Rest of season game thread because we suck - Pels vs Anybody - 5 - 77

I'm not wasting my time making any more game threads. Here is one that can work for the rest of the year. I went ahead and put in my predicted record at the end of the year.

Thank you for your services

The Majority Of World Of Tanks Players GIFfrom The Majority Of World Of Tanks Players GIFs

Tanking is useless when you have an organization this horrendous. Dyson was right in his cursed comments this week. Justin Verrier and Rob Mahoney were right in their comments this week about the pels just being cheap and there being a hard ceiling because every aspect of the org is great value brand.

For anyone who still has hope... Remember, in 22 NBA seasons, our New Orleans org has only won 2 playoff series, never made it to the third round EVER. If you can't admit that it's one of the worst orgs, owners, coaches, front offices in any of the four major sports, you're delusional

They tried to run it like the Saints. We lucked out with Zion, but didn't really have a plan for him. We just brought players in and hoped that it stuck. We got great value in the Lakers trade, but they came out winning because we didn't take advantage of the pieces we acquired whereas they had a plan from the start. It's undeniable that we have had poor injury luck. But you have to build a team that can win in the regular season with and without your star/stars. We didn't build a cohesive roster that can hang in the modern game and we didn't bring in a coach that was ready to deal with the pressure of running a talented team. We made the worst decision possible and rushed the rebuild with CJ and Jonas when our coach needed more time to cook. Now we are in cap hell. Just so many head scratchers. It didn't work. Bad luck was involved- but by God we made every bad decision we could have made.

The Pels have made two team builds in the past decade that put us into contention for crown but ultimately got derailed by injuries. The first was with Boogie. That comb of Boogie and AD was lethal and made us the hottest team in the league. It was also the type of combo that was going to get even tighter in the postseason because they were dominating by skill and not just effort. This current team really is a contender earn healthy we've seen that. Anyone denying it is being governed more by emotions than logic.

There aren't many franchises that can put together two completely different contending teams in a decade. They're doing something right. The problem really is....how in **** does NOLA keep having over a decade of both of its franchises being derailed by an abnormally larger rate of injuries than any other team has seen in both leagues?!

Something is going on that. That's what's broken. That's what needs to be fixed.

Because everyone here knows that if we had a crystal ball that with 100% accuracy told us this team would stay together next season and only have minimal injuries all year we would all be thinking championship. The team building is not the issue.

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Originally Posted by msusousaphone

The Pels have made two team builds in the past decade that put us into contention for crown but ultimately got derailed by injuries. The first was with Boogie. That comb of Boogie and AD was lethal and made us the hottest team in the league. It was also the type of combo that was going to get even tighter in the postseason because they were dominating by skill and not just effort. This current team really is a contender earn healthy we've seen that. Anyone denying it is being governed more by emotions than logic.

There aren't many franchises that can put together two completely different contending teams in a decade. They're doing something right. The problem really is....how in **** does NOLA keep having over a decade of both of its franchises being derailed by an abnormally larger rate of injuries than any other team has seen in both leagues?!

Something is going on that. That's what's broken. That's what needs to be fixed.

Because everyone here knows that if we had a crystal ball that with 100% accuracy told us this team would stay together next season and only have minimal injuries all year we would all be thinking championship. The team building is not the issue.

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If you watched last year where we were pretty darned healthy all things considered, we weren't even close to a title winning team. If you want to argue about AD and Boogie, I think both teams had title competing rosters but clearly lacked title competing coaches. Your arguments hold just as much weight as mine. You are speaking opinions as if they are fact just like me. We disagree. It's fine.

The injuries are the biggest thing. I don't believe in curses but injuries like Herb had are ridiculously rare. But then you get all these constant soft tissue injuries all the time. Something has to be up with the trainers or strength and conditioning coaches. There seems to be a ridiculous amount of thigh injuries. Usually it's hamstring but even CJ was out with an adductor strain. Something is missing from the conditioning regiment.

Other than that it's the weird stuff or just straight egregious crap like Dort flopping and putting his feet in BI's landing zone. That should have been a flagrant on Dort but BI got an offensive foul instead along with the injury. It's insane! And they wonder why viewership is down.

Rockets tonight if anyone cares. Hawk will play apparently. Zion appears to be doiing Cirque du soliel with rubberbands so theres that.

