January 2nd - New Orleans Pelicans VS Toronto Raptors - 3-2

[ramsters60]

I've seen a lot of people weirdly excited about Wenyen Gabriel, and I have no idea if I'm just missing something. Can someone explain to me why we think he's actually going to get appreciable playing time? Why are we anticipating him getting healthy as if he's actually going to be seeing the court with any frequency?

I could obviously be missing the point completely, that's why I'm asking for someone to give me a hand, but it just feels like a few years ago when a ton of people were getting super hyped over Blueitt.

you are likely the best around here when it comes to assessing what players actually bring to the table.... let's just let this Gabriel thing play out and see what happens... if he is truly healthy and as conscientious as I think he might be, I sense we might be surprised at the intensity he is capable of bringing... I think he will be used in "spots" and not necessary get "frequent" minutes....I might get laughed off the forum, but I can see some Josh Hart in him....

[Taker597]

He's been pretty solid. I know some people are doing weird victory laps, as if he had been just on fire or something, which is frankly far from the case, but he has been far from a complete disaster as well. Six games in and he's probably close to 50/50 good and bad. On one hand, he's had a few really good games which have been great to see, and the defense has picked up from last year back to a solid level, at least on ball. Off ball, however, he's been kind of shaky with constant overhelp (that clip of Ingram pushing him back on to his man when he was completely blowing a rotation comes to mind), and despite a few good games, his overall shooting efficiency has still been pretty terrible: 39/30/55 splits for 48% TS on the season thus far.

He's shown some good play, and some terrible play, and he still has a lot to prove. But the fact is that he's had some good play, which is more than I expected this early.

If he can stop this trend of starting out 1-5 from the 3. I'll just be happy withthat and a low TO game and not forcing bad lobs.

I think no matter what... The market will make him fairly cheap to resign, regardless. I don't think he'll get his $20 million from anyone. If only using FA as to build depth and start trying to operate in an Big 3 SA of building through the draft or trades instead of trying to land big free agents. Which I don't think we can do anyways.

[luckyman]

you are likely the best around here when it comes to assessing what players actually bring to the table.... let's just let this Gabriel thing play out and see what happens... if he is truly healthy and as conscientious as I think he might be, I sense we might be surprised at the intensity he is capable of bringing... I think he will be used in "spots" and not necessary get "frequent" minutes....I might get laughed off the forum, but I can see some Josh Hart in him....

In short, there is no Josh Hart there. He's injury insurance. Probably one spot below Hernangomez who brings a little more.

[ramsters60]

In short, there is no Josh Hart there. He's injury insurance. Probably one spot below Hernangomez who brings a little more.

you might turn out to be right, but I will remember where this response is....

[luckyman]

you might turn out to be right, but I will remember where this response is....

Cool. And if you're right I'll just tip my hat to you sir.

I won't call you "intellectually dishonest" or whatever someone called me for pointing out I was right...

[luckyman]

I hope NAW doesn't go back to DNPs again. He got 3 point happy last night, but did have a nice drive and dish.

[Funcrusher]

Cool. And if you're right I'll just tip my hat to you sir.

I won't call you "intellectually dishonest" or whatever someone called me for pointing out I was right...

It was me. You said Ingram was better than Tatum. What was right about that?

[Taker597]

[luckyman]

It was me. You said Ingram was better than Tatum. What was right about that?

A) No, thats not the claim I made...go back to that thread and follow

B) No, thats not why you butted in to call me that...go back to that thread and follow

Going 0-2 means not worth much of a response. Thanks.

[Funcrusher]

A) No, thats not the claim I made...go back to that thread and follow

B) No, thats not why you butted in to call me that...go back to that thread and follow

Going 0-2 means not worth much of a response. Thanks.

Going 0 - 2... lmao

What are you, king of the message boards?

And you started the thread literally comparing the two when, to that point, Tatum was still clearly better.

And no, the post I responded to wasn't the INITIAL CLAIM you made... still wrong though. Every argument you make is basically a mashup of different strawmen takes, which is what I meant by "intellectually dishonest." Talking to you is literally pointless because you think arguments have to be "won," and so instead of simply making points you devote your time to flexing on a message board, like you've won something.... it's childish. Talk to me when you can have adult conversations.

[Taker597]

You know what... I honestly love this game every other day set up. I personally hate bsck to back games. I personally would like they do this more regularly and completely eliminate back to back. Just do 4 or 5 games of every other night. Then, a break. Then, get back to it.

[new city champ]

Without question the simplest and most direct route for the Pels to become an tough out is for J.J. to regress to the mean on shooting, adding some needed punch to our bench scoring. I love when Bled heats up from three, but let’s be honest, that’s not a thing for the Pels to count on night in and night out. Redick’s shooting is a thing to count on, at least normally. Without it, or some equivalent, I think the Pels struggle to go .500. With it, I think the playoffs are a solid bet.

