May 10th - New Orleans Pelican @ Memphis Grizzlies - 31-37

[Pelicanidae]

So I'm guessing about 4 minutes away from being officially out of the play in.

Also, again, if NAW is a starting guard next year I'm very good with that. I dont know what else he needs to do to prove thats what he is.

He has things to work on as any young player, but he is legitimately much better than Lonzo/Bledsoe.

Totally agree, best guard on the roster right now and it's not very close.

Solid defensively, racks up a ton of deflections and uses his length well, makes mistakes of course but at least he's not as incapable of navigating screens as Lonzo is. His 3pt shot has been reliable for a little while now, but even if he has a bad game he's confident enough driving and making plays for himself and others that a bad shooting night doesn't render him useless, unlike other guards on the roster.

Definitely places he can improve but there's not much more he can do. He's better than everyone else we have there. Start the guy.

[Pelicanidae]

Spurs win, 146-125 lmao

[JJackisangry]

Zion/Ingram going down has given Jax a bit more room to show his skills a bit. He gets to be a bit more of a focal point and use his handles and let fly from 3. Would like to see him keep at it. He has it in his locker

[Pelicanidae]

Zion/Ingram going down has given Jax a bit more room to show his skills a bit. He gets to be a bit more of a focal point and use his handles and let fly from 3. Would like to see him keep at it. He has it in his locker

I think that a huge part of it is there only being one other C at the moment as well.

When Adams is healthy, for some reason rather than going Adams/Hayes as a default 1/2 big situation, we seem to try and carve out Hernangomez minutes where they don't belong anyway, even if it means playing both Hernangomez and Hayes together. That's a pairing that can occasionally work, but it's a bit of a gimmick and it's not really set for all situations.

There needs to be a clear C and then a clear backup C. No more C, then a weird mix-and-match for the backup role. Jax has earned his minutes. Hernangomez, or whoever ends up being the likely third 'big' next season, should be purely situational, rather than rotational.

[As I See It]

I blame this game on the coach. His line up decisions cost us this game. Jaxon is young and should?ve been in a long time ago when hernangomez was getting abused constantly on defense.

Yep, I agree. Like our friend, 13-3, says, "If either Monty or Alvin were coaching this team, we would win all games this year", huh?

[As I See It]

The last three games have been the best team basketball we have seen this year.

[13 - 3]

LMAO! Y’all had your hopes up last night . Got hit with Fools Gold again. LOL.

[13 - 3]

Yep, I agree. Like our friend, 13-3, says, "If either Monty or Alvin were coaching this team, we would win all games this year", huh?

Bingo, If Stan don?t blow those double digit leads over 15 times we are probably a #4 seed . Alvin > Stan ,Monty >Stan.

[13 - 3]

Never hire a coach that looks like a porn club manager.

[Pelicanidae]

Never hire a coach that looks like a porn club manager.

Pat Riley

[13 - 3]

Yep, I agree. Like our friend, 13-3, says, "If either Monty or Alvin were coaching this team, we would win all games this year", huh?

#1 defense in NBA is drumroll

https://clutchpoints.com/3-reasons-k...ip-contenders/

[13 - 3]

Pat Riley

And fired by Riley

[DaFranchise80]

LMAO! Y’all had your hopes up last night . Got hit with Fools Gold again. LOL.

You’re taking this stuff way too serious. The season is almost over.

[13 - 3]

You’re taking this stuff way too serious. The season is almost over.

Thank God. Time to get a new coach

[13 - 3]

To those who think coaches can’t get sacked after one season. The Pacers may just do that

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...court-exchange

The crux of the Pacers' issues has run much deeper this season, centered squarely on the first-year head coach's struggles to command respect within the locker room and the broader organization because of what sources have described as a volatile and abrasive style in his coaching and personal interactions. Bjorkgren's job is in peril at season's end, sources said.

[Eman5805]

I don't care if we fire SVG. I just want this team to have continued upward trajectory in some way. I'll say this is the most important offseason. And I hope we aren't so desperate we do something stupid.

...but we do need to try and set ourselves up for people and fans saying "Whoa. Man. I kinda like the roster the Pelicans put around Zion and Ingram."

[PolishFan]

The last three games have been the best team basketball we have seen this year.

That was my thought exactly when I watched the last game

[MichaelMcNamara]

You guys are misreading what SVG was brought in here for. He is a stepping stone coach. His job is to hold the young guys accountable, to show them the basics of what it takes to win in this league, etc. He is here to get these young guys to develop the right habits so they do those things on their own, and then teach the young guys the same things so the next coach wont have to. And once he has done that, Griff will go get the tactician coach. That was always the plan and why they went hard after Will Weaver to be the HC in waiting. SVG was never going to get a 2nd contract, but he will be here through most or all of his first one to do what I listed above

[DaFranchise80]

You guys are misreading what SVG was brought in here for. He is a stepping stone coach. His job is to hold the young guys accountable, to show them the basics of what it takes to win in this league, etc. He is here to get these young guys to develop the right habits so they do those things on their own, and then teach the young guys the same things so the next coach wont have to. And once he has done that, Griff will go get the tactician coach. That was always the plan and why they went hard after Will Weaver to be the HC in waiting. SVG was never going to get a 2nd contract, but he will be here through most or all of his first one to do what I listed above

This makes a lot of sense. Stan can’t coach forever. He isn’t getting any younger.

[MichaelMcNamara]

This makes a lot of sense. Stan can’t coach forever. He isn’t getting any younger.

