Wednesday 11/2 NBA Game Thread

[xAIRNESSx]

lol wow

I turned this off after I saw Daniels get fouled.

[dockingsched]

For all the people that were telling me that I was wrong and CJ was going to stand down and be that 3rd option for this Pels team and let BI and Zion be the 2 main guys. CJ is #1 in touches, Time Per Possession, and FGAs. And its not just because BI and Zion have missed time. The last 3 games that CJ has played with Zion he has taken 17 more shots than Zion in that time span. And its not like CJ has been efficient in that time

Zion:
30-54

CJ:
31-71

CJ 1 more bucket while taking 17 more shots... Again to let it sink in, CJ has taken 17 more shots in the last 3 games than Zion. CJ also has a sub 50 TS% for the season now.

I think you vastly overestimate Zion’s offensive repertoire and his ability to consistently create good looks for himself.

[Duke4life831]

For all the people that were telling me that I was wrong and CJ was going to stand down and be that 3rd option for this Pels team and let BI and Zion be the 2 main guys. CJ is #1 in touches, Time Per Possession, and FGAs. And its not just because BI and Zion have missed time. The last 3 games that CJ has played with Zion he has taken 17 more shots than Zion in that time span. And its not like CJ has been efficient in that time

Zion:
30-54

CJ:
31-71

CJ 1 more bucket while taking 17 more shots... Again to let it sink in, CJ has taken 17 more shots in the last 3 games than Zion. CJ also has a sub 50 TS% for the season now.

I mean. Zion can only take very particular shots. Zion isn’t getting less shots or workload than he should right now. CJ taking too many shots isn’t really an issue right now until Zion expands his game more. Confirmation bias after a loss at its finest tbh.

CJ isn’t shooting the ball well right now, but he’s not stalling our offense or taking bad shots for him. Just a weird take to have when Zion is still feeling the process back out, and BI has been out. Zion is taking about as many shots as he possibly can with his shot profile. It’s not 2k.

I kinda just feel like you always want to be upset and negative about the Pelicans not being perfect, and it gets kinda tiresome.

There is no scenario where CJ should be taking 17 more shots than Zion over a 3 game stretch. Especially when CJ now has a sub 50 TS% for the season. And to be clear Im not saying Zion should be shooting more. Im saying CJ is shooting way too much, especially with how bad his shot has been to start the season. 22 points on 10-27 shooting is a bad game.

You can call it confirmation bias, thats fine with me. But this has always been my issue with CJ, even before he was a Pel and why I had major doubts going into the season that he was going to accept being the 3rd option on this team. CJ is going to shoot, whether his shot falls or if he has teammates who are hot, he's going to keep shooting. And like Ive always said, Im fine with that personality if its a 6th man microwave role. Dont like that when he is starting alongside guys like BI/Zion/Jonas and leading the team in minutes. He isnt a good enough player and consistent enough player for that. And ya Im going to call it out after a loss when he puts up 22 points on 10-27 shooting and after the start he has had scoring the ball to start the season.

[hoosierdaddy34]

My main takeaway here is that people kept telling me that Lonnie Walker and Troy Brown were terrible.

My question back is how bad was your coach that he **** ed those guys up?

[The Rainmaker]

Also there is no reason that Jose Alvarado shouldn’t play every single one of Devonte Graham’s minutes. He should be playing close to 30 mpg.

I honestly don't know of why Devonte Graham even gets minutes. I mean what does he do? I don't get it.

[Ballerhogger]

Read on Twitter

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[Ballerhogger]

Matt Ryan was door dash driver . Amazing

[Duke4life831]

For all the people that were telling me that I was wrong and CJ was going to stand down and be that 3rd option for this Pels team and let BI and Zion be the 2 main guys. CJ is #1 in touches, Time Per Possession, and FGAs. And its not just because BI and Zion have missed time. The last 3 games that CJ has played with Zion he has taken 17 more shots than Zion in that time span. And its not like CJ has been efficient in that time

Zion:
30-54

CJ:
31-71

CJ 1 more bucket while taking 17 more shots... Again to let it sink in, CJ has taken 17 more shots in the last 3 games than Zion. CJ also has a sub 50 TS% for the season now.

I think you vastly overestimate Zion’s offensive repertoire and his ability to consistently create good looks for himself.

