13th January - New Orleans Pelicans @ Detroit Pistons - 14-26

[Pelicanidae]

It's amazing how many games we've lost to injury, so broadly. Almost nobody has gone unscathed, and absolutely none of the starters have managed to avoid it.

79 games played is the absolute max anyone on this team can hit, and it would require Jaxson Hayes (who has so far played 38 of our 41 contests) to play every single game left without missing one.

Redick can reach 78
Jrue can reach 75
Ingram can reach 77
Lonzo can reach 74
Kenrich can hit 76
Hart can get 75
NAW can hit 73, as can Frank
Melli could get 71
Moore could get 70
Okafor could get 65
Favors could get 64

That's it.

Who would have thought: the rookie Jax, that half the board thought would redshirt, has played in more games than anyone else by 41 games in. He might well end up playing more games than anyone else on the roster entirely. He has played in 38 out of 41 total games for us: Redick, next highest, has only played in 37.

[Wowowowow]

On the Lonzo bit:

I thought Lonzo played "well".

Was it good enough to hail as performance of the night? No. But definitely not bad enough to really recognize either post game. Just a decent game.

Lonzo to me is a star's point guard. Ideally a scoring option's point guard. Some one who's going to let a offense milk Okafor while he's rolling or who will push the pace that benefits a team with players that properly run the floor (Also take note that Jahlil Okafor while rolling last night never received adequate double teams. Logically with that, Lonzo's shot is being respected more and more as the season goes on. That's important for me.). What he had to be last night field goal attempt wise was a point guard that had to moonlight as a scorer. That's not his game.

But give me a star that needs consistent touches around the paint every game. And then another star that needs consistent touches around the perimeter. And then a sprinkle of a 3rd and 4th option that can go offensively as well. In that environment, he's the point guard I want. These scoring point-guard's teams are going no where at all.

Frank:

I thought Frank was our MVP last night. Stats won't show it. But the aggressiveness and physicality he showed throughout the first half led to him being trusted to do the dirty work for us in the end and get those closing minutes on the floor.

Ok:

Fantastic game. Carried us for a stretch. He's our 3rd or 4th best big man, depending on what matchup you have with Hayes that night. I don't think many 3rd string big men in the league could come in and do what he did last night. All healthy I don't think he deserves more minutes but I do believe he deserves to be held in that 3rd big man spot for situations like last night.

All in all, great and a much needed win.

[Eman5805]

Yeah once I realized the game was on I was gonna flip back and forth. That went out the window quick.

[HartOfaPelican]

Late to the Lonzo party.

Hahahahaha. I just can't fathom how people can be so negative about something and also this interested in it. It's like....I don't know....if I was that cynical I would just casually watch from afar and put my energy into other projects. The constant negativity is a bit much. It's like "we just won a game missing 80% of our starters but ho hum it had to be in overtime". Like.....how can we win missing four starters and a good bench player, on a brutal stretch of games in a short period of time AND STILL COMPLAIN ABOUT A WIN?!?!

Be happy.

Anyways, Ball. Dude took over and won the game. He came through when we needed it. His percentages are down because he has had to step up from being the usual fourth shooting option on the offense to being the 1st. He has had to take countless bail out 3s and low percentage shots with the clock expiring. His increased TOs would be because he's having to force things playing with scrubs. The floor general position relies heavily on the rest of the team to be productive.

But we know that.

Well said. Agree with all points made.

[6warddude]

after that boston game, im glad that the backups got this win and okafor,,melli and frank got a confidence boost they needed and hope they can bring it moving forward.....i also enjoyed the personal battle between okafor and drummond.....

[PELICANSFAN]

I get that you're a Lonzo fan, that's cool. But don't pretend he had a good game tonight.

And you are not a Lonzo or BI fan and at times seem to be a bit overly critical of them. Lonzo did play well tonight. He ran the offense well, scored some, had a lot of rebounds, played pretty good defense and some really nice passes. Some of his TOs were because Okafor (or others) fumbled a couple of nice passes away. He was not efficient on his shooting but a couple were trash shots at the end of the shot clock/quarter. Overall I think he had a pretty good game.

[JJackisangry]

Late to the Lonzo party.

Hahahahaha. I just can't fathom how people can be so negative about something and also this interested in it. It's like....I don't know....if I was that cynical I would just casually watch from afar and put my energy into other projects. The constant negativity is a bit much. It's like "we just won a game missing 80% of our starters but ho hum it had to be in overtime". Like.....how can we win missing four starters and a good bench player, on a brutal stretch of games in a short period of time AND STILL COMPLAIN ABOUT A WIN?!?!

