January 21st - New Orleans Pelicans @ Utah Jazz - 5-8

Wonder what we offered Chicago for the pick

Please explain to me why Kira is not playing. Is he that bad or are we that good?

2020 Lottery Picks

1st Pick: Anthony Edwards - 24:29 per night - 13 Games Played
2nd Pick: James Wiseman - 20:57 per night - 14 Games Played
3rd Pick: LaMelo Ball - 25:12 per night - 13 Games Played
4th Pick: Patrick Williams - 26:54 per night - 13 Games Played
5th Pick: Isaac Okoro - 37:24 per night - 9 Games Played
6th Pick: Onyeke Okongwu- 14:00 per night - 2 Games Played
7th Pick: Killian Hayes - 21:07 per night - 7 Games Played
8th Pick: Obi Toppin - 12:00 per night - 5 Games Played
9th Pick: Deni Avdija - 23:10 per night - 11 Games Played
10th Pick: Jalen Smith - 10:09 per night - 2 Games Played
11th Pick: Devin Vassell - 18:02 per night - 14 Games Played
12th Pick: Tyrese Haliburton - 27:46 per night - 14 Games Played
13th Pick: Kira Lewis - 9:38 per night - 6 Games Played (before the 1:59 played tonight)
14th Pick: Aaron Nesmith - 13:11 per night - 5 Games

Don't even ask me how much 26th Pick, Payton Prichard, is playing for Boston; you don't want to know.

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Originally Posted by As I See It

Please explain to me why Kira is not playing. Is he that bad or are we that good?

2020 Lottery Picks

1st Pick: Anthony Edwards - 24:29 per night - 13 Games Played
2nd Pick: James Wiseman - 20:57 per night - 14 Games Played
3rd Pick: LaMelo Ball - 25:12 per night - 13 Games Played
4th Pick: Patrick Williams - 26:54 per night - 13 Games Played
5th Pick: Isaac Okoro - 37:24 per night - 9 Games Played
6th Pick: Onyeke Okongwu- 14:00 per night - 2 Games Played
7th Pick: Killian Hayes - 21:07 per night - 7 Games Played
8th Pick: Obi Toppin - 12:00 per night - 5 Games Played
9th Pick: Deni Avdija - 23:10 per night - 11 Games Played
10th Pick: Jalen Smith - 10:09 per night - 2 Games Played
11th Pick: Devin Vassell - 18:02 per night - 14 Games Played
12th Pick: Tyrese Haliburton - 27:46 per night - 14 Games Played
13th Pick: Kira Lewis - 9:38 per night - 6 Games Played (before the 1:59 played tonight)
14th Pick: Aaron Nesmith - 13:11 per night - 5 Games

Don't even ask me how much 26th Pick, Payton Prichard, is playing for Boston

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Most of those teams don't have forty eight different guys in front of them playing their position that are in contract years or are vets who expect playing time.

That's not a good reason, Lonzo should get benched anyway and Bledsoe should be splitting minutes with NAW, but that's the reasoning.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Most of those teams don't have forty eight different guys in front of them playing their position that are in contract years or are vets who expect playing time.

That's not a good reason, Lonzo should get benched anyway and Bledsoe should be splitting minutes with NAW, but that's the reasoning.

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There's not another true point guard on this team.

I do whatever is necessary this off season to make sure Kira is my lead guard NEXT year. He obviously has flashed enough to to say he's on a fast track.

Right now though, there is no justification for this Lonzo/NAW situation. Lonzo might even play better off the bench with less pressure.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

He'd have some trouble against quicker shooting guards but depending on who we draft for the SF position that you envision, you could probably just switch off and hide BI at times if really necessary, depending on where the biggest threat was.

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Yeah, I do not think has the burst or 1st step to not get utterly abused and in foul trouble against top 2s.

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Originally Posted by Taker597

Yeah, I do not think has the burst or 1st step to not get utterly abused and in foul trouble against top 2s.

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His footspeed is still one of his weaker areas, and he still struggles hard navigating screens. Putting him on fast guys who regularly run on screening action is asking for him to fail. He doesn't do it well and it's not his fault if you make him do it and he sucks at it.

I remember reading these same kind of comments on the Lakers board.. Then Ingram proved everyone wrong by being able to defend 2's when he was slotted as a shooting guard. lol.. Every position he was placed in he played well in after acclimating.. Every single one.

Do I want him chasing the JJ Reddick types around screens for the duration of a game? No.. But there aren't many Reddick types in the league to worry about. So He'd be fine. They'd also have a lot of trouble trying to defend him, especially on the block.

