Pelicans vs Thunder (YHT) Game 2 Playoffs! GAMEDAY THREAD!

[djrnno]

Why no Jose?

[hornetsrebirth]

Thru 3 quarters we have not been able to match their intensity. Dort setting the tone on defense and SGA on offense. Going to have to make some serious adjustments in the next game.

[hornetsrebirth]

Why no Jose?

I was wondering too... he is our energy guy that raises the intensity level which has been missing here

[Nichols]

Wow! They really called that on Jose? lol

[Darkhorse985]

Series over! this team isn?t it. Major changes need to happen in the offseason. Not a “tweak.”

[Nichols]

I'm not big on harping on refs.. But the officiating hasn't been beneficial to the Pels at all.

[13 - 3]

I'm not big on harping on refs.. But the officiating hasn't been beneficial to the Pels at all.

Willie won’t call them out. He is scared of a fine. We need a coach that is not scared.

[6warddude]

i didnt know we were 0-22 when trailing in the 4th quarter lol...

[Pelicanidae]

i didnt know we were 0-22 when trailing in the 4th quarter lol...

It's when trailing going into the 4th, not just being down at all, but yes.

Actually I think it's 0-23 now, isn't it? Not sure.

Lakers game was the big opportunity to finally break the streak and then Zion got hurt.

[Nichols]

And just like that JV back out of the game after scoring twice on two attempts. This coach is ridiculous.

[Pelicanidae]

Series over! this team isn?t it. Major changes need to happen in the offseason. Not a ?tweak.?

Series' dont start until someone loses at home.

The latter part though, I agree with. Cannot stand pat. There are obvious changes to make. I don't think Griff has the courage to make them.

[Nichols]

Willie won’t call them out. He is scared of a fine. We need a coach that is not scared.

He's just not good at his job.

[13 - 3]

Never forget . Alvin was not our best but at least he was not afraid

[6warddude]

It's when trailing going into the 4th, not just being down at all, but yes.

Actually I think it's 0-23 now, isn't it? Not sure.

Lakers game was the big opportunity to finally break the streak and then Zion got hurt.

damn...23 games...i cant remember but i hope 6 of those games were not against the spurs, memphis and houston....if we would have won those 6, we would be over 50 wins and maybe with a healthy zion..

[pr1840]

He's just not good at his job.

Poorly coached team.

[Nichols]

Series' dont start until someone loses at home.

The latter part though, I agree with. Cannot stand pat. There are obvious changes to make. I don't think Griff has the courage to make them.

From what I've been hearing in this thread, ownership isn't interested in playing for anything significant. So what kind of improvement should one expect?

[Pelicanidae]

We're about to see some elite garbage time stat padding, I reckon

[Pelicanidae]

From what I've been hearing in this thread, ownership isn't interested in playing for anything significant. So what kind of improvement should one expect?

I don't think there will be any. I think WG will re-sign BI for the absurd contract that cannot be justified, because he loves him and BI represents the success of the LA trade to him, and giving up on that without significant gains (that he won't get) will represent a failure to his ego that he can't accept. With that done, we'll have no money or flexibility to do anything else, so we'll just re-sign people and run it back largely the same. Might make a bench move, idk, maybe Naji is a cap-casualty in the end because we don't want to go into the luxury. Make our draft picks.

I have zero faith in Griff to make the moves necessary.

[6warddude]

i think we are the kings to okc this season...the way we been playing at home, i dont think we win a game in this series ...

pelicans game and jazzfest will make my weekend...

[Nichols]

I don't think there will be any. I think WG will re-sign BI for the absurd contract that cannot be justified, because he loves him and BI represents the success of the LA trade to him, and giving up on that without significant gains (that he won't get) will represent a failure to his ego that he can't accept. With that done, we'll have no money or flexibility to do anything else, so we'll just re-sign people and run it back largely the same. Might make a bench move, idk, maybe Naji is a cap-casualty in the end because we don't want to go into the luxury. Make our draft picks.

I have zero faith in Griff to make the moves necessary.

Ingram commentary aside.. You and others have communicated that the ownership isn't going to go over the cap. So this really isn't about Ingram.

I'm asking what can anyone reasonably expect improvement wise, if the ownership isn't committed to winning?

[hornetsrebirth]

I don't think there will be any. I think WG will re-sign BI for the absurd contract that cannot be justified, because he loves him and BI represents the success of the LA trade to him, and giving up on that without significant gains (that he won't get) will represent a failure to his ego that he can't accept. With that done, we'll have no money or flexibility to do anything else, so we'll just re-sign people and run it back largely the same. Might make a bench move, idk, maybe Naji is a cap-casualty in the end because we don't want to go into the luxury. Make our draft picks.

I have zero faith in Griff to make the moves necessary.

If BI plays like he did in the 2nd half then he is not the problem. Also, we are literally missing our best player. I bet we would match up better against OKC if SGA was out for this series

[Pelicanidae]

Ingram commentary aside.. You and others have communicated that the ownership isn't going to go over the cap. So this really isn't about Ingram.

I'm asking what can anyone reasonably expect improvement wise, if the ownership isn't committed to winning?

And I told you: nothing. We will run it back largely the same. We will get roughly 46-50 wins from pure team talent for the next few years until guys start running out of contracts and deciding to leave, and the team will atrophy back to a re-set. Because there needs to be changes in order to improve, and we cannot reasonably expect that from a Griff/Benson team.

Maybe they surprise us, but that is not a reasonable expectation - that would be a surprise.

[13 - 3]

i think we are the kings to okc this season...the way we been playing at home, i dont think we win a game in this series ...

pelicans game and jazzfest will make my weekend...

Get there early. Gayle giving discounts. Something SHE NEVER DOES

Pelicans are following OKC’s lead…

Smoothie King Center will open two hours prior to tip and half off all concessions including drinks prior to tip-off for Game 3 and 4. pic.twitter.com/wjAdTUuJh5

— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) April 24, 2024

[Nichols]

Celtics, 3 expensive main guys. Lakers 3, Heat 3, Clippers 3, Suns 3, etc.. If this team isn't willing to spend enough for 3 of these types where are we going??

[Pelicanidae]

If BI plays like he did in the 2nd half then he is not the problem. Also, we are literally missing our best player. I bet we would match up better against OKC if SGA was out for this series

You are being extremely generous. If BI had played like he did in the second half we would have just lost by 20 instead of 30. He was a -12 in the second half. The only difference is that some of the bad shots went in, which makes it look better on a stat sheet but did not actually represent an improvement in his play overall.

And sure it would be closer if SGA was out, but I'm pretty certain that if we swapped Chet and BI, the Pels don't look this miserable. Chet wouldn't collapse in this same way. We've had 7 quarters of terrible play from BI across 2 playoff games so far, and he wasn't exactly great in the play-ins either.