Training Camp Begins

[luckyman]

Gentry media availability:

On open practice: ''It's for the fans, they don't wanna see drills. They're not like you, they don't wanna see the drills, so we'll treat them to really, kind of, scrimmaging with the two teams and meet with Scott [Kushner] afterwards to speak X's and O's.''

''I guess if you could compare it to maybe Lebron going to Miami or going back to Cleveland, or Durant going to Golden State... I think that with us, I've never seen interest in basketball be as high as it is right now. I think it's a good thing but the bottom line is that we've got to back it up with the way that we play.''

On defense and basics: ''I think we've done a really good job with that and our guys have embraced the defensive concepts that Jeff has. We're going to be very aggressive and give up some backdoor plays or layups, but our thing is that we wanna make the offense react to us, not the other way around.''

On rebounds: ''There's no reason why you can't be a good offensive rebounding team and a good defensive transition team. We have athletic, long guys and there's no reason we shouldn't have to go after the offensive boards.''

On Zion playing 3, 4, 5. Bzdelik's experience on undersized bigs from PJ Tucker: ''He should be, he's athletic and can move his feet. Very strong guy. He'll get there, I think the toughest thing is that the defensive concepts in the NBA are tougher than in college so there'll be an adjustment, but I can't see any reason why he wouldn't be. It's not going to happen over night, but with the way that he works, I think he can be a top notch defender, yes.''

Gentry also said its possible Jaxson Hayes wont play in tomorrow's scrimmage.... None of the reporters followed up to ask why.

[Pelicanidae]

Gentry also said its possible Jaxson Hayes wont play in tomorrow's scrimmage.... None of the reporters followed up to ask why.

Gentry says he expects almost everyone to be available for tomorrow’s open practice. Only player that could be held out is Jaxson Hayes. Nothing serious with him, just precautionary.

— Andrew Lopez (@_Andrew_Lopez) October 4, 2019

Maybe he tweaked an ankle or something? Given that it's 'possible' he's out instead of guaranteed, it could be a day to day type thing. Not sure though.

[Pelicanidae]

Hearing some more potential height drops on twitter.

No official confirmation yet, so I wouldn't guarantee these as 100% true, but apparently Conley has measured as 6'0'', which is a 2'' drop from his old number.

Have read that JJ Barea has measured in at 5'10'', which is a drop from his old listed height of 6'0 (That we all suspected was inaccurate anyway).

Again, not confirmed, just rumour. Will update when/if official stats come out.

Edit: SCRAP the information about Bagley.

Turns out that the NBA rosters that the announcers were using were still using all of the old data from last year: Bagley was still listed as 6'11 on that roster sheet, no changes have been made to any roster sheets yet. Bagley was just listed between Barnes and Ariza, who are both listed at 6'8, and the announcer messed it up.

[Eman5805]

Probably cause he was 6'6'' a year ago, and he was barely 18. If he's still 6'6'' now, over a year later at 19 and a some change, that's a full year of zero growth during an age where you would expect there to be some.

I guess he could always have a random growth spurt at 20 or something, it's not impossible, but it's also not encouraging.

So we're just assuming Duke measured him barefoot last year and used that height for their official measurements? If he's 6'6" barefoot, he's closer to 6'8" in shoes than 6'7". I don't see what concern about whether he's growing from is coming from without people making a lot of assumptions.

[Pelicanidae]

So we're just assuming Duke measured him barefoot last year and used that height for their official measurements? If he's 6'6" barefoot, he's closer to 6'8" in shoes than 6'7". I don't see what concern about whether he's growing from is coming from without people making a lot of assumptions.

I don't think it's so much concern as it is confusion. In general, you expect 18 year olds to still have a bit of growing to do. It would be a bit odd for someone who is otherwise such a physical mutant to just stop growing at a weirdly young age. I don't think it impacts his on court ability that much (as people have said, Barkley was probably 6'4 or 6'5 and he played like a much larger man) but it's just a bit weird.

[Pelicanidae]

Jeff Bzdelik coaching up Zion pic.twitter.com/NvaOTQr4qR

— Andrew Smith写真家 (@DruProductions) October 5, 2019

[Pelicanidae]

Oh damn, TNT gets to see the good stuff at practice https://t.co/rJH8UN5RMk

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) October 5, 2019

[Eman5805]

I really wish Zion wasn't one of the first reported official heights.

[Pelicanidae]

I really wish Zion wasn't one of the first reported official heights.

Same. It was kind of inevitable, but seeing the comments on that Zion dunk filled with ''lol, he's only 6'6''!'' and ''they probably lowered the rim for this hype video'' and ''that weight at that height, next Oliver Miller!!'' is just frustrating beyond belief.

I guess this is why him being actually 6'8 would have been good? Just to keep this from happening.

[Nichols]

Is the scrimmage being televised?

[Pelicanidae]

Is the scrimmage being televised?

The open practice tomorrow?

Tune in to the LIVE STREAM of the #Pelicans open practice on Saturday at 6PM!

You can watch on https://t.co/4QdSbs2hH2, the Pelicans app, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or Twitch (PelicansNBA) ��#WBD | @SeatGeek pic.twitter.com/XZrr94MWPt

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) October 4, 2019

It'll be streamed basically everywhere so you should definitely be able to catch it. I don't know about televised, but it'll be available.

[luckyman]

Same. It was kind of inevitable, but seeing the comments on that Zion dunk filled with ''lol, he's only 6'6''!'' and ''they probably lowered the rim for this hype video'' and ''that weight at that height, next Oliver Miller!!'' is just frustrating beyond belief.

I guess this is why him being actually 6'8 would have been good? Just to keep this from happening.

