The Final game it comes down to this,

[Caffeinedisastr]

We are ALL going to be emotionally drained come Thursday.

[Silverfoxx]

To hell with facts, stats, reasoning, etc. All Pelicans' fans need to enjoy the game and do all they can to cheer them on to victory. The other 81 games do not matter now.

Yes! Yes! Yes!

[Silverfoxx]

We are ALL going to be emotionally drained come Thursday.

#Facts. I'm drained now. So pray for me!

[Silverfoxx]

We are ALL going to be emotionally drained come Thursday.

#Facts. I'm drained now. So pray for me!

[N.O.Bronco]

.

[N.O.Bronco]

But according to this, we have to take away our victories against GS, SA, Cleve, etc too right? Because we are as far from them pt differential wise as those other teams are from us. Fine, I will grant you the wins over the teams we are much better than only if you also grant the losses against the teams we are much inferior to. Which will leave us in about the same place.

No we don't. Like before you aren't really getting my argument. All things being equal is a key point.

You are going to beat some teams you are worse then, lose to some you are better then as a playoff caliber team. By taking your logic to its natural endpoint we just recalculate the season w/l based on our level of competition after determining how good each team is based on some sort of combination of metrics. Which is rather meaningless because how do you actually make that determination of who should of beat whom? It devolves into the ultimate what if.

We made our road tougher because while we struggled against higher level competition more so then other Western Playoff teams(understandable) we made it double hard because we also struggled more then other Western playoff teams against poor competition. To make the playoffs you need the right balance, the right magic number. Instead of winning more winnable games we are now stuck having to beat a much harder team to get that magic number to get into the playoffs. 45 gets you in.

We were 10% below the average for Western conference playoff teams against above .500 competiton. We are 14% behind the average for Western Conference teams against sub .500 competition. 1 more victory on either side of that spectrum gets you in and tonight doesnt matter. To me it is harder to swallow losses to competition below you then the completion you lose above you. As you yourself say.

[Silverfoxx]

Enjoy the game. Every minute of it. Go crazy if they win, appreciate the season as a whole if they lose. How I am gonna look at it.

Lol I can't imagine you going crazy. My image of you is Sir William Regal.

[4Real]

Lol I can't imagine you going crazy. My image of you is Sir William Regal.

this guy?

[MichaelMcNamara]

No we don't. Like before you aren't really getting my argument. All things being equal is a key point.

You are going to beat some teams you are worse then, lose to some you are better then as a playoff caliber team. By taking your logic to its natural endpoint we just recalculate the season w/l based on our level of competition after determining how good each team is based on some sort of combination of metrics.

We made our road tougher because while we struggled against higher level competition more so then other Western Playoff teams(understandable) we made it double hard because we also struggled more then other Western playoff teams against poor competition. To make the playoffs you need the right balance.

EDIT: This board sometimes frustrates me. The rest of my point didn't post for some weird reason and created a double post. Trying to fix now

I think we are arguing about two different things. You are saying we need to beat bad teams more often. I agree. I think we need to win more games in total moving forward and that will likely include more wins against bad teams than what we had this year.

My frustration is the whining that has happened and will happen if we lose to SA about how "we should have won this game and that game". We didn't. So, what's the point of playing that game? And if you are gonna play that game, play it from all sides. Every fan base thinks they should have 3-8 more wins. So, it serves no purpose IMO.

[MichaelMcNamara]

Lol I can't imagine you going crazy. My image of you is Sir William Regal.

You should have seen me the other day. Ref with a BS call on one of my kids and I lost it. Blacked out for a minute, my wife told me that I told the ref I would end him if he pulled that (blank) again

[kclaboy504]

Do whatever you want, nobody is stopping you. I was responding to a poster that said the Spurs weren't very good on the road. I never said the game was impossible to win or told anyone how to think. Do whatever you want. I will go in hoping for a win, but knowing the season is a success as long as nobody gets seriously hurt personally. But I don't need everyone to share my philosophy.

He didn't say that. He said they aren't the best. Not remotely close to the same.

[N.O.Bronco]

I think we are arguing about two different things. You are saying we need to beat bad teams more often. I agree. I think we need to win more games in total moving forward and that will likely include more wins against bad teams than what we had this year.

My frustration is the whining that has happened and will happen if we lose to SA about how "we should have won this game and that game". We didn't. So, what's the point of playing that game? And if you are gonna play that game, play it from all sides. Every fan base thinks they should have 3-8 more wins. So, it serves no purpose IMO.

It serves as much purpose as any other argument on a message board.

I am saying that we were worse then any other western conference playoff team against above .500 competition and below .500 competition. That through that prism it is much harder to swallow the sub .500 record then the above .500 record. So yes, in part I am saying we needed to be better against bad competition. Pointing this fact out doesnt require me to go into some wild hypothetical where i have to go back and rejudge every game for balance. Its taking a look back with hindsight and seeing realistic missed opportunities that could of better positioned this team. The latter is a subjective argument for sure. The former point is more just identifying something this team needs to improve on going forward.

[DirtySouf]

We also have to remember that the current roster is much better than the roster we started with...

[BlueJay]

My 2 cents, SAS will rest their guys. PO start on the 18th, Pop will give their older guys a week off to heal. And I don't think SAS care much about seeding against the west, they have HC against the Cle anyway.

