November 26th - New Orleans Pelicans @ Utah Jazz - 9-8

[Pelicanidae]

Trey Murphy would have shot that from 30 feet and made it.

[JJackisangry]

I do not care at all whether it's a shot BI likes or not. It's not the shot we needed.

He did not need to step inside the arc. He chose to. It was a bad choice.
He did not need to shoot it with that much time left on the clock. He chose to. It was a bad choice.

Naji and Herb were both open with defenders nowhere near them, he didn't even have to shoot it at all. He chose to.

And the nail in the coffin for why it was a bad shot: even if he made it it would have only tied the game with enough time on the clock for them to score again anyway!

Bad shot selection, bad clock management, not looking for the open man. It was a horrible moment for him.

Regardless of what happened it was a broken play that never should have been drawn up. When you are scrambling with BI and Zion on a set play against the Utah freakin Jazz, you have a problem. Why did we narrow the angle in the corner? It was just stupid

[Pelicanidae]

Thank God CJ is coming back soon.

Someone who can make 3s, will actually take them, and can take occasional ballhandling duties.

Trey shouldn't be far behind.

[JJackisangry]

Thank God CJ is coming back soon.

Someone who can make 3s, will actually take them, and can take occasional ballhandling duties.

Trey shouldn't be far behind.

Just anybody. Please. Give me Matty Ice too

[Freyfamilyreuni]

That's a ridiculous excuse. There was time on the shot clock, and we needed a 3 to win so even if you were going to hail mary on a broken play, a 21 footer isn't good enough. Stepping inside the line to take that with 5 seconds on the clock - enough time that even if you made it, it would have only been a tie and they'd have had time for their own buzzer beater attempt - is awful.

Yeah looking back there was more time on the shot clock than I thought when BI caught the ball. I think he had about 7 seconds to try to get off a 3 or drive to the basket.

[JJackisangry]

All I can say is thank god we are 500 and not ten games under per usual. We survived the storm. Barely, but we did

[luckyman]

Points in the paint--

Pelicans 68
Jazz 38

You outscore them by 30 in the paint. They outscore you by 30 behind the line.

With so many shooters out this is how you have to win games. What you absolutely can't do is leave 8 points on the board by sucking at the free throw line. Doesn't help when you struggle to get whistles in the first place.

They missed 5. You missed 8. Almost literally the difference in the game.

[Pelicanidae]

All I can say is thank god we are 500 and not ten games under per usual. We survived the storm. Barely, but we did

I said it maybe two games ago now, and I'm sticking to it: December is my real test.

At that point, CJ should be back. Trey will hopefully be back too, at least at some point in the early part of the month.

12 games. 7 at home. Only one B2B. Most of the teams are terrible. Anything less than 8-4 in that month will be a failure to me.

In that span, we get Spurs x2, Bulls, Wizards, Hornets, Grizzlies x2, and Utah again (but at home this time).

There's really no excuse. If we can't go at 7-5 at the absolute worst, this team needs serious change.

[As I See It]

I do not care at all whether it's a shot BI likes or not. It's not the shot we needed.

He did not need to step inside the arc. He chose to. It was a bad choice.
He did not need to shoot it with that much time left on the clock. He chose to. It was a bad choice.

Naji and Herb were both open with defenders nowhere near them, he didn't even have to shoot it at all. He chose to.

And the nail in the coffin for why it was a bad shot: even if he made it it would have only tied the game with enough time on the clock for them to score again anyway!

Bad shot selection, bad clock management, not looking for the open man. It was a horrible moment for him.

The final shot is all on your one-dimensional fella. It was Superman who played ISO ball in the end....got stopped.... and looked for BI to bail him out. Go ahead and rag on BI (you have since the day he arrived), but that last shot is on # 197,000,000.

[PaKwAn]

Sadly the real test in December is making out of it injury free....

[JJackisangry]

I’m just going to be optimistic because I am so used to us being 50 games under 500 and trying to salvage things at the last minute (and failing). It’s a good start by our standards. By a more ambitious franchise’s standards? Probably not. Baby steps. We have to bank on health. We are really strong at full health.

[As I See It]

Points in the paint--

Pelicans 68
Jazz 38

You outscore them by 30 in the paint. They outscore you by 30 behind the line.

With so many shooters out this is how you have to win games. What you absolutely can't do is leave 8 points on the board by sucking at the free throw line. Doesn't help when you struggle to get whistles in the first place.

They missed 5. You missed 8. Almost literally the difference in the game.

Our defense is Swiss Cheese. A lot of chasing....and when that happens, Herb tries to help out late and gets in foul trouble. It not rocket science. There's a reason # 197 has been pulled lately to close quarters if the opponent has the ball.

