October 11th - New Orleans Pelicans VS Utah Jazz - Preseason - 2-0

[Pelicanidae]

"We would have loved to have had crowds like this for any game last year." Alvin Gentry after tonight's preseason game against Utah Jazz

— Rod Walker (@RodWalkerNola) October 12, 2019

Pelicans point totals in preseason:

133 vs. Hawks
127 vs. Bulls
128 vs. Jazz

An average of 129 points per game ... not too shabby

— Jeff Nowak (@Jeff_Nowak) October 12, 2019

The scoring isn't the issue. That's gone through some frustrating patches, but we've been able to put up big numbers. The issue is that we're averaging 129 points a game, and opponents are averaging 120 Not the look you want on D. Got time to fix that though.

[Pelicanidae]

It's a shame the opening schedule is so brutal clear to December.

For real.

From opening night until December 1st, we play:

- Raptors x2
- Rockets x2
- Golden State x2
- Denver
- Brooklyn
- Clippers x2
- Portland
- Utah
- Lakers

That's absurd.

[13 - 3]

For real.

From opening night until December 1st, we play:

- Raptors x2
- Rockets x2
- Golden State x2
- Denver
- Brooklyn
- Clippers x2
- Portland
- Utah
- Lakers

That's absurd.

Bring it! Saints having no problem with very ludicrous schedule .

[luckyman]

Less worried about the Clippers especially if George isnt back yet. Kawhi will have some heavy lifting until then.

Looking at that last preseason game, everything I said about them looked true. Nuggets tore up their bigs in that paint. Out rebounded them 51-33 too. Beverly didnt play but Clippers also shot poorly from deep.

Brooklyn might also be beatable.

The rest of that schedule is indeed absurdly brutal.

[SoCal4Pels]

After tonight's game, I hereby declare that all 5-man lineups granted the "Death Lineup" moniker MUST include the following players: Zion, NAW, Jrue. All other Death Lineups are henceforth deemed fraudulent and declared invalid.

[Pelicanidae]

Less worried about the Clippers especially if George isnt back yet. Kawhi will have some heavy lifting until then.

Looking at that last preseason game, everything I said about them looked true. Nuggets tore up their bigs in that paint. Out rebounded them 51-33 too. Beverly didnt play but Clippers also shot poorly from deep.

Brooklyn might also be beatable.

The rest of that schedule is indeed absurdly brutal.

Brooklyn might be beatable, but I don't see them being pushovers still. Kyrie is still very good, Dinwiddie and Levert are both threats, Jarrett Allen is a very good defender, DeAndre Jordan can still be solid when he bothers even if he's not great anymore.

But yeah, even if you take them out, that's still a crazy schedule.

Just to compare, the Lakers schedule in the same time period contains:

- Clippers
- Jazz
- Raptors
- Warriors
- Us

That's it. Otherwise they play the Grizzlies twice, Washington, Phoenix, Miami, Hornets, Mavs twice, Bulls, Hawks, and two games against the Spurs who aren't a great team this year but are always in the mix. If you wanted to design a cake-walk schedule to give a team a huge boost by gently introducing them to a cushy schedule, it would be difficult to make it easier than they have for LA this year.

[Wowowowow]

Top preseason players in usage rate among those with 15+ minutes per game and a 67+ TS%:

Giannis - 41.1 USG%, 69 TS%
Steph - 34.2. USG%, 80 TS%
NAW - 32.0 USG%, 68TS%
SGA - 29.8 USG, 68 TS%

— Michael Gallagher (@MikeSGallagher) October 12, 2019

No question about it. NAW has been high usage in his minutes, but he's making the most of them: among high usage players, look at the company he shares. He's been incredible in this pre-season, and he was fantastic in summer league too.

When we drafted him, I said that I was okay with the pick and that NAW was definitely an NBA player, but that it didn't really excite me. I saw him as one of those useful backup guards, who is definitely very good, could get rotation minutes on a playoff team, but wouldn't be a starter level piece on a great team.

Now, obviously I don't wanna get too ahead of myself just from pre-season, but he looks like he's proving me wrong. His college system didn't really give him the kind of freedom he has had for us, and with that new-found freedom has come an explosion in his skillset and his aggression. He's looked fantastic. There are probably 10 or 15 teams in the league he would be starting on, and his potential is definitely higher than ''rotation piece for a playoff team''. He's been amazing.