Ive been pretty critical of Zion's start to the season. My overarching point is CJ just shoots too much. CJ isnt a good enough scorer at this point in his career to be putting up this kind of shot attempts. I agree Zion is limited, Im just saying I think CJ is as well. Im also not saying all of these shots should be going to Zion. All Im saying is CJ isnt the level of player where his shot attempts should be that much higher than the rest of the team. Especially when that team has good offensive options like a Zion and Jonas. CJ isnt some elite offensive player.

[yoyoboy]

My main takeaway here is that people kept telling me that Lonnie Walker and Troy Brown were terrible.

My question back is how bad was your coach that he **** ed those guys up?

Lonnie is averaging 16 ppg on 53.5% TS through 7 games. Does a small sample of mediocre play so far really invalidate the criticisms?

[hoosierdaddy34]

My main takeaway here is that people kept telling me that Lonnie Walker and Troy Brown were terrible.

My question back is how bad was your coach that he **** ed those guys up?

Lonnie is averaging 16 ppg on 53.5% TS through 7 games. Does a small sample of mediocre play so far really invalidate the criticisms?

He’s getting better and better each game as he becomes more comfortable with the system and his teammates. You can’t just look at stats and have to actually take time to learn the game you are trying to comment on.

[XTC]

My main takeaway here is that people kept telling me that Lonnie Walker and Troy Brown were terrible.

My question back is how bad was your coach that he **** ed those guys up?

Lonnie is averaging 16 ppg on 53.5% TS through 7 games. Does a small sample of mediocre play so far really invalidate the criticisms?

He’s getting better and better each game as he becomes more comfortable with the system and his teammates. You can’t just look at stats and have to actually take time to learn the game you are trying to comment on.

History indicates his current TS of 53.5% would actually be a career high, and he's on a hot streak.

I do the see improvements though, and Walker has always had the talent.

[heezyo2o]

Just watched the 4th and OT of the Laker game. AD needs more touches at the end especially if Lebron is having an off game or is under the weather

[Dirk]

Matt Ryan was door dash driver . Amazing

And got benched by the Colts.

[NO-KG-AI]

For all the people that were telling me that I was wrong and CJ was going to stand down and be that 3rd option for this Pels team and let BI and Zion be the 2 main guys. CJ is #1 in touches, Time Per Possession, and FGAs. And its not just because BI and Zion have missed time. The last 3 games that CJ has played with Zion he has taken 17 more shots than Zion in that time span. And its not like CJ has been efficient in that time

Zion:
30-54

CJ:
31-71

CJ 1 more bucket while taking 17 more shots... Again to let it sink in, CJ has taken 17 more shots in the last 3 games than Zion. CJ also has a sub 50 TS% for the season now.

I mean. Zion can only take very particular shots. Zion isn’t getting less shots or workload than he should right now. CJ taking too many shots isn’t really an issue right now until Zion expands his game more. Confirmation bias after a loss at its finest tbh.

CJ isn’t shooting the ball well right now, but he’s not stalling our offense or taking bad shots for him. Just a weird take to have when Zion is still feeling the process back out, and BI has been out. Zion is taking about as many shots as he possibly can with his shot profile. It’s not 2k.

I kinda just feel like you always want to be upset and negative about the Pelicans not being perfect, and it gets kinda tiresome.

There is no scenario where CJ should be taking 17 more shots than Zion over a 3 game stretch. Especially when CJ now has a sub 50 TS% for the season. And to be clear Im not saying Zion should be shooting more. Im saying CJ is shooting way too much, especially with how bad his shot has been to start the season. 22 points on 10-27 shooting is a bad game.

You can call it confirmation bias, thats fine with me. But this has always been my issue with CJ, even before he was a Pel and why I had major doubts going into the season that he was going to accept being the 3rd option on this team. CJ is going to shoot, whether his shot falls or if he has teammates who are hot, he's going to keep shooting. And like Ive always said, Im fine with that personality if its a 6th man microwave role. Dont like that when he is starting alongside guys like BI/Zion/Jonas and leading the team in minutes. He isnt a good enough player and consistent enough player for that. And ya Im going to call it out after a loss when he puts up 22 points on 10-27 shooting and after the start he has had scoring the ball to start the season.

