December 31st - New Orleans Pelicans @ Oklahoma City Thunder - 2-2

[Pelicanidae]

Okay so, game 5 is our 4th road game so far, so that's nice.

Tonight's game is against Oklahoma City, and it seems fitting that on the last night of this pretty awful year, we're playing against another team at the start of a rebuild, looking forward to better years in the future. They're loaded with young guys, some of whom are already breaking out like SGA, and some of whom are promising but still clearly some way off like Aleksej Pokusevski. Thus far they are 1-2, having lost against the Magic and the Jazz, picking up their only win against Charlotte. Meanwhile, we're looking for the opportunity to poke our heads up above .500 again. The beginning of our schedule this year is (yet again) incredibly tough, so if we can keep it about .500 until the end of January then we're in a decent spot in the playoff race, should that be our intention.

Again, it's still too early for me to want to post league rankings and ratings in these pre-game write-ups, so I won't, but it is worth mentioning that thus far OKC has been wholly unimpressive in those areas, ranking far outside the top 10 in everything but blocks per game thus far. This is not a team which has come out of the gates on fire, partly due to the aforementioned youth and inexperience of the roster combined with a few tough games early.

We played a fairly poor game against Phoenix the other day, leading to a pretty resounding loss, the motivating factors being a combined lack of defensive integrity and continuing our ice-cold shooting. In fact, as strange as it may seem, our shooting has gotten steadily worse over nearly each we've played so far. For me, this is our largest concern: of course, the defense needs to improve from the Phoenix game as well, but in general it's been better so far this year than last and defense is one of the things that takes the longest to really click anyway. Shooting, on the other hand, cannot be this bad if you want to win anything. Here are our percentages in each game so far:

@ Toronto: 45.2% (19/42)
@Miami: 28.6% (10/35)
Vs Spurs: 20.8% (5/24)
@ Phoenix: 12.5% (3/24)

This is, frankly, unsustainable. We desperately need a bounce back game. You cannot win games shooting 12% from 3, not without minor miracles, and certainly not consistently. We are, as it stands, the worst 3pt shooting team in the NBA: we are the only team which is collectively shooting below 30% from 3, at 29.6%. Of course, we're only 4 games in and it's almost certain that this will improve as the season goes on, but if we don't want to get in a hideous hole then that turnaround needs to start immediately. JJ Redick, a career 41.6% 3pt shooter on over 4500 attempts, is currently shooting 29% from 3 this year. That alone tells you everything you need to know, both about our shooting luck and our bench contribution issues.

And this is without even touching the problem that is our starting guard duo.

Tonight I don't expect perfection, but I do want to see some kind of improvement, some kind of effort on both ends to run the game properly. Stop devolving into iso-ball, stop taking bad shots, and bring back the Toronto/Miami defense: leave last game's defensive effort in Arizona.

If we do that, a win should be totally achievable here. So end the year positively.

[As I See It]

I want NAW to start and Bledsoe to replace him on the bench. Though I have no proof, I suspect that Bled doesn't want to be here. If so, ship him out with all due urgency; our young group doesn't need that kind of veteran leadership in the locker room.

[Impose]

Might be the type of game we can 'win ugly' if the shots continue not to fall. I have major question marks over SVG's offensive system and I'm sure he'll be asking Griff to shuffle someone (a guard worth something) to anywhere with a big to spare that can shoot.

Way too many turnovers so far, partly due to guys not knowing this system yet, and OKC is scrappy so I'm kinda expecting a lot of turnovers again.

I'll take an ugly win, kinda expecting a loss, will be very happy if the team surprises me.

[Impose]

I want NAW to start and Bledsoe to replace him on the bench. Though I have no proof, I suspect that Bled doesn't want to be here. If so, ship him out with all due urgency; our young group doesn't need that kind of veteran leadership in the locker room.

Bledsoe is just kinda cold as a persona in general man, I think you're just a fanboy of NAW (and he's shown flashes in summer league and pre-season) but honestly I'm trusting coach to have faith in Bledsoe and not throw him under a bus 4 games in to the season. NAW can earn his spot in the rotation, just has to hit his shots, stay in front of his man, and not turn the ball over.

