The people who want to run off BI are so short sighted. I can’t remember the Pels ever having an elite forward. He can score from all 3 levels, great passer, aggressive rebounder, and his defense has significantly improved. I think he can be a robin on a championship team, it’s really just up to Zion to take that next step and be able to have consistent energy on both ends of the court. Our stars have to take defense more personal.
I know I’m shining a light for Shel to come and argue but I think the ideal Pels lineup works better with CJ leading the 2nd unit and Trey being inserted into the lineup. Trey has to get better on defense as well but CJ gets hunted ruthlessly

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Posted by TeddyPadillac

Member since Dec 2010

25812 posts

Posted on 2/19/24 at 4:38 pm to spaghettioeauxs

I see you bring up defense several times, as do others.
And i don't disagree that defense is the main reason our starting 5 doesn't work.
But you all realize that we are one of the best defensive teams in the league right? 6th best DRtg in the league
Shooting more efficient shots, more at the rim, turning the ball over less, all of those offensive things lead to playing better defense.

We are top 10 in opponents Points in the Paint, Fast Break Points, Points off Turnovers, and 2nd chance points. All of that points to hustling on D, which is crazy to think we are a great hustle team with Zion out there, but he's been a lot more active defensively since christmas.
5th in deflections
7th in loose balls
2nd in block outs

we are 3rd in contested 3 pointers defended, which is why we are one of the better defense's against the 3. In turn we also give up the 4th most uncontested 2 pointers.

To be honest, i'm tired of all the talk and stats and all of it. Just want to get to the playoffs healthy and see what these guys are made of so we know what we need to do this offseason to get better.

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Posted by brmark70816