Be happy.

Anyways, Ball. Dude took over and won the game. He came through when we needed it. His percentages are down because he has had to step up from being the usual fourth shooting option on the offense to being the 1st. He has had to take countless bail out 3s and low percentage shots with the clock expiring. His increased TOs would be because he's having to force things playing with scrubs. The floor general position relies heavily on the rest of the team to be productive.

But we know that.

Or, crazy thought here, people can say what they want dude. Enough of this crap. We both know this isn’t productive either.

[HartOfaPelican]

And you are not a Lonzo or BI fan and at times seem to be a bit overly critical of them. Lonzo did play well tonight. He ran the offense well, scored some, had a lot of rebounds, played pretty good defense and some really nice passes. Some of his TOs were because Okafor (or others) fumbled a couple of nice passes away. He was not efficient on his shooting but a couple were trash shots at the end of the shot clock/quarter. Overall I think he had a pretty good game.

Glad to see someone gets my point.

To many people on here continually manipulate information and thoughts in order to fit their narrotive. This using it to constantly invalidate other people points.

Zo has a great game plain and simple.

Everyone hated BI initially... now look...

[HartOfaPelican]

Or, crazy thought here, people can say what they want dude. Enough of this crap. We both know this isn’t productive either.

You’re not wrong. Everyone should be able to say what they want.

But don’t shut down people when they get tired of some people constantly trying to shut them down and invalidate every point they make every time they say something someone else agrees with.

It. Gets. Old.

[6warddude]

You’re not wrong. Everyone should be able to say what they want.

But don’t shut down people when they get tired of some people constantly trying to shut them down and invalidate every point they make every time they say something someone else agrees with.

It. Gets. Old.

BINGO...

[JJackisangry]

You’re not wrong. Everyone should be able to say what they want.

But don’t shut down people when they get tired of some people constantly trying to shut them down and invalidate every point they make every time they say something someone else agrees with.

It. Gets. Old.

Sure. But expecting everyone to agree with you is arrogant. To pin every criticism as ‘negative’ is silly and unconstructive in itself. There is a middle ground that people don’t seem to be able to comprehend.

[Taker597]

Was this our first OT win of the season after like 4 consecutive QT losses?

[HartOfaPelican]

Sure. But expecting everyone to agree with you is arrogant. To pin every criticism as ‘negative’ is silly and unconstructive in itself. There is a middle ground that people don’t seem to be able to comprehend.

Oh 100%. I’ll be the first one to admit that o get things wrong.

Just point out the obvious that certain thing from certain people sometimes gets old.

That being said. I’d rather have everyone on this board debating and giving their honest opinions. It’s why we are all here in the first place.

[Pelicanidae]

Was this our first OT win of the season after like 4 consecutive QT losses?

It was indeed our first OT win of the season. We had gone 0-3 in our first 3 OT games this year.

[JJackisangry]

Oh 100%. I’ll be the first one to admit that o get things wrong.

Just point out the obvious that certain thing from certain people sometimes gets old.

That being said. I’d rather have everyone on this board debating and giving their honest opinions. It’s why we are all here in the first place.

And that is reasonable. I get that people get frustrated, but this place would get boring real fast with a hive mind mentality. Nobody needs to win the internet. That is all I ask.

[akhan786]

You can’t tell me this guy isn’t a legitimate offensive weapon on the biggest stages of basketball....and we have him as our bench big

https://youtu.be/rnB8QdgeO8Q

Don’t feed into the blog boy narrative that he’s useless

Only a useless coach wouldn’t know how to get the most out of Jah’s post-offense brilliance

Give him more confidence that he might be the perfect 6th man big scorer @Gentry and @Griffin and I really think he’ll blossom. He’s a sensitive kid. Believe in him and I think we will be rewarded mightily.

NBA is about accumulating weapons. And Jah is a weapon that no one else has

[Fedupfan]

You can’t tell me this guy isn’t a legitimate offensive weapon on the biggest stages of basketball....and we have him as our bench big

https://youtu.be/rnB8QdgeO8Q

Don’t feed into the blog boy narrative that he’s useless

Only a useless coach wouldn’t know how to get the most out of Jah’s post-offense brilliance

Give him more confidence that he might be the perfect 6th man big scorer @Gentry and @Griffin and I really think he’ll blossom. He’s a sensitive kid. Believe in him and I think we will be rewarded mightily.

