Road to a Championship start here, 2022 Draft.

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It's going to be entertaining to see who gets hit with more moving screens tonight. Gobert who moves on all his screens or Jonas, lol.

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Kudos NBA Gobert one moving screen, Jonas 0. lol

Now let's try it when NO's aren't missing 6 rotation players & the outcome matters.

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Not much can be taken from a game like that but there was some answers to some of the Pels questions. BI's mid range game once again looked solid with teams not packing the paint to contain Zion.

If Zion cannot diversify his game & he's who Pelicans want to ride into the future. BI is looking like a rougher fit than TM3 who comes in at a better price point. Not to mention it benefits Pels both in fit & trade currency as TM3 is a better fit with Zion & BI has the higher trade value.

One scenario I'm marking is the potential collapse of the Bucks, where NO's keep BI & turn Zion, Dyson, picks into Giannis ... run him at Centre with Jonas off the bench ... Bucks would get with Zion, a franchise level young talent & control of their draft back with Pels owning all their picks till 2027 which has greater worth to them, if Bucks have to change direction & tank. With the Pels depth, a deal like this doesn't impact the Pels roster. Giannis length & defense also allows for a better balance in the rotation on both ends. He would be surrounded by 4 shooters.

Giannis / Jonas - Nance
BI / Nance
Murphy / Ryan
Hawkins / Herb
CJ / Jose

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Kudos NBA Gobert one moving screen, Jonas 0. lol

Now let's try it when NO's aren't missing 6 rotation players & the outcome matters.

One game later. Jonas gets hit with a moving screen late 4th in a close game on a Brooks flop, which should have been a tech flop. Tell me NBA, if this was NO's & not Houston does the call go the other way?

Fake ****. lol

Green, that Brooks kick ball out of bounds, why was it not challenged in what ended in a one possession loss but you challenge a clear foul 1 minute later, Help me understand ?

Summary of the Hoston loss. NO's missing their starting & backup PG lost the TO battle 27-4. Daniels could not even take care of the ball long enough late 4th to get it into BI's hands. I hope NO's don't think this man is a PG moving forward. Herb has better handles & court vision.

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Impossible to build necessary chemistry with multiple players in & out of the rotation. Makes it very difficult to read the overall situation.

NO's #1 problem remains health & consistency.

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Dyson was very effective on Luka defensively but the offense was bogged down with him. His late sub before the half saw an offensive spurt.

Green keeps thinking defense...

issue once again is the offensive efficiency - 11 TO's (14 easy points in transition for Mavs) & 5pts left on the line. Though 75% on the line is an upgrade for Pels.

This team doesn't value possession, therein, the need to cleanup multiple mistakes & sloppy play

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Greens solution to everything - Bench Jonas, LMAO. Only one clicking offensively amid all the weak TO's. Now Mavs busting the game wide open with Jonas on the bench. No offense or defense right now with the Mavs getting more confidence as NO's can't put it together offensively.

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Going into the 4th, Zion 16pts on 10 shots with 6 TO's -22

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low IQ top to bottom..

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NO's fans can pull up all the negative stats they like, the issue should be clear & apparent to anyone watching.

Apposing teams defensive strategy to contain Zion, also occupies the space Jonas & BI are most effective in. It helps them to box out & gang rebound. Which means they are not only shutting down Zion but all of Zion, BI & Jonas while owning the boards on most nights. People out there saying Zion should rebound better but the issue is not just effort but strategic. You'll see that in Jonas decline in his otherwise consistent rebounding numbers. Forcing them to play a game they don't want to, though Jonas is shooting 40% from 3, teams are living with that fact to the benefits of closing the paint. Hence my earlier post of Zion needing to start diversifying his game, which he will inevitably have to anyway, if Championship is the end goal. Better now than later seeing that NO's are already in bad shape. I fully believe having Zion take & show he can make a 3 will completely change the dynamic of all that ails from rebounding to player fit to spacing.. It would also make playing either Herb or Dyson as defensive specialist more palatable.

Compound the fact this team with an already high TO rate, especially between it's 2 stars, is now without it's starting & backup PG's having played a set of teams with strong PG play over this losing streak... A big issue also is Green always reverts to defense as his solution to everything. For example, what happened when he pulled Jonas who was the only one effectively scoring the other night 3rd Q ?.. Mavs hit 5 straight 3's after his sub defensively, along with NO's offense completely stalling, Green taking out the one player who was hot offensively......... it's frustrating to watch. Shades of Casey who was a great strategic defensive coach but had no clue how to understand players strengths & weaknesses if they didn't fit his defensive mold. He was utilizing Jonas as a defensive rim runner, lol & when he failed defensively, pulled as Green is now. This is deja vu for me having seen this up close with the Raptors. Derozan was allowed to run wild offensively & in similar fashion, that resulted in committing weak TO's & poor transition defense where MORE STOPS ARE REQUIRED as apposed to utilizing JONAS OFFENSIVE EFFICIENCY.

