November 4th - New Orleans Pelicans vs Golden State Warriors - 4-3

[Pelicanidae]

Pels didn't hit 5 wins last year until November 26th

[As I See It]

The big guy is a 'mirror-image' of JAX defensively. Once in a while he'll make a 'jaw dropping' block; otherwise he plays stellar 'matador' defense. And, those three rebounds tonight were impressive, huh?

At this stage of his career, he's painful to watch. ALL NBA? No time soon.

[MichaelMcNamara]

I feel no differently today than I did before the season - super talented team that will perform less than the sum of its parts.

They just don't fit right, but because the talent is so overwhelming, they will win 46-52 games. They will even survive when shorthanded, because they dont really lose a whole player when a guy is out, if that makes sense. Since, again, they are less than the sum of their parts.

Ultra talented, but too much overlap. Almost none of the guys make anyone else better, and when they are all playing, 1-2 of the big pieces will underperform every night. But again, they will win more games than they lose based on pure volume of talent. They just wont hit their potential under there is more diversity of strengths amongst their top players

[neworleanshoo]

I feel no differently today than I did before the season - super talented team that will perform less than the sum of its parts.

They just don't fit right, but because the talent is so overwhelming, they will win 46-52 games. They will even survive when shorthanded, because they dont really lose a whole player when a guy is out, if that makes sense. Since, again, they are less than the sum of their parts.

Ultra talented, but too much overlap. Almost none of the guys make anyone else better, and when they are all playing, 1-2 of the big pieces will underperform every night. But again, they will win more games than they lose based on pure volume of talent. They just wont hit their potential under there is more diversity of strengths amongst their top players

So remind me what that means.. you want to package some overlapping guards for a 5? Or include CJ and trade for a legit all-pro 3rd scoring threat? (I'm honestly asking, I can't remember...)

[donato]

I feel no differently today than I did before the season - super talented team that will perform less than the sum of its parts.

They just don't fit right, but because the talent is so overwhelming, they will win 46-52 games. They will even survive when shorthanded, because they dont really lose a whole player when a guy is out, if that makes sense. Since, again, they are less than the sum of their parts.

Ultra talented, but too much overlap. Almost none of the guys make anyone else better, and when they are all playing, 1-2 of the big pieces will underperform every night. But again, they will win more games than they lose based on pure volume of talent. They just wont hit their potential under there is more diversity of strengths amongst their top players

Pretty impressive observation after one game back from injuries. Actually not impressive at all since you're a hack and make ******** up constantly on this board.

[luckyman]

So apparently Zion asked to come out in the 4th as if there is some injury issue. Wouldn't be surprised if there is some load management tomorrow. smdh

More importantly the Lakers are back on the L train and got smashed by Utah. They've got a tough schedule coming up too. So that's nice.

[donato]

So apparently Zion asked to come out in the 4th as if there is some injury issue. Wouldn't be surprised if there is some load management tomorrow. smdh

oooffff

[luckyman]

The 6 - 1 Suns just lost at home to a Blazers team missing Lillard and Simons. Suns were a -12 point favorite.

It's just that time of year where you can't expect teams to get steamrolled just because they are missing key starters.

You got favored teams out here losing these games.

[Pelicanidae]

The 6 - 1 Suns just lost at home to a Blazers team missing Lillard and Simons. Suns were a -12 point favorite.

It's just that time of year where you can't expect teams to get steamrolled just because they are missing key starters.

You got favored teams out here losing these games.

Yep, as others have also said, it's that time of the year where the bad teams haven't quite realised they're bad yet and are still trying, and the ''good-but-not-contending'' teams are still finding their feet.

We think we have it bad, at 5-3: Wolves fans were hoping for a top 4 seed this year after winning 46 games last year, and they're 4-5.

[PaKwAn]

I saw post on reddit of Billy liking tweets about lack of playing time. I guess after having a good summer and not getting any playing time will get someone frustrated. He just doesn't justify getting any playing time because of his defense unless it's against the embiid and jokic for foul issues.

[PaKwAn]

Yep, as others have also said, it's that time of the year where the bad teams haven't quite realised they're bad yet and are still trying, and the ''good-but-not-contending'' teams are still finding their feet.

We think we have it bad, at 5-3: Wolves fans were hoping for a top 4 seed this year after winning 46 games last year, and they're 4-5.

I think everyone but wolves fans knew that those pairing wouldn't work, plus they lost Vanderbilt who along with McDaniels was there switchable defenders.. then you get the ant and kat drama going on oof...

[Pelicanidae]

I think everyone but wolves fans knew that those pairing wouldn't work, plus they lost Vanderbilt who along with McDaniels was there switchable defenders.. then you get the ant and kat drama going on oof...

You say that, but there was a lot of talk from many fairly solid NBA writers and journalists touting them as a sort of dark horse team. They still could be - it's early! But yeah, personally I never was huge on it.

[hornetsrebirth]

I saw post on reddit of Billy liking tweets about lack of playing time. I guess after having a good summer and not getting any playing time will get someone frustrated. He just doesn't justify getting any playing time because of his defense unless it's against the embiid and jokic for foul issues.