[Spec3333]

My 2 cents, SAS will rest their guys. PO start on the 18th, Pop will give their older guys a week off to heal. And I don't think SAS care much about seeding against the west, they have HC against the Cle anyway.

According to Monty Williams in his interview with Jimmy Smith today, it's pretty apparent that Coach Pop is not going to be sitting his key guys in this game:
"We talked last night and we both know what's at stake," according to Monty.
Obviously, Pop thinks the #2 seed is worth competing hard for.

Here's the whole article: http://www.nola.com/pelicans/index.s...orts_index.ssf

[DaBrow]

They are playing, and they will play hard. Saying they dont care about the 2nd seed and home court advantage is idiotic. The western conference is extremely deep, and home court goes a long way. Let's stop looking for a handout, and start hoping our guys are ready to play a hard fought game.

[Schmide234]

First, AD has taken over plenty. Just last night AD put up 24-11-6-5. . .

Second, Duncan is one of the best defensive bigs in the league. He can guard AD while he plays. This Spurs team will not be a pushover unless Pops rests people.

I don't really agree. AD can both get around and shoot over Duncan. And when I mean take over I mean AD needs a game that is pushing 40+ points

[Yanks2740]

Article for others who cannot WAIT for tomorrow night. http://bigeasybeliever.com/2015/04/1...layoff-chance/

Also, William Regal appearing on this forum may be a foreshadowing of other extremely unlikely things to

[pawel]

officially no bonner andd splitter because of injury. good for our bigs

[Mythrol]

I don't really agree. AD can both get around and shoot over Duncan. And when I mean take over I mean AD needs a game that is pushing 40+ points

I think are you greatly underestimating Duncan's defense. He has been one of the best defenders all year. Probably top 2/3 defender AD will have faced this year. just look at this article for an idea of his defense this year, written in March. http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles...-the-year-race

I'm not saying AD will get shut down. But let's not pretend that the Spurs have no one who can guard him. Duncan can. And can do a good job of it.

[Schmide234]

I think are you greatly underestimating Duncan's defense. He has been one of the best defenders all year. Probably top 2/3 defender AD will have faced this year. just look at this article for an idea of his defense this year, written in March. http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles...-the-year-race

I'm not saying AD will get shut down. But let's not pretend that the Spurs have no one who can guard him. Duncan can. And can do a good job of it.

I recognize how good of a defender Duncan is. But AD is a very special offensive player and there isn't another big in the league that has the variety of skills he has. I imagine a 38 year old duncan cannot run the floor with Davis, guard drives to the rim, contest (well) AD's midrange, box out, and contest our guards shots all at the same time. I think if AD is active this game he can have one of those career nights.

Again just my opinion. Duncan has been an incredible defender in the league, but AD has shot well against SA and put up solid numbers. He just needs to bring it to the next level.

[Silverfoxx]

You should have seen me the other day. Ref with a BS call on one of my kids and I lost it. Blacked out for a minute, my wife told me that I told the ref I would end him if he pulled that (blank) again

Haha lay off the 400 degrees

[Broadmoor74]

I find myself getting a bit annoyed with Anthony Davis' unwillingness to take over games. There isn't a single person on the spurs that can guard AD, and yes that includes Kawhi. He needs to put this team on his back for 1 game and truly have a MVP performance if we want the W

I disagree with you. I think Davis is totally willing to take over games. But there are a couple of problems. One is that, like most big men, he's not a ball-dominant player like most guards. So, for the most part he has to be given his opportunities by other players. Which brings me to number two: There was a significant stretch, especially early in the season, where Davis seemed to be lost in the game plan at the end of close games. Which brings me to number three: Since Jrue Holiday went down, Tyreke Evans became our primary point man. Although I think he's improved his distributing, in crunch time he's clearly much more comfortable dribbling around for a while, looking for an opportunity to penetrate to the basket, or take an ill-advised jump shot. Reke consistently has Davis trailing him on fast-breaks and he almost refuses to get him involved. Evans is a frustrating player. Sometimes I love him and sometimes I hate him. But to me, it looks like his mentality and skill-set are much better suited to a team that doesn't have a player like Davis, who should be fed the ball like it's lunch hour. Davis and Evans seem to have genuine affection for each other, which it's amazing how little on-court chemistry they have.

[da_freshness]

Just think. Tomorrow night is arguably the biggest night for New Orleans Basketball. So many factors lead into this being a positive turning point for us to be a legit franchise. It seems we have established a little rivalry with the Thunder and if we win tonight, it's a full on rivalry for the foreseeable future. (Your only as good as your rival so having OKC and to an extent the Clippers will get us more nationally televised games.) Beating the defending champs just to get to the best team in the league, student vs teacher scenario, even ESPN giving us actual time. A few years ago, we were in danger of losing this team, now we are at this point. I am proud of this team and its execs. Win or lose, im proud to be a New Orleans Pelican Fan. Let's Geaux Pels.

[Mythrol]

You should have seen me the other day. Ref with a BS call on one of my kids and I lost it. Blacked out for a minute, my wife told me that I told the ref I would end him if he pulled that (blank) again

I can't believe I missed this post.

Honestly this is exactly how I figured MM would be. Passion. Lots of Passion. I can just imagine the ref (possibly doing it for free or like. . .$50) like, "Wtf is going on here? This is 8 year old's playing basketball."