The problem IMO, is ideological. Green is constantly thinking defense will solve all his issues, when in actuality offensive balance is needed. As stated above, NO's have 3 players that want to operate in the post & mid range that teams are packing to contain Zion. It closes lanes & if the 3 ball, which it often is, not falling, lots of forced & unforced TO's, compounded with the offensive efficiency issue of giving up free points on the free throw line. Consistently. Leaving 5-10 points on the line with a team that has a very high TO rate, is not a recipe for success. This team just does not know how to value possession. It's low IQ, poor execution & poor attention to detail. When this team is struggling they fold like a cheap suit & start to force the issue. 1 on 4-5 ISO ball resulting in a lot of empty possessions.

Like the universe the key is a healthy balance of offense & defense. I know the team is short but having Zion play with Nance & Dyson off the bench should not surprise people why other teams benches go on large runs with Zion on court as Denver's weak bench outplayed NO's. They pack the paint, Nance & Daniels become useless. NO's are essentially playing 3 on 5 offensively with Zion barreling into multiple defenders & teams shading the 1-2 shooting compliments taking away his limited, viable, passing lanes. There's reason Daniels/Nanve are always the ones with wide open looks from 3 off the bench with Zion. There's reason Jonas is shooting 40% from 3 with the starters. Teams are living with those attempts because of all the positive benefits of packing the paint. Everyone & their grandma, knows what Zion is going to do once he gets the ball.

- To make Zion more effective not just spacing but diversity of his game is need. Bucks had effective spacing when the box 1 turned Giannis into a 3pt shooter as the primary ball handler, costing them 4 straight. For their championship run, they had Middleton take the primary ball handling duties & ran Giannis off ball but that is not a viable option with Zion for multiple reasons. I see Borrego is attempting this strategy with BI. Long story short, Zion doesn't have Giannis length, defensive & rebounding acumen. You cannot have transition offense from stops, with out successfully rebounding the ball. Nance & ZIon are woeful on the boards.. maybe less so if teams weren't successfully packing the paint.

No surprise this teams best stretches have come with unsustainable, hot 3 point shooting. See first half of Denver's match

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The difference a day & a Herb makes. Defense looks respectable again.

Borrego is doing a great job on his rotations as well.

Not sure if I'm watching Hawkins or Curry..

Only negative is things continue to bog down with Zion on court. Nice pull up J, lets stretch that to the 3pt line.

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I hope the big lead doesn't breed complacency.

Same energy, step on their throats..

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I was reading around Pelican fans opinions & none are talking about the most notable change.

It's not Herb, everyone at this point should know he's the teams defensive back bone & cleaner. Herb did what herb does & it was sorely missed.

The most notable change was how Pels approached the Zone defense with Zion on court. How many times last night did you see Zion drive into traffic ? Nope, there was movement on/off ball that created gaps & the players trusted those gaps & their teammates. It made the offense, unpredictable apposed to Zion turning the ball over in traffic for easy transition offense. Brings me to the nest point. As a result, how many transition points did Pels give up in this one .... minus the 4th Q

One possession, Dyson runs diagonal to the corner as the ball swung from that corner to BI then to Herb shifting the ball/defense side to side & then into Zion post who's met with an instant double from Herbs man, where instead of forcing his left hand into multiple defenders, he kicks it out to a wide open Herb, who buried his 3 with confidence as he did earlier in the game with Lively going under a screen. Herb not just making but taking these 3's with confidence is a huge development.

Much like Hawk, the willingness to let a 3 go is as important as making them for teams to respect what you want to do with the ball.

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I was thinking best game of the season till the let down in the 4th Q. I realize the bench was emptied but it was the way they were playing, especially BI, that was disappointing. They stopped trusting each other & moving the ball. When Pop emptied his bench, the 3rd stringers continued to play the right way. Pels reverted to it's my time to shine & as a result with a couple made 3's, Mavs could have pulled this game to within 15/16 with 5 mins to go from a 30pt deficit.

You keep playing the right way because you don't want bad habits to creep back in...

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Lastly, I'd like to point out the difference with the well balanced rotations from last night.

Jonas who is not a good defender & is often benched as a solution. Was a team high +23 in 22 mins against a high powered offense. Next best +/- was Ingram +18. Zion +10.

To emphasize the need for offensive balance. Herb who was the best all around player last night, was a mere +8. with those negative minutes for him coming with Zion at the 5, where the court was shrunk to defend Zion with everyone talking about defense to offense, despite Herb & Daniels on court getting stops with that rotation...

