Originally Posted by AusPel
jax was mock to go top 10...
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jax was mock to go top 10...
Yeah, which gives you an idea of the range that the media thinks guys should go at with none of the interviews, combine testing or any sort of stuff the real inner sanctum has access to
Kushner calling him out
Every game like this I think back to David Griffin's preseason press conference when he said a top priority of this offseason was building a team of elite competitors.
— Scott Kushner (@ScottDKushner) February 20, 2021
It just didn't happen. Period.
They're talented. They're not anywhere close to elite competitors.
Contributor
The biggest proof of after a turnover or bad play, Chris Paul sprints back and is trying to steal the ball or make a defensive play immediately.
Lonzo Ball just stood around and was the last man back. I used to see Zion do they. Not so much but he needs to step it up as well.
Whole team needs an injection of someone who refuses to “bow down” and is good enough to do something about it.
Yeah. It feels like a team without a clear on-court leader. Who's the "Alpha" because it doesn't feel like it's Lonzo or BI. We need someone who has a mentality like Rondo or Chris Paul to keep the rest of the team in check when things start slacking.
Contributor
They are absolutely mind boggling, no question about that. Friday night was the kick in the face for me. It's tough.
That said, I am not sure why anyone expected any better after 29 games. I would have been happy with 15-14 and we are 12-17, lumped in with the 6 teams you'd have expected us to be around. Maybe their plan sucks but you have to give them time to execute it.
I get the frustration but let's see what happens with any trades and the rest of the season.
I survived Katrina, but nothing I owned did.
That's my plan.
We suck. I expected us to be not-great, I didn't quite expect us to be this bad, but it is what it is and we're terrible.
Part of that has been due to bad luck. We give up about the same number of open 3s per game as the Knicks, but opponents are shooting 31% on those shots against NY while shooting about 40% on them against us: that's just bad luck. They're both wide open threes, it has nothing to do with defensive scheme. If we had the Knicks' 3pt opponent efficiency, we'd be 16-13 or something lmao.
But beyond that luck, there is the practical on court element: we are just not a very good team. Serious problems in terms of both roster construction, effort, and coaching. The end result is that we aren't very good, which is fine at this point in our re-structuring of the team around Zion. The concern will come more strongly if nothing is done about it.
There has to be moves. If there aren't at least two trades of reasonable size at the deadline, then I'm going to switch from concerned to genuinely annoyed. But I've got to give it until then.
Basketball.
We can't just assume it's bad luck. It's not just a matter of leaving a guy open it's a matter of who is being left open. Maybe the Knicks leave marginal shooters open and that's why their open 3pt makes are so low compared to ours. That why stats without some serious context can be very misleading.
There is absolutely a degree of bad luck to it. We've been lit up by guys like Coby White, who was shooting 34% from 3 on the season coming into that game. Meanwhile the Knicks have given up 14 three point attempts to Steph Curry and had him shoot under 35% (I think he went something like 4 of 14?).
I'm not saying it's all bad luck, of course that's not the case. That's why I said ''part'' of it, in the initial post: even accounting for bad luck, we play awful perimeter defense. But there definitely has been an element of bad luck, as there basically always is when you're so outlier bad at a particular thing. We are currently giving up the most 3pt makes per game in NBA history by about 2.5 makes a game: we're bad, I don't think we're bad enough to be considered the worst perimeter defense of all time by such a huge margin.
My worry is that, as always happens with bad luck, the law of averages will come into play and we'll have a few games where everyone shoots below their averages and people will declare the defense improved and move on, when in reality that won't be the case.
Of course I hope the FO won't be so quick to fall for that mistake, but who knows, honestly?
Contributor
THis sums up where I'm at.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Pelicans are waiving Sindarius Thornwell, a team source confirms.
Pelicans are making the move for tax line reasons with the guarantee date on his contract looming - team is $502k below the luxury tax.
Also frees up a spot for possible trade.
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whats the deal...trade or bringing someone in?...
Probably just creating a little more cap flexibility. A player on a 10-day can offer what he brings rather than guaranteeing his salary.
Clock is ticking. Does he make a move or stay the course?
I would guess when all is done, Ball and Bledsoe are still here and they start working on a buyout for JJ.
Not as good as we thought?
His legacy will depend entirely on what happens with Lonzo. If we re-sign him and he stays bang average, that wouldn’t reflect well on him. If we let Lonzo walk for absolutely nothing, that doesn’t reflect well on him either. I’m not too concerned about Bledsoe at this point as I feel like we are committing to an actual rebuild which is fine. We can freeze him out if he continues to be a brat about being here. I’m just glad we didn’t surrender assets for no reason.
For me, that depends. If we let him walk because he got a dumb overpay from another team and then he goes and continues to be average or a little below, like he is now, then that actually reflects very well on Griff.
What Griff / Trajan has told us recently...
- We messed up including Adams in Holiday Trade.
- We messed up taking Bledsoe back in Holiday Trade
- We messed up in signing JJ instead of Randle
- We messed up by signing Melli instead of Wood.
Suffice it to say, there's more, but I don't want to pile on.
They calling him David Whiffin now... That's perfect
He still has a ways to go before he reaches Danny Ainge status (both good and bad).
If you Jimmer it, they will come.
Ole Danny McScrouge Mcduck. If the Nets never gave him that trade. He would of long been fired.
Its like Dell Demps all over again
I think so far my biggest issue with Griff is follow up moves.
- Signing JJ was fine, I still think that. Not moving off him until now was a minor quibble; would have had more value last off-season probably but he still got moved, just a shame it's not for much value.
- Trading Jrue was fine and the initial deal for him was good; the follow up of keeping Bledsoe, again, fine (not my preferred option but I get it) but the follow up move from that is moving off Bledsoe for more assets or a better fit. There's still time to do that of course, Bledsoe isn't a FA, but again, we're leaving it potentially too late.
- Trading AD for the LA package ended up being good, I like the move. The follow up is to critically appraise those pieces you got back and move smartly with them. Ingram showed up big time so he got the big contract, that's fine; Hart wanted to test his luck so you play him out in FA knowing the deal likely won't be huge, that's also fine. But he's whiffed the Lonzo move in my view: Lonzo should be gone and now Griff's put himself in a very very difficult spot in Summer.
- Trading #4 down for #8 and #17 (and a second) is, again, I think a totally good move. Good value play: if the dude you want is likely to be still there at #8, trading down and getting him + other assets is basically like conjuring a pick for free. The follow up move though, taking Jax and NAW with those picks, is one that a lot of people still don't like. Personally I think Jax is still cool so we'll see long term, but again, the follow up is a problem for many.
He just keeps making the right initial move and then whiffing the follow through. It's concerning at this point, to have happened so many times so quickly into his tenure.
Some of these moves still have to play out: maybe he moves Bledsoe in the perfect off-season move, maybe Jax and NAW blossom and everyone's mind changes, maybe Lonzo's FA market is miniscule somehow and we retain him cheap. But it's not great signs at this point.
Griff says we are close.
https://www.nola.com/sports/pelicans...cd457fd48.html
Someone has been reading the forum
But, but B’s no good in the clutch, I heard. https://t.co/bB1PlxYTf4
— David Griffin (@dg_riff) March 30, 2021
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