Road to a Championship start here, 2022 Draft.

[Whole Truth]

Honestly I think Im at the point with Zion where if Im the Pels Im hoping he can return this season and look like just how he was before getting hurt. So to pump up his trade value then cut bait with him during the summer.

Even best case scenario he will play in around 40 games this year, lets say its like 42. Now just a quick overlook of his 4 seasons.

Season 1: 24 games, minute restriction in the bubble because he got out of shape
Season 2: 61 games
Season 3: Missed entire season and playoffs
Season 4: 40-42ish games

Sorry Im rooting for the Pels and and one of the main reasons is because of Zion. But ya Im at the point where I honestly think the best thing to do is hope he returns and bumps his trade value up some where some team will be willing to give up a good amount for him and cut bait with him this summer. 3 out of his first 4 years now they have to deal with this. Id be done with it.

Duke, what the hell are you talking about man. They've already made too big an investment in Zion to go the "drive his trade value up and cut bait" angle. They're not going to get an equivalent package for him that can make up for losing his talent, they're just not. Sometimes the best thing to do is ride out the titanic ship even if it's for a couple more years and then see what you have. It is what it is. There's also no point in insinuating that Zion is somehow a problem for this franchise because he's been injured or something. Like Zion is some kind of malcontent because he's hurt constantly or something like that, like i get your frustrated but that's not the narrative you take with this news. And glass half full, guys' still just 22, there is still a universe where he figures it out from a health perspective.

Im not claiming he is some problem and malcontent for the team. Im not claiming he's faking injuries or anything like that to get out of this franchise. Im talking about I think its time that this franchise stops making investments to build around him. To me this is getting to the point of the sunk cost fallacy. And as someone who lives off of sticking to solid stop loss strategy and rules to avoid the sunk cost fallacy. If I were running the Pels organization I would be looking to cut bait with this. Again nothing to do with him being a malcontent or anything like that. But basically because I have zero faith in him ever having legit availability. He's going to end up playing about a 1/3 of the possible games during his rookie contract and there are no signs of it getting better.

After seeing Zion for the first time beyond a game or 2. I think he needs to extend his longevity by expanding his game.. He's already a capable 3pt threat but rarely takes them. Maybe add a mid range jumper & presto.. he's not constantly driving into tripple teams in the paint. At this point he's enviting way more physical contact than anyone in the league... Not something a "Injury prone" player should be doing, more less a healthy player.. Everyone in the building knows he wants to get to the rim.. IMO for his longevity, it's past time to put some doubt in what he wants to do..

[Whole Truth]

I disagree with the thinking that Pels couldn't move him & wind up in a better situation.

Exhibit A - Anthony Davis.

Target some team with a high 23 lotto pick like say Houston pre draft. Request some of the Nets pick capatal they own via the Harden trade, maybe a couple of young pieces like Jabari Smith to be the future stretch C... build around BI until something pops up or u can pry something with the draft capital Pels would have post trade.

Factor the potential luck factor of the 23 draft owning the Houston pick the Lakers pick & their own.. Shedding salary that is on the bench 75% of games..

All things are not equal, - Unavailabilty for Fit & luck of the draft.

Depending on the level of interest the possibilites are endless considering Pels already have a large cache of picks to also pry talent outside the luck factor of the draft owning multiple solid picks.

[Whole Truth]

Glad NO won so I can say this without looking salty.

NBA is fake trash.

The amount of momentum calls OKC got in this game including that late tip out of bounds over Jose that gave them last possession to potentially tie a game they had no business being in.

Notice the defensive difference against a good offensive team. Jonas team high +16 in 25 mins. Josh Richardson 4-8, wth 5 steals.

[Whole Truth]

I was hoping LA would be on a 5 game losing streak coming into this match but a Curry less GS lost a close one.

I'll take the 1-4 stretch. Pels are in position to put LA 7 games under 500 & take some wind out their sails heading into the break.

Lebron is not at 100% & now that he has broken the record, he will put his future health first over this losing season as he already checked himself out of a winnable game just after breaking the record.. Pels once again hold their fate in their hands.

