February 27th - New Orleans Pelicans vs Orlando Magic - 30-31

A preview of tonight's Pelicans-Magic game with @ErinESummers!

🕖: 7 pm CT
📺: @BallySportsNO
📻: @995WRNO#Pelicans | @Ibotta pic.twitter.com/7D9XvdYQND

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) February 27, 2023

We really got to get this one.

Some kind of way they have to have energy.

If we lose tonight, fire everyone.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Darkhorse985

If we lose tonight, fire everyone.

---

If we lose tonight, the team will become unhinged (as if it hasn't already).

Please don't get down 10+ in the first 5 min. We have to have energy defending the 3.

Please. Guard. The. 3.

CJ man... slow down and get your game right.

We gotta stop with the small ball lineups. This has not worked and willies rotations are abysmal.

You can’t win games in today’s NBA if you get outshot game after games in 3s…..unless you have a Zion, aaaarrrggghhhh!

Jax is helping BI play with pace and i'm a fan

Anytime Hayes is going downhill in transition just get him the ball.

Finish the half with Jax/Jose in for Jonas/CJ please. The energy by this team jumped 10x when they came in. Shooting is still lacking, but we need some kind of spark.

Down 1 at the half isn't ideal, but this is the first time in several games we have seen these guys show some life before the last 2 min of the game. Moving Jax in for Jonas was huge at the end of the half. Love the energy he is bringing right now and it's infectious for the other guys.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by AD-AT

Finish the half with Jax/Jose in for Jonas/CJ please. The energy by this team jumped 10x when they came in. Shooting is still lacking, but we need some kind of spark.

---

Also Hayes athleticism is keeping the bigs stuck to him on the inside which is making it easier for everybody else to get shots off. but they definitely bring energy.

Hayes was an inch away from the greatest ally of all time..

Is it me or does it seem like we never schemes 3 point shooter open? They kinda just camp out on the perimeter. It’ll be perfect for Zion, but without that dominant presence down low this doesn’t stand a chance. I guess without Zion we’re a fringe playoff team. Might as well try to perfect the scheme.

We make some of the dumbest decisions I have ever seen. AD calls it right. Shoot for the single...not the home run. If I see another fast break 3 point shot with no teammates anywhere in sight to possibly get a the rebound, I might break something.

CJ is killing us once again SMH

If you want to beat the Pels, you do whatever is necessary to stop 14 and 17 and live with the results. Nobody else is a threat.

Everything is midrange or someone driving to the basket. That’s the whole scheme. I guess you have to scheme for your best players, but we’re bringing a knife to a gunfight. Every 3 is a highly contested afterthought.

Looks flat without Hayes in the game

Imagine if we had gotten Vanderbilt?

Willie has no fire so this team has no fire

That's the series and in my honest opinion the season. The Pelicans fought hard but they are just not a good enough team to hang.

https://giphy.com/gifs/firstandmonda...LQoRXgv1d8bsSQ

I mean endings like that are why we have no one on this thread.

Objectively.. Jax was huge tonight. We needed his length and athleticism and he delivered. It's becoming clear that Jonas and CJ can't be on the floor together, which is a big problem since they both start. BI came out in the first quarter with the energy and efficiency that is needed after a losing streak, but no one else was interested.

We lost yet another game in the 1st quarter.

This feels like we've hit rock bottom. I just saw the last six minutes, but it was what I figured. Brandon dribbling the ball to the end of the shot clock and either taking a highly contested mid range shot, or desperately throwing it to Herb who the other team is gladly leaving wide open. Not really sure why Jaxson was out there, but whatever. It looks like Trey and Jose must have had too much fun at the All Star break so the coach is punishing them by not playing them at the end. And I guess Josh Richardson is Willie' new favorite player, so we probably won't see Dyson at all the rest of the year.

Oh, I almost forgot CJ. The only time I noticed him, was when he was fouling the other team. And nice job making the rookie outshine your max player.

Oh, yea, and I'm glad to see that the refs still have zero respect for our team. I was worried for a moment that the NBA might have sent them a memo to actually call fouls when we get hammered going to the basket to make sure the league gets Zion in the playoffs. But it seems that the NBA has too much integrity for that.

Feel like we need to be open to moving CJ and Jonas in the off-season.

Too many specialists/one dimensional players and midgets.

CJ was a major mistake compounded by a needless extension.

Our Marquee player (70% of the team's cap going forward) is only good to go in 40% (4 of 10) of the team's games?

Coaching is atrocious.

This team is in freefall. What we need to hope for now is the right bounce of a ping pong ball.

