January 13th - New Orleans Pelicans @ LA Clippers - 4-5

[HornetGuru]

They'll swarm Ingram in the post and leads to TO. You don't want Leonard to collapse on him with those bear claws.

You iso the post so he can’t come down and double and if he does pop it out for 3

[ragincaucasian]

We waste Naws career night by playing no perimeter defense. Ughhhhhh

[Darkhorse985]

NAW is clearly the best guard on our team, and there is no excuse for him not to be our starting SG.

[Taker597]

You iso the post so he can’t come down and double and if he does pop it out for 3

I don't know. Ingram hands are still pretty soft. I don't trust his ball security in tight traffic. He tends to cough it up.

[Taker597]

We waste Naws career night by playing no perimeter defense. Ughhhhhh

That’s how the Laws of Average Defense works... A lot of open looks.

It's definitely not a good comeback defense.

[Taker597]

Clippers really choking... We just choked harder. Funny... When we do what the Clippers did in the final minute . The opposing team is making those shots

[Taker597]

Clippers really went scoreless the last 1:46 and we couldn't make a shot. Wow...

[As I See It]

Even in a lost, this was the best game the Pelicans have played since the sweep against Portland three years ago. No one can deny the effort.

[Taker597]

Lewis and NAWs need to start. Screw playoffs man. Let the young dudes grow.

[luckyman]

Hate to see NAW waste such an awesome game jacking up unnecessary threes to end it. He'll learn when to switch into playmaker mode.

But otherwise...WOW! A lot of us called it since day 1. He's the best guard on the team and the starting back court should be Bledsoe/NAW.

The question is will SVG play politics or will he make that decision.

[donato]

Lewis and NAWs need to start. Screw playoffs man. Let the young dudes grow.

agreed

[PaKwAn]

Best contribution Lonzo has done for the pels so far

[hornetzplaya]

Even in a lost, this was the best game the Pelicans have played since the sweep against Portland three years ago. No one can deny the effort.

Yup and as Ive been lobbying for NAW since forever ago, I see this man getting 20 to 25 mins a night as a must. Our backcourt is legit, the weakest s**t ever. Naw gives us out best shot to make it better with CONSISTENT play. Not taking him out every time he makes a couple of mistakes. Best game (effort wise) I've seen from everybody except for the ending lol.

[luckyman]

Kira is pretty much the antithesis of Lonzo. Scores on all 3 levels and even has a deep 3 in his bag.

Also his off ball defense needs work, but his on ball defense looks very good.

It's becoming very hard to not want him to get minutes every game now.

[Taker597]

Best contribution Lonzo has done for the pels so far

Him sitting by himself next to the water coolers looking at his eventual replacement score almost 40 points like "Hello, Darkness my old friend..."

Really made me laugh.

[PeliKhan]

This kid got game, you love to see it. Start NAW.

[Pelicanidae]

Honestly, this game is the sort of game that just tells you what you need to know about some guys.

Obviously Nickeil isn't going to shoot 65/63/100 efficiencies every game, nobody believes that for a second. Nor is he going to put up only one turnover every 33 minutes. This isn't his first game, and we've seen him have terrible nights before in terms of efficiency and turnovers. This doesn't erase that.

But a game missing three starters, where a guy who has barely been getting minutes suddenly gets 33, against a defensive lineup of Pat Bev, Kawhi, and PG13, dropping 37 on extreme efficiency, tells you so much about his mindset and his approach. This is a guy who was ready for his moment when it came, and who didn't shrink against the pressure. That's huge.

I'm fully in favour of inserting him into the starting lineup. Yes, there will be games where he shoots badly and turns it over a bunch and is no better than Ball: those will happen. But the upside of him is so much higher than Ball. When have we ever seen Lonzo do this, in nearly 200 career games? The answer is never: Nickeil's 37 points tonight was more than Lonzo has ever had in a game. Lonzo has never played a game where he's put up this kind of volume this efficiently: he's only had 3 games in his career where he's taken more than 20 shots and he's only once has he ever had 50%FG or better doing it. In all three of those games he played at least 38 minutes, and in all three of them he had at least 3 turnovers.

So yeah, will NAW have bad nights where Lonzo might play better? Yes. Is that worth it when you know that there's this sort of thing lying under that? Of course it is.

[AusPel]

The question is, does NAW have star ability?

I love his super high release

[Pelicanidae]

The question is, does NAW have star ability?

I love his super high release

Honestly, I'm not sure. When he was drafted I said that I thought the pick was fine: not something of outlier high value but totally justifiable at the spot, and that he would end up being a solid combo guard who could prop up a rotation in the playoffs, which has value but not star value.

I think overall that this read is probably still fairly accurate depending on the quality of the team. He hasn't really had the playing time and opportunity at the NBA level yet to prove me wrong, I guess, though he could. The question is just whether he could do that generically, or whether he could do it on a good team which is a big difference. I think the potential for him to be a positive rotation guard on a legitimately good team is there, which is great: how many teams in the NBA are/were desperate for a guard that you could legitimately give 25 minutes to in a playoff game if needed, behind the starter?

[AusPel]

Neva 4get the GM Survey

Which rookie was the biggest steal at where he was selected in the Draft?

1. Tyrese Haliburton (12), Sacramento – 43%
2. Saddiq Bey (19), Detroit – 11%
3. Kira Lewis Jr. (13), New Orleans – 7%
Tyrese Maxey (21), Philadelphia – 7%
Obi Toppin (8), New York – 7%
> Also receiving votes: Precious Achiuwa (20), Miami; Cole Anthony (15), Orlando; Vernon Carey Jr. (32), Charlotte; Theo Maledon (34), Oklahoma City; Skylar Mays (50), Atlanta; Jaden McDaniels (28), Minnesota; Devin Vassell (11), San Antonio
> Last year: Nickeil Alexander-Walker – 32%

https://www.nba.com/news/2020-21-gmsurvey

[AusPel]

This season is going to benefit guys like Nickeil Alexander Walker who are about work and basketball. A lot of guys are in for the lifestyle. He’s all about getting better and earning his money. We will see him for a long time in this league. #nba

— Jamelle McMillan (@JamelleMcmillan) January 14, 2021

[Eman5805]

I fear NAW will turn out just like his cousin. Show his skill and talent finally when given the opportunity, only to be a center piece in a trade for a bigger better star and he becomes a quality starter for that team instead.

[sting]

Need to trade Lonzo, while we can get something.

[As I See It]

I fear NAW will turn out just like his cousin. Show his skill and talent finally when given the opportunity, only to be a center piece in a trade for a bigger better star and he becomes a quality starter for that team instead.

See Buddy Hield

[Pelicanidae]

A good amount of missed shots from the Pelicans as seen by their assists to potential assists distribution last night. Kira had 4 potential assists in 15 minutes, the Pelicans didn't convert a single one. pic.twitter.com/XyD46HJCDg

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) January 14, 2021

This is part of why I don't like looking at raw assist numbers to judge playmaking. Kira had a bunch of ''assists'' that just never happened because nobody could shoot; phantom assists.

On a side note, check out Jax's potential assists! Dude was hooping. Same game he had 4 screen assists (Adams led the team, with 9), led the team in deflections with 3, and logged 5 box-outs (Adams led the team with 6).