January 4th - New Orleans Pelicans vs Indiana Pacers - 4-2

[sterlr]

Part of the reason there is so much standing around when Zion has the ball is because he's a virtual black hole. Through the first seven games Zion has had exactly eight assists. This is not a criticism; it's a fact.

No, not really it's the lack of in and out basketball knowledge. Most kids today don't understand low post play because it's not taught these days.

[Pelicanidae]

Which is the reason games like this can't be thrown away by VETERAN coaching. Our margin of error is thin.

You will lose games in a season. It just happens. I know it's galling, but if you played every game perfectly you'd never lose, and nobody has ever gone 82-0 for a reason. Even the best teams have games where they cough it up and just get outplayed or make mistakes, and we are far from one of the best teams right now. It sucks to lose but it's going to happen like 30 or 35 more times this year so it's probably good to just accept that now.

[Algiersraised]

If Zion shoots a jumper once in awhile it would help too we can afford 1.5 3pt attempts or so

[As I See It]

And Jaxson Hayes deserves some credit. He's looking less awkward with touch around the basket and starting to play disciplined basketball.

Was starting to get worried about him for a second but he looked good tonight.

Agreed. Jaxson has had three consecutive acceptable outings. I'm not going to say he's turned the corner; but I can say, he's no longer 20 miles away from the corner.

[Pelicanidae]

I can't believe we've reached the ''Zion is a black hole because his raw box-score assists aren't that high''

A brilliant example of reading an objectively true number (low assists) and drawing a completely nonsense conclusion from it.

[Pelicanidae]

My least favorite thing the Pels do offensively is have Lonzo bring the ball up the floor, only for him to pick up his dribble two feet after crossing the half-court line, and wait for people to get open. By then the only available shot is a BI ISO.

Dreadful offense.

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) January 5, 2021

[Funcrusher]

Part of the reason there is so much standing around when Zion has the ball is because he's a virtual black hole. Through the first seven games Zion has had exactly eight assists. This is not a criticism; it's a fact.

Nah. He rarely gets the ball, and when he does it's usually one of two play types (Iso or Post-ups). He doesn't run PNR like Lonzo/BI/Bled. And they don't put him in the High post and have him look for cutters like Adams. You expect him to be a dime magnet when his role is predominantly to score? Not to mention he consistently makes that kick out pass when he's cut off on drives/doubled, sometimes too much honestly. Guys just don't make them enough. Not that he's a LeBron-level playmaker, and he never will be. But calling him a black hole is absolutely absurd.

[luckyman]

On the bright side, it's an L to an eastern conference team in case of tie breakers end of the year.

So there's that.

[Pelicanidae]

Nah. He rarely gets the ball, and when he does it's usually one of two play types (Iso or Post-ups). He doesn't run PNR like Lonzo/BI/Bled. And they don't put him in the High post and have him look for cutters like Adams. You expect him to be a dime magnet when his role is predominantly to score? Not to mention he consistently makes that kick out pass when he's cut off on drives/doubled, sometimes too much honestly. Guys just don't make them enough. Not that he's a LeBron-level playmaker, and he never will be. But calling him a black hole is absolutely absurd.

Exactly.

The reality is, Zion makes the vast majority of his passes inside-out: from the paint to guys standing around the perimeter. We're one of the worst 3pt teams in the league. Doesn't take a genius to put together why his assist numbers might therefore not reflect the quantity of passes being made

[Algiersraised]

Zion ain’t at 50 games yet so he has plenty of room for error once he knows when to turn on the jets and turn em off he will be untouchable

[sterlr]

Nah. He rarely gets the ball, and when he does it's usually one of two play types (Iso or Post-ups). He doesn't run PNR like Lonzo/BI/Bled. And they don't put him in the High post and have him look for cutters like Adams. You expect him to be a dime magnet when his role is predominantly to score? Not to mention he consistently makes that kick out pass when he's cut off on drives/doubled, sometimes too much honestly. Guys just don't make them enough. Not that he's a LeBron-level playmaker, and he never will be. But calling him a black hole is absolutely absurd.

10-4 Funcrusher. Zion is one of the most unselfish players around given he is dominant.

[hornetzplaya]

Exactly.

The reality is, Zion makes the vast majority of his passes inside-out: from the paint to guys standing around the perimeter. We're one of the worst 3pt teams in the league. Doesn't take a genius to put together why his assist numbers might therefore not reflect the quantity of passes being made

Eventually that 3ball is gonna start falling at a higher clip..... Hopefully lol. That'll open things up for Zion/Adams tremendously.

[Pelicanidae]

Just as further comment on Zion's passing: He's currently averaging 1 assist per game. But according to NBA Stats, he's averaging about 4 potential assists per game that go un-made. That is to say, about 4 times a game he makes a pass to a teammate who immediately shoots and just bricks it lmao.