And yeah, I agree on defense. There's a lot of work to do there.

Yep, same here.

And to be honest just think of the dynamic right now, locker room wise.
This is pushing Lonzo. This is pushing Jrue. I’m going strictly off a mental thing with him, but he looks every bit as confident as any guard I have seen come in as a rookie in his mold. Steph Curry is only Steph Curry because it feels like he never misses. NAW is either in a zone or he’s this confident.

[msusousaphone]

It'll be interesting and bittersweet to see where we end up. This is such a fun, energetic, and tight group. I just don't think they stay intact. We are SO loaded with talented youth and future assets that I think one of our young studs will be packaged with a bunch of picks for an all-star or superstar.

Bring it! Saints having no problem with very ludicrous schedule .

We're trying to just keep it to snooking references.

[Wowowowow]

For the Ingram bashers, dont sleep on the defensive job he did on Ingles. Thats where that length at the 3 we been missing for so long comes in handy.

Ingles is no slouch. Has embarrassed Paul George quite a few times.

His effort at the halfcourt line on Ingles was very impressive tonight.

And guess what, it’s preseason. BI wants to get paid...and he’s on national tv here In an element where the stars don’t need the ball constantly and he can get off as the midrange weapon. He’ll either really swim for us or sink. I’m hoping he turns into Phelps.

[Pelicanidae]

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...on-home-opener

"You gotta give him respect, two-time Defensive Player of the Year," Williamson said. "Just gotta go in there strong and try to finish."

Gobert said he made sure he didn't give Williamson a chance to dunk on him but complimented the 19-year-old's game, saying he has a "great future ahead of him."

"He's kind of surprisingly agile," Gobert said. "I think he catches a lot of people off guard because of that. He can change direction pretty quick."

Good compliments from 2x DPOY, Rudy Gobert on Zion.

Gentry does acknowledge the defense issues though

"We have to get better in our defense, but we're trying to put in a new system and this team is not a good team to play when you don't have all of your defense in," Gentry said. [...]

"That's one of the best-executing teams in the NBA," Gentry said. "Even when you're really solid with them defensively, they'll find a weakness. They are rolling Gobert to the basket, it forces you to pull in. When they do, they do a great job of finding the guy on the weak side."

[Pelicanidae]

Yep, same here.

And to be honest just think of the dynamic right now, locker room wise.
This is pushing Lonzo. This is pushing Jrue. I’m going strictly off a mental thing with him, but he looks every bit as confident as any guard I have seen come in as a rookie in his mold. Steph Curry is only Steph Curry because it feels like he never misses. NAW is either in a zone or he’s this confident.

Cole Zwicker, a pretty good draft analyst, was saying the other day on twitter that NAW is one of those rookies that you would never think they were a rookie if you didn't already know. Just watching his game, his confidence, his control, he looks like a 4 year vet already. A good 4 year vet too, not like, Mario Hezonja.

[Pelicanidae]

According to @ESPNStatsInfo: Rudy Gobert was primary defender on Zion Williamson six times.

It resulted in two fouls (one by Conley, one by Gobert), two layups, a miss over Gobert that Zion got his own rebound and dunked it.*

*Counted as two plays

Total: 9 pts, 3-4 FG, 3-4 FT

— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) October 12, 2019

[Wecandothis]

Been watching NBA over 40 years I can honestly say I've never seen anything like Zion,his explosiveness,jumping ability and body control is unguardable. Teams can try to double team him that's about it. No one can stop him one on one.NAW is better than Lonzo,and I'm a big Lonzo fan just being honest,could someone please tell Brandon that you can pass the basketball sometimes,the kid has talent and can score but he's missing guys wide open with the ball hogging. This Pelicans team is one of if not the most exciting team in the league.

[SoCal4Pels]

Yep, been living that feeling with BI for a long time now, the 'you're the next Durant' talk he has been hearing has given him a mental block that prevents him from looking for/seeing the other guys on the court.

I haven't lost faith yet. If I am Gentry, during the regular season, I am going up to Brandon and challenging him: 'BI, I am challenging you to average 7 assists this month.' And you are going to see an abrupt shift in BI's play as he tries to meet Gentry's challenge. He probably won't get 7, but it would be a good test to see how responsive he is to Gentry and if he is capable of improving is court vission/awareness. I suspect if he can average around 4.5-5.5,his plus/minus will go up quite a bit.