Losers

https://media1.tenor.com/images/844f...temid=17242572

Knicks at home tonight. Tank rolls on. See the post above this one for a sneak preview of the game.

https://worldoftanks.eu/dcont/fb/image/vdvw8.gif

im actually watching my first game for a couple of weeks. its kind of relaxing not having any expectation at all to win. tank tank tank

As long as Willie is HC there is NO DOGGONE REASON TO WATCH THIS TEAM

Is this team tanking on purpose? I mean we have 2 quality NBA guards, a rising nba player scoring 20+ a night in Murphy, a 1st team all defense player in jones, and the rookie center of the year. Does that team really lose by double digits every night not on purpose? If not, how can Willie Green be allowed to coach this team? This is bad…

All valid points regarding the talent that is actually on the floor. A decent coach could find a way to win, or at least compete, with that talent. But at this point, I’m all on board letting Willie’s incompetence continue to drive the tank!

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Originally Posted by Darkhorse985

Is this team tanking on purpose? I mean we have 2 quality NBA guards, a rising nba player scoring 20+ a night in Murphy, a 1st team all defense player in jones, and the rookie center of the year. Does that team really lose by double digits every night not on purpose? If not, how can Willie Green be allowed to coach this team? This is bad…

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I'd wager a little column A a little column B. Willie is probably going to be allowed to see out the season particularly because he isn't good enough and it helps our tank. He probably was already given the severance package and is seeing out the season. There is no shot he is here after this year.

Another blown double digit lead in 2nd half! #Tank

Willie has to have been told to tank, no HC can be this bad.

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Originally Posted by djrnno

Willie has to have been told to tank, no HC can be this bad.

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Wanna bet?

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Originally Posted by djrnno

Willie has to have been told to tank, no HC can be this bad.

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We have to be tanking on purpose. Who routinely loses 20 point leads as easily as the Pelicans? The problem is that if we are not actively tanking, how is Willie Green being allowed to continue as the head coach for this long? This is making me question on whether or not we should fire David Griffin as well, whom I previously did not blame for this massive team downfall as he assembled the type of talent that should be a contending team in the west. Can’t blame Griff for the fact that our 2 best players are made of glass and cookie crumble.

Losers

This organization

“Zion Williamson in a familiar spot, on the bench in street clothes.”

Mike Breen absolutely bodied Zion on the call��pic.twitter.com/wmU1JgW3ZX

— NBA Memes (@NBAMemes) December 23, 2024

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Originally Posted by Darkhorse985

We have to be tanking on purpose. Who routinely loses 20 point leads as easily as the Pelicans? The problem is that if we are not actively tanking, how is Willie Green being allowed to continue as the head coach for this long? This is making me question on whether or not we should fire David Griffin as well, whom I previously did not blame for this massive team downfall as he assembled the type of talent that should be a contending team in the west. Can’t blame Griff for the fact that our 2 best players are made of glass and cookie crumble.

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There's not a player or a coach on the team (or any team) that wants to lose. None of the players or coaches benefit from a high draft pick, only the franchise and the front office (if they retain their jobs, which, in our case, they should not).

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Originally Posted by ml wave

There's not a player or a coach on the team (or any team) that wants to lose. None of the players or coaches benefit from a high draft pick, only the franchise and the front office (if they retain their jobs, which, in our case, they should not).

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Teams do tank intentionally. Most don't as their is pride on the line for both the HC and the players, but you can tank with bad lineups and stupid plays. I remember a certain Warriors team literally blew a wide open bucket just to ensure another loss. It happens.

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Originally Posted by ml wave

There's not a player or a coach on the team (or any team) that wants to lose. None of the players or coaches benefit from a high draft pick, only the franchise and the front office (if they retain their jobs, which, in our case, they should not).

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https://www.nbcsports.com/nfl/profoo...-the-nba-again

As long as Willie or Gayle don’t talk about it. Tank on!

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Originally Posted by ml wave

There's not a player or a coach on the team (or any team) that wants to lose. None of the players or coaches benefit from a high draft pick, only the franchise and the front office (if they retain their jobs, which, in our case, they should not).

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For a guy that has a serious injury ( Supposedly!) he has a funny way of showing it

?Zion Williamson in a familiar spot, on the bench in street clothes.?

Mike Breen absolutely bodied Zion on the call😭pic.twitter.com/wmU1JgW3ZX

— NBA Memes (@NBAMemes) December 23, 2024

Notice there are no more 2 week updates on his status. Nothing.