Notice, LA's 1-3 losing streak came off the back of losing to a struggling NO's team breaking their 10 game losing streak. Basketball is a game of confidence & runs. So I'm hoping Lebron plays tonight. Would be more demoralizing to lose again to a 500, Zion less Pels team while being fully healthy...

Pels just need to handle business..

[Whole Truth]

Horrid Pels performance but u know the script. Lakers +15 on the line with 34 FT's & Lebron cleaning Richardson's head off where Richardson not Lebron gets ejected with no review, lol.

Best of luck NO's...

[Whole Truth]

Show me a sdefensive stat that has CJ listed as a better defender than Daniels. I'll show u a very flawed stat & poor represnentation of the truth ,

To shed some context on this flawed defemsive stat. Herb is obviously the teams best defender, Nance is the teams best defensive big man & rightfully thety're listed as such, one & 2 on the list. However, they're followed by Zion then CJ. With BI 3rd from the bottom a point or 2 better than Jonas who is listed as last to a happy ragenda. Jonas having the same defensive rating as Willy but listed last for a reason despite logging the most time against apposing starters of anyone on the list.

Zion & CJ are both subbed early & have played heavy mins with Nance against apposing teams benches That's the teams superstar & 3rd option with Nance against lesser comp whhich elevates those 2 starters into the upper half of that defensive listing awell as Nance who is limited offensively. The defensive stat, slots CJ above Daniels, who is by far the better defender, which shows there's offensive worth to this defensive stat. The only reason why CJ would sit above Daniels in any defensive stat.

Ingram is 3rd from the bottom with Jonas in part because unlike both Zion & CJ, both play the majority of their minutes against starters.Where Pels starting unit has had the most injuries of any team in the league with Jonas being the most consistent starter in the rotation , leading to alot of inconsistency on both ends of the court, including offensive efficiency, where Jonas is supposed to have his worth to both ends. There should be no surprise that Nance will show better with a unit/team needing multiple stops. High TO rate, poor shot selection, poor ft SHooting & 3pt shooting. A lack of spacing with a traditional post big... Jonas is good offensively but he's not Zion who can score through doule/tripple teams consistently. Not to long ago someone posted a shot chart that shows Zion takes & makes the most difficult shots, anyone want to take a guess why Jonas would struggly offensively in that same spacing environment.

I have no agenda stat but here's a fact for ya. With Zion injured all of last yr & the many injuries suffered this yr. Pels made the PO's last yr, are in the mix still this yr & Jonas consistency/reliability has played a large part in that. This team healthy was on the verge of being top 3 before the injuries to both ZIon & BI, 10 game skid.

short recap. Jonas has played all but one game against apposing teams starters in a miriad of injuries, rotation changes & inconsistency. That wouldn't have anything to do with it, While we're at it better trade BI too for being bottom 3 on the list.. LMAO.

[Whole Truth]

in the last game & half of play Pels are 10 of 49 from 3. (2-11) at the half vs Magic... 17 TO's

Tell me more about the defense. There's consistency in defense when you're not scoring but if you're always on d you will struggle to defend.

Mentioned this example before when Magic traded Olidipo for Ibaka to pair him with Biz in free agency & Gordon. Strong indiividual defenders that had a poor defensive rating because that team could not put the ball in the basket.

[Duke4life831]

We talked about this at the beginning of the year, but teams have officially given Herb the Thybulle/Tony Allen treatment. Then throw in Josh Richardson as well who has always been a streaky shooter, teams give zero respect to this team’s shooting ability. Anyone not named BI/CJ/Trey, defenses just flat out dare them to shoot it. So BI and CJ are getting crazy attention 24/7 and Trey being a set shot shooter makes him a pretty easy cover.

Defenses have adjusted to this team. They just completely sell out on defending inside the 3. And I honestly don’t know what the fix is (if there is one). This team’s lack of 3pt shooting just greatly limits this offense right now.

The only adjustments I can think of is Jose and Trey into the starting lineup. Trey brings some spacing and Jose brings energy, which might help with the coming out extremely flat every game now.

But ya this team is in desperate need of shooting.

[Whole Truth]

We talked about this at the beginning of the year, but teams have officially given Herb the Thybulle/Tony Allen treatment. Then throw in Josh Richardson as well who has always been a streaky shooter, teams give zero respect to this team’s shooting ability. Anyone not named BI/CJ/Trey, defenses just flat out dare them to shoot it. So BI and CJ are getting crazy attention 24/7 and Trey being a set shot shooter makes him a pretty easy cover.

