolutely.

Welcome! GIF from Jasonmantzoukas GIFs

I think the Pels, when healthy, can compete with any team in the playoffs. There isn't a PF in the west that Zion doesn't match up well against. Our starting guards can hold their own on the defensive end against most guards. Teams will no longer be able to focus their defense on Ingram, which should make him even more effective at the 3..

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Originally Posted by doubled1986

7-2 record with Zion coming back is huge!

Hope Brandon is not impacted by all the hype and roster changes.

Think you guys could go 4-1 for rest of Jan just off this momentum. Through to ASG looks tough though!

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Why would he be.. Played some of his best basketball while in LA under a lot of pressure and trade rumors.

Lebron is amazing at his age, but I do think that he is going to be a good bit under 100% come playoff time after playing 35 minutes a night. The pels still have a lot of room to improve
While I am not saying we would take the series, I do think our chances would be better than the normal first round dirst seed vs eighth seed.
Zion should be at his peak level for his first season and I know Ingram, Ball, and Hart are going to want to win that series more than anything they have wanted before.
Like I said...I am not saying the Pels win the series, but I wouldnt be shocked if they did

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Originally Posted by Dago75

While I am not saying we would take the series, I do think our chances would be better than the normal first round dirst seed vs eighth seed.

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Assuming we're healthy, I agree.

I'm not really worried about Lebron showing wear, to be honest. I could easily see him taking the foot off the gas a little as the season ends once their playoff spot is absolutely concrete, and maybe having his minutes wind down. Of course it's always possible that play-off Lebron doesn't hit this year, at least not quite as hard as usual, but he's done it so many times that frankly I'll believe it when I see it.

But we are a team that, when healthy, should be a lot better than we are. I had us being potentially as high as the 6th seed before all the injuries and stuff came around, and that kind of level is more representative of our abilities than scraping for the 8th. I wouldn't bet on us winning that series (Lebron in playoff mode is scary and AD is still incredible) but I would be confident in our ability to make it a fight, and take at least a game off them.

Teams will be tanking to avoid finishing 1st and having to deal with the Zion

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Originally Posted by Nichols

Why would he be.. Played some of his best basketball while in LA under a lot of pressure and trade rumors.

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Not necessarily pressure and trade rumours.

BI played awesome while Jrue was out, now hes back and Zion is ready.

Sure he will have to make some adjustments to his recent role no?

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Originally Posted by doubled1986

Not necessarily pressure and trade rumours.

BI played awesome while Jrue was out, now hes back and Zion is ready.

Sure he will have to make some adjustments to his recent role no?

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He'll definitely have to make some adjustments, but luckily I think he plays in a way that makes him suited to those adjustments, at least some of them.

For example, while he will probably see a drop in his counting stats (box score pts, rbds) he will probably see an uptick in efficiency because he'll have someone else drawing defensive attention; this is particularly true when it comes to shooting, because he's a great catch-and-shoot 3pt guy, and the more room he has for that the better. Zion will have a ton of gravity on rolls or cuts, which will open his 3pt window considerably and give him easier looks.

Plus, the Zion/Ingram pick and roll should be very effective and obviously either guy can finish off that. You could even run it with Zion as the ballhandler and turn it into a pick and pop, with Ingram flaring out to the 3pt line after setting a brush screen (a la Lebron and Kevin Love, maybe?). Either way would be difficult to defend.

People will have to give up looks, and as a result Ingram will probably lose a point or two off his averages because of that even when you account for the efficiency increase, but he plays in a way that should suit off-ball work and it's not like Zion needs to be on-ball all the time anyway, so he'll still get those opportunities. He seems like the kind of guy who would be willing to sacrifice 2 points a game to create a more dynamic, vicious offense.

I think one thing to look out for is that Portland has played 5 more road games than home games. As bad as their record is, they're still .500 when playing at home. They could go on a bit of a winning streak once their schedule catches up.

Likewise, Memphis is in the opposite situation as they've played 7 more home games than road games.

The key for this team, even with Zion back, remains Derrick Favors. He needs to get these minor injury issues in check for this team to make a run.

For all of Zions mass and power, he is still a tweener big that shouldn't be caught having to guard 6'11" bigs.

Favors and Okafor need to get back into the rotation. Especially against the bigger teams. Melli is a matador on defense and Jax is just too young and too light right now.

Just bouncing off bradael's post, I figured it would be useful to take an actual look at the remaining schedules of the teams we're fighting out the 8th seed with.

Team	Road Games	Home Games
Memphis Grizzlies	23	16
San Antonio Spurs	21	19
Portland Trailblazers	16	21
Minnesota Timberwolves	19	20
Phoenix Suns	22	17
Sacramento Kings	19	20

So from this chart, we can see that only really Portland has an advantageous schedule in terms of Home v Road games: Memphis has +7 Road games remaining, Phoenix has +5 Road games, Spurs have +2 Road games. Aside from Portland, only Sacramento and Minnesota have more home games than road, and in both cases only by +1.

So that brings up an interesting question: of their remaining games, how many are against currently +.500 teams? Well, let's make another chart, with a little more information than the last one.

Team	Road v +.500	Home v +.500
Memphis Grizzlies	12	8
San Antonio Spurs	10	9
Portland Trailblazers	6	11
Minnesota Timberwolves	11	8
Phoenix Suns	12	10
Sacramento Kings	8	9

What information does this give us? Well, it tells us a few things. Not only does Memphis have a bunch of road games left this year, but a majority of those road games are against teams which are currently +.500. Their home record too isn't exactly a cakewalk either: half of their home games are against +.500 teams, and you have to remember that 2 of those home games are against us. That's a tough close to the schedule.

Spurs have it a little easier; less than half of their remaining road games are against +.500 teams, but the Spurs so far have posted a pretty lacklustre .350 win percentage on the road this year. It wouldn't be surprising to see them go something like 3-7 in those games, and combined a healthy number of +.500 home games, that schedule isn't too kind to them.

Portland's schedule may look like they have it easy, with a majority of home games left, but look at that imbalance: their sub .500 opponents are all on the road. The real troublemakers come to visit them at home: and again, that's not counting the games they have left to play against us. While they have a home advantage, I don't actually know how much they'll be able to take from it.

Etc etc. You can see that these schedules, even for the teams with more home games than road games, aren't exactly easy for anyone.

For comparison, here's our schedule.

Team	Home Games	Home v. +.500	Road Games	Road v +.500
New Orleans Pelicans	20	7	18	6

You can see how much better ours looks. Majority of games at home, majority of those home games against sub .500 teams, and only 1/3rd of the remaining road games are against currently +.500 teams. It's the best possible set up we could hope for, and far better than any of the other teams. Tied with Portland for the fewest +.500 road games, and then nobody else has as few +.500 home games as we do. This is as optimal as it gets.