Regarding Zion, I went nuts when he hit that 3. If he is shooting 35-37% from 3 to keep the defense honest, with his handle, passing, quickness, etc. I don't think it is an exaggeration to say he will be the toughest player to guard in the entire league, and sooner rather than later.

[ragincaucasian]

NAW is just too good to keep on the bench.
We would literally be undefeated since the draft if the garbage refs had called that obvious foul in Summer League.

Yes, I'm still pissed over that.

[6warddude]

after 2 games seeing it..i love the backups with jackson,,,naw,,,hart,,,JJ,,,hustle,,,melli......th at mix of players have played the offense the right way with pace and ball movement the way gentry likes to play..they play hard defense....that unit has made comebacks in the last 2 games to win....

the only problem i have is that this team is 13 deep and im thinking gentry will play his 8 man rotation come Toronto....

[GuardianAngel25]

Can you see now why I was so perturbed with your belief that Ingram and Hart were about equal in production? Love Hart but he's just an okay player to have coming off the bench. Maybe he'll improve and eventually end up being more, but for now that's what he is.

The guy doesn’t know what he talking about regarding many players especially Ingram. He lets his biases control him. Gonna be a long season in hame post listening to hearing Ingram did this and that at nausea. Like I said had you been here a little longer you would understand he went so far against Ingram and Ball he can’t admit to being remotely wrong and will stick to that no matter what is accomplished. He will throw out an obvious positive during the game about one to say he said something good. Just gets old when it’s been going on for over a year haha. I can’t remember the 2 players he said were just as valuable as Ingram/Ball but it was comical. I think one was Hart like you said but it was funny. Oh well I’ll just sit back and enjoy every aspect of my Pels not cringing when certain players light it up. Go Pels!!

Fine we don't need to go back and forth, but within this short sample size it should be apparent that there simply is no comparison at all between the two. And your exact wording was that they'd be about equal in production. I can get the quote for you.

The time will come.. I have much better quotes lol.

[GuardianAngel25]

Don't really wanna go into a big discussion about it, since it might derail the thread, but suffice it to say that I thought I had been fairly clear in that talk that part of my reason for rating Hart so much higher than you do is the fact that he's so much cheaper than Ingram, and will be for a lot longer due to his contract situation and Ingram's incoming extension.

Also, this was clearly Hart's worst game of the pre season. If we're going to make judgements based on single pre season games, then there's some pretty damning stuff for Ingram in the Bulls game, a game in which Hart was actually very good.

LoL. Do you believe your own bull?

[GuardianAngel25]

For the Ingram bashers, dont sleep on the defensive job he did on Ingles. Thats where that length at the 3 we been missing for so long comes in handy.

Ingles is no slouch. Has embarrassed Paul George quite a few times.

Of course this will be ignored.. he is one of the better 2 way SFs in the NBA but since it’s Ingram that isn’t mentioned. Must be something he does to have Griffin and many others so high on him.

[GuardianAngel25]

Hart, reddick, Moore. He is making his 3’s and we definitely need someone that can stretch the floor.

I completely agree. The best player will end up playing and that could be Frank. He lived with Jrue Holiday and trained with him all offseason. Jrue has talked about how great he has looked and we have seen that with our own eyes now. Again JJ is my favorite college basketball player of all time and always wanted him on the pros. But JJ is old and he offers nothing much more then shooting and BBall IQ. Frank gives you an elite athlete who is a combo guard that can defend very well. He has continue to improve and develop a knockdown 3pt shot. He is definitely going to get his minutes.

[Pelicanidae]

Since it's been long enough, RealGM has updated the numbers. Let's take a look at our guys through 3 games of play. I won't include some of the guys who are vets and we already know what to expect from them in the regular season (Jrue, Favors), and I won't include Okafor either since he missed game 3 and therefore his stats are unchanged since last game. Haven't done anyone who averages less than 10 minutes per night (Melli, Hayes)

Lonzo: 8.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1.7 stls, 1.7 TO. 47.8% TS, +5.7 Net Rating, 18.89 PER, 0.2 WS/48. 18.6% USG.
Ingram: 15.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 stl, 3 TOs. 54% TS, -7.5 Net Rating, 18.1 PER, 0.08 WS/48, 31.2% USG
Zion: 23.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.3 stls, 2 TOs. 73.1% TS, +26.8 Net Rating, 35.4 PER, 0.55 WS/48, 27.5% USG
NAW: 15.7 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1stl, 1.7 TOs. 68.1% TS, +19.5 Net Rating, 35.7 PER, 0.35 WS/48, 31.1% USG