If we were a better shooting team, he'd be averaging 2.5, maybe even 3 assists a game instead of 1. Which for a PF who plays a primarily off-ball role is actually quite strong.

[As I See It]

I can't believe we've reached the ''Zion is a black hole because his raw box-score assists aren't that high''

A brilliant example of reading an objectively true number (low assists) and drawing a completely nonsense conclusion from it.

You're hilarious!!! I guess your Ouija Board and Analytical Charts suggest to you that Zion's sharing the ball well. OKAY!!

[Funcrusher]

Exactly.

The reality is, Zion makes the vast majority of his passes inside-out: from the paint to guys standing around the perimeter. We're one of the worst 3pt teams in the league. Doesn't take a genius to put together why his assist numbers might therefore not reflect the quantity of passes being made

I really think he could already average 4 apg on a team that had proper spacing.

EDIT: beat me to it lol

[Pelicanidae]

You're hilarious!!! I guess your Ouija Board and Analytical Charts suggest to you that Zion's sharing the ball well. OKAY!!

I mean, I can reference the numbers (as I did above) but the main reason I know that Zion passes fine is that I have eyes that work and I watch the game and see him doing it, but uh... ok.

[As I See It]

Just as further comment on Zion's passing: He's currently averaging 1 assist per game. But according to NBA Stats, he's averaging about 4 potential assists per game that go un-made. That is to say, about 4 times a game he makes a pass to a teammate who immediately shoots and just bricks it lmao.

If we were a better shooting team, he'd be averaging 2.5, maybe even 3 assists a game instead of 1. Which for a PF who plays a primarily off-ball role is actually quite strong.

If 'ifs' were skiffs, we could go for a boat ride. (You row, though)

[Funcrusher]

10-4 Funcrusher. Zion is one of the most unselfish players around given he is dominant.

Yeah, if anything I think my main complaint so far with him is that he should be MORE aggressive. Don't know how much of that is on coaching, though.

Also, 10-4, nice

[As I See It]

I mean, I can reference the numbers (as I did above) but the main reason I know that Zion passes fine is that I have eyes that work and I watch the game and see him doing it, but uh... ok.

I'll give your credit...every once in a while you come up with a nugget, otherwise 'snake eyes'.

BTW: Are you ready to trade BI yet?

[Snarly]

I bet he passes it out more if we had guys who can hit shots at a high level. Zion through traffic is still a better shot than a 3 point shot from our guards.

[Pelicanidae]

Average number of passes per game for players on the New Orleans Pelicans:

Lonzo Ball: 60.3
Eric Bledsoe: 43.0
Steven Adams: 37.0
Zion Williamson: 36.1
Brandon Ingram: 35.2
Josh Hart: 29.3
JJ Redick: 19.5
Jaxson Hayes: 14.8

[luckyman]

BI gave you the highest level of basketball I've seen since Chris Paul days most of that 4th.

But if you have a second option, the coach has to find ways to keep that defense honest. Especially the way Zion was drawing fouls.

Secretly I think they don't want Zion touching the ball because they dont trust his free throw shooting. Otherwise his lack of touches late in games seems inexcusable.

I didn't even watch OT. Was guaranteed L after all that 4th quarter fiasco. They have got to enter that road trip 6-3 or things might get ugly.

[6warddude]

the last 2 possessions of the game is what has me mad...

1)....jj had the ball and all he had to do was let them foul him lol....jj cant make 3s right now but he damn sure can make free throws and gave the ball up to lonzo who imo didnt want the ball either because he didnt want the pressure of getting foul and making free throws lol.....so lonzo get jack and turner make the 3 to tie the game....

2) the last play we had the wrong player in the game.....ingram got the ball and adams came to set a high screen and ingram had to take a bad game winning shot over turner.....turner didnt have to respect adams shooting so instead of going out to guard adams, turner stood home and was able to double ingram and force ingram into that bad shot.....

now if melli was in the game instead of adams then melli could have set the high screen for ingram and now turner has to come out to guard melli because of his shooting,,,now you have ingram getting around the screen and able to shoot a easy shot or put up a floater with the lil time we had on the clock to win or loose.....or turner would have stayed home and ingram could have pass the ball to melli off of the screen for the game winning shot..win or loose.....

bad coaching at the end and bad play by jj to not hold on to the ball to get fouled and shoot those free throws...

[Nichols]

I like Zions aggressiveness when he gets the rock.. He'll have more passes that lead to assists as he develops, and the offense is better established. I think he's okay for the most part.

[sterlr]

I bet he passes it out more if we had guys who can hit shots at a high level. Zion through traffic is still a better shot than a 3 point shot from our guards.

Lol!...right?