Age doesnt have much to do with it. It is about steps. You dont just go from young guys with no accountability (Griff was the friendly uncle) to winning overnight because you install some good plays and sets. You have to build the right foundation. Then, when the cultural foundation is set and doesnt have to be a talking point every day, you can spend most of your time on tactical and skill based things more. This was the plan with a SVG hire. Was why they had interest in Doc too. Ty Lue would have ideally been both, first focusing on the culture, then the tactics.

[PolishFan]

You guys are misreading what SVG was brought in here for. He is a stepping stone coach. His job is to hold the young guys accountable, to show them the basics of what it takes to win in this league, etc. He is here to get these young guys to develop the right habits so they do those things on their own, and then teach the young guys the same things so the next coach wont have to. And once he has done that, Griff will go get the tactician coach. That was always the plan and why they went hard after Will Weaver to be the HC in waiting. SVG was never going to get a 2nd contract, but he will be here through most or all of his first one to do what I listed above

And he is doing a really good job at developing the young guys

[Pelicanidae]

Yeah, Stan's been fine.

Definitely quibbles, rotations have been questionable at times, minutes allocations have been off here and there, obviously everyone disagrees with the Bledsoe choices, etc.

But a lot of the stuff people are attributing to him are not his fault. People talking about how if we had a different coach we wouldn't lose all those close end game situations, for example, is basically nonsense. A better argument might be that with a different coach we may not be in those close end game situations as often, but once you're in them it's hardly the coach's fault if you brick a shot or if the refs call a nonsense foul or if you dribble it off the other guy's shoe. How is it Stan Van Gundy's fault when the refs refuse to call the foul on Jokic at the end of the game, for example? It isn't.

He's adjusted significantly throughout the season with his rotations and his defensive system and it's shown dividends. We've been a good defensive team by most metrics for a while now, a significant turnaround from being one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA for a long time. Part of that is just development of players and roster stuff: Naji is getting minutes, Jax has taken a step up, for example, but a lot of it is our defensive approach as well; that's at least partly Stan's choice.

Similarly, as others have mentioned, the development has gone really well for guys like Jax and NAW. Is SVG personally responsible for all of that? No, that's not really how coaching works, but it's clear that his team and his way of running things is allowing for that kind of growth.

He's not perfect and, as others have said, he probably won't be here in 5 years, but for now he's demonstrably fine and anyone calling for his job is, imo, just being kinda reactionary.

[JJackisangry]

Yeah, Stan's been fine.

Definitely quibbles, rotations have been questionable at times, minutes allocations have been off here and there, obviously everyone disagrees with the Bledsoe choices, etc.

But a lot of the stuff people are attributing to him are not his fault. People talking about how if we had a different coach we wouldn't lose all those close end game situations, for example, is basically nonsense. A better argument might be that with a different coach we may not be in those close end game situations as often, but once you're in them it's hardly the coach's fault if you brick a shot or if the refs call a nonsense foul or if you dribble it off the other guy's shoe. How is it Stan Van Gundy's fault when the refs refuse to call the foul on Jokic at the end of the game, for example? It isn't.

He's adjusted significantly throughout the season with his rotations and his defensive system and it's shown dividends. We've been a good defensive team by most metrics for a while now, a significant turnaround from being one of the worst defensive teams in the NBA for a long time. Part of that is just development of players and roster stuff: Naji is getting minutes, Jax has taken a step up, for example, but a lot of it is our defensive approach as well; that's at least partly Stan's choice.

Similarly, as others have mentioned, the development has gone really well for guys like Jax and NAW. Is SVG personally responsible for all of that? No, that's not really how coaching works, but it's clear that his team and his way of running things is allowing for that kind of growth.

He's not perfect and, as others have said, he probably won't be here in 5 years, but for now he's demonstrably fine and anyone calling for his job is, imo, just being kinda reactionary.

Stan is giving the youngsters minutes and he hasn’t abandoned that approach as many other coaches would either. He very easily could have cut Kira out of the rotation entirely, but he has been consistent in giving him minutes. I think realistically we should have just about been in that 8th spot, but I also accept that BI and Zion have been officiated horribly all season and it’s hard to overcome your best source of scoring being neutered by incompetence behind the whistle. Perkins needs to do one. They need to quit making excuses and officiate Zion fairly. And call obvious hacks on Ingram at the end of games

[luckyman]

I'd also say as a tactician, Stan has also done a good job. Putting the ball in Zion's hands more often was a very good move. As we know, it does not belong with Lonzo or Bledsoe. You dont win in the NBA, during any era, if you are a poor tactician.

He can't make them all execute on the court all the time. Thats the players jobs and they have to learn that. But no coach is perfect either. There was no reason for the NAW DNPs early in the year.

Having sad that, SVG is the long term coach. You don't purposefully hire short-term head coaches on the NBA level. That make no sense whatsoever. If you teach players how to win, then by simple basic virtue, they will begin winning. You fire him then??

With a young core + underperforming vets + shortened covid season, it wasn't destined to be peaches this year.

But thankfully, well run franchises stay the course and don't overreact.

[tdcreator]

I think the goal was to improve players stock so they could sell high. If Bledsoe is on the bench on a bad team, nobody will want him. Same goes for Lonzo and Adams. With Lonzo, you can’t threaten to match any offer if you don’t start him. Now they can at least say he is in the plans and then potentially sign and trade him. Adams, who knows, I thought he could be a good piece but not sure he fits well with Zion. So they wanted to win with veterans to sell high and got burnt (potentially but in the case of Redick, yes)