Road to a Championship start here, 2022 Draft.

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Mr Sharpe. You can say your quote a million times, it won't make it anymore right.

Facts
- Advice, is opinion based in experience. While similar, all experiences are not the same.
- Ignorance, is an unwillingness to learn & grow, the very definition of insanity. The "choice" to not grow
 - foolishness, is a lack of sense. Is it really sane or realistic to take all advice, as good advice ?

The fallacy. is that all experiences are not the same, therein not all advice is good advice, though well intentioned. While you can learn some things from someone else's experience, their experience, while similar, is not your own, self growth is a requirement of any & all lessons learned. Learning from your experience is unavoidable no matter how much heed you take from those that went before you. It's smart not to ignore potentially good advice but it's also not foolish to question, learn from your own mistakes & experience.

You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. He'll drink, when he gets thirsty.

I had a friend he got very sick & found a way to cure what symptoms ailed him. I have another friend who also got sick & mentioned it because he knew what the other friend went through. He explained him his symptoms & he said, it sounds exactly like what I had. Here's what I did. He gave his recommendation & advice based on what he knew helped him get better, his experience. The 2nd friend took his advice because well, the first friend got better with similar issues to what was affecting him. Man ended up dying directly because of the medical advice he took ... By your quotes logic. Smart man, unfortunate result.

Long story short, it's not the path to growth that matters but the willingness to grow.

While ZIon does need to hear the truth. Griff came out & said ZIon spent the offseason working out in NO's something he had not done to date in his career. Outside of 2 rest days & 1 sick day Zion has played more ball than any time in his 4yts prior. It was rumored the young player had a time in Vegas with the extra couple days rest before the blow out loss but after everyone jumped on him for it & put the blame on his weight. He has since been putting in a concerted effort to defend & rebound. So he's showing that he cares. Not just about basketball but what people are saying about him as a person.

Give your well intentioned criticisms, Everyone needs to stop thinking & talking like they know him & what he's going through both mentally & physically.

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How much do you think Zebra's cheaply fouling the Pels lone big man out impacted this game ?.

Credit Udoka for going right at Jonas when he had 5. Credit officiating for giving him 2 cheap moving screens & a couple touch fouls. where you know if that was a "star" they would be more reluctant to give him his 6th.

When Jonas had to sit 3rd Q Penguin had 8 straight buckets & Houston dominated the boards.

If only Zion could get those same touch foul FT's instead of being fouled multiple times before getting to the line. Houston would be playing their 3rd string big men by the half. Maybe he's not throwing his head back enough & should take acting lessons on how to draw a foul, LMAO. Brooks was allowed to be physical on him, where at some point, they were changing Penguins diaper. The next rising star LMAO

How do you turn an Allstar into an MVP ? you send him to the line 12x a game.

It's a good thing it was a home game.

If none else sees your stink NBA, I do.

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That closing lineup. Those of you who want to take herb out to keep CJ in, give your head a shake.

What couldn't NO's do down the stretch with Murphy & CJ ? get proper spacing. Houston forced 2 key TO's in a close game & NO's went dry

To drive it home a bit, This 2nd half where Jonas fouled out. This is what it looks like without him.

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It's clear Green listened to the criticism of a well written article & the majority of the fan base after Murphys start. More shooters on court with Zion... With Jonas fouled out, JR, Murphy & CJ were on court to close, yet the offense went dry. Houston turned up the D, they forced 2 TO's where there was very little spacing despite the 3 shooters on court & BI. Part of it was a lack of chemistry, part was the physicality refs were letting Brooks & Houston play with. Brooks was allowed to foul ZIon on entire possessions, where Jonas was fouled out on Penguin for a touch foul & 2 weak moving screens, which as was rightfully pointed out, subjective calls as a ref can call a moving screen more often than not if they wanted to. See Gobert who does nothing but commit moving screens. Fouling Jonas out is how they helped Penguin cook to the tune of 37pts, he was an intentional target. (Pels lone big man). I've seen this officiating tactic too many times to not know the pattern.

As Penguin put up 37pts, Jonas was fouled out the only starter to finish the game +6. Anyone see the advantage to Jonas being cheaply fouled out ? Take into account 3 of his fouls were on the offensive end as some would argue it was Penguin having a night.

I know I'm only one opinion but give me an ear. Green was both right & wrong. He's right in thinking defense is an issue. He's wrong for thinking CJ is not the defensive issue. Poor start & empty finish with Jonas fouled out & JR doing a solid enough job on Penguin.

2 man pairing with Zion

Zion & Jonas +6 (despite both being poor defenders)
Zion & BI +3 (despite it said there games don't mesh)
Zion & Herb -1 (glue guy, this rating is in large part due to the backcourt pairing)
Zion & CJ -3 (spacing, no ball pressure) with a good amount of mins against bench units.

