21st November - New Orleans Pelicans @ Phoenix Suns - 5-9

Love seeing people on twitter getting mad at how late this game is on for them :hihi: Keep seeing them like ''this game doesn't even start until 10:30! TEN. THIRTY. PM.!!!!''

Almost every game starts at 1am here or later but okay

Listening to the most recent episode of the In The N.O. pod, and Shamit is talking about how hard Jax is competing on defense. He makes a pretty good point: even though he's too light right now to really have the top level impact that his build implies as a post defender, he's really really fighting there. Shamit points out that maybe, perhaps, that comes from the football player in him. Which I hadn't really thought about, but seems to make sense to me.

He also points out that Hayes, despite being 30lbs lighter than he will probably end up at in two or three years, is totally happy to play centre as a rookie whereas another Pelicans player who came into the league with a similar build and somewhat underweight was very very reluctant to start at the 5.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Love seeing people on twitter getting mad at how late this game is on for them :hihi: Keep seeing them like ''this game doesn't even start until 10:30! TEN. THIRTY. PM.!!!!''

Almost every game starts at 1am here or later but okay

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This one starts at 5:30 pm for me. They usually start at 2 or 3 while I'm at work. Its nice to be able to watch one live for once.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Listening to the most recent episode of the In The N.O. pod, and Shamit is talking about how hard Jax is competing on defense. He makes a pretty good point: even though he's too light right now to really have the top level impact that his build implies as a post defender, he's really really fighting there. Shamit points out that maybe, perhaps, that comes from the football player in him. Which I hadn't really thought about, but seems to make sense to me.

He also points out that Hayes, despite being 30lbs lighter than he will probably end up at in two or three years, is totally happy to play centre as a rookie whereas another Pelicans player who came into the league with a similar build and somewhat underweight was very very reluctant to start at the 5.

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One thing is for sure, if he likes the physicality of football he certainly won't shy away from contact. I think that other guy you mentioned was too worried about his "legacy" and didn't want to be compared to Wilt, Olajuwon, Kareem, and Shaq.

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Originally Posted by P_B_&_G

One thing is for sure, if he likes the physicality of football he certainly won't shy away from contact.

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It's part of what's impressed me most about Jax, is how much he's willing to put his body into the game. Obviously he has a long way to go in terms of his physique (and all of these skills will get even better as his weight goes up), but his willingness to box out, his willingness to set real screens that make real contact, his willingness to body guys up in the post; all of that is really great to see, especially when it would be understandable if a guy with his build was a little more conservative on that front.

I'm looking forward to this game a lot because without Baynes and Ayton, the Suns are going to be relying on probably Frank Kaminsky and Diallo as their main bigs, and Jaxson should be able to absolutely put in good work on them both.

Two pages already?!

I felt like I missed tipoff for a minute.

Try to keep the page count low, fellas. We are 4-0 when thread pages are below 8 pages.

I made that up. But it does seem like a thing.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

It's part of what's impressed me most about Jax, is how much he's willing to put his body into the game. Obviously he has a long way to go in terms of his physique (and all of these skills will get even better as his weight goes up), but his willingness to box out, his willingness to set real screens that make real contact, his willingness to body guys up in the post; all of that is really great to see, especially when it would be understandable if a guy with his build was a little more conservative on that front.

I'm looking forward to this game a lot because without Baynes and Ayton, the Suns are going to be relying on probably Frank Kaminsky and Diallo as their main bigs, and Jaxson should be able to absolutely put in good work on them both.

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In addition to all that, he legitimately seems to get better every game. The past few games I've seen him make rotations and reads that he was completely incapable of in summer league and the first few games of the season. His improvement curve has been insane

I think Lonzo is best as our starter. Especially when Zion is back. Jrue does not need to be handling the rock. Ball will push that pace and keep down the TOs BUUUUUUUUT we really won't see how much that is needed until Zion is back. We will be so freaking fast. Jrue looks discombobulated when he is PG at that tempo. But Ball moving Jrue, Zion, and BI will be amazing. So much more so if Hayes can sneak into that lineup. Plus, JJ is the perfect 6th man.

So Dae, in your OP, when you say the Pels have gone from 28th D to 24th.....that is season's average, right? Because if so, we would have had to be in the teens for a week or two to raise that average up, eh? That would be one giant improvement.

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Originally Posted by msusousaphone

Two pages already?!

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Nobody can stop me posting. In the almighty words of @Dril: ''I will never log off.''

