March 1st - New Orleans Pelicans VS Utah Jazz - 14-19

[Pelicanidae]

Start your week off right with #PelicansGameday!

🏀 vs. Utah
🕖 7 p.m. CT
📺 @FOXSportsNOLA, @NBATV
📻 100.3 FM @ESPNRadioNOLA @SmoothieKing | #WontBowDown pic.twitter.com/iZJlmayF1a

— New Orleans Pelicans (@PelicansNBA) March 1, 2021

Hello again, and welcome to another installment of New Orleans Basketball.

We have now lost 2 straight and are coming into a game against the 27-7 Jazz, who have the best record in the NBA and have lost 2 games since February 1st, going 12-2 in that month. In those 12 wins, only one was 'relatively' close, within 10 points: the rest were all 10 points or more. More than half of them were 15+ point blowouts.

They're the 2nd overall Offense and the 3rd overall Defense: by comparison, we're the 6th overall Offense and the 29th rated Defense.

We've played Utah twice already this year and we lost both games. The first, we lost by 16, the second by 11. That was in the middle of their first 9+ game win streak (the second one came slightly after, when their run was interrupted by one single loss to Denver, before the streak continued).

I don't really think I have to tell anyone that this is a long-shot for us. All I want is for us to play like we care, on both ends; the actual end result is immaterial to me in a game like this.

What an upset it would be though, eh?

[13 - 3]

Certainly we won’t lose to Dell Demps again? Show some pride tonight?

[Pelicanidae]

When an unstoppable force meets the path of least resistance https://t.co/jyqT6O67Ur

— Shamit Dua (@FearTheBrown) March 1, 2021

[Fedupfan]

No shot tonight..... just hope for some more growth.

[Fedupfan]

Certainly we won’t lose to Dell Demps again? Show some pride tonight?

We have been wanting them to show pride for a long time. Not sure what happens, but when guys come to the Pels, their pride disappears. It’s like they get neutered.

[Fedupfan]

http://https://twitter.com/thenbacen...401803780?s=10

[PELICANSFAN]

http://https://twitter.com/thenbacen...401803780?s=10

bad link

[Stalwart385]

bad link

Think he meant this:

Report: Pelicans have gauged numerous teams for interest in Lonzo Ball, J.J. Redick and Eric Bledsoe https://t.co/coLxsjNwog

— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) March 1, 2021

[Stalwart385]

Think he meant this:

https://twitter.com/TheNBACentral/st...34479401803780

Also worth note from the same account:

Worst FG% in the Clutch this season
(Min. 20 FGA)

Derrick Rose - 18.2%
Kemba Walker - 20%
Dillon Brooks - 23.8%
Kawhi Leonard - 28%
Buddy Hield - 29.2%
Brandon Ingram - 29.7%
Lonzo Ball - 30%
Malik Beasley - 30%
Tyler Herro - 30.4%

— NBA Central (@TheNBACentral) March 1, 2021

[Fedupfan]

Yeah I did. Thanks stalwart

[Taker597]

I'm feeling kind of confident tonight... Doesn't mean we'll win. Refs tend to be really one sided when we play the Jazz.

[Taker597]

Like I'm mentally ready for Officiating to allow Rudy to foul Zion as much as he wants... So, we really need Lonzo and Ingram to step up.

[Pelicanidae]

Like I'm mentally ready for Officiating to allow Rudy to foul Zion as much as he wants... So, we really need Lonzo and Ingram to step up.

What has historically happened in matchups against the Jazz is that Zion mutilates them but gets the living Christ beaten out of him for doing so, and the refs ignore all of it.

In his three career matchups with Utah so far (not counting the pre-season last year) Zion is averaging 24ppg on 70.7%FG, 50% from 3, and 76.5% from the line, but is shooting only 5 FTAs a game: well under his career average of 7.7 per game overall.

Compare that to another team with a focus on interior defense like the Lakers, who we have also played 3 times and against whom Zion averages about 13 FTAs a game, there's clearly at least some indication of a discrepancy.

[Fedupfan]

Like I'm mentally ready for Officiating to allow Rudy to foul Zion as much as he wants... So, we really need Lonzo and Ingram to step up.

Rudy is a big pansy too. He cries the entire game. One of these games Zion has to tell the other team to stop crying cause they foul him the entire game.

[6warddude]

rudy is going to sit in the paint tonight and not get any 3s calls smh....

[Pelicanidae]

Slightly late to this game cause I was playing Tetris but luckily didn't miss much in the few minute or two

[Pelicanidae]

Rudy Gobert just has nothing for Zion, yet again, early

[Pelicanidae]

Early game defense looks pretty bad, as per usual. Super late closeout from Zion and then on the next time down on D, Lonzo gets spun around on a screen, totally removed from the play.

[Pelicanidae]

No idea what that pass was from Ingram, just threw it straight into two Utah defenders

[Pelicanidae]

And this time it's Bledsoe who dies on a screen

[Fedupfan]

It’s crazy to see that they still have not made any adjustments.

[Pelicanidae]

As improved as our offense has been lately, can we stop giving Adams the ball at the top of the arc as if we're running a DHO and then just not actually moving anywhere near him? It just leaves him stood there like an idiot with a picked up dribble and nobody is creating any room for a pass or coming to get it. It's really stupid.

[Pelicanidae]

Surprised they gave Zion the FTs on that one considering there was a much worse foul like 90 seconds ago that they didn't call but hey, I'll take it

[Pelicanidae]

Just realising how elite the Jazz have been in cornering the balding white 3pt shooting SF market. Absolute monopoly on those guys.

[Pelicanidae]

Good hands from Zion for the steal leads to the Lonzo dunk in transition