Even if you are hell bent on NOT starting NAW, as you should, then go with Bledsoe/JJ. As bad as he's been, he still strikes fear in the other team and would make the Donovan Mitchells have to work on defense.

Either way, this Bledsoe/Lonzo back court has run its course.

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Originally Posted by Nichols

I remember reading these same kind of comments on the Lakers board.. Then Ingram proved everyone wrong by being able to defend 2's when he was slotted as a shooting guard. lol.. Every position he was placed in he played well in after acclimating.. Every single one.

Do I want him chasing the JJ Reddick types around screens for the duration of a game? No.. But there aren't many Reddick types in the league to worry about. So He'd be fine. They'd also have a lot of trouble trying to defend him, especially on the block.

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I mean, there are more and more of them, at the 2 and the 3.

I have no interest in watching Ingram try to clamber over screens chasing the Tyler Herros, Duncan Robinsons, Buddy Hields, Luke Kennards, Kevin Huerters, CJ McCollums, and Jaylen Browns of the world.

The good news is that the hardest part of their schedule is over. They have the 9th easiest SOS left. Plenty of time to get your hopes up again https://t.co/NsG6bzoJ3G

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) January 22, 2021

I suppose this is true, if you want some positivity. Yes, we've been losing, but mostly against really good teams.

We lost to the Clippers: they're 11-4 and one of the best teams in the West
We lost twice to Utah: They're 11-4 and one of the best teams in the West
We lost to the Lakers: They're 12-4, and the best team in the West
We lost to Indiana: They're 8-6 and one of the better teams in the East

Like, is it true we've disappointed so far? Yes. Is it also true we've been fed into the woodchipper over the last 7 games or so? Yes.

We have serious serious issues, still, but it probably won't look as horrific in February when we're playing the Grizzlies twice, the Bulls, the Pistons, and the Nurkic-less+McCollum-less Blazers over the course of 2 weeks rather than that murderer's row.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

The good news is that the hardest part of their schedule is over. They have the 9th easiest SOS left. Plenty of time to get your hopes up again https://t.co/NsG6bzoJ3G

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) January 22, 2021

I suppose this is true, if you want some positivity. Yes, we've been losing, but mostly against really good teams.

We lost to the Clippers: they're 11-4 and one of the best teams in the West
We lost twice to Utah: They're 11-4 and one of the best teams in the West
We lost to the Lakers: They're 12-4, and the best team in the West
We lost to Indiana: They're 8-6 and one of the better teams in the East

Like, is it true we've disappointed so far? Yes. Is it also true we've been fed into the woodchipper over the last 7 games or so? Yes.

We have serious serious issues, still, but it probably won't look as horrific in February when we're playing the Grizzlies twice, the Bulls, the Pistons, and the Nurkic-less+McCollum-less Blazers over the course of 2 weeks rather than that murderer's row.

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They've also played most of these games on the road with another road game left. That'll be 10 road games to 5 at home with an 11th road game postponed.

So the time is now to make lineup changes with a 6 game homestand coming.

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Originally Posted by luckyman

They've also played most of these games on the road with another road game left. That'll be 10 road games to 5 at home with an 11th road game postponed.

So the time is now to make lineup changes with a 6 game homestand coming.

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Absolutely. Bench Lonzo, insert Kira (preferably Kira, frankly I would accept NAW quite happily as well) and start feeding minutes to whichever one of those two you didn't decide to start. No reason either of them should be getting fewer than 20 minutes a game. If Bledsoe or Lonzo don't like it, they can feel free to be traded: deadline isn't far away, so deals will be coming up soon with any luck.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

I mean, there are more and more of them, at the 2 and the 3.

I have no interest in watching Ingram try to clamber over screens chasing the Tyler Herros, Duncan Robinsons, Buddy Hields, Luke Kennards, Kevin Huerters, CJ McCollums, and Jaylen Browns of the world.

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My point is he would be fine playing the 2, he's done it before at a high level. He can do it again at a high level. As stated before I'd rather not see him have to expend the kind of energy necessary chasing those guys around off-ball cuts and screens.

.@Zionwilliamson recorded his 29th 20-point game, tying Shaquille O'Neal for the 3rd most by a player within his first 40 career games since the merger (1976-77) �� pic.twitter.com/KRspW3I9Jv

— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) January 22, 2021

With another 20 point game (27 to be precise) Zion is now averaging 23.7ppg: he is this team's leading scorer.

Doing it on 9/14 shooting, he is now 123/207 on the season: good for 59.4%FG.
8/10 from the line tonight brings his season total to 61/93, good for 65.6%: after starting the season off really rough, Zion is now shooting 40/55 over his last 8 games, good for 72.7% from the line over that span.

