Great iso defense by Naji on a critical possession
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Great iso defense by Naji on a critical possession
@hornetsrebirth might have something against that.Originally Posted by AD-AT
I was critical too, but it wasn't taken so well.
Edit: RIght on que
No he was cooking when he first got here! This slump has been going on since the postseason last year. Its bad right now.
Im not a CJ apologist Ive been saying he should come off the bench so dont know why you @ me. The reason your posts are not taken well because you spam the same thing over and over. Its one thing to criticize CJ or criticize the turnovers, but if you are going to post more than 6 times the exact same thing in a single thread, then you are just harping on it.
To be fair, I think a lot of us underestimated how hard it would be for him to transition to being a lead guard. He has show an ability to create for others, but the scoring and shooting hasn't come with it. Really more of a next season and beyond question, but still something that should start being looked at objectively.
I hope they name Naji the Player of the Game.
He's just not a pg. At least, not one who effectively functions as the number 1, in terms of combining scoring & passing threat. He's the no. 3 best guy at that on this team, which is something he will hopefully accept if Green communicates it to him. We just have to wait for that to happen because we know Green is very slow to make personnel changes; it took him 50 games to stop playing Temple last year.
Basketball.
Big win considering we weren't shooting well from 3 and 2 starters out. Kind of an ugly game but we were able to close it out and get the win.
A win, so that's 16-8, joint first in the West, 5 games won in a row.
But there was no reason for it to be that tough.
He was carrying us with Zion and BI out... but hasn't fit in his role as the no. 3 guy. Thats why I keep saying it would be interesting to see him off the bench.
Zion’s decision-making has improved tenfold. Has to be one of the most reliable guys in the league at this point with the ball. Love his effort on the boards and some great blocks in transition
these next 6 games...wow.
He really does have PG instincts, and he is unstoppable 1 on 1, so when he starts with the ball at the top of the key somebody will be open most of the time. Its a formula that is really working especially with shooters on the perimeter like TM3
Zion's last 5 games:
Tonight: 29/10/5 with 1stl, 1blk, 68.8%FG
vs Nuggets: 25/6/4 with 1stl, 1blk, 52.9%FG
@ Spurs: 30/15/8 with 2stl, 1blk, 64.3%FG
vs Raptors: 33/10/5 with 4stls, 2blks, 80%FG
vs OKC: 23/8/8 with 1stl, 3blks, 61.1%FG
Averages across those 5 games: 28pts, 9.8rbs, 6asts, 1.8stls, 1.6blks, on 65%FG
5-0
He made this team on the defensive end 2 years ago. Thats how he got his contract. How long you been watching this team?
With tonight’s win, the Pelicans have now won five straight games for the first time since April 4-11, 2018.
— Pelicans PR (@PelicansPR) December 8, 2022
Definitely an anomaly night for Detroit in 3 pt attempts and makes. Especially with Bogdanovich leaving early. And a bad night for the Pels in turnovers.
Thankfully that scrub Naji came to play as he has all year.
In those nice Zion cement 2s no less.
It's literally "Have a cohesive 5 man unit of ++ defenders or die horribly"
— A full clip in the burner (@HalsVids) December 8, 2022
The chatter aroun the league
ok.
Last edited by WhyHornetsWhy; 12-07-2022 at 09:53 PM.
Suns down by 27 to Boston at the half. Looks like we'll be the #1 seed in the West after tonights games.
Naji was huge for us.. and love how he protects his teammates and does the dirty things for us.. a naji that is in control and still plays with motor and defense is a very big plus for this team!
Zion currently setting career highs in REB%, AST%, STL%, BLK%, while shooting 64%TS on a career low USG%, leading the team in BPM with a career high +6.1. He's that guy.
Team leaders so far this season:
PPG: Zion with 23.9 (Ingram in second place with 20.8)
RPG: Jonas with 9.1 (Zion in second place with 7.2)
APG: CJ with 5.9 (Ingram in second with 4.7)
SPG: Zion with 1.3 (Jose in second with 1.1)
BPG: Nance with 0.9 (Herb in second with 0.8)
Advanced Stats (minimum 500 minutes):
TS%: Trey Murphy with 65.9% (Zion in second with 64.0%)
WS/48: Zion with .220 (Nance in second with .189)
WS: Zion with 2.8 (Trey in second with 2.4)
BPM: Zion with +6.1 (Trey in second with +3.4)
VORP: Zion with +1.2 (Trey in second with +0.9)
On/off: Jose with +14.3 (Nance in second with +8.7)
EPM: Zion with +5.1 (12th in the NBA)
Note: a lot of those advanced stats are notoriously a bit dodgy, and some are cumulative (such as VORP and WS) so they favour people who have played more games. They're just what's publicly available, as things like PIPM went private when their creators got hired by NBA teams. EPM is the best publicly available stat right now imo, though it is volatile with small sample sizes.
Last edited by Pelicanidae; 12-08-2022 at 05:44 AM.
Contributor
You guys are seriously undervaluing the covid affect on CJ. Dude has been sick since the beginning of the season and has just recently been working his way back to game shape, both physically and mentally. Dude will be fine
Yea, I’m inclined to agree. The slump sucks and to make it worse it’s coming when BI has to sit out. On the positive side, we haven’t lost any games during it.
As for CJ, I’m not terribly concerned. He seems to be moving well out there, and while I didn’t watch a whole lot of Trailblazer games over the years, from what I did watch, he seems to be playing better defense than any other time in his career.
And that may give us a reason why his offense is suffering. Throw his illness on top of the energy he’s expending on the defensive end, and it probably is the reason his legs aren’t completely under him for his jump shots. It’s why they’re all a bit short.
My guess is that Willie had some pretty intense practices the last couple of days focusing on defense, which might explain why our shots weren’t falling this game. But on the other end, I’ve been impressed with the team defense I’m seeing out there with all of our guys. I know Willie gets some crap with his rotations, but I think getting guys like CJ, BI, and Zion to buy in defensively should definitely give him consideration for coach of the year.
Yea, I was wrong about him, he definitely has shown that he deserves playing time on this team. He gives our team some grit, and he’s good for when the refs aren’t calling anything and allow the game to get ugly. His decision making is also improving quite a bit, which was one of my biggest concerns with him.
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