Defenses have adjusted to this team. They just completely sell out on defending inside the 3. And I honestly don’t know what the fix is (if there is one). This team’s lack of 3pt shooting just greatly limits this offense right now.

The only adjustments I can think of is Jose and Trey into the starting lineup. Trey brings some spacing and Jose brings energy, which might help with the coming out extremely flat every game now.

But ya this team is in desperate need of shooting.

This yr is Jonas lowest eFG% in the last 10 yrs. Herb has regressed from 3pt range but it's not just a percentage drop, he's lost all confidence in attempting them.

We can talk about the spacing issue but ISO ball has played apart in 3 players improving their individual efficiency in volume but dropping the teams involvement, trust & efficiency.

One word to describe this offense, is predictable.

Raptors/OG was blowing up the DHO's & Pels kept running them. Herb is traveling off of wide open 3pt options because he doesn't have any confidence in his shot.. Jonas is not Zion where a poster on another forum showed the difficulty of his shot attemtps & making in this spacing environment. Reason this is his lowest eFG & I saw this coming a mile away which came off as hating on CJ for his volume shooting to get himself out of a rut. I don't know the current assist rate but I assume there would be a dip in it..

What happens with ISO ball? you get ball watching, uninvolvement & lack of rythym to everyone else.

What's the main difference between BI last yr & BI this yr besides the improved 3pt shooting ? He was more active last yr in trying to facilitate. Doesn't help with Zion out PF's have abused the position defensively with Hayes benched where length was a solution last yr.. Zion ISO, BI ISO, CJ ISO led teams to pick a poison & cheat off of Herb who was at least respectable last yr, as a result they've poked a hole. Forget the DHO's, swing the ball & shift the defensed, build trust & unpredictability.

Oh & get the shooting coach back from vacation because this team needs one.

[Duke4life831]

We talked about this at the beginning of the year, but teams have officially given Herb the Thybulle/Tony Allen treatment. Then throw in Josh Richardson as well who has always been a streaky shooter, teams give zero respect to this team’s shooting ability. Anyone not named BI/CJ/Trey, defenses just flat out dare them to shoot it. So BI and CJ are getting crazy attention 24/7 and Trey being a set shot shooter makes him a pretty easy cover.

Defenses have adjusted to this team. They just completely sell out on defending inside the 3. And I honestly don’t know what the fix is (if there is one). This team’s lack of 3pt shooting just greatly limits this offense right now.

The only adjustments I can think of is Jose and Trey into the starting lineup. Trey brings some spacing and Jose brings energy, which might help with the coming out extremely flat every game now.

But ya this team is in desperate need of shooting.

This yr is Jonas lowest eFG% in the last 10 yrs. Herb has regressed from 3pt range but it's not just a percentage drop, he's lost all confidence in attempting them.

We can talk about the spacing issue but ISO ball has played apart in 3 players improving their individual efficiency in volume but dropping the teams involvement, trust & efficiency.

One word to describe this offense, is predictable.

Raptors/OG was blowing up the DHO's & Pels kept running them. Herb is traveling off of wide open 3pt options because he doesn't have any confidence in his shot.. Jonas is not Zion where a poster on another forum showed the difficulty of his shot attemtps & making in this spacing environment. Reason this is his lowest eFG & I saw this coming a mile away which came off as hating on CJ for his volume shooting to get himself out of a rut. I don't know the current assist rate but I assume there would be a dip in it..

What happens with ISO ball? you get ball watching, uninvolvement & lack of rythym to everyone else.

What's the main difference between BI last yr & BI this yr besides the improved 3pt shooting ? He was more active last yr in trying to facilitate. Doesn't help with Zion out PF's have abused the position defensively with Hayes benched where length was a solution last yr.. Zion ISO, BI ISO, CJ ISO led teams to pick a poison & cheat off of Herb who was at least respectable last yr, as a result they've poked a hole. Forget the DHO's, swing the ball & shift the defensed, build trust & unpredictability.

Oh & get the shooting coach back from vacation because this team needs one.