[luckyman]

Quite frankly JJ has been a black hole this year. Most of his shots outside of the Toronto game have been off-balance, rushed, and completely outside of the flow of the offense. Half of them look like he's trying to draw a foul than make the shot. His follow-through on some of them have been wild and frantic if a defender is within 3 ft. Rarely does he pass the ball to get it back. Once he touches it, its going up.

Not sure why this has been the case, but he's played an awful game so far.

If you include Josh Hart as a backup to BI, then the guard play has been inconsistent and pretty much the worst I've seen in a long time. SVG almost has no choice but to give NAW regular minutes.

[As I See It]

Bledsoe is just kinda cold as a persona in general man, I think you're just a fanboy of NAW (and he's shown flashes in summer league and pre-season) but honestly I'm trusting coach to have faith in Bledsoe and not throw him under a bus 4 games in to the season. NAW can earn his spot in the rotation, just has to hit his shots, stay in front of his man, and not turn the ball over.

Who's the real 'fanboy'?

Me of NAW or you of Bled?

Me: "The Latter".

[JJackisangry]

Bledsoe is just kinda cold as a persona in general man, I think you're just a fanboy of NAW (and he's shown flashes in summer league and pre-season) but honestly I'm trusting coach to have faith in Bledsoe and not throw him under a bus 4 games in to the season. NAW can earn his spot in the rotation, just has to hit his shots, stay in front of his man, and not turn the ball over.

I disagree with his take that Bledsoe doesn’t want to be here, but I do think there is a point where you have to cut your losses with him if things keep going downhill. It’ll be detrimental if these types of performances keep happening on the offensive end. It’s up to him to improve. He doesn’t need to be a world beater. Just his average self.2 assists in 2 games and no contributions offensively isn’t going to cut it.

[Taker597]

Man... Gotta work late tonight. Stupid skeleton holiday shift makes no sense. Business degrees making medical staffing decisions struggles.

Hopefully, the last off topic discussion doesn't flood this thread.

[DaPelFromHell]

This should be a game that you mark on the calendar as a win, but it worries me. If they play like they did against Utah and hit their 3s it could be a long game. Dort, Bazley, Horford, and Muscala hit between 2-5 3s in that game at 39.5% with Dort hitting those 5.

I was listening to the Zach Lowe and he had mentioned how he had both Van Gundys on at times in the last few years. And both of them really liked how the Bucks played defense. Which is crowd the paint, but allow the most 3s attempted in the league last year. That could work, but also get you blown out of games if you can?t hit shots. So it looks like we are trying that philosophy to an extent even though we do still give up too many layups in the half court IMO.

Hopefully we hit shots and I would try JJ in the starting lineup cause this two point guard lineup looks like S

[Taker597]

This should be a game that you mark on the calendar as a win, but it worries me. If they play like they did against Utah and hit their 3s it could be a long game. Dort, Bazley, Horford, and Muscala hit between 2-5 3s in that game at 39.5% with Dort hitting those 5.

I was listening to the Zach Lowe and he had mentioned how he had both Van Gundys on at times in the last few years. And both of them really liked how the Bucks played defense. Which is crowd the paint, but allow the most 3s attempted in the league last year. That could work, but also get you blown out of games if you can?t hit shots. So it looks like we are trying that philosophy to an extent even though we do still give up too many layups in the half court IMO.

Hopefully we hit shots and I would try JJ in the starting lineup cause this two point guard lineup looks like S

I feel like that philosophy for a team makeover... Is probably the easiest 1st step transition on improving the team with only about 3 weeks of coaching.

It's the right move to make when you have soooo little time to work with atleast putting out a salvageable defense in the matter of a week.

[Pelicanidae]

Hopefully we hit shots and I would try JJ in the starting lineup cause this two point guard lineup looks like S

I would argue that we're actually running a zero point guard lineup, in the sense that neither Bledsoe or Lonzo are maximised as on-ball playmakers in the halfcourt, which I think is part of the defining responsibility of the point guard. They should be able to be half-court creators.

