Officially official: The NBA is back baby!

[Pelicanidae]

His career FT stats kind of are toast with those 96 missed fts. He would need to hit 314 consecutive FT just get into the 80s. Even if he decides to shoot 90% for the foreseeable future. He only be 70% at 314 FTM at 90% efficient.


When I think 96 missed FT... That's chump change... if you can get to the line. Lonzo will get better with experience, but he'll never be a player than can draw Superstar PG fouls.

He's still afraid of contact, and he still shoots badly when he gets to the line. He doesn't need to be James Harden, but it would be nice if he drove more. We saw it this season: his best games came after Christmas, and it happened to coincide with him playing more aggressively and more than doubling his driving frequency. Lonzo's best skill on offense is still his passing, and it's hard to leverage passing in the half-court if you refuse to drive because you're scared of being met at the rim.

Hopefully that improvement that we saw as the year went on will continue and, going forward, we can see a little more of the decisive halfcourt Lonzo. It's been rare so far in his career, but always nice when he shows up.

[Pelicanidae]

Victor Oladipo has opted to sit out the NBA restart:

In his first 2 seasons with IND, he joined Reggie Miller, Jermaine O'Neal and Paul George as the only players in Pacers history to make consecutive NBA All-Star teams

In his final outing this year, he scored 27 pts in 28 mins pic.twitter.com/TVjolXAudb

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 3, 2020

Oladipo is sitting our

[Pelicanidae]

New Orleans Pelicans associate head coach Jeff Bzdelik, 67, won’t be joining the team in Orlando, his agent Warren LeGarie tells ESPN. The organization is supportive of the decision.

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 3, 2020

Jeff Bzdelik will not be making the trip to Orlando.

[13 - 3]

[Eman5805]

I hate when people pronounced it New Or-Leens.

[Pelicanidae]

I hate when people pronounced it New Or-Leens.

I sometimes still catch myself pronouncing it Orléans, as if it were still French.

[Taker597]

The Zion Bane memes crack me up.

[JJackisangry]

I hope Lonzo was working on his free throws. The thing I love about our guys is despite their faults, they are hungry as hell to get better. I have a feeling that the vets will suffer more from this lockdown than our younguns.

[MichaelMcNamara]

I hope Lonzo was working on his free throws. The thing I love about our guys is despite their faults, they are hungry as hell to get better. I have a feeling that the vets will suffer more from this lockdown than our younguns.

So, sincere question -- Do you think that Lonzo hasnt worked much on his free throws throughout his life? Like, significantly less than most guards and that is why his percentage is low?

Because I would bet he practices more per year than almost anyone. When I would cover the Pels, Austin Rivers practiced them more than anyone on the team. Didnt matter. And he probably practices even more and the percentage still continues to go down

[AUSSIE_PELICAN]

So, sincere question -- Do you think that Lonzo hasnt worked much on his free throws throughout his life? Like, significantly less than most guards and that is why his percentage is low?

Because I would bet he practices more per year than almost anyone. When I would cover the Pels, Austin Rivers practiced them more than anyone on the team. Didnt matter. And he probably practices even more and the percentage still continues to go down

It's all mental. Having consistent form also helps. The fact that Lonzo has changed his significantly could indicate that it will be on the incline.

Don't care enough to know if Rivers has/had changed his. It still looks awkward.

[Eman5805]

So, sincere question -- Do you think that Lonzo hasnt worked much on his free throws throughout his life? Like, significantly less than most guards and that is why his percentage is low?

Because I would bet he practices more per year than almost anyone. When I would cover the Pels, Austin Rivers practiced them more than anyone on the team. Didnt matter. And he probably practices even more and the percentage still continues to go down

And I would be makes a much better percentage alone in the gym than he does when they count.

[Pelicanidae]

And I would be makes a much better percentage alone in the gym than he does when they count.

I would be shocked if any NBA player shot less than about 75% when they're alone in a gym.

Just like how every NBA player shoots 90% at the rim when they're alone in a gym, and 60% from 3.

I think because we compare players to each other, sometimes it's easy to forget how good even the worst NBA players are. Like, we make fun of Lonzo for refusing to drive and giving up on defense this year and shooting FTs like garbage, but he'd wash all of us in a game without breaking a sweat.

[MichaelMcNamara]

I would be shocked if any NBA player shot less than about 75% when they're alone in a gym.

Just like how every NBA player shoots 90% at the rim when they're alone in a gym, and 60% from 3.

I think because we compare players to each other, sometimes it's easy to forget how good even the worst NBA players are. Like, we make fun of Lonzo for refusing to drive and giving up on defense this year and shooting FTs like garbage, but he'd wash all of us in a game without breaking a sweat.

Yeah, I would watch Austin for an hour straight and he would shoot 85-90% most days.

Personally, I am an excellent FT shooter and to me it is all routine. I need a routine that I do every time and then I need to clear my head and just let muscle memory take over. If I think or I dont do my routine, I miss at a high rate, regardless of the form of my actual shot

[JJackisangry]

So, sincere question -- Do you think that Lonzo hasnt worked much on his free throws throughout his life? Like, significantly less than most guards and that is why his percentage is low?

Because I would bet he practices more per year than almost anyone. When I would cover the Pels, Austin Rivers practiced them more than anyone on the team. Didnt matter. And he probably practices even more and the percentage still continues to go down

It’s more me hoping his percentage improves. Wasn’t meant to be taken literally as I’m sure he is practicing them.