Im not sure its ISO being the problem, BI and CJ are actually ISOing at a lower rate this year than last. But with that said I do agree 100% there is a lack of team play for sure. Off ball movement sucks, I forget Jonas is part of the team half of the games now it seems like. Jonas basically gets used like a basic non skilled garbage big man.

In all honesty I feel like this is team that just really doesnt do anything offensively right now. They run ISO the 8th least amount, while also barely running any PnR (bottom 10 in Frequency for that as well). They have no off ball movement either. The lack of structure overall in the offense is pretty astounding to watch actually.

I dont think the rotations are any good (again starting Herb and Richardson destroys any spacing at all), I dont think the players are playing good individual basketball either, I agree 100% BI isnt playing team friendly ball, CJ is just CJ, Jonas is forgotten about and when he does get chances, he is in a tough spot because he deals with the complete lack of spacing.

I dont know the fix for this team right now. Again no structure, no energy and not playing as a team. Hard to watch.

[Whole Truth]

We talked about this at the beginning of the year, but teams have officially given Herb the Thybulle/Tony Allen treatment. Then throw in Josh Richardson as well who has always been a streaky shooter, teams give zero respect to this team’s shooting ability. Anyone not named BI/CJ/Trey, defenses just flat out dare them to shoot it. So BI and CJ are getting crazy attention 24/7 and Trey being a set shot shooter makes him a pretty easy cover.

Defenses have adjusted to this team. They just completely sell out on defending inside the 3. And I honestly don’t know what the fix is (if there is one). This team’s lack of 3pt shooting just greatly limits this offense right now.

The only adjustments I can think of is Jose and Trey into the starting lineup. Trey brings some spacing and Jose brings energy, which might help with the coming out extremely flat every game now.

But ya this team is in desperate need of shooting.

This yr is Jonas lowest eFG% in the last 10 yrs. Herb has regressed from 3pt range but it's not just a percentage drop, he's lost all confidence in attempting them.

We can talk about the spacing issue but ISO ball has played apart in 3 players improving their individual efficiency in volume but dropping the teams involvement, trust & efficiency.

One word to describe this offense, is predictable.

Raptors/OG was blowing up the DHO's & Pels kept running them. Herb is traveling off of wide open 3pt options because he doesn't have any confidence in his shot.. Jonas is not Zion where a poster on another forum showed the difficulty of his shot attemtps & making in this spacing environment. Reason this is his lowest eFG & I saw this coming a mile away which came off as hating on CJ for his volume shooting to get himself out of a rut. I don't know the current assist rate but I assume there would be a dip in it..

What happens with ISO ball? you get ball watching, uninvolvement & lack of rythym to everyone else.

What's the main difference between BI last yr & BI this yr besides the improved 3pt shooting ? He was more active last yr in trying to facilitate. Doesn't help with Zion out PF's have abused the position defensively with Hayes benched where length was a solution last yr.. Zion ISO, BI ISO, CJ ISO led teams to pick a poison & cheat off of Herb who was at least respectable last yr, as a result they've poked a hole. Forget the DHO's, swing the ball & shift the defensed, build trust & unpredictability.

Oh & get the shooting coach back from vacation because this team needs one.

Im not sure its ISO being the problem, BI and CJ are actually ISOing at a lower rate this year than last. But with that said I do agree 100% there is a lack of team play for sure. Off ball movement sucks, I forget Jonas is part of the team half of the games now it seems like. Jonas basically gets used like a basic non skilled garbage big man.

In all honesty I feel like this is team that just really doesnt do anything offensively right now. They run ISO the 8th least amount, while also barely running any PnR (bottom 10 in Frequency for that as well). They have no off ball movement either. The lack of structure overall in the offense is pretty astounding to watch actually.

I dont think the rotations are any good (again starting Herb and Richardson destroys any spacing at all), I dont think the players are playing good individual basketball either, I agree 100% BI isnt playing team friendly ball, CJ is just CJ, Jonas is forgotten about and when he does get chances, he is in a tough spot because he deals with the complete lack of spacing.

I dont know the fix for this team right now. Again no structure, no energy and not playing as a team. Hard to watch.