[luckyman]

Going 0 - 2... lmao

What are you, king of the message boards?

And you started the thread literally comparing the two when, to that point, Tatum was still clearly better.

And no, the post I responded to wasn't the INITIAL CLAIM you made... still wrong though. Every argument you make is basically a mashup of different strawmen takes, which is what I meant by "intellectually dishonest." Talking to you is literally pointless because you think arguments have to be "won," and so instead of simply making points you devote your time to flexing on a message board, like you've won something.... it's childish. Talk to me when you can have adult conversations.

Thats wrong. The thread was started on a highlight video someone else made between the two. I literally said in that thread I wanted to discuss who had the better highlights in that video. I'm the one who started that thread. Go read it.

Now you said I claimed Ingram was better. Thats also wrong. I never did. Others said Tatum was not only better but an entire level above Ingram. I responded that wasn't true and gave stats and reasons why. It's even more NOT TRUE this season.

So that's two examples of you butting in and not knowing what you're talking about. Yet want to throw insults.

So it seems that you can't follow things correctly, then want to try and insult someone on top of that with red herrings. Basically you're an idiot.

We're done. Later bud.

[Funcrusher]

Thats wrong. The thread was started on a highlight video someone else made between the two. I literally said in that thread I wanted to discuss who had the better highlights in that video. I'm the one who started that thread. Go read it.

Now you said I claimed Ingram was better. Thats also wrong. I never did. Others said Tatum was not only better but an entire level above Ingram. I responded that wasn't true and gave stats and reasons why. It's even more NOT TRUE this season.

So that's two examples of you butting in and not knowing what you're talking about. Yet want to throw insults.

So it seems that you can't follow things correctly, then want to try and insult someone on top of that with red herrings. Basically you're an idiot.

We're done. Later bud.

I didn't insult you, but ok, sounds good. I have no interest in engaging in an argument, so I'm glad we got that settled.

[KoMikaera]

Hi everyone
New Kiwi fan, I was quietly hoping if Adams got traded it would be to the Pelicans and voila !
Really enjoy this team

[Taker597]

Hi everyone
New Kiwi fan, I was quietly hoping if Adams got traded it would be to the Pelicans and voila !
Really enjoy this team

Welcome to the club. Win or lose.... This is probably one of the most enjoyable squads to watch.

[luckyman]

To point something out, see screencap below. As you see, BI is getting blitzed damn near at the half court line. It's obviously not because he's some threat to shoot from that deep. He still doesn't shoot those. It's also not due to him being some prolific pull up 3 point shooter either. He wasn't killing Toronto with that shot. He only shot 2 of those this entire game and made 1. His rate of those shots have gone up, but it's still only half the rate of the Lillards, Hardens, and Tatums.

As I said in that other infamous thread, players like BI will get blitzed like that because they've established they are prolific 3-level scorers and playmakers. Not because you shoot tons of pull up 3s. He had tore them up at every level and had around 8 free throw attempts already. Teams will blitz you to stop you from turning the corner on a PnR, and just to get the ball out of your hands ASAP. As you see Toronto doing it while BI is still inside the half court logo for pete's sake.

**this forum is a little old, so can't figure out how to make the attachment larger. Just click on it.

[Pelicanidae]

Hi everyone
New Kiwi fan, I was quietly hoping if Adams got traded it would be to the Pelicans and voila !
Really enjoy this team

Hey there, hope you're well. Glad to have you, and Adams is great. He was a constant feature in my posts in trade proposal threads over the last 18 months so glad to see it finally happen

[Funcrusher]

Hi everyone
New Kiwi fan, I was quietly hoping if Adams got traded it would be to the Pelicans and voila !
Really enjoy this team

Happy to have you! This is definitely a very fun squad, Adams being a big part of that.

[new city champ]

Hi everyone
New Kiwi fan, I was quietly hoping if Adams got traded it would be to the Pelicans and voila !
Really enjoy this team

Welcome aboard! I was skeptical about investing so much in a traditional big man in the new-look NBA, but can't deny Adams has played well, given max effort and seems like a great guy and a great teammate. Hope you caught the rare "double Kiwi" encounter the other night when two of your countrymen faced off in the Pels/Raptors game...

[KoMikaera]

Welcome aboard! I was skeptical about investing so much in a traditional big man in the new-look NBA, but can't deny Adams has played well, given max effort and seems like a great guy and a great teammate. Hope you caught the rare "double Kiwi" encounter the other night when two of your countrymen faced off in the Pels/Raptors game...

Thanks for the warm welcome new city champ and everyone

Yeah, I was stoked the commentators recognised the "double kiwi" clash the other night. The Aussies have tried to claim Aaron Baynes in the same way they tried to steal Russell Crowe, Lorde, and the Flat White off us.