22nd January - New Orleans Pelicans VS San Antonio Spurs - 17-27

[As I See It]

Stat of the night.....27%

[Eman5805]

Zion is a real life Monstar.

[msusousaphone]

How?

We were told there was no minutes restriction, and that his minutes would be based on how he was playing and feeling.

He was playing fantastically, and he had only been in for a few minutes at that point so it wasn't like anyone was asking him to play 12 straight or anything.

So why is it ''unrealistic'' to expect him to play another 3 minutes?

He hit those amazing 3s but he had an atrocious rest to the game. His defense was.....there wasn't much of any...he had some REALLY bad TOs. That's all to be expected, though. This is his first NBA game and he's missed 3 months.

But c'mon. He wasn't playing 20+ min. He was winded. Huffing and puffing. You risk injury playing a guy when he's gassed.

[Taker597]

No they should NOT have brought Zion back in. He did what he could. He's not in shape yet.

The rest of the team just couldnt handle the spotlight.

Where are those unclutch stats 4QT stats from 6-22. Felt that energy coming back

[Pelicanidae]

Really believe Griffin is stealth tanking. The mindset all season has been its just one game. Half the season is about over. It'll be the playoff Elimination game and it'll be just one game...

I'm not going to presume ulterior motives (even if it may be wise to ) so I'm not going to assume that. But if it is true, that's the kind of thing that would make me lose respect for you.

There's a difference between saying ''we're going to go out and try to win games, prioritising development and thinking long term'' (tanking in pretty words) and saying ''we're a playoff team, we're making a playoff push, we're here to kick people's butts, we just wanna win games!''

If you sell the fans the latter as pretty packaging for the former, that's pretty deceptive.

[Taker597]

I'm not going to presume ulterior motives (even if it may be wise to ) so I'm not going to assume that. But if it is true, that's the kind of thing that would make me lose respect for you.

There's a difference between saying ''we're going to go out and try to win games, prioritising development and thinking long term'' (tanking in pretty words) and saying ''we're a playoff team, we're making a playoff push, we're here to kick people's butts, we just wanna win games!''

If you sell the fans the latter as pretty packaging for the former, that's pretty deceptive.

Idk... Where Griffin at... He was talking a big game before the season and vanished on day one. Better be looking at those Backy Hammon scout tapes.

[Pelicanidae]

He hit those amazing 3s but he had an atrocious rest to the game. His defense was.....there wasn't much of any...he had some REALLY bad TOs. That's all to be expected, though. This is his first NBA game and he's missed 3 months.

But c'mon. He wasn't playing 20+ min. He was winded. Huffing and puffing. You risk injury playing a guy when he's gassed.

He wasn't atrocious at all he had some bad turnovers (two of which I would argue weren't actually his fault, most prominently the one where Lonzo just... stood in the driving lane, for no reason?) but other than that he was fine. A bit passive, but he was making really nice reads out of double teams and was shooting efficiently and rebounding well prior to that explosion.

And saying there wasn't much of any defense is no real knock on him, because half the team wasn't playing any defense either and that did not influence their minutes at all.

The only real argument is that he was tired. Which, fair enough: but then it raises the question (again) why were we told no minutes restriction if there clearly is one?

[msusousaphone]

Lol. Y'all wild.

Ignoring a point isn't countering it.

The Spurs might have a sub .500 record but they are experienced and disciplined. That disrupted us. We're still 11-6 in our last 17. No one guys unbeaten. Somtimes your shots just don't fall.

[As I See It]

Mission accomplished!!! Twelve players played.

[UNO Gracias]

There are no moral victories. Moral victories don’t get you into the playoffs.

We could have had that game and we pulled the energizer bunny because we didn’t have the foresight to say “Zion, give me 3 more min and I will call a timeout or two to keep you from getting winded.”

Ducking Gentry.

[Millán]

I'm good with Alvin Gentry holding firm and not playing Zion any more in a game he probably would've won single-handedly. He missed half the season because of knee surgery. He did far more than enough. Don't push it. Kid is going to be GREAT, hopefully for a long, long time.

— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) January 23, 2020

some of yall are being even bigger clowns than Skip Bayless normally is. Not even him is attacking Gentry for taking Zion out.

[luckyman]

Lol. Y'all wild.

Ignoring a point isn't countering it.

The Spurs might have a sub .500 record but they are experienced and disciplined. That disrupted us. We're still 11-6 in our last 17. No one guys unbeaten. Somtimes your shots just don't fall.

Those shots didnt fall because the rest of the team couldnt handle the atmosphere. All except our only dog which is Josh Hart and Lonzo.

Really disappointed in Ingram and Holiday in the 4th. They were just awful. And I would have played Redick. The Spurs dont present the type of problems that Redick cant handle.

And Mark Jackson was openly mocking Gentry yet again everytime he tried to sub Zion out during that run. He said something like 'Gentry isn't trying to give orders he's looking for orders'.

[Pelicanidae]

End of game statlines:

Zion (18 minutes): 22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists. 8/11 shooting (72.7%), 4/4 from 3. 5 turnovers, 1 foul. +3
Ingram (34 mins): 22 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists. 6/22 shooting (27.3%), 2/8 from 3 (25%). 2 turnovers, 2 fouls. -9
Jrue (35 mins): 12 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists. 4/11 shooting (36.4%), 1/5 from 3 (20%). 0 turnovers, 2 fouls. -6
Lonzo (39 mins): 14 points, 8 rebounds, 12 assists. 4/8 shooting (50%), 3/6 from 3. 3 turnovers, 2 fouls. +7
Favors (22 mins): 11 points, 10 rebounds. 5/7 shooting (71.4%). 1 turnover, 5 fouls. +0

Bench guys:
Hart: 10pts, 5rbds. 50% shooting, 40% from 3.
Redick: 10pts. 60% shooting, 33.3% from 3.
Jax: 9pts, 3rbds, 1ast. 75% shooting.

