There is a place for him. He is skilled and works hard at his craft, so he should always be at least a solid backupOriginally Posted by Nichols
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There is a place for him. He is skilled and works hard at his craft, so he should always be at least a solid backup
Nicolo Melli in post-practice availability:
On the prospect of guarding Zion in scrimmages: ''It's been challenging. He has some huge qualities, and a few lacks, and I have to play against those lacks, but at 19 years old it's unbelievable how big his body is, how fast he is, how high he can jump.''
''Trying to be the backup of Zion, I have to play differently to him. Try to open the court, link up the team, play a little more smartly, and that's what I have to do.''
''Today was Day 3. So it's early: I'm trying to bring all my enthusiasm to the challenge on the court, try to adapt, and help in many ways where I'm able to. For sure, shooting and passing is something that I try to bring into the team.''
Is this the fastest pace you've ever played? ''Yes, but in Europe we don't play with that pace, it's a different game, so it's definitely different.''
''I started 13 years ago playing pro, so I'm feeling old sometimes, but it's so fantastic to see these younger guys here and seeing how they improve every day and they're so eager to learn. I was the young guy 13 years ago, and now I'm in between, not the oldest.''
Good little clip from Melli. His English is very good and he's extremely personable, I think he's going to be a good interview throughout the season. Funny too.
Nicolo Melli thanks the media for posting the video of Zion’s dunk yesterday. He was the one under the goal when Zion caught the oop.
— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) October 3, 2019
Last edited by Pelicanidae; 10-03-2019 at 01:54 PM.
Basketball.
Lonzo has caught up to JJ. NAW is still in spot one
— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) October 3, 2019
JJ Redick, E'Twaun Moore, Lonzo Ball and Nickeil Alexander-Walker are participating in a shooting game after practice pic.twitter.com/luLlbgT9n7
— Will Guillory (@WillGuillory) October 3, 2019
I’d argue that is because there aren’t that many top “floor generals” left in the game. Lord knows some of these teams could use one (including ours).
I’ll take somebody that can run an offense over Jrue at the point any day of the week.
Brandon Ingram is doing extensive work on pick and roll reads
— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) October 3, 2019
Brandon Ingram working on breaking down the defense from the top of the key, using the screen to either take a pull-up or get all the way to the rim. Expect to see him initiating the offense from that area of the floor often to either score or find an open teammate. pic.twitter.com/5yDbJt8NuS
— Oleh Kosel (@OlehKosel) October 3, 2019
Last edited by Pelicanidae; 10-03-2019 at 02:01 PM.
I feel like a lot of Gentry's view on how a PG should play is based on his experience with Phoenix. It's obvious that playing with Steve Nash, an all time great, will colour your perspective a little. Gentry wants a guy with vision, who is pass-first but can score when needed, who is efficient and can shoot, etc etc.
He's been going through the motions the last few years trying to find that pass-first guy, with Rondo, and then Payton. Hopefully Lonzo will come into his own as a solid shooter over the next two seasons before his contract extension comes up and he can really lock down that spot for us, because he has the vision and feel as a passer.
"Defensively, we were reacting too much last year. We want to force them to react to us."
— The Bird Writes (@thebirdwrites) October 3, 2019
- Alvin Gentry
That will be big if Lonzo can develop a shot/freethrow. We have suffered in the half court game for so long. Jrue, for whatever reason, tends to resort to boneheaded basketball when forced to make the decisions. He is so much better in isolation and off the ball. Payton at least showed glimpses of what Jrue can do when paired with a competent PG. let’s hope Lonzo becomes more than that.
Gentry in media availability:
Balancing known quantities (Moore) with unknowns (NAW): ''I think what you've got to do is give guys reps so that they can continue to try and get a feel. The more Frank plays, the better he's getting and the better he feels about himself. A lot of it is just going to take time, and that's why we try to do a lot of full-court stuff. We'll play a bunch of guys in the pre-season, but we'll do it where guys can get those consistent minutes, not just 5 minutes or anything like that because it's hard to learn when you aren't getting consistent minutes.''
On Melli: ''Really, really got a really good grasp on the game and what we want. He's a pick and popper who can shoot it with range. Very smart player who can drop it to the basket, make a play. He's just a solid guy, not anything that's great-great-great but just solid in every area. He's a good fit for us. Trajan was the one who brought him to mind and he couldn't be a better fit, really.''
''We're going to be proactive in everything that we do this year, defensively.''
I feel I should also mention (to defend Jrue as well) that we have dearly missed the intelligent cuts and movement of Quincy after he went down. It’s funny to think how such a small transaction turned our season around. Our 3 play has been very mediocre since then.
Jrue's an excellent player but sometimes I feel like that cerebral side of him that benefits him so well on defense can make him overthink on offense. That's why he works so well when he's just being told to make events happen, rather than to run every single play by himself. He can do that, of course, and you'd be missing out to NEVER put him on ball, but yeah, I agree that he needs someone who is a natural lead guard to take some of the pressure off and let him be himself.
I feel like if Lonzo can become even just a league average shooter, around 36%, he'll end up sticking around. Health permitting, of course.
Kenrich Williams on Nicolo Melli : ''he's been shooting it lights out, and he's real physical.''
On playing more 4: ''They haven't said anything but I'm pretty sure that at the 3 or 4, I'm comfortable at either position.''
On narrowing the rotation with depth: ''It's going to be tough, but we have a bunch of selfless guys that don't really care. All we wanna do is win. So it'll work out.''