NBA is about accumulating weapons. And Jah is a weapon that no one else has

I agree 100%. Alvin is a really bad coach with a good roster. He benches the wrong players all the time

[Biasvasospasm]

You can’t tell me this guy isn’t a legitimate offensive weapon on the biggest stages of basketball....and we have him as our bench big

https://youtu.be/rnB8QdgeO8Q

Don’t feed into the blog boy narrative that he’s useless

Only a useless coach wouldn’t know how to get the most out of Jah’s post-offense brilliance

Give him more confidence that he might be the perfect 6th man big scorer @Gentry and @Griffin and I really think he’ll blossom. He’s a sensitive kid. Believe in him and I think we will be rewarded mightily.

NBA is about accumulating weapons. And Jah is a weapon that no one else has

I thought this going into the year. But he is just such a defensive liability you can't play him against good teams (some would argue the Pels-Pistons game on Monday is the smallest stage in the NBA). I loved the Jahfense last night too, but I think we need a more defensive backup 4/5 option.

[akhan786]

I thought this going into the year. But he is just such a defensive liability you can't play him against good teams (some would argue the Pels-Pistons game on Monday is the smallest stage in the NBA). I loved the Jahfense last night too, but I think we need a more defensive backup 4/5 option.

Jaxon and Zion are going to be defensive monsters just watch. I’m adamant about Jah. We need to give him a chance with these guys on the roster. No ones ever really given him a chance in the NBA I’ve been watching his career closely since high school

[6warddude]

Jaxon and Zion are going to be defensive monsters just watch. I’m adamant about Jah. We need to give him a chance with these guys on the roster. No ones ever really given him a chance in the NBA I’ve been watching his career closely since high school

when the outside shots are not falling,,i think gentry should play okafor some just to get some in the paint scoring going...he is the only post player that can get us points but as the 3rd center gentry just dont play him...

i hope we trade him for a backup big that can stretch the floor and play the 4 and 5 and step in when favors cant play.....

i want us to trade him to a team where he can get mins and play....im rooting for the dude after everything he been through...

[Taker597]

I really hope NAW can be as good as his cousin. SGA is killing it lately

NAW just still unpolished and raw.

[Pelicanidae]

I really hope NAW can be as good as his cousin. SGA is killing it lately

NAW just still unpolished and raw.

I like NAW but I feel like that's fairly unlikely tbh. I think SGA has top 10 PG potential (not all time, just top 10 in the league) whereas I feel like NAW has starter upside but probably not quite to that level. This is at least partially because they're basically the same age already: Shai is only about a month and a half older than Nickeil is, and comparing their current levels is a pretty significant difference in the growth curve.

That said, Shai was given tons of opportunity his first year: he actually played in 82 games and got 27 minutes a night. NAW has spent much of this season struggling to actually get a look in. So maybe it's all just NAW being untapped.

[Eman5805]

Just going off of almost nothing, I think NAW will be a much better pure shooter than SGA. As well as a better passer.

[luckyman]

You can’t tell me this guy isn’t a legitimate offensive weapon on the biggest stages of basketball....and we have him as our bench big

https://youtu.be/rnB8QdgeO8Q

Don’t feed into the blog boy narrative that he’s useless

Only a useless coach wouldn’t know how to get the most out of Jah’s post-offense brilliance

Give him more confidence that he might be the perfect 6th man big scorer @Gentry and @Griffin and I really think he’ll blossom. He’s a sensitive kid. Believe in him and I think we will be rewarded mightily.

NBA is about accumulating weapons. And Jah is a weapon that no one else has

I really didnt understand why he got 0 minutes against a team like the Lakers.

Which is why I was shocked that Gentry not only started him, but laid off the usual 3 point contest and fed him down low.

Jah gets unsure of himself sometimes but he needs to be used like that more often. Jaxson has time. You could even try playing them together against certain teams.

[kinglio21093]

You can’t tell me this guy isn’t a legitimate offensive weapon on the biggest stages of basketball....and we have him as our bench big

https://youtu.be/rnB8QdgeO8Q

Don’t feed into the blog boy narrative that he’s useless

Only a useless coach wouldn’t know how to get the most out of Jah’s post-offense brilliance

Give him more confidence that he might be the perfect 6th man big scorer @Gentry and @Griffin and I really think he’ll blossom. He’s a sensitive kid. Believe in him and I think we will be rewarded mightily.

NBA is about accumulating weapons. And Jah is a weapon that no one else has

Man. This was the Jah I was looking for all year. Last year he flat out balled out and I was expecting him to carry this out to this year. I think his problem is consistency. When his typical moves don't work, he falters and he becomes an empty body on the court. Really hope he keeps this up.