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Thread: No reason this team can't get the 8th seed.

  1. #26
    7-2 record with Zion coming back is huge!

    Hope Brandon is not impacted by all the hype and roster changes.

    Think you guys could go 4-1 for rest of Jan just off this momentum. Through to ASG looks tough though!

  2. #27
    I for one welcome the influx of n00b posters

  3. #28
    Good positive energy.

    But also, yo mama's fat.

  4. #29
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    I think the Pels, when healthy, can compete with any team in the playoffs. There isn't a PF in the west that Zion doesn't match up well against. Our starting guards can hold their own on the defensive end against most guards. Teams will no longer be able to focus their defense on Ingram, which should make him even more effective at the 3..

  5. #30
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    Quote Originally Posted by doubled1986 View Post
    7-2 record with Zion coming back is huge!

    Hope Brandon is not impacted by all the hype and roster changes.

    Think you guys could go 4-1 for rest of Jan just off this momentum. Through to ASG looks tough though!
    Why would he be.. Played some of his best basketball while in LA under a lot of pressure and trade rumors.

  6. #31
    Lebron is amazing at his age, but I do think that he is going to be a good bit under 100% come playoff time after playing 35 minutes a night. The pels still have a lot of room to improve
    While I am not saying we would take the series, I do think our chances would be better than the normal first round dirst seed vs eighth seed.
    Zion should be at his peak level for his first season and I know Ingram, Ball, and Hart are going to want to win that series more than anything they have wanted before.
    Like I said...I am not saying the Pels win the series, but I wouldnt be shocked if they did

  7. #32
    Quote Originally Posted by Dago75 View Post
    While I am not saying we would take the series, I do think our chances would be better than the normal first round dirst seed vs eighth seed.
    Assuming we're healthy, I agree.

    I'm not really worried about Lebron showing wear, to be honest. I could easily see him taking the foot off the gas a little as the season ends once their playoff spot is absolutely concrete, and maybe having his minutes wind down. Of course it's always possible that play-off Lebron doesn't hit this year, at least not quite as hard as usual, but he's done it so many times that frankly I'll believe it when I see it.

    But we are a team that, when healthy, should be a lot better than we are. I had us being potentially as high as the 6th seed before all the injuries and stuff came around, and that kind of level is more representative of our abilities than scraping for the 8th. I wouldn't bet on us winning that series (Lebron in playoff mode is scary and AD is still incredible) but I would be confident in our ability to make it a fight, and take at least a game off them.
    Basketball.

  8. #33
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    Teams will be tanking to avoid finishing 1st and having to deal with the Zion

  9. #34
    Quote Originally Posted by Nichols View Post
    Why would he be.. Played some of his best basketball while in LA under a lot of pressure and trade rumors.
    Not necessarily pressure and trade rumours.

    BI played awesome while Jrue was out, now hes back and Zion is ready.

    Sure he will have to make some adjustments to his recent role no?

  10. #35
    Quote Originally Posted by doubled1986 View Post
    Not necessarily pressure and trade rumours.

    BI played awesome while Jrue was out, now hes back and Zion is ready.

    Sure he will have to make some adjustments to his recent role no?
    He'll definitely have to make some adjustments, but luckily I think he plays in a way that makes him suited to those adjustments, at least some of them.

    For example, while he will probably see a drop in his counting stats (box score pts, rbds) he will probably see an uptick in efficiency because he'll have someone else drawing defensive attention; this is particularly true when it comes to shooting, because he's a great catch-and-shoot 3pt guy, and the more room he has for that the better. Zion will have a ton of gravity on rolls or cuts, which will open his 3pt window considerably and give him easier looks.

    Plus, the Zion/Ingram pick and roll should be very effective and obviously either guy can finish off that. You could even run it with Zion as the ballhandler and turn it into a pick and pop, with Ingram flaring out to the 3pt line after setting a brush screen (a la Lebron and Kevin Love, maybe?). Either way would be difficult to defend.

    People will have to give up looks, and as a result Ingram will probably lose a point or two off his averages because of that even when you account for the efficiency increase, but he plays in a way that should suit off-ball work and it's not like Zion needs to be on-ball all the time anyway, so he'll still get those opportunities. He seems like the kind of guy who would be willing to sacrifice 2 points a game to create a more dynamic, vicious offense.

  11. #36
    I think one thing to look out for is that Portland has played 5 more road games than home games. As bad as their record is, they're still .500 when playing at home. They could go on a bit of a winning streak once their schedule catches up.

    Likewise, Memphis is in the opposite situation as they've played 7 more home games than road games.

  12. #37
    The key for this team, even with Zion back, remains Derrick Favors. He needs to get these minor injury issues in check for this team to make a run.

    For all of Zions mass and power, he is still a tweener big that shouldn't be caught having to guard 6'11" bigs.

    Favors and Okafor need to get back into the rotation. Especially against the bigger teams. Melli is a matador on defense and Jax is just too young and too light right now.

  13. #38
    Just bouncing off bradael's post, I figured it would be useful to take an actual look at the remaining schedules of the teams we're fighting out the 8th seed with.

    Team Road Games Home Games
    Memphis Grizzlies 23 16
    San Antonio Spurs 21 19
    Portland Trailblazers 16 21
    Minnesota Timberwolves 19 20
    Phoenix Suns 22 17
    Sacramento Kings 19 20

    So from this chart, we can see that only really Portland has an advantageous schedule in terms of Home v Road games: Memphis has +7 Road games remaining, Phoenix has +5 Road games, Spurs have +2 Road games. Aside from Portland, only Sacramento and Minnesota have more home games than road, and in both cases only by +1.

    So that brings up an interesting question: of their remaining games, how many are against currently +.500 teams? Well, let's make another chart, with a little more information than the last one.

    Team Road v +.500 Home v +.500
    Memphis Grizzlies 12 8
    San Antonio Spurs 10 9
    Portland Trailblazers 6 11
    Minnesota Timberwolves 11 8
    Phoenix Suns 12 10
    Sacramento Kings 8 9

    What information does this give us? Well, it tells us a few things. Not only does Memphis have a bunch of road games left this year, but a majority of those road games are against teams which are currently +.500. Their home record too isn't exactly a cakewalk either: half of their home games are against +.500 teams, and you have to remember that 2 of those home games are against us. That's a tough close to the schedule.

    Spurs have it a little easier; less than half of their remaining road games are against +.500 teams, but the Spurs so far have posted a pretty lacklustre .350 win percentage on the road this year. It wouldn't be surprising to see them go something like 3-7 in those games, and combined a healthy number of +.500 home games, that schedule isn't too kind to them.

    Portland's schedule may look like they have it easy, with a majority of home games left, but look at that imbalance: their sub .500 opponents are all on the road. The real troublemakers come to visit them at home: and again, that's not counting the games they have left to play against us. While they have a home advantage, I don't actually know how much they'll be able to take from it.

    Etc etc. You can see that these schedules, even for the teams with more home games than road games, aren't exactly easy for anyone.

    For comparison, here's our schedule.

    Team Home Games Home v. +.500 Road Games Road v +.500
    New Orleans Pelicans 20 7 18 6

    You can see how much better ours looks. Majority of games at home, majority of those home games against sub .500 teams, and only 1/3rd of the remaining road games are against currently +.500 teams. It's the best possible set up we could hope for, and far better than any of the other teams. Tied with Portland for the fewest +.500 road games, and then nobody else has as few +.500 home games as we do. This is as optimal as it gets.
    Last edited by Pelicanidae; 01-22-2020 at 07:40 AM.

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