I think the premise that you're stuck on has a ton of merit, because while I think more highly of CJ than you, he's definitely not a true PG, and he's very aggressive by nature, so him not being thee ideal fit or sliding down the totem pole could be a worry. But my point is that right now, I'd say it's too early to draw conclusions about how he fits game wise or mentality wise as a 3rd banana, but here is what we do know from our tiny sample size:

1) The trio has effectively played 2 games together at this point (a 22 point blowout and a 12 point win, +17 average in those wins.

In those two wins, the averages were:

CJ took 16.5 shots, 3 FTAs, 4 assists to 2 turnovers.

BI took 16.5 shots, 10 FTA, 6 assists and 4.5 turnovers

Zion took 20.5 shots, 4 FTA, 3 assists, and 2.5 turnovers

So in the two games they all played, CJ was very judicious in shot attempts. BI only took 16.5, but getting to the line 10 times and turning the ball over 4.5 times per game will deflate that some. That's definitely more than enough scoring opportunities, and you'd think that'll settle closer to 20 shots, 6ish free throws, and 3 turnovers.. It was also almost exclusively easing Zion back in with a more off ball role. That said, that's a pretty good spread overall you'd say, right? Especially given how dominant they were. I want to see Zion more on the ball as the season progresses, but if CJ keeps his turnovers that low and starts to hit shots he normally makes, that's hyper efficient offense.


2) The Pelicans have played without possibly their best player for essentially 5 of the first 7 games. Zion also missed 2, and the end of a 3rd, and Herb has missed 4 of the 7 games. Only 2 of those 7 games were home, we've essentially been on the road all season, and despite all that, we're 4-3, our offense is 4th in the league, and our net rating is 6th. A big part of that is CJ handling the ball a lot and being very judicious with it, dishing out 7.5 assists to 1.6 turnovers. He's shooting poorly from 3, but not really overall. I trust his 3 ball will find itself, He's essentially a 40% 3 point shooter for his career, never dipping below .375%.

In the 3 games without BI, CJ has played about 38 minutes per game to Zion's 32.5, and he's coughed the ball up on turnovers 5 less times, he's also shot 15 less free throws. The raw FGA isn't telling the whole story, and CJ is and should be the guy that takes tough jumpers on broken plays and end of the clock situations, as Zion has to get to very specific spots to be a threat.

You might ultimately end up correct, but in the two games they played together, CJ did exactly what he should do, and he's picked up a bigger scoring role with the other guys out. I expected Zion to get less touches early in the season than he would later down the line, and for CJ to carry some of that slack, we'll see.

Also, I took out frustration from a tough loss on you, but I don't like arguing, because you're one of my faves, broski . I just think it was a weird time to beat your chest about being right about CJ or having the "I told you so moment", when the early returns when they actually all 3 were playing together in the lineups was exactly what you'd want.(Aside from hopefully CJ hitting more than 33% on 3's, and the other two not turning the ball over as much as they have).

Overall we've had some growing pains, but I don't think our problems have been on CJ's usage or him freezing guys out while we're figuring things out. CJ's on-off is +26.2 through 7 games. We NEED him active and controlling a big share of the offense.

Right now there are 46.1 minutes per game going to Naji Marshall and Devonte Graham.

While Ingram/Herb is out, Jose should be playing 30+ minutes like a starter. Graham shouldn't be 20 minutes per game while Jose also only gets 20 minutes when he just comes in and makes it happen on both ends. It's a travesty that these two are getting equal minutes.

[NO-KG-AI]

Also, I know he essentially coughed the game up, but can we get Dyson Daniels some more burn?

Dude is putting up ridiculous per minute numbers right now, and for a guy that can’t shoot, he’s shooting 63.5% from the field, and has hit 3/4 3’s already. He’s two 3-pointers from tying fellow Aussie Ben Simmons in career 3’s, and he’s only played 41 total minutes

He looks like he can match the Alvarado/Herb defense and energy as a teenager already.

[God Squad]

Imagine an SGA/Siakam duo. Would be scary AF.

This has been my dream paring for a while - SGA/Pascal/Barnes.

[CobraCommander]

Matt Ryan was door dash driver . Amazing

That’s a big dude to be dropping off your chipotle. If he forgets the drink you scared to give that dude a bad rating. You just let it slide and lower the tip…