[As I See It]

To this point in time, the true point in our half court offense is BI. He's the one with ball in his hands. He's left to create for himself and his teammates. So our guards have to be scorers otherwise they are useless offensively in the half court.

We should be running some high/low with Adams on the blocks. He's the most accomplished passer on the team.

[PELICANSFAN]

I think SVG is still trying to find his way with the players and combinations that work. It may take a while. Would like to see NAW get a little run in non-trash time just to see if he has value as a contributor or not.

[Pelicanidae]

To this point in time, the true point in our half court offense is BI. He's the one with ball in his hands. He's left to create for himself and his teammates. So our guards have to be scorers otherwise they are useless offensively in the half court.

We should be running some high/low with Adams on the blocks. He's the most accomplished passer on the team.

I actually think we need to be careful about how we use Adams going forward. We've had so little off-ball movement at times so far this season, that our go-to play seems to be an Adams DHO from the high post and frankly that's just not good enough. I understand why it's the case: we have so few guys who are being/can be trusted with self-creation reps in the half court that it's a way of trying to get people catching the ball in motion and for Adams to create a touch of space with his body in the screen, but the reality is that coaches notice it if it's all you do and they just get talented defenders to blow up the DHO after a while.

That's what happened in the Phoenix game, where DHO after DHO just got blown up and our offense was essentially non-existent as a consequence.

[AusPel]

So I'm an old kent who just turned 39 yesterday.

Let's get it Pels

[Taker597]

I'm pretty stoked to start the new year with winning record. First yime in over 10 years...

[Impose]

Who's the real 'fanboy'?

Me of NAW or you of Bled?

Me: "The Latter".

Tampon in a bit too far, mate? Lol

[Impose]

I disagree with his take that Bledsoe doesn’t want to be here, but I do think there is a point where you have to cut your losses with him if things keep going downhill. It’ll be detrimental if these types of performances keep happening on the offensive end. It’s up to him to improve. He doesn’t need to be a world beater. Just his average self.2 assists in 2 games and no contributions offensively isn’t going to cut it.

It's been 4 games, one of which he was excellent. Slow down, turbo.

[As I See It]

Tampon in a bit too far, mate? Lol

All day for this? LMAO

[JJackisangry]

It's been 4 games, one of which he was excellent. Slow down, turbo.

He was not excellent. He was okay. He needs to be better. You need to quit getting so riled up.

[Impose]

All day for this? LMAO

Australian here, sorry I 'slept' on your comment so long man, I'll try and be more punctual in future, because I appreciate you.

[Impose]

He was not excellent. He was okay. He needs to be better. You need to quit getting so riled up.

It's a bit hard not to get riled up reading the braindead takes on this forum man, it really is. I'd happily take 18p 6a on good %'s from my third option any night of the week. He had an excellent game for his role.

It's been 4 games, lets see how he (and the team) go over 30 or so before we decide to bench a 14/4/4 career player for a guy who hasn't proven anything yet.

[AusPel]

This is going to be a super fun game?

[6warddude]

if bledsoe have a bad game tonight,, next game start lonzo and NAW and let ingram run the point and let NAW jack up as many shots as he can.....i was never high on NAW but i like his heart so i want the team to turn him loose and see what he got..

[JJackisangry]

It's a bit hard not to get riled up reading the braindead takes on this forum man, it really is. I'd happily take 18p 6a on good %'s from my third option any night of the week. He had an excellent game for his role.

It's been 4 games, lets see how he (and the team) go over 30 or so before we decide to bench a 14/4/4 career player for a guy who hasn't proven anything yet.

I don’t think he is a poor player by any means and there is every chance that he will get there. At this moment he looks exactly as everyone predicted coming into this season- a very poor fit. Defensively I like what he has brought, but we can’t continue to be this poor in the half court. That is how you zap everyone’s confidence going forward.