As defense does fuel offense so does putting the ball in the hoop fuel defense. I keep saying it, balance. Jonas has gone to 3 teams that were non PO's & those teams ended up managing a top 5 defense with him starting, how ? He's not a good defender, especially in space. It's because of his offensive efficiency & rebounding. how the teams overall offense flows with him on court. Jonas has gravity & is an efficient 3 level scorer, Hence the +23 in 22 mins with Herb cleaning up for him defensively. How do you manage +23 in 22 mins if you're not efficiently putting the ball in the basket. Jonas put up 5 shots for 6 pts & 3 rebounds, showing how well the offense operated with him on court apposed to not.. A high powered efficient offense tightens the apposing teams margin for error... leading to .... mistakes & forced offense.

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Nance has had a rough start to the year & is now injured. So the obvious solution to NO's fans is to trade the lone reliable big man they have who's trade value is less than his court production. lol, smart. Unless NO's is getting a better fitting, younger player for Jonas expiring, it makes zero sense. These fans are severely undervaluing the fact that Jonas does not complain about his usage with how productive he is in limited mins. He averages a double double in under 25 mins reliably, consistently on good efficiency & at a good price. He's a value contract with limited trade value. Where any other player with that type production, would be demanding mins & touches to further their careers & bank account. His team first mentality enables for solid depth & greater flexibility. He's also evolved his efficient post game to the 3 pt line where he's currently shooting 40% on the year to adjust his fit. NO's fans think that is an easy combination to replace. There's reason Jonas has gone to 3 rebuilding teams & has only missed the PO twice in his long career starting. Both being play in losses.

The smart thing to do is extend & use the draft pick they would include with his expiring to draft a future replacement on rookie scale which addresses the depth issue without significantly adding to the cap issue.. Apposed to combining the 2 for 1 replacement trade & increasing the cap issue. Pels don't just need to get younger & upgrade at C. They also need reliability, depth & versatility. They needed that before Nance went down to injury... The situation got worse from the start of the season & even if Nance were to return, he was struggling.

Hawkins is producing in his extended mins due to key injuries & he has flourished, it would be a shame to see his mins get reduced when players get healthy. Dyson is also showing some growth with his extended mins. Once CJ & Jose come back .... both the young guards will lose some of their development mins while currently showing progress in opportunity. Pels are deep at the guard position & they have developing youth on rookie scale ready to take over mins apposed to nothing behind Jonas at C. No denying CJ has played great to start the year & Jose will be good but something will have to give at the guard rotation & it's with that give that NO's should ultimately address their lack of front court depth & future cap issues.

If the intent is to extend BI, heavy consideration needs to be made on trading CJ's max salary, taking into consideration Hawkins & Dyson are cheaply waiting to take over.

If the team is determined to keep CJ's leadership, then a tough decision needs to be made between Zion & BI if they want to realistically keep their quality depth. Dropping Jonas 15m won't do much for having to max BI, extend Murphy & soon after Daniels, if anything it creates a potential hole at centre. Much like the guard depth behind CJ, Murphy could be considered a cheaper, better fitting replacement piece with Zion than extending BI & both BI/CJ have the value to get a better fitting piece & potentially future asset/s while creating room for potential in house replacements.

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I don't know where Alex Sarr will land in the draft but I think NO's should cash in some of their assets to be in draft position to take him.

If Sarr is unattainable, I have Kalel Ware, Daron Holmes & Bradshaw in the next tier. With cautious interest in Bradshaw due to injury concerns.

I'm intrigued by Zvonimir Ivisic, He's 7-2 & can really shoot the ball.

Here's to Lakers or Bucks struggling so NO's can potentially net a top 5 pick because I feel that is where Sarr will land. He's it for NO's.

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Alex Sarr -

- he's fluid & has good body control, especially for a 7 footer
- Athletic & quick
- he's got soft hands
- he's got range
- can run the floor
- can blk shots
- High BBIQ
- Good movement on & off ball
& a nice aggression to his game

When I watch Sarr, I'm thinking 7' version of Bam, with 3 pt range & despite the added height, length, he's as mobile & fluid as the smaller version.

I'm not normally in favor of drafting big men high in the draft but I think NO's should make a stong play for Sarr & If they have to, cash in some of their assets to move into draft position. Maybe even entertain the idea of trading BI to Portland for him ... assuming Portland lands top 5, which they have a good chance to. Having Ayton, they might entertain the idea of Sarr for BI. NO's let Murphy cheaply fill the hole left at SF/PF.

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Zion 1-1 from 3. Give them something to think about, love it.

What's the difference between the first half of the last match vs this one. The big lead is not on the back of hot shooting. It's from giving them different looks.

Jokic is not a good defender, make him work defensively..

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Jokic shorting all his 3's... (1-8) - fatigue, as some misses were open looks.

NO's won but that 2nd half was upsetting. It would take me a full page to list all the issues.

BI forcing tough shots 3rc Q threw all the ball movement & offensive momentum out the window. A little adversity hits & he stops trusting his teammates, making the right read.

4th Q, Zion fails to outplay Denver's bench, reverts back to barreling into traffic.

Terrible clock management.

The tale of 2 halves - 26 assists first half, 6 in the 2nd.