4th March - New Orleans Pelicans @ Dallas Mavericks - 26-35

[Pelicanidae]

Nah. I want him out there. What better cardio could he ever get than this?

Yeah I'm fine with it also. Maybe control the minutes a little bit, keep him under 30, but play him if he's healthy.

[Pelicanidae]

Only edge Frank really has on NAW is he's been in the league two years longer.

Which makes his clumsiness slightly less forgivable

[Taker597]

That was a surprisingly good 1st half. Players showed up. Coaching didn't. Melli and Zion isn't going to work. We need to Favors to bang bodies with Krip to free up Zion

[PelicanNation]

Only edge Frank really has on NAW is he's been in the league two years longer.

It sucks because both of them are really talented but try to do too much because they know they have a limited amount of minutes to make an impact.

[As I See It]

Only edge Frank really has on NAW is he's been in the league two years longer.

He's a much better defender than NAW, not that it means a lot on this team.

[Biasvasospasm]

I feel like we should be getting killed in this game, but it is somehow close.

[Taker597]

He's a much better defender than NAW, not that it means a lot on this team.

The illusion of being better is simply by having playing time.

[Taker597]

I feel like we should be getting killed in this game, but it is somehow close.

A lot of clutch shooting. Just hope it doesn't dry up in the 4th like it usually do when the players run the legs out from underneath them.

[Pelicanidae]

Halftime Stats: Pels Down 57-55

Zion: 9 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist. 4/10 shooting (40%), 1/1 from FT line. 0 turnovers, 0 fouls.
Ingram: 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists. 5/9 shooting (55.6%), 1/3 from 3. 2 turnovers, 1 foul.
Jrue: 12 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal. 5/12 shooting (41.7%), 2/4 from 3. 1 turnover, 2 fouls.
Favors: 4 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block, 1 steal. 2/4 shooting. 1 turnover, 2 fouls.
Lonzo:12 points, 3 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal. 4/8 shooting, all from 3. 2 turnovers, 0 fouls.


Bench

Hart: 0 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist. 0/1 shooting.
Melli: 0 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists. 0/5 shooting. 1 turnover, 2 fouls.
Hayes: 0 points 0 rebounds 0 assists, 0/1 shooting, 3 minutes.
Moore: 2 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists. 1/2 shooting. 1 turnover, 1 foul.
Frank: 3 points, 0 rebounds, 0 assists. 1/1 shooting.


Big shoutout to the bench for the 2nd game in a row, giving us absolutely nothing! Great to see.

[As I See It]

Has anybody got any recent info on Didi Louzada-Silva?

[Pelicanidae]

2/10 shooting from the bench is beautiful though, I do love that. 20% shooting.

Reminds me of last game, where the entire bench went 9/30, for 30%.

Glorious stuff. Whole bench just really showing up right now.

[msusousaphone]

Two complete ying yang quarters. Amusing.

[msusousaphone]

That offensive board stat (Pels 8 Mavs 1) is sechsy.

[Pelicanidae]

Rick Carlisle on Zion Williamson: “His level of force and efficiency is just unprecedented for a player of that age. Watching him is a breathtaking experience.”

— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) March 5, 2020

[kinglio21093]

Has anybody got any recent info on Didi Louzada-Silva?

He's in the playoffs with Sydney.

[Biasvasospasm]

One of my firmest convictions is that Zion can be a +defender. He was a brilliant defender at Duke, excellent at the point of attack and at creating events. Racked up stupid steal and block rates, including as help.

It's not here with any consistency yet. That's cool with me. But you're right, next year after a full training camp and hopefully a summer he spends in the gym, I'll want that defense to start coming back more regularly.

I think it's a weight and conditioning thing, and a postsurgery thing in a big way. It's also an awareness and rookie thing. But his lack of length is also really showing up in the NBA. Teams are not bothered when he is contesting.

I am becoming resigned that being a neutral with some pluses and some minuses might be best we could expect.

[Chris]

Wow. I thought his head hit the floor for a second there.

[kinglio21093]

How wasn't that a foul?

[Pelicanidae]

Kristaps went completely through Zion's arm but okay no big deal that's cool

[kinglio21093]

Zion's tryna do too much. They're doing really well containing him.

[Chris]

Announcer is clearly not an MMA fan after hearing him take a pause and then proceed to butcher that name.

[Pelicanidae]

I think it's a weight and conditioning thing, and a postsurgery thing in a big way. It's also an awareness and rookie thing. But his lack of length is also really showing up in the NBA. Teams are not bothered when he is contesting.

I am becoming resigned that being a neutral with some pluses and some minuses might be best we could expect.

He's not particularly short rather than long (didn't do the combine obviously so we don't have exact stats but most pre-draft stuff had his height as 6'7 and his length as 6'10; no reason to assume he's suddenly got a 6'6 wingspan too) so I don't care about that. And even if he was, lack of length can be offset by feel and strength; Jrue, for example, is 6'4 with a 6'5.5 wingspan. Completely unimpressive. Doesn't matter, has spent several years as a top defender.

I trust in Zion's previous defensive excellence to shine through. Maybe he'll never be a DPOY but I am absolutely convinced that he can be a solid, positive defender.

[msusousaphone]

Sweet chin music.

[Pelicanidae]

Zion's having an ugly night. Part of it is forcing too much. Part of it is that he's taken 11 shots so far, been fouled on about 7 of them, and has gotten a total of 2 (two) foul calls.

[Pelicanidae]

I hate how many teams so far have decided that the best defensive strategy against Zion is ''just hit him''. I'm even more annoyed at how many refs have decided that that's totally fine.