Maybe the injuries are all an elaborate organizational ploy to stockpile talent? The master plan is to unleash a ludicrous team on the NBA. Stealth tanking if you will.

Trade everyone not named Murphy, Herb or Missi. Trade Zion for a hot sausage po boy (fully dressed or no deal). We're gonna trade BI anyway. Send Dejaunte somewhere and get something back from a team that needs a PG. CJ can get you back something. I'd keep Hawk too but if he's a throw-in to get a sweet return then Hawk can go too. The team we have now is not a playoff contender let alone a title contender regardless of the head coach.

Griff has to go but he just got an extension... so he needs to hire somebody that can rebuild this thing correctly.

Gayle doesn't even know she has a basketball team. Nobody has heard from her or Griffin in months. Joke of a team. I'm out until they get rid of this whole clown car. Willie, Griff, and Zion. BI is already gone after the season so no use even mentioning him.

Griffin had a fully loaded war chest and in year 6 of his tenure we have NEVER even made the playoffs. The "play-in" is an attempt by the league to keep people with trash teams interested until the end of the season, so that doesn't even count.

This team is competing with the Wizards for worst in the league, and Gayle Benson is an absentee owner who knows nothing about sports. There is no hope unless she sells.

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Originally Posted by ragincaucasian

Gayle doesn't even know she has a basketball team. Nobody has heard from her or Griffin in months. Joke of a team. I'm out until they get rid of this whole clown car. Willie, Griff, and Zion. BI is already gone after the season so no use even mentioning him.

Griffin had a fully loaded war chest and in year 6 of his tenure we have NEVER even made the playoffs. The "play-in" is an attempt by the league to keep people with trash teams interested until the end of the season, so that doesn't even count.

This team is competing with the Wizards for worst in the league, and Gayle Benson is an absentee owner who knows nothing about sports. There is no hope unless she sells.

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Made the playoffs twice in those 6 years but got curb stomped both times.

Um, no. Purposefully missing a shot to lose a game would be a crime.

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Originally Posted by 13 - 3

For a guy that has a serious injury ( Supposedly!) he has a funny way of showing it

?Zion Williamson in a familiar spot, on the bench in street clothes.?

Mike Breen absolutely bodied Zion on the call��pic.twitter.com/wmU1JgW3ZX

— NBA Memes (@NBAMemes) December 23, 2024

Notice there are no more 2 week updates on his status. Nothing.

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Pelicans injury updates:

Zion Williamson is expected to return to full practice next week. He will be week-to-week going forward.

Brandon Ingram remains in the early treatment and recovery phase of his rehabilitation program. His status will be updated in two weeks.

Jose…

— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) December 24, 2024

So we had to call their butts out to finally get an update. If week to week says anything?

We really don't have ANY star talent on the current active roster. CJ and Murray are borderline all-stars. I'm super high on TMIII but his ceiling is also a borderline allstar. If TMIII was ever going to ascend to Ingram level.....this would be the season and we'd be like a 40% win team if BI and Zion were out and TMIII were capable of that level of play. He's just not that caliber of player.

So it's like trying to do a blockbuster movie with B list celebs. This league is star driven. We currently have zero star power. That's also why we keep giving up late leads. When the game gets into the clutch moments, stars take over. None of our current guys are capable of taking a game over even for a few minutes.

The tank is a full go but it's not intentional.

I'll still maintain that this isn't an FO issue....unless we're somehow lumping the injuries on them. This roster is a contender when healthy. The Boogie/Davis roster was a contender when healthy. I can't blame FOs for building healthy rosters derailed by injuries. That being said, the injury issues are too much and history shows it won't get better so it's time to hit reset.

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Originally Posted by ml wave

Um, no. Purposefully missing a shot to lose a game would be a crime.

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Um, yes. People say there is no corruption in officiating but it has been proven multiple times not to be the case. There have been indictments across multiple sports. How you can even pretend otherwise is just willful ignorance.

It exists whether you think it links to our case or not.

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Originally Posted by msusousaphone

We really don't have ANY star talent on the current active roster. CJ and Murray are borderline all-stars. I'm super high on TMIII but his ceiling is also a borderline allstar. If TMIII was ever going to ascend to Ingram level.....this would be the season and we'd be like a 40% win team if BI and Zion were out and TMIII were capable of that level of play. He's just not that caliber of player.