Zion & Daniels +9 (no spacing, defensive ball pressure) Jonas defense a positive with ZIon, is related

Jonas & CJ +2 (mostly due to their bench play)
Jonas & Daniels +8 (no spacing, defensive ball pressure, mostly starting)

As I've been saying with 2 efficient offensive big men who struggle to defend, is it a surprise that they have a net positives with the defender Daniels & not the floor spacer CJ ?. A net positive playing together despite being a weak defensive front court. Since CJ's return, NO's have stopped getting off to solid starts & they're failing to produce down the stretch on both ends. Individually CJ has had a good yr but with Green catering to his veteran status, get used to more games like this. An issue besides his defense, is green catering CJ. Like he did vs Lakers trying to match veteran to veteran where Lebron made him his bi... not once but at 4 separate points in a game, all times with near double digit leads given up. Start of the game, 2nd Q start bench unit, 2nd Q finish after the team pulled the game to within 1 with him off court & then coming back to it for the 3rd Q blowout. Saw this movie with Toronto/Derozan.

While spacing is required, the main issue with the volume efficient ZIon - is ball pressure.

As good as Herb is, Daniels is the better ball stopper. Here's a potential lineup to consider if you don't want to sacrifice too much spacing - Daniels, BI, Murphy, Zion, Jonas

Nope, CJ is a vet, he has to start & finish games regardless of how it's affecting the teams franchise player. More/less the overall starting lineup. SPACING, there's 2 sides of a court

= BALANCE.

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Jonas paired with Zion is + 6 mostly against starters.
Salary = 15m
Production = 27 mins (14.7pts, 9.8rebs, 2.6asts) on (57/37/80) shooting (20.6 per) 3.3 win shares

CJ paired with Zion is - 3 with a good amount of minutes against bench units.
Salary = 30m
Production = 33 mins (19.8pts, 4 .1rebs, 4.8asts) on (46/42/80) shooting (19 per) 1.3 win shares

Jonas at 15m being a good value contract, is currently the lone reliable & stable big man on a team that suffers from injury issues.

CJ at 30m is blocking the development of Daniels & Hawkins while being a net negative -3, paired with ZIon. He was brought in for his spacing to elevate Zion's production, instead their combined defense leads to a negative result.

In realizing a need for defense, Green turned to Jonas as the root cause & subs him at every turn even for 3rd stringers who can play defense. When CJ went down to injury Daniels stepped in, stepped up & then had to step out in favor of CJ despite him with the starters still averaging a +22 rating in relation to the negative rating with CJ.

This is what is to be beholden to a veteran reputation.

So much so that Jonas was phased out last yr in the team missing the PO's & was on the trading block this yr despite hsi 20per & 3.3 win shares. CJ as an offensive option with 6 additional mins is still being outperformed offensively by Jonas at half the price. Where the team has all of Daniels, Hawkins & Jose needing mins & development facing a cap issue.

It's said BI doesn't fit well with ZIon, yet they have a +3 rating to CJ's -3, where it's widely believed CJ is the best compliment to Zion currently on roster. It's not even true at his own position. As with no offense Daniels, Zion has a +9 rating having faced not just starters but the toughest portion of the schedule.

Last night was another 1 possession loss = game management

Problem is - CJ's veteran status, is Greens go to solution for everything. With the data you have, Daniels should be starting & developing in place of CJ until proven otherwise.

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NO's vs Houston a tale of 2 young offensively talented big men.

NO's Zion was his efficient self (11-16) from the field with 10 FT's for an efficient 28pts

He was aggressively touch fouled on the perimeter by Brooks on whole possessions & got multiple contact at the rim for 10 total FT's

Houston's Penguin was (11-21) on 50% shooting but put up 37 by getting to the line 17 times lol

His defensive counter part & NO's lone big man Jonas, was cheaply fouled out +6, where NO's had to play a 3rd string option 2nd half due to Nance being out with Injury. His primary matchup fouled out on several cheap offensive calls & touch fouls, minimum contact. Penguin got to the line 17 times in relation to ZIon's brute force at the rim & excessive contact perimeter to post 10.

Hard for me to question Green in all these 1 possession losses the way they're being officiated.

[Whole Truth]

Merry Christmas everyone, all the best for the season.

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Realgm wiretap has Pistons looking for veteran help to rectify their current situation.

I thought this might be a potential match if NO's want to venture into trading Zion this upcoming offseason. It's not a particular strong draft & Detroit is looking like a lock for the top 3 in Sarr's projected range.