NOTE: I don't see too many people raving about our shooting guru, Fred Vinson, anymore.

Best scenario is the Lakers and Pels fall in the bottom 10 and one of them gets pulled for a top three pick. So yeah, I agree. This season is toast.

This is pretty much rock bottom.

I know this team wants to be a "family" but there needs to be some cuss words spoken out loud and some chairs thrown. Some folks need a finger in their chest. And that includes the elders like CJ.

And yes that absolutely does work. This is far beyond the holes on the roster. They are playing below their talent level rn with the constant dumb turnovers and shot selection.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mriguy

Best scenario is the Lakers and Pels fall in the bottom 10 and one of them gets pulled for a top three pick.

---

Agree.

Is it just me or does every time Pels had hope CJ screwed up with a bad shot, foul, turnover etc. he cannot be counted on in big moments. And what in the hell was Willie doing down the stretch. Jones should have been on Banquero. Ingram had no chance and he knew it.
Willie had no answer for generating offense down the stretch. Ingram drive, four guys pick him up, dump it to Herb Jones following Ingram into the teeth of the four guys. Where was Trey Murphy? He has to be out there to develop his game for the future. I know he turned it over a couple of times but friggin CJ was useless. Pels have to develop the young guys. I’d play Kira a lot more at the expense of CJ and push the ball. There is no half court offense so why not?

From Willie's presser he;s turned int Dennis Allen " Just keep doing what you're doing" SMH

Two points in last 5 minutes. Ingram dribbled out about 18 seconds each possession then Pels forced a shot. Wait a minute! Are Pels tanking?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by donato

Feel like we need to be open to moving CJ and Jonas in the off-season.

---

Don't think many teams want a terrible defender like Jonas at center

Willie not exceptionally bright. In way over his head. He has lost the team with his sporadic lineups that make no sense all the while scared to stand up to CJ.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Speakthetruth

Don't think many teams want a terrible defender like Jonas at center

---

I'd think Jonas is at worst a neutral asset while CJ is slightly positive. Shouldn't be too hard to move. They moved off Graham easier than most people thought.

The offense looks like Willie threw five guys out there who have just been picked in a pickup game. They have figured out only Ingram can get a good shot so they give him the ball and then late in shot clock maybe make a cut to help him. It really is pathetic to watch and the organization has to be embarrassed that the coach is that incompetent.

i think 6 made 3s....im missing graham lol...

good thing is that we used jax in the PnR and it had good results.....

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by 6warddude

i think 6 made 3s....im missing graham lol...

good thing is that we used jax in the PnR and it had good results.....

---

It worked in the first half and we went away from it and went back to iso ball

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by mriguy

Best scenario is the Lakers and Pels fall in the bottom 10 and one of them gets pulled for a top three pick. So yeah, I agree. This season is toast.

---

That's what i am hoping for now. Cause even if we made the play ins, that itself is already a failed season. Might as well get something useful out of it.

Ingram is a very good player and would be an excellent #2 guy. But if he's your #1 player then your ceiling isn't that good. It doesn't help though that your #1 guy is constantly hurt/injured. The coach has got to be better period! Have actual plays for everyone not just iso's and dho's. The iso that zion does works because of how good he is but iso bi takes too much work and ends up taking tougher contested shots. It's just too much work generated for both zion and bi then you add that you have surrounded them with non shooters making it even harder for them.

CJ and Ingram don’t work well together at all. They operate in the same space and when one has the ball, the other doesn’t move. Like some of y’all have said, the CJ addition wasn’t good for the team, overall.

We need to target a defensive center like Bismack Biyombo and a true point guard like Ricky Rubio in the offseason. Right now, we should be playing the dancing big starting lineup with JV and Hayes. Use Hayes’ athleticism to slash off the perimeter putting pressure on the opposing defense and allowing Ingram and CJ to work. Jrich or Herb could the other starter for defensive purposes.

Hayes, Dyson, and Kira should ply every game. Nobody develops from the bench. Franchise is such a damn joke, when it comes to developing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Darkhorse985

We need to target a defensive center like Bismack Biyombo and a true point guard like Ricky Rubio in the offseason. Right now, we should be playing the dancing big starting lineup with JV and Hayes. Use Hayes’ athleticism to slash off the perimeter putting pressure on the opposing defense and allowing Ingram and CJ to work. Jrich or Herb could the other starter for defensive purposes.

---

I wish people would stop with allowing Cj to work. Allowing Cj to work is the reason this team is in a free fall. The guy is a serious problem.