So it's like trying to do a blockbuster movie with B list celebs. This league is star driven. We currently have zero star power. That's also why we keep giving up late leads. When the game gets into the clutch moments, stars take over. None of our current guys are capable of taking a game over even for a few minutes.

The tank is a full go but it's not intentional.

I'll still maintain that this isn't an FO issue....unless we're somehow lumping the injuries on them. This roster is a contender when healthy. The Boogie/Davis roster was a contender when healthy. I can't blame FOs for building healthy rosters derailed by injuries. That being said, the injury issues are too much and history shows it won't get better so it's time to hit reset.

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I think as long as Willie stays, it is somewhat intentionally whether people think he is the issue or not. If a team was desperately trying to win, they would not accept a 10-15 game deficit and Willie would have been removed (whether he was the issue or not). I'm not sure that is even the best solution in this case because it would be hard to instill a system without a full off-season regardless. You would need an interim. I think we have raised the white flag and that is why we have made it known that everybody is for sale.

Houston Rockets much like the Thunder showing you how a blow up & rebuild works.

I am glad that Willie did not do a middling job and stunk the joint out. He either needed to prove everyone wrong or prove everyone right because we can't deal with the uncertainty of him anymore. I expected him to do as average as possible. 10 game deficit at most. He has exceeded those expectations and then some. What is it a 25 game deficit now? At least we have closure and we stand a chance of getting things right. Griff needs to go too. Captain has to go down with the ship.

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Originally Posted by JJackisangry

I am glad that Willie did not do a middling job and stunk the joint out. He either needed to prove everyone wrong or prove everyone right because we can't deal with the uncertainty of him anymore. I expected him to do as average as possible. 10 game deficit at most. He has exceeded those expectations and then some. What is it a 25 game deficit now? At least we have closure and we stand a chance of getting things right. Griff needs to go too. Captain has to go down with the ship.

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Griffin is staying. Gayle is notoriously loyal to the GMs of her organizations. I actually don?t blame Griffin for this. He built a really talented team that has fallen apart because it?s big 3 are undependable and Willie Green is an atrocious head coach. I will fault Griffin if he holds onto more than one of Zion, BI, or CJ after this season. We need to get rid of all 3 by year 3 of whomever we pick in the top 3 in the 2025 draft.

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Originally Posted by Darkhorse985

Griffin is staying. Gayle is notoriously loyal to the GMs of her organizations. I actually don?t blame Griffin for this. He built a really talented team that has fallen apart because it?s big 3 are undependable and Willie Green is an atrocious head coach. I will fault Griffin if he holds onto more than one of Zion, BI, or CJ after this season. We need to get rid of all 3 by year 3 of whomever we pick in the top 3 in the 2025 draft.

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Griff made the hires and some questionable roster decisions. He waited far too long to bring in an actual point guard and as I said they both kept stupidly harping on about positionless basketball. I think he is a great businessman. I don't believe he is a great GM. I think it would be a mistake by Gayle.

Need to trade 2 of CJ/Ingram/Zion asap if Zion/Jose coming back soon. Gotta keep the tank rolling this season.

I'm starting to wonder how accurate my 5-77 prediction will be...

sorry yall, i put the gris gris on us

This ridiculous, tank be damn. We need to get a look at what Borrego brings as a HC for the rest of the season so we don't get another good HC get away

What does this team look like if the front office doesn't succumb to the players and keeps SVG ?
Would Jonas still be here ? I am pretty sure SVG would have had a problem with all the 2 month injury recovery times, no matter the injury.
Would he have instilled toughness or would the team quit on him ?
If SVG was given the leash Willie has been given, I believe the Pels would be much better and considerably tougher.
They might even have a functional offense ..... and D for that matter.
What do I know, but one thing I do know, whatever this is, it is NOT working !

Sacramento does not want o be crud. Fired Mike Brown

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/k...on-per-report/

Trajan Langdon saw the writing on the wall and wisely left.

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Originally Posted by P_B_&_G

I'm starting to wonder how accurate my 5-77 prediction will be...

sorry yall, i put the gris gris on us

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We could blow this and win Jan 3rd vs Wizards. or another way this gets blown if they use their minds and fire Willie.

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Originally Posted by 13 - 3

We could blow this and win Jan 3rd vs Wizards. or another way this gets blown if they use their minds and fire Willie.

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There really is no excuse at this point. There is plenty of talent on the team to not be this horrible.