NO's draft trade. Detroit receive a franchise talent in ZIon that will at the least help them win games now but give them ceiling for the future being in a situation they'd want to ensure fans a better product off this disappointing season. NO's do this for the top 3 pick to reset value, expiring to address the cap issue & potentially future draft compensation for sustainability. Which for me if this team can get Sarr, gravy.

Sarr 7-1 - 2 way switchable centre, with potential range
Murphy - 3pt gravity efficiency vs ZIon's paint gravity efficiency, Murphy is no defender but would upgrade.
BI - becomes the #1 option
Herb - remains the glue that binds it all together
Daniels - Elite man D becomes more playable with Murphy & Sarr's ability to space the floor over paint gravity

CJ - supersub

Jonas - 2yr extension + team option to allow for Sarr's development & acclimation.
Nance -
Naji -
Hawkins -
Jose -

While this roster might not have a top 5-10 talent like Zion, I think it would be a sum greater than it's parts. The defensive potential to be #1 with Sarr, Herb & Daniels. As Herb alone with a front court of Jonas & Zion, had this team ranked 6th. CJ as the supersub if BI needs some creation help & change of pace.

Jonas beefs up bench production which has been a struggle this season.

Cap flexibility, future compensation for more cheap quality depth & sustainability.

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I know I've kind of beaten this subject. I'll make this the last statement towards it at least for the near future.

Pels fans argue with Daniels starting the team is playing 4 on 5 on offensive, which they are but's it's lead to a +22 in over 88 minutes worth of sample size against the toughest portion of the schedule faced to date because ZIon got more touches & better perimeter defense & ball denial to compliment the rotation defensively.

What are they playing with CJ ? 5 on Herb defensively. Where with CJ's ability & natural instinct to dominate the ball takes from Zion's efficient usage. Decreasing the offensive efficiency, while making a Jonas & Zion front court more of a defensive liability. This lineup bleeds points.. -19 in over a 100 minutes.

The teams struggles are not ZIon's weight or Green's in game management where both are issues. The team struggles are on the defensive end & it's a direct result of a lack of balance.

What Starting Daniels for 9 games & 88minutes showed, that while spacing was needed, it was better playing 4 on 5 on offense than 5 on Herb on defense. I can't dumb it down any further than that.

= finding a correct balance, ratio, of offense to defense. This is why CJ's spacing makes sense only in theory. You're closing your eyes to his defensive compliment to 2 efficient big men that are not plus defenders. The move to replace Jonas with Nance or ... shows you see the issue to an extent but as I pointed out, what starting Daniels showed was ball pressure >>>>>> erasing mistakes at the rim & that it's CJ that needs to be a 6th man or traded.

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Well that didn't take long, just went a read a post on a Pels forum that had a visitor wanting to know if it's just noise that the team is not at it's best offensively with ZIon on court.. Not sure what people consider noise to be but I can explain it away.

With Zion on court with BI & CJ, he's more often than not the 2nd or 3rd option. 8-10 FGA's he was averaging when CJ returned to starting over Daniels. So if you want to know why the offense is not top notch where it's expected to be with Zion running it. It's because he's playing down to CJ & a lesser extent BI's efficiency. Thus, ZIon's lack luster offensive rating on court.

Do I need to explain why he's +22 with Daniels defense playing 4 on 5 on offense, while being -19 with CJ playing 5 on 1 on defense too ?

Having Herb as the lone defender if the team struggles even slightly offensively, it's a task to get stops which the starting unit is not doing -19. Whereas with Daniels, the reason why with no spacing the offense has been as good or better... in getting stops & deflections the team is not always playing in a half court set = more transition offense or unset defense do to TO's & in the half court set with Zion getting more touches, even without the necessary spacing, he's still more efficient than CJ getting more touches without the defensive compliment.

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LMAO this league is hot trash

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They didn't miss Bane's foot on the baseline
They didn't give CJ the clear & 1
They wanted so bad to give Ja those FT's to ice the game

LMAO

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Fake ass league.

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As an athlete how can you be good with the refs wiping your c*nt hole.

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Mentioned it last night. We all saw Bane step out of bounds on that 3, we saw CJ's good continuation get called back. We all chalked it up to human error as this game wasn't as outrageous as the last stolen Memphis game.

One word, intent. What the last 2 calls showed, was intent. They reviewed the Ja drive for 15 minutes despite none being anywhere near fouling him, they desperately wanted or tried to put Ja on the line. Any surprise the weak follow up last call on Jonas with 3J climbing his back when all Memphis had with .5 secs left was the tap in. It wasn't even a good lob where if Jonas wasn't there, 3J still probably doesn't make the tap in. The ball was short of the rim & the refs call Jonas for 3J climbing his back. Which the long review before told you, they would.