I'm shocked... How does the stat record ISO ball ?. You state, they have little on/off ball movement & barely run pnr's but are also bottom in ISO's, something is not registering logically.

ISO ball may not be the problem but definitely a part of it. Take a look at the Raptors offense when Casey was using Jonas like he was Tyson Chandler. He was there to basically clean up Derozan & Lowry's ISO offense, missed shots. He was not there to add a dynamic to the offense, which is his strength as a player. As my post before the last illustrates, can't ignore Jonas offensively & expect positive results with him on court, especially in inefficient play, with a starting rotation that's been riddled with many injuries, lineup changes for a familiarity & chemistry issue. Jonas is the lone starter to miss only one game. No other starter has played in that same inconsitency & to make it worse his attempts are down considerably with both Zion & BI missing significant minutes...

To me, this is how the Raptors offense looked with Derozan & Lowry ISO ball. Why I was adamant about CJ;s addition/usage. It's actually a bit worse but this is basically what I was expecting to happen. This team has lost trust in teammates & confidence. Injuries played a part but this team is in hero ball mode, including all the hail mary plays they were trying to put multiple points on the board apposed to as Joel put it, make singles until a homerun & it cost them more than once.

Basketball is a game of confidence & this team is losing everything it was to start the yr.

When I get lost, I get back to basic. There's no one solution to solve lost trust & confidence.

& don't get it twisted the whistle has played a part in it too, notice the flurry of calls against NO's vs Magic everytime the game was pulled close... notice the several non calls late with NO's players not getting calls at the rim for Magic to end up on the line next play.. Imagine Duke since the Heat game there's been more than 4 elbows to the head of NO's players which Herb was ejected for last yr vs Cats with nothing more than a common foul ruled in NO's favor, not one flagrant one... & to make it worse, Lakers are getting as good a whistle as NO's are a bad. NO's get hit for a weak moving screen almost every game. I've watched Davis set 5 on one possession without a call. Each call, is a potential 6 point swing.

[Whole Truth]

On another Pels forum. They've posted Murphy is in most of the teams top lineups with an improeved defensive rating from last yr despite his still poor defensive instincts. In their previous posted defensive stat, he's sitting above better dedenders like Herb & Daniels, as is CJ.

Anyone know why Murphy is in most of the teams top lineups & despite not being amoung the top wing defenders on the team he also sits above them in defensive rating ?.

Answer is simple. He provides for a lack of spacing for a more efficient offense & in turn because the offense is not suffering with him on court, his defensive rating is also better than the teams best wing defenders like Herb & Daniels. See my Magic reference to their attempt to go all in on defense with Ibaka, Biz & Gordon but end up struggling on that end because they failed to put the ball in the basket.

So, once again. Just as defense can lead to transition offense. Offensive efficiency plays into defensive efficiency. That's how Jonas was apart of 3 seperate teams that reached at some point top 5 in defense. It's off the back of a more efficient offense.

[Whole Truth]

The quest to make it lool like Jonas was everything wrong with this team after the Portland win didn't last long, LMAO. Hopefully people r done listining to these CJ fans. Derozan fans did the same thing. Blaming the offensive role player who's had his touches reduced in favor of CJ's addition, is weak sauce.

Pels r now 2-1 vs this GS team without Curry, where the last time they met, they beat them by 45 pts while holding them to under 90.. Jonas had 13 boards in 22 mins. & the starters were + 30 in limited mins.

Last night, Pels shot the same 34% from 3 but Hermangomez & Hayes had 6 boards total in 36 combined mins where Pels were outrebounded by 11 against an undersized GS team, to lose by 3 possessions Therei n, the value of Jonas rebounding ability, missing.

I wasn't going to do this but it's CJ fans pushing the Jonas hate, so. These posters were quick to point out the Portland win in his absence. Another undersized team also.

After the Pels 3 game winning streak without CJ & Zion. Pels are now 1-5 since CJ came back vs LA. Jonas didn't play last night, so there was no more excuses to be made for last nights performance. The offense continues to be an issues with both BI & CJ available.

When a poster harps on a players defense & after one game blames their impact on offense, u know they full of ****. lol

Hopefully it's clear to all now, that it's the offense, team rebounding, that is the main issue. The team was on a 3 game win streak with BI catching himself from Injury & r now 1-5 since CJ came back from his vs LA.