[msusousaphone]

Physiological changes occur in your body in relation to stress/anxiety/cortisol levels. Intriguingly, this emotion manifests itself with the most diversity from individual to individual when compared to other emotions. Some people carry their stress in the head with migraine headaches, others their jaws, some their shoulders and neck, could be chest, stomach, the extremities. There tends to always be some muscles tensing up somewhere.

A lot of what I do is studying client's physiological responses to emotions and using changes in behavior routines, muscles movements, posture, etc to help control emotions through neurotransmitter releases.

Free throws are absolutely all routine and muscle movement. Different players will have different muscles respond to different emotions. I carry my stress in my shoulders and neck. Stress will absolutely change my FT form. To someone that carries stress in their jaws or head, not as much. Some people can work their entire lives and never fully get rid of their responses to stress. They can only reduce it. But it's also so hard to simulate that stress when practicing in a gym......so they can practice all day/every day on their own but when the stress kicks in it feels like they're using someone else's arms.

Interesting stuff.

[13 - 3]

Can’t wait!

.@DmillerKY back in the lab �� pic.twitter.com/XREyCiPW36

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) July 3, 2020

[Pelicanidae]

Physiological changes occur in your body in relation to stress/anxiety/cortisol levels. Intriguingly, this emotion manifests itself with the most diversity from individual to individual when compared to other emotions. Some people carry their stress in the head with migraine headaches, others their jaws, some their shoulders and neck, could be chest, stomach, the extremities. There tends to always be some muscles tensing up somewhere.

A lot of what I do is studying client's physiological responses to emotions and using changes in behavior routines, muscles movements, posture, etc to help control emotions through neurotransmitter releases.

Free throws are absolutely all routine and muscle movement. Different players will have different muscles respond to different emotions. I carry my stress in my shoulders and neck. Stress will absolutely change my FT form. To someone that carries stress in their jaws or head, not as much. Some people can work their entire lives and never fully get rid of their responses to stress. They can only reduce it. But it's also so hard to simulate that stress when practicing in a gym......so they can practice all day/every day on their own but when the stress kicks in it feels like they're using someone else's arms.

Interesting stuff.

I wonder if the team (or if any team, I guess) has invested in a sports psychologist to work with the guys? I don't consider myself at all qualified to say if those guys are legitimate operators by and large, or if there's a ton of quackery going around (or potentially both, with some legitimate operators + a bunch of nuts), but there are a number of athletes and competitors in other fields who have sworn by them, so even if it's only a placebo effect it could potentially be worth it.

The one who comes to mind immediately is (and yes, I know snooker is not basketball ) Ronnie O'Sullivan, who was a snooker player famed in the 2000s for being exceptionally talented but also a bit of a headcase whose performance was subject to huge swings in quality depending on his mental state at the time. He famously started seeing a sports psychologist in 2011 and has been much more stable and consistent since despite starting to enter his 40s, the period of a snooker players' career where most guys start falling off the cliff.

[UNO Gracias]

Yeah, I would watch Austin for an hour straight and he would shoot 85-90% most days.

Personally, I am an excellent FT shooter and to me it is all routine. I need a routine that I do every time and then I need to clear my head and just let muscle memory take over. If I think or I dont do my routine, I miss at a high rate, regardless of the form of my actual shot

You saying this has me doing flashbacks to Jeff Hornaceck, Reggie Miller, and Jason Kidd. Those guys had some funky rituals, but those rituals got the job done.

[AusPel]

Yeah, I would watch Austin for an hour straight and he would shoot 85-90% most days.

Personally, I am an excellent FT shooter and to me it is all routine. I need a routine that I do every time and then I need to clear my head and just let muscle memory take over. If I think or I dont do my routine, I miss at a high rate, regardless of the form of my actual shot

I think not enough attention is applied to the mechanics of the release. You can get everything else in your routine correct but if you let that ball slip at the exact moment of release it's over. Or release too early or too late. Or the ball leans one way or the other. The release mechanics are key IMO

[NOEngineer]

I hate when people pronounced it New Or-Leens.

Don't we pronounce it Or-leens Parish? Just sayin'....

[AUSSIE_PELICAN]

Can’t wait!

.@DmillerKY back in the lab �� pic.twitter.com/XREyCiPW36

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) July 3, 2020

Is Miller ready to participate in late July or is he still in recovery?

[Nola3]

Don't we pronounce it Or-leens Parish? Just sayin'....

Yes, but you seem to be implying that pronunciations in New Orleans make even a small hint of sense

[Pelicanidae]

Today is Zion Williamson's 20th birthday.

Zion was averaging 23.6 points on 59% shooting this season prior to the stoppage of play.

The only other rookie to ever average 20 PPG on 55% shooting is Shaquille O’Neal in 1992-93 season. pic.twitter.com/C1dV1QrCej

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) July 6, 2020

[Pelicanidae]

BI on going to the bubble: "I didn't look at it like I had a choice, I just want to play basketball"

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) July 6, 2020

[Pelicanidae]

Brandon Ingram says his blood clot scare in his past combined w/ the explosion of coronavirus cases in Orlando isn't making him hesitate at all about playing. Feels that particular medical issue is thing of the past & will no longer be a concern provided he trains correctly, etc.

— Oleh Kosel (@OlehKosel) July 6, 2020