In showing their intent on that review. It's clear they didn't miss CJ's continuation & 1 or Bane stepping out of bounds for a wrap around 3, they were back to back plays that was going to open a double digit lead from 9 to 11 not 9-6. They were making sure NO's didn't have a chance to pull away. That sequence alone, was a 12 pt swing.

Officials was the #1 reason Pels lost this game but it was not the only reason they lost.

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What kind of shooting coach does this team have that they continually as a team leave near double digit points on the free throw line. This is not a one off bad shooting night from the line, it's a trend.

This team chooses to start games with a negative lineup vs a positive one with a large enough sample size

With CJ - 172 MP, -4.5 PTs in for Spacing (-122 3P%)
With Daniels 88 MP +22 in for defense (+.063 3P%)

Zion's defense paired with CJ, negates any spacing benefit. Their best run in the game is when both Herb & Daniels were on court with them. After another slow start, the game like last match changed with Herb & Daniels defense. Swung the game from down 7 to up 7 2nd Q.

I could go through the mistakes during the game but I don't want to write another wall of text. So from a bad start I will go to the bad finish.

Memphis are not a good 3pt shooting team. With the way you defended the last possession with .5 secs left is as though you had no clue Jenkins would draw up a lob play. Not your fault the refs gave 3J FT's for climbing Jonas back for the lob, your fault for not better defending the lob. All you had to do was shade Bane. Memphis were not going to go for the 3 in that situation being a poor 3pt shooting team. Any made 3 with .5 not being Bane would have been pure luck.

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I love basketball & the NBA has the best talent in the world but they're hot trash for real competition. The fact that none will be fined or fired for last nights officiating performance & others like it, tells me so.

Not very entertaining knowing your the leagues Generals to their Trotters.

lol

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I followed Memphis when Jonas was playing for them. I like Jenkins, great coach & Ja, great player but their celebrations were annoying to watch. You didn't win this game, it was stolen, take the gift & go. The hard celebrations knowing the game was tilted was vomit inducing.

It's clear the league is trying to get Ja/Memphis back into the PO picture after a rough start.

Pels could have & should have won regardless of the poor officiating but it's hard to overcome the officiating, poor FT shooting & poor game management.

What does it show when you have the talent to win most of your games against good teams as Pels have but frequently lose to bad teams while blowing double digit leads & not being able to close out close games ?

Why is it the fan base is frustrated with a team still 3 games over 500 ?

Where I'm concerned, watching the team start out slow game after game because you want or need to start CJ does it for me. There's several pages of walls of text of frustration lol.

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This team has been missing Nance's minutes. Jonas & Nance gives this team a solution by committee at C. However with Greens propensity for defense there's situations he will ride Nance when he should be riding Jonas, he needs to know the difference. As I've mentioned before Jonas professionalism allows Green to sub him as necessary, without fuss or complaint. With a healthy Nance the 5 spot may not be great but it's solid production value for a team that has 3 max contracts underperforming value.

People still out there talking about rim protection when Daniels 88 minutes starting, shows, it's ball pressure.

Zion, BI & CJ overlap offensively, while they bleed points. The trio doesn't work but I'm sure if you trade for Allen's rim protection, it will, LMAO. It only shows me you don't know the root cause of this teams problems. A rim protector is there to help erase mistakes. Can Allen erase Zion's man walking to the rim or CJ's man getting to his spots relatively easy ? ... he'll do a better job than Jonas but it's not the significant improvement you would think. We saw all of Jonas, Zion & BI look far more competent defensively with Daniels ball pressure. Jonas logged more blocks & Zion more steals etc... Long, short, Allen is not the answer.

Daniles, defense, no spacing, with starters +.068 3P% (+22.6)
CJ, spacing, no defense, with starters -144 3P% (-4.5)

Notice the 3P% since you are putting CJ in for spacing, Lets talk more about Nance & Allen, LMAO.

Pels trading Jonas 15/10/2.6 on (56/37/80) shooting at 15 m for rim protection & an additional 5m in salary, is being considered mostly to make CJ work & it won't. What the trade target should be if you want Daniels defense & CJ's spacing is someone like Murray if the Hawks decide to blow it up. One of the issues is the role players are one dimensional. Murray plays both sides of the ball, Allen doesn't.

Continue to make this about fitting CJ in & you are going to make a bigger mess. He either needs to be the super sub or traded long before you think of moving Jonas production value.

You have a solution in house with an 88min sample size but refuse it.

Cause CJ starting is more important than the team playing, starting, better.

[Whole Truth]

Great first half from Nance, he's been missed.

NO's called for 4 travelling violations, LMAO

Refs don't know travelling, until they want to.
Refs don't know moving violations, until they want to

Pels were shooting 70% & somehow, someway LOL, Utah found a way to keep pace.