The injuries have completely disrupted this teams rythym & confidence. They on a small win streak then have to reintegrate another injured player back into rythym. Lost confidence & trust, this team is shaken by the inconsistency & pointing fingers is not the solution. Effort & trust is.

[Duke4life831]

This team last year went from playing with one of the highest every every game to coming out flat almost game after game the 2nd half of this season.

The energy level from this team right now compared to pretty much the exact same roster this time last year is night and day.

[Whole Truth]

The Athletic posted an article on the most disappointing lineups -

( CJ - Murphy - BI - Herb - Jonas )

So u know, the blame falls on Jonas.. Man plug the lineup with Nance as if all things are equal.

With Nance in the lineup, 42 mins, it's +2. (26 mins, 2 games) lol

Now using the same logic with last yrs lineups with a much better sample size.

Replace CJ & Murphy with Graham & Hart, 345 mins +10
Replace CJ with Hayes, 140 mins +8
Replace BI with Naji, 110 mins +11
Replace BI, CJ, Herb, Murphy with Grhama, Hayes, Hart & Walker, 100 mins +19.5

Now put context to it . Jonas is now in a lineup from last yr that has to run because of a lack of size with Herb at the 4 instead of Hayes lenght, the offensive big man touches & involvement reduced in favor of inefficient hero ISO ball where teams r now sagging off of Herb for a spacing issue. The teams best perimeter defender Herb, who's no longer defending the perimeter but losing defensive worth trying to guard men with a size, strength advantage & teams not respecting him offenisvely where they can pack the paint with Jonas in the middle & Pels already a weak rebounding team. U might start to understand why that lineup is a complete opposite to Jonas impact from last yr in multiple different lineups. An offensive big always playing on D off inefficiency, while being ignored on offense. I'm shocked I tell u that a mobile defensive big man who doesn't reguire touches to be effective has faired better with that lineup. LMAO.

I can only assume somewhere in all this there has to be a statician who knows nothing about Basketball, players strengths & weaknesses, making decisions off raw numbers.

What I can't understand is going with it despite it not working. If Availability of Nance was an issue, other changes could have been made.

[NO-KG-AI]

Some silver lining, despite all the shuffling of lineups and cries of bad coaching and lethargy from the roster, we're somehow still 6th on defense and 10th in overall net rating, despite our two offensive anchors playing half a season or less. That kind of defense can keep you in a series with anyone if you get your guys back in time.

[Whole Truth]

I've been busy but returned to a forum post showing a clear FT discrepancy with LA 2 & 3 times more than the next highest team on the list.

While that is apart of manipulation.. the non calls are as improtant as sending a team to the line. It allows a team to play a more physical defense without punishment. Loose whistle on defense & tight whistle on offense can help any team win.

Pull up the Heat match with LA where Lebron & AD were out where they edged out a one possession win. Not only were they +30 on the line without their top 2 stars/reputation... All the Heat players were complaining about not getting calls, all... +30 on the line, Heat players complaining about not getting calls in a one possession Laker win without their 2 superstars.... see it for what it is.

At least with that post, some r waking up to reality.

Lakers r playing better refs no refs, give them credit for that but when a rookie Reeves is drawing phantom calls against mvp/NBA Champion Curry, lol, u know what time it is.

[Whole Truth]

Probably won't be around much, my mother in law has stage 4 cancer & is tying up my time but I want to leave with this statement to both New Orleans fans & Players after a rough season so far,

It's not how u start... It's how u finish.

Go Pels.

[NO-KG-AI]

Probably won't be around much, my mother in law has stage 4 cancer & is tying up my time but I want to leave with this statement to both New Orleans fans & Players after a rough season so far,

It's not how u start... It's how u finish.

Go Pels.

Hoping for the best for you and yours during your rough time my friend. Sending love.

[Whole Truth]

Probably won't be around much, my mother in law has stage 4 cancer & is tying up my time but I want to leave with this statement to both New Orleans fans & Players after a rough season so far,

It's not how u start... It's how u finish.

Go Pels.

Hoping for the best for you and yours during your rough time my friend. Sending love.

Appreciate it. Thanks