His 1/1 from 3 brings his season total to 1/4: 25%. That makes his career total 7/18, or 38.8%, on an absolutely minuscule sample size.

Note: Zion still has 3 games left to play before he hits 40 games. He could over take Shaq very feasibly.

I agree with you guys the Bledsoe/Lonzo backcourt is brutal. SVG should have Lonzo come off the bench and start NAW. I had hope for Lonzo but he is just terrible this year.

And Bledsoe has a negative contract so we will be difficult to move on his own. I can't take 3 more years of him

BUT, he does have decent salary for trade filler purposes

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Originally Posted by AusPel

And Bledsoe has a negative contract so we will be difficult to move on his own. I can't take 3 more years of him

BUT, he does have decent salary for trade filler purposes

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One thing I've noticed over the years is that there's usually a team out there who will take a bet on a vet having a down year.

Bledsoe, for example, was good last year. Not as good as some people claimed, sure, and he had troubles in the playoffs, but he was a very very good NBA player and a clear starter calibre PG for a very good team. Then he comes here, we're clearly not a great team, and he's struggling in what appear to be (and what are, right now) suboptimal lineups with dodgy shooting and so on.

There will be some team out there, I bet, that is looking at Bledsoe and thinking ''okay, he sucks there, but it's just circumstance: we could bring him back''. The question is just finding that team, and finding if there's a deal that both sides can agree on.

Didn't even waste my time. I already knew what the outcome would be.

SVG is the new tank commander. Keeping Kira on the bench is just old school stupidity. " I NEED MAH VETRANS IN THER"

Your veterans are why we are going to be a lottery pick..........AGAIN!

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Originally Posted by ragincaucasian

Didn't even waste my time. I already knew what the outcome would be.

SVG is the new tank commander. Keeping Kira on the bench is just old school stupidity. " I NEED MAH VETRANS IN THER"

Your veterans are why we are going to be a lottery pick..........AGAIN!

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Yeah, that's one of the issues I have with not just SVG, but a lot of coaches.

I get that if you're in the middle of a playoff series or something, or you're fighting for position in the top seeds of the playoffs so that you can make a deep run, leaning hard on vets is obviously understandable: they have the most experience, they are (theoretically) less prone to errors due to that experience, they often have deeper skillsets, etc.

But not only is that not always good for even those good teams, it's definitely not right for a young rebuilding team. Bledsoe is not likely to be here in 3+ years, and may not even be here in 3 months. Meanwhile, Zion and Ingram will be, unless something has gone very wrong. So your priority should be finding people with talent who can play with and complement their skillsets. If your vet isn't that guy then his experience means diddly squat.

Play Kira. Play NAW. I'm just glad SVG has decided to prioritise Hayes over Melli, because at least that's something.

Mac's Twitter is so depressing, lol

I’m not even terribly upset by this game. Utah is playing really well right now and the refs didn’t do us any favors. I thought we had moments of good basketball, and I think while our defense wasn’t great, it wasn’t a terrible effort on our part, Utah was just playing at a really high level.

The problem is our starting back court is particularly ill suited to be on the court with Zion and Adams. Zo can’t shoot consistently but takes way too many shots. Teams lack of respect for his shooting just packs in an already crowded lane. Bledsoe can shoot but he doesn’t really seem to want to. Instead he drives into an already crowded lane and either takes an ill advised shot around the basket or struggles to find an open teammate to dish off to.

This team really needs two guards that can reliably shoot from the outside and are considered threats from out there by the opposing team. Until we get that worked out we’re going to keep struggling offensively.

The usage rate of the Pelicans starters last night. No comment. pic.twitter.com/qfTBtWkZ5o

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) January 22, 2021

Oof at that Lonzo number. More fuel for the Lonzo slander fire: why should he be head and shoulders above everyone else in usage rate in almost any game, let alone a game where two other guys were so clearly more 'on' than him?

Zion played the most minutes last night on the Pelicans but had the 6th most touches and 6th highest time of possession with the ball. pic.twitter.com/bb7wULGwJn

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) January 22, 2021

Yeah this is unacceptable.

One thing I've said a bunch this season is that, while I don't mind a lot of what SVG is doing esp. with regards to the overall defensive approach, I do dislike how Zion's been used a lot of the time. I've said time and again that I think his best outcome involves him getting touches, getting run with the ball in his hands, driving and passing out to others. It looked like it was improving a bit while Lonzo was out, I guess because there were some more touches that needed distributing and it's not like Hart was going to get a bunch more lmao, but Lonzo returns and bam, Zion's touches plummet again.

Get Ball off this team.

What about Adams having 62? A non-offensive center touching the ball as much as the PG and more than our two stars. SVG's offense is old school college ball.