[neworleanshoo]

The final shot is all on your one-dimensional fella. It was Superman who played ISO ball in the end....got stopped.... and looked for BI to bail him out. Go ahead and rag on BI (you have since the day he arrived), but that last shot is on # 197,000,000.

I mean I don't really think it's fair to call it ISO ball when it was obvious the play was to get the ball in Zion's hands and let him create. The unfortunate fact is that he was triple teamed and HAD to find someone to bail him out. But it's not like he decided to play hero all on his own. (And it's not like it's NOT ordinarily a good strategy to put the ball in your best player's hands with the game on the line).

[Creative]

Hahahahaha 0-2 vs BAD Jazz team - This team ALWAYS plays under their potencial when they need to win! pathetic

[Pelicanidae]

I mean I don't really think it's fair to call it ISO ball when it was obvious the play was to get the ball in Zion's hands and let him create. The unfortunate fact is that he was triple teamed and HAD to find someone to bail him out. But it's not like he decided to play hero all on his own. (And it's not like it's NOT ordinarily a good strategy to put the ball in your best player's hands with the game on the line).

With BI starting in the back-court - something LA sometimes does with Lebron - it's obvious that the intention was always to have BI coming down with a head of steam to catch the bailout after the defense collapsed in on Zion. That much worked: the entire Jazz defense collapsed on Zion, who passed out to BI who was in motion and caught the ball at the 3pt line with 4 defenders in the paint and 8 seconds on the clock. It was a poor play - I think a BI/Zion PnR would have been preferable - but it got what it wanted. BI had the ball with only one defender within 15 feet of him, and time to work.

BI made a poor choice at that point. It lost the game. Even if he might a better choice we still might have lost - maybe he would have missed the FT line jumper too, or maybe Herb would have missed the 3 if he passed, we don't know. But the shot was bad.

Don't bother trying to discuss that with As I See It. His opinions on Zion are purely negative, regardless of what happens, and his opinions on BI are purely constructed to try and pick fights with imaginary opinions that he pretends other people hold. Genuinely not worth the effort.

[As I See It]

With BI starting in the back-court - something LA sometimes does with Lebron - it's obvious that the intention was always to have BI coming down with a head of steam to catch the bailout after the defense collapsed in on Zion. That much worked: the entire Jazz defense collapsed on Zion, who passed out to BI who was in motion and caught the ball at the 3pt line with 4 defenders in the paint and 8 seconds on the clock. It was a poor play - I think a BI/Zion PnR would have been preferable - but it got what it wanted. BI had the ball with only one defender within 15 feet of him, and time to work.

BI made a poor choice at that point. It lost the game. Even if he might a better choice we still might have lost - maybe he would have missed the FT line jumper too, or maybe Herb would have missed the 3 if he passed, we don't know. But the shot was bad.

Don't bother trying to discuss that with As I See It. His opinions on Zion are purely negative, regardless of what happens, and his opinions on BI are purely constructed to try and pick fights with imaginary opinions that he pretends other people hold. Genuinely not worth the effort.

Imagiinary Opinions?

Would you care for me to go to 'history search' and prove my imaginary opinions on posts you have made about BI? I don't think so, Kyle Kuzma.

[As I See It]

Trey Murphy would have shot that from 30 feet and made it.

Thank you, Nostradamus.

[Freyfamilyreuni]

With BI starting in the back-court - something LA sometimes does with Lebron - it's obvious that the intention was always to have BI coming down with a head of steam to catch the bailout after the defense collapsed in on Zion. That much worked: the entire Jazz defense collapsed on Zion, who passed out to BI who was in motion and caught the ball at the 3pt line with 4 defenders in the paint and 8 seconds on the clock. It was a poor play - I think a BI/Zion PnR would have been preferable - but it got what it wanted. BI had the ball with only one defender within 15 feet of him, and time to work.

BI made a poor choice at that point. It lost the game. Even if he might a better choice we still might have lost - maybe he would have missed the FT line jumper too, or maybe Herb would have missed the 3 if he passed, we don't know. But the shot was bad.

Don't bother trying to discuss that with As I See It. His opinions on Zion are purely negative, regardless of what happens, and his opinions on BI are purely constructed to try and pick fights with imaginary opinions that he pretends other people hold. Genuinely not worth the effort.

I’m not sure that the defense collapsed as much as they thought it might. From what I recall, the help came from Utah’s center who played Zion pretty well, contesting his left hand. Which is fine because there was plenty of time left on the shot clock when Zion pitched it back out.

What may have happened is that BI misjudged the time remaining. Because it looked like when he took the shot and his reaction afterwards, he may have thought that he shot the ball with no time remaining. Perhaps he didn’t realize he had enough time to drive it or pitch it back out for a three point shot. Hawkins remained covered, but Naji had an open shot at the top of the key.