[JJackisangry]

Since it's been long enough, RealGM has updated the numbers. Let's take a look at our guys through 3 games of play. I won't include some of the guys who are vets and we already know what to expect from them in the regular season (Jrue, Favors), and I won't include Okafor either since he missed game 3 and therefore his stats are unchanged since last game. Haven't done anyone who averages less than 10 minutes per night (Melli, Hayes)

Lonzo: 8.7 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1.7 stls, 1.7 TO. 47.8% TS, +5.7 Net Rating, 18.89 PER, 0.2 WS/48. 18.6% USG.
Ingram: 15.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 stl, 3 TOs. 54% TS, -7.5 Net Rating, 18.1 PER, 0.08 WS/48, 31.2% USG
Zion: 23.7 points, 5.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, 1.3 stls, 2 TOs. 73.1% TS, +26.8 Net Rating, 35.4 PER, 0.55 WS/48, 27.5% USG
NAW: 15.7 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists, 1stl, 1.7 TOs. 68.1% TS, +19.5 Net Rating, 35.7 PER, 0.35 WS/48, 31.1% USG

I know plus-minus doesn’t tell the whole story, but Ingram’s net rating isn’t entirely inaccurate. We have looked our least cohesive with him on the floor. I almost feel as if he would be better in a sixth man role as opposed to the starting lineup. But I also don’t like the idea of taking the ball out of NAW’s hands either. I just wish he’d alter his game a bit.

[Pelicanidae]

I know plus-minus doesn’t tell the whole story, but Ingram’s net rating isn’t entirely inaccurate. We have looked our least cohesive with him on the floor. I almost feel as if he would be better in a sixth man role as opposed to the starting lineup. But I also don’t like the idea of taking the ball out of NAW’s hands either. I just wish he’d alter his game a bit.

What your saying (that when Ingram is on the floor, we've looked our worst) is what the net rating is implying: he's the only one of those 4 with a negative net rating, and it's pretty dramatically negative as well, at -7.5

Plus minus doesn't tell the whole story, and even these advanced stats don't tell the whole story when we're dealing with a sample size of only 3 games. There's always a little noise, and the stats don't really start to become representative of a player until 20 or 30 games have passed, to minimise the noise. Plus, stats like PER and WS/48 aren't the best stats in the world anyway: they're just all we have, since nobody does pre-season PIPM or RPM.

But yeah, I agree. Ingram has the worst net rating in that group, the worst PER, and the worst WS/48, and there's a reason for that. He needs to get over his tunnel vision and start passing more. You'll notice he has the highest usage rate among those 4 players, yet averages the fewest assists, and the most turnovers. Again, a 3 game sample size is too small to argue that this is just who he is, but it's not a great trend.

[JJackisangry]

What your saying (that when Ingram is on the floor, we've looked our worst) is what the net rating is implying: he's the only one of those 4 with a negative net rating, and it's pretty dramatically negative as well, at -7.5

Plus minus doesn't tell the whole story, and even these advanced stats don't tell the whole story when we're dealing with a sample size of only 3 games. There's always a little noise, and the stats don't really start to become representative of a player until 20 or 30 games have passed, to minimise the noise. Plus, stats like PER and WS/48 aren't the best stats in the world anyway: they're just all we have, since nobody does pre-season PIPM or RPM.

But yeah, I agree. Ingram has the worst net rating in that group, the worst PER, and the worst WS/48, and there's a reason for that. He needs to get over his tunnel vision and start passing more. You'll notice he has the highest usage rate among those 4 players, yet averages the fewest assists, and the most turnovers. Again, a 3 game sample size is too small to argue that this is just who he is, but it's not a great trend.

I just think his really slight frame let’s him down in the paint which is where he wants to be. It’s up to him to decipher risk-reward and which matchups he can actually take advantage of. Dump it off if the matchup doesn’t favor you

[6warddude]

to be honest the whole starting 5 has looked terrible in these last 2 games......you have to also include the eye test when you posting stats on players ...imgram is playing iso ball on offense but his length is causing problems for players with his defense and being at the right place on defense also....the stats dont show those lil things like hustle plays but he is playing out of the system and need to adjust....