Gentry says he wants the bigs playing all the way up on defense this year, not dropping for coverage
— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) October 3, 2019
Yeah Jrue definitely overthinks things. There are nights where he is feeling it, but he already has to carry the defense so giving him that much responsibility limits him.
For sure, and I think you had a good point about intelligent off ball movement, or rather, the lack of it that we've had for a while. I think that will be fixed this year. Zion spent his entire year at Duke playing primarily off ball, and the dude is seriously skilled at it, cutting backdoor, initiating postups, dunkers spot, all that. And then obviously guys like JJ are experts at creating off-ball gravity.
Zion is working on ball handling pic.twitter.com/ClfPEDFMtg
— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) October 3, 2019
Please stop. I can only get so excited
Zion was highly underrated as a ball handler in college: it was very rarely discussed among his other skills, but he always had a fairly good handle (nothing Kyrie-esque or anything, but he's certainly not incapable) and was able to turn the corner very well on drives, getting that dribble low and his shoulders down. His skillset and unguardable nature will only grow as he develops as a ball-handler, including becoming more ambidextrous. He can go with his right, but he heavily prefers the left, so getting in a lot of practice with both can only help him.
Nickeil media availability:
Makes the argument that NCAA athletes should get paid. Says look at how much money someone like Zion must have brought in. Mentions that the scholarships are good, and obviously it's a good education, but compared to the money they generate it's very little.
"A little bit (of money) would help. You think about Zion. I can't imagine how much money he brought to the NCAA and you think about how he's just getting a scholarship. I think we should (get paid in college)."
— The Bird Writes (@thebirdwrites) October 3, 2019
-NAW
On shooting with JJ: ''You learn stuff watching him shoot. It looks like it's on repeat, like you're watching one shot every time, and the ball even goes in the same way every time. To see his precision, how he approaches every shot, it's really cool. [...] if he misses one after hitting 25 in a row, he acts like he's just missed 30 in a row. His dedication is impressive.''
NAW explained that he tries to leave practice at practice. He further explained that if he worked too hard away from practice, he'd burn out by the end of the year, but that if he had something he was unsure of, the vets were always available to answer questions.
— The Bird Writes (@thebirdwrites) October 3, 2019
Last edited by Pelicanidae; 10-03-2019 at 02:31 PM.
Pels practicing late game inbound situations pic.twitter.com/BPSeQAw8hX
— Andrew Smith写真家 (@DruProductions) October 3, 2019
Not quite training camp news here, but did you guys see Scottie Pippen hyping up the Pelicans on The Jump?
It was just after Rachel Nichols had that awful monologue where he said that Zion gave New Orleans a reason to have hope, and that there were rumours of the Pelicans moving to Seattle, and stuff like that. Just a whole heap of nonsense, but then they asked Scottie Pippen about the Pelicans and he said
''I think he [Zion] has an edge compared to most young players coming into the game, he's already physically gifted. He has great explosiveness, but also he's able to run the floor, he has speed. That's a huge advantage to a player. Maybe the one thing he has to work on is extending his shot, but being rookie of the year is not far-fetched, and first NBA rookie team. [...]
I think right now, for him, it's just about staying healthy. He's just about ready for this level, he's ready for the competition, and when you look at this New Orleans team, this offense has to run through this young man. They've cleared the way, there's no veteran [at his spot]. Favors is there, but offensively, I think they will run the offense with Zion as well as Jrue Holiday, and I think that's going to help him develop faster. That's going to propel his growth and hey, we might see him on the all-star team this year.''
Even Scottie Pippen is excited about the Pelicans ��#pelicans pic.twitter.com/mccMytrs0C
— Pelicans Nation (@PelsNationCP) October 3, 2019
JJ and Lonzo during the shooting contest pic.twitter.com/9vuFJp5r26
— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) October 3, 2019
In this clip, Lonzo goes 5 for 6 from deep, including 5/5 from the corner.
This is after hitting 9 straight yesterday.
Good signs.
Another thing I noticed was that he was encouraged to relocate back to the 3pt line after kicking the ball out so he could get it back and shoot
— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) October 3, 2019
This is absolutely a good sign.
Brandon Ingram's shot profile right now is a little sub-optimal in terms of efficiency. He shot 20% of his shots last season from 10-16 feet, and another 14% from 16-3pt line. That's essentially 35% of his FG attempts coming in the midrange. By contrast, only 12% of his shots came from behind the arc. I don't think I need to tell anyone that shooting a 3 is better than shooting a 20 footer.
If he can cut out a huge chunk of those long 2s and turn them into 3s, and hit them at even league average rates, then that helps spacing so much and also increases his value as an off-ball player (which he will have to do at times). Great to see him working on that, and we actually saw that on Day 1 as well, with him driving, kicking, and then relocating to the corner. T-Spoon was helping him with that.
Always competing ��
— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) October 3, 2019
JJ and Lonzo had themselves a little three-point contest after practice #WontBowDown pic.twitter.com/W6Jb9IQKKH
Couple of thoughts about this:
1) I love the sense of fun and camaraderie they already appear to have. Seems to be real.
2) Love the competitive atmosphere they have going on.
3) It's crazy how well Lonzo was keeping up, even if it is only practice
4) Seeing Redick and Lonzo shoot back to back is a shocking reminder of how broken Lonzo's old form was. His new form is so much better, and even that looks awkward, mis-aligned, too low, etc, compared to JJ.
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