Jonas had an amazing summer and he didnt even get 20 minutes last game. It is what it is. Dude will not really get playing time unless Jonas or Nance goes down.

[Fedupfan]

The Jazz are the team that I think stays good all year. They have a great young coach and their pieces fit very well together. Not to mention, they have a rim protector on the bench getting better and better. Losing to them was no fluke, in my opinion.

[MichaelMcNamara]

So remind me what that means.. you want to package some overlapping guards for a 5? Or include CJ and trade for a legit all-pro 3rd scoring threat? (I'm honestly asking, I can't remember...)

I dont want to do anything but play Daniels and Trey as much as possible. The future of this team is Zion, BI, Trey, Daniels, and whatever stud they get from these remaining Laker picks. CJ off the bench as an Iggy leader. But Willie is playing for today - and THATS what I disagree with. Those 18 minutes that went to Naji and Graham last night should have gone to Daniels. Just keep developing him and Trey.

[Nola3]

Went to the game last night and my God is Zion frustrating to watch. Lazy rotations, missed assignments, no ability to contain a ball handler, and absolutely no movement on offense except to plant himself on the block and raise his hand. Kid is obviously insanely talented and I don't know if he's still rounding into shape, but he's borderline unplayable on defense and this team has a very hard ceiling as long as that's the case.

[PaKwAn]

Last night Derozan had 22 ft attempts and tatum had 20 ft attempts, zion on the other hand only had 4 ft attempts 0_o

[Pelicanidae]

Last night Derozan had 22 ft attempts and tatum had 20 ft attempts, zion on the other hand only had 4 ft attempts 0_o

Zion shots within 5 feet of the rim per game:
1st season: 13.0
2nd season: 14.3
This year: 15.0

Zion FTAs per game:
1st season: 7.4
2nd season: 8.7
This year: 5.0

The fall off is ugly. He's taking more shots at the rim than ever (leading the league in shot attempts within 5 feet of the rim) and is getting fewer calls than ever before. I mentioned it before but he's getting fewer FTAs per game than desmond Bane, and I like Bane, but Bane is taking less than 1/3rd of the rim attempts than Zion is, yet getting more calls. Make it make sense.

[clark griswald]

could it be due to Zion 'initiating' contact?

[MichaelMcNamara]

I always ask this when fans complain about Refs — What is the reason? You think there is some grand conspiracy or is it a hybrid of causes?

It always feels better to lay all the blame at some outside persons feet, but all those guys we talk about have a wide variety of moves and places on the court they can hurt you. Zion does the same thing every single time. So the defender always knows where he is going and beats him there. Yes, he gets hit sometimes and yes he is bigger so he doesn’t get moved, he doesn’t sell the foul, etc. all of that is true. But he is part of the blame too. The day he has five different ways to beat you, he gets 12 FTAs a game. But right now, everyone knows where he is going on every play

[AusPel]

The day he has five different ways to beat you, he gets 12 FTAs a game. But right now, everyone knows where he is going on every play

[AusPel]

In all seriousness, NBA has always had a problem with phantom or 'complacency' fouls, where there is there is clearly no contact, but whistles get blown anyway because of what the ref expected might have again occurred, stemming from past experience in a similar situation. Case by case basis, not expected outcome. All I ask.

I don't of know any other league in the world where this happens super regularly. I can't remember a single instance in FIBA ball, but I can find you 100 NBA examples in the blink of an eye. This isn't confirmation bias, either. It's a documented phenomenon

They annoy me a lot more than egregious contact but no call non whistles

[MichaelMcNamara]

Because they are humans - like our players. Our players all make dozens of mistakes during the game and we accept that as part of the game. Refs Will too. I would bet 50-80 things in every game are or aren’t called during every NBA game that if you took away human error and went by the technical rule book, would be different. Just like if players were robots with no emotion, no history, no faults, 50-80 things would go differently on their end

I just accept it, while others (especially in New Orleans) act like it’s some big overarching conspiracy. If I was Zion, I would stop whining and study guys who do get calls and incorporate some of that. You ain’t gonna change others, can only change your own practices

[The Dud]

Speaking of refs...I have always thought the NBA HATES free throws and rightfully so. They consider free throws to be one of the main "weaknesses" of their game...when trying to have as much appeal to the general public as possible. As far as "dead time" goes...this is the only area where the NBA comes close to matching the NFL & MLB. I assume it's why you see so many delayed shooting foul calls where the ref waits to see if the shot goes in or not before being forced to call the foul. Plus, it's fairly obvious the NBA is moving toward allowing more contact by the defensive player on moves to the hoop and less "jumping into" a defensive player by an outside jump shooter.

I thought the NBA experiment with always allowing only ONE free throw to be taken and let it count as 1, 2, or 3 points depending on the situation was a great idea. In fact, my little group devoted an entire lunch session a while back...to a discussion on why they had decided NOT to go with this innovation. But, maybe we missed something so...any ideas why the NBA decided to keep the "dead time" associated with multiple free throws? Other sports (especially MLB as of late) are constantly trying to eliminate down time.

[AusPel]

They are humans, but not all errors are created equal or equally affect outcomes

Not the most solid argument I've ever had, but that's what I'm going with right now