[Teal Lantern]

There are no moral victories. Moral victories don’t get you into the playoffs.

We could have had that game and we pulled the energizer bunny because we didn’t have the foresight to say “Zion, give me 3 more min and I will call a timeout or two to keep you from getting winded.”

Ducking Gentry.

Agreed on all points.

[Pelicanidae]

some of yall are being even bigger clowns than Skip Bayless normally is. Not even him is attacking Gentry for taking Zion out.

Skip Bayless is a die hard fan of the San Antonio Spurs.

Is there any surprise he's not annoyed at Gentry for handing them the game?

Again, I'm not even that mad about it after a few minutes cool-down. I'm just irritated that Griff clearly said that there was no minutes restriction when there blatantly is.

[wuggie]

The team would've won if they would've made more shots. Zion went nuts of course but it was most likely from fatigue why they pulled him. And you could say Genty was out coached.

[Nichols]

End of game statlines:

Zion (18 minutes): 22 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists. 8/11 shooting (72.7%), 4/4 from 3. 5 turnovers, 1 foul. +3
Ingram (34 mins): 22 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists. 6/22 shooting (27.3%), 2/8 from 3 (25%). 2 turnovers, 2 fouls. -9
Jrue (35 mins): 12 points, 2 rebounds, 4 assists. 4/11 shooting (36.4%), 1/5 from 3 (20%). 0 turnovers, 2 fouls. -6
Lonzo (39 mins): 14 points, 8 rebounds, 12 assists. 4/8 shooting (50%), 3/6 from 3. 3 turnovers, 2 fouls. +7
Favors (22 mins): 11 points, 10 rebounds. 5/7 shooting (71.4%). 1 turnover, 5 fouls. +0

Bench guys:
Hart: 10pts, 5rbds. 50% shooting, 40% from 3.
Redick: 10pts. 60% shooting, 33.3% from 3.
Jax: 9pts, 3rbds, 1ast. 75% shooting.

Our two best players this season had poor shooting performances.. That and Gentry letting LA play one on one on the box is what lost us this game..

[wuggie]

Skip Bayless is a die hard fan of the San Antonio Spurs.

Is there any surprise he's not annoyed at Gentry for handing them the game?

Again, I'm not even that mad about it after a few minutes cool-down. I'm just irritated that Griff clearly said that there was no minutes restriction when there blatantly is.

Yeah, they seem to be easing him in obviously.

[Pelicanidae]

The team would've won if they would've made more shots. Zion went nuts of course but it was most likely from fatigue why they pulled him. And you could say Genty was out coached.

Clearly outcoached. Even if you excuse him for pulling Zion at the end (maybe it was a covert minutes restriction!), his rotations were a complete joke, especially in the first half. He looked confused and panicked, throwing out seemingly random lineups every other minute. He played 12 guys in the first half, a complete flashback to his coaching at the start of the year that I think we almost all agreed was awful.

[Nichols]

Those shots didnt fall because the rest of the team couldnt handle the atmosphere. All except our only dog which is Josh Hart and Lonzo.

Really disappointed in Ingram and Holiday in the 4th. They were just awful. And I would have played Redick. The Spurs dont present the type of problems that Redick cant handle.

And Mark Jackson was openly mocking Gentry yet again everytime he tried to sub Zion out during that run. He said something like 'Gentry isn't trying to give orders he's looking for orders'.

Maybe I'm too much of a harda** but I'd yank guys out of the game if they aren't performing.

[msusousaphone]

Those shots didnt fall because the rest of the team couldnt handle the atmosphere. All except our only dog which is Josh Hart and Lonzo.

Really disappointed in Ingram and Holiday in the 4th. They were just awful. And I would have played Redick. The Spurs dont present the type of problems that Redick cant handle.

And Mark Jackson was openly mocking Gentry yet again everytime he tried to sub Zion out during that run. He said something like 'Gentry isn't trying to give orders he's looking for orders'.

They're only going to learn by playing the game.

It's like when Gentry leaves the rooks one on one every now and then. People are so quick to scream GENTRY SUCKS HE'S LOSING THIS GAME and forget that the primary goal for this season is to develop for the future. Sometimes you have to make bad tactical decisions in that game but they are good decisions for the development of the youngins.

[UNO Gracias]

Did I miss something, but didn’t Frank look solid on defense during his limited minutes?

[Pelicanidae]

Gentry on Zion’s removal late in the 4th Quarter:

“Medical people said that was it.

I wouldn’t have taken him out in those situations unless I was told to...

Continued on...

“I don’t think Sean would have taken out Drew Brees in situation.”

This brings some clarity to fans.

— Andrew Doak (@AndrewDoak_WWL) January 23, 2020

Confirmation from Gentry about the minutes restriction/medical limit.

[Pelicanidae]

pic.twitter.com/NjoftL6cot

— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) January 23, 2020

[As I See It]

Short Term, ZW in a better option at the 5 than JH which means...……...

So long, Jah, you're a true professional.