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Originally Posted by msusousaphone

So Dae, in your OP, when you say the Pels have gone from 28th D to 24th.....that is season's average, right? Because if so, we would have had to be in the teens for a week or two to raise that average up, eh? That would be one giant improvement.

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Yeah, that's season's average. Our overall defensive rating is 112.1, which is Very Not Good, but there's been a little improvement. Despite some horrible defensive ratings recently (121 vs the Clippers), we've managed to maintain a defensive rating under 104 in both of the last two games. A season-long DRTG of 104 or below would be a top 10 DRTG in the NBA, so that should tell you how much those two games were in terms of improvement over the start of the season.

Of course, it's also relative: it's not just that our defense has improved over the last few games, although it has, it's also because other teams have regressed a little. The Spurs, for example, started off the season as a not-great-but-not-truly-terrible defensive team, but over their last two weeks that's cratered. In their last few games, the Spurs have put up DRTGs of 114.5 v OKC, 130.1 v Boston, 113.9 v Memphis, 127 vs Minnesota, 117.2 v Orlando, 116.1 v Portland, 124.3 v Dallas, and 130.3 v Washington. The result has been their DRTG crashing down into the bottom 5, bumping us up a spot.

I got a fever, and the only prescription is more NAW and Jax.

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Nobody can stop me posting. In the almighty words of @Dril: ''I will never log off.''

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Wait until you have a wife and kids.
You'll stop!

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Originally Posted by AUSSIE_PELICAN

Wait until you have a wife and kids.
You'll stop!

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That's some time away :hihi: not in my immediate plans whatsoever

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Originally Posted by msusousaphone

I think Lonzo is best as our starter. Especially when Zion is back. Jrue does not need to be handling the rock.

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He's averaging over 8 assists per game. Yes, Jrue will make some bone headed descisions with the ball. But he's still a very good option playing facilitator

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Originally Posted by AusPel

He's averaging over 8 assists per game. Yes, Jrue will make some bone headed descisions with the ball. But he's still a very good option playing facilitator

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I actually think that this idea that Jrue shouldn't be allowed to start at PG is a weird one. I get that he feels more comfortable listed at the 2 guard, but in reality I think that's less because he feels he is a True Two, and more because he hates being the only capable ball-handler on the court. It puts too much pressure on him, to initiate everything for everyone all the time, and he had to do it for so many losing years that I feel he's beyond that.

As long as you keep someone else on the court who can handle the ball, take some of that offensive load away from Jrue and operate some of the offense to allow Jrue to move off ball, I don't know if it really matters if Jrue is listed at the PG or SG position at all. And we do have guys that can do that now: Ingram, for example, in the starting lineup.

Also, Jrue's averaging 7.3 assists per game, not over 8, but yeah still very good. Top 10 in the NBA.

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Originally Posted by AUSSIE_PELICAN

Wait until you have a wife and kids.
You'll stop!

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One can only hope...

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

I actually think that this idea that Jrue shouldn't be allowed to start at PG is a weird one. I get that he feels more comfortable listed at the 2 guard, but in reality I think that's less because he feels he is a True Two, and more because he hates being the only capable ball-handler on the court. It puts too much pressure on him, to initiate everything for everyone all the time, and he had to do it for so many losing years that I feel he's beyond that.

As long as you keep someone else on the court who can handle the ball, take some of that offensive load away from Jrue and operate some of the offense to allow Jrue to move off ball, I don't know if it really matters if Jrue is listed at the PG or SG position at all. And we do have guys that can do that now: Ingram, for example, in the starting lineup.

Also, Jrue's averaging 7.3 assists per game, not over 8, but yeah still very good. Top 10 in the NBA.

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Yeah sorry about that, I think over his last 10 games or something is over 8.

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Originally Posted by AusPel

Yeah sorry about that, I think over his last 10 games or something is over 8.

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It's still about 7.4 over the last 10, but you are right that it ticks up as you get closer: over his last 6 games, Jrue's averaging 20.7pts and 8.7asts per game.

Sallerson confirms that Rubio is out tonight

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Originally Posted by Pelicanidae

Sallerson confirms that Rubio is out tonight

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We have to use it and win another game.

only 1.5 games out of 8th if they pull off this win tonight

Blazers getting smoked right now

Pelicans sticking with the same starting lineup:
Holiday
Redick
Ingram
Williams
Hayes

— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) November 22, 2019

Starting lineup remains the same. Hoping for more Hayes tonight: he's the guy I'm really having fun watching develop most right now, and I was super sad he only got 21 minutes last game.

Kevin Harlan starting early with the nonsense

That was a foul on Hayes lol