[neworleanshoo]

With BI starting in the back-court - something LA sometimes does with Lebron - it's obvious that the intention was always to have BI coming down with a head of steam to catch the bailout after the defense collapsed in on Zion. That much worked: the entire Jazz defense collapsed on Zion, who passed out to BI who was in motion and caught the ball at the 3pt line with 4 defenders in the paint and 8 seconds on the clock. It was a poor play - I think a BI/Zion PnR would have been preferable - but it got what it wanted. BI had the ball with only one defender within 15 feet of him, and time to work.

I don't know, Zion looked genuinely flustered and suddenly looking for help, it didn't look like that was the plan to me. I think he was just supposed to create on his own and finish. Granted, he would've scored with far too much time on the clock so you may be right. Either way I agree that BI settling for a long middie was super frustrating.

[Pelicanidae]

I’m not sure that the defense collapsed as much as they thought it might. From what I recall, the help came from Utah’s center who played Zion pretty well, contesting his left hand. Which is fine because there was plenty of time left on the shot clock when Zion pitched it back out.

What may have happened is that BI misjudged the time remaining. Because it looked like when he took the shot and his reaction afterwards, he may have thought that he shot the ball with no time remaining. Perhaps he didn’t realize he had enough time to drive it or pitch it back out for a three point shot. Hawkins remained covered, but Naji had an open shot at the top of the key.

Four different defenders collapsed into the paint, and the one guy who was assigned to 'guard' back-court Brandon was barely past the 3 point line. The defense can't get much more collapsed than that. There was even a millisecond where George had to turn and run back to Hawk in the corner because he'd been temporarily left open due to the overhelp - not that it mattered, because Kessler was blocking the pass anyway.

BI took a bad shot. He took it at a bad time. There were other options, he messed up. You mention that Naji had an open shot at the top of the key - he did. Herb also had a wide open corner 3; he'd hit one less than 2 minutes earlier from 3 as well, it was part of the mini 'comeback', as it were. And even if BI wanted to take it, the FT line jumper (where he's been automatic recently, and the extra step would have killed a touch more clock) would have been better. It is what it is, it happened, the results are obvious to us all.

This is one area where CJ will help the team vastly. Whatever else is true about him, he knows what time is on the clock.

[Freyfamilyreuni]

The thing I’m the most bummed about is Dyson’s regression. I was hoping his offense would have improved to give us the luxury of keeping him and Herb in the starting lineup and bringing CJ in off the bench to run the second unit. Now I see that’s impossible. Dyson is almost getting to the point of being unplayable. Hopefully he’ll get a bit of his confidence back when they return home.

[Fedupfan]

He’s absolutely worthless on offense with the way he’s being used.

[sterlr]

He?s absolutely worthless on offense with the way he?s being used.

Dyson will be Ok once CJ and Trey gets back in. He will go to the bench and run with the second team. Herb will be the only non-shooter starter. Dyson will run with either CJ, BI or Zion along with Hawk and Trey on the second unit. I'm concerned with the lack of FT%. A coach must demand more from the team. Willie is too passive...they (team) needs a kick in the butt at times. I had to do this a few times when I used to coach. It's called tough love. Go Pelicans!

[6warddude]

The thing I’m the most bummed about is Dyson’s regression. I was hoping his offense would have improved to give us the luxury of keeping him and Herb in the starting lineup and bringing CJ in off the bench to run the second unit. Now I see that’s impossible. Dyson is almost getting to the point of being unplayable. Hopefully he’ll get a bit of his confidence back when they return home.

Honestly, there should be no more bring CJ off the bench so dyson can start talk around here this season anymore.....

i think dyson have this jrue holiday thing where its too much pressure for him trying to get the ball to our star players, mostly ingram...dyson goes to turning the ball over forcing it to ingram when he is being guarded tight or the defender starts to harass dyson....

some of us seen toward the end of a season where jrue was better at SG than PG for us...we knew jrue was going to be our SG the next year because frazier was the PG around that time i think and jrue was ballin because he was not the decision maker anymore.....the following season, we signed rondo and jrue took his game to another level and we all saw it and including in the playoffs...during the regular season, jen interviewed jrue and he came out and said that he dont have the pressure of worrying about getting the ball to AD or boogie and can just play his game......im thinking dyson is going through that at a younger age than jrue was and its messing his game and confidence up.....cj being the decision maker will just let dyson defend and play his game and i think we will see a better dyson going forward....

even with jose being back, dyson still has the decision making job majority of the game...i think 3 games back, willie played jose a lil more in the 4th imo because he wanted a better ball handler in the game but we started loosing ground and he had to put dyson back in for defense and hope he didnt make any offensive mistakes....cj is a vet that know how to deal with the pressure that dyson is not ready for....

[dvdman]

We just need a new head coach. It’s that simple.