Those comments were going to happen regardless. There are LOTS of jealous fans out there since he isnt on their team and he's with the Pelicans.

[Pelicanidae]

Those comments were going to happen regardless. There are LOTS of jealous fans out there since he isnt on their team and he's with the Pelicans.

You're probably right, I just hate it.

Like, why can't they just be happy that there's a fun, exciting team out there for the future? I'm not a Grizzlies fan but I'm happy for their fanbase that they have Jaren Jackson and Brandon Clarke and Ja Morant and look like they're going to have a good future in front of them. I'm not a Toronto fan, but I'm glad that Fred Van Vleet and Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby look like exciting players. Why can't they just say ''hey, I'm not a Pelicans fan, and I hope my team beats them whenever we play, but isn't it good that there's another exciting young team out there that will be fun to watch?''

Beats me.

[GuardianAngel25]

No surprise Griffin says Ingram is looking like the star in camp. With not being able to work on his game at all during the off season I think we will continue to see him improve as the season goes on. The SF position is so important in today’s NBA and we now have one of the best young SFs where we have been terrible for a long long time.
Exciting to see Ball who I have said is a good shot away from being talked about as one of the best PGs in the NBA. Had he not played for the Lakers to start his career and had a different last name everyone would be saying he is the Ben Simmons of PGs. Can’t wait to see his shot in game action.

[Pelicanidae]

Exciting to see Ball who I have said is a good shot away from being talked about as one of the best PGs in the NBA. Had he not played for the Lakers to start his career and had a different last name everyone would be saying he is the Ben Simmons of PGs. Can’t wait to see his shot in game action.

I've always said about Ball that his passing and defense was top level but that he was an absolute non-factor on offense that limited him in so many ways. That's totally been true, and I'm not going back on that. But part of that was based on his old jumpshot, and because completely restructuring a jumpshot is so difficult to do I didn't see it likely that he would do it, especially because he hadn't done it with LA in his first two years. Most players with broken shots just never bother.

I've been very surprised by the significant changes he's made in the shot so quickly, and if he can become even a league average shooter that will do so much for his game. He'd essentially be a taller Patrick Beverley with elite passing vision which is a very good player indeed.

That said, Ben Simmons is the Ben Simmons of PGs.

[Nichols]

The open practice tomorrow?

Tune in to the LIVE STREAM of the #Pelicans open practice on Saturday at 6PM!

You can watch on https://t.co/4QdSbs2hH2, the Pelicans app, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, or Twitch (PelicansNBA) ��#WBD | @SeatGeek pic.twitter.com/XZrr94MWPt

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) October 4, 2019

It'll be streamed basically everywhere so you should definitely be able to catch it. I don't know about televised, but it'll be available.

Dope.. Thanks man.

[Pelicanidae]

Seen a lot of twitter users, many of whom are clearly just annoyed that Zion isn't on their team, commenting on that dunk video saying things like ''cool, so he can dunk, but can he actually play?''

It's like... guys... if you didn't watch any of his Duke games, that's fine, but you don't need to brag about your ignorance.

Zion is an elite offensive rebounder, a top tier vertical spacer and lob threat, a dangerous transition rim runner who can also handle the ball in transition himself and playmake for others on the break. He's a multi-positional, switchable defender who can protect the rim and the pick and roll. Beyond just defending it, he can run the pick and roll himself, either passing on the short roll or as the ball handler, or simply running to the rim as the roll man. He's an elite efficiency post scorer who can pass out of double teams, draw fouls at the rim, and finish through contact with either hand. He's not a top tier shooter, but even that skill of his improved throughout the season, to the point of him shooting over 40% from deep through his final 10 games on over 3 attempts per outing.

Yes, he can actually play.

I know all of you guys on the forum know this but sometimes I just have to ramble about this stuff. Drives me up the wall.

[bahmamamba]

Seen a lot of twitter users, many of whom are clearly just annoyed that Zion isn't on their team, commenting on that dunk video saying things like ''cool, so he can dunk, but can he actually play?''

It's like... guys... if you didn't watch any of his Duke games, that's fine, but you don't need to brag about your ignorance.

Zion is an elite offensive rebounder, a top tier vertical spacer and lob threat, a dangerous transition rim runner who can also handle the ball in transition himself and playmake for others on the break. He's a multi-positional, switchable defender who can protect the rim and the pick and roll. Beyond just defending it, he can run the pick and roll himself, either passing on the short roll or as the ball handler, or simply running to the rim as the roll man. He's an elite efficiency post scorer who can pass out of double teams, draw fouls at the rim, and finish through contact with either hand. He's not a top tier shooter, but even that skill of his improved throughout the season, to the point of him shooting over 40% from deep through his final 10 games on over 3 attempts per outing.

Yes, he can actually play.

I know all of you guys on the forum know this but sometimes I just have to ramble about this stuff. Drives me up the wall.

lol, it's twitter man a cesspool of idiots

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[Pelicanidae]

lol, it's twitter man a cesspool of idiots

Sends me loopy, man...

[Silver Nail]

Sends me loopy, man...

Are you gonna make a thread for today? Might as well get in practice.

[Pelicanidae]

Are you gonna make a thread for today? Might as well get in practice.

I will! Don't worry about it, it's just a few hours away so I was gonna start the thread a little closer to the time.

[RhythmNathan]

I’m gonna bring my camera and try and get some snaps for you punks

[Pelicanidae]

I’m gonna bring my camera and try and get some snaps for you punks

Looking forward to it! Want to see as many pictures and videos as I can to make up for not being there.

[bahmamamba]

Sends me loopy, man...

oh ik lol I saw the same idiots and it annoyed me then I remember it's twitter also thank sweet baby geezus I don't have a twitter account lol

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