re: It's About to Get Ugly...

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TigerinATL

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See, where we differ is you are thinking about this logically from the viewpoint of someone who follows the Pelicans almost religiously, as most of us do on this board.

From an emotional standpoint, Rivers brings a spark and energy to the court in a very similar, yet different way than Marcus. People want to see guys that are going to maul the attacker on fast breaks. People want to see ball movement and our best players taking shots. Roberts overdribbles...alot. He is a poor defender and just takes general flow/excitement out of the game. Rivers is constantly hustling and consistently trying to find our best 2 players on the court (Davis/Anderson).

It's just a very different energy and it's palpable. It's the same lift Marcus used to give by coming into the game and energizing the crowd by playing hard.

Rivers got stuck on an island twice on fast breaks last night: 1st: a block/almost steal 2nd: meet the offensive player at the rim and maul them, making Jefferson go to the line without any shot at an and 1. There's not another guard on our team that makes those 2 plays in that fashion.

Burke made Roberts look BAD last night. Rivers vs. Burke in the 2nd half was basketball entertainment. Burke actually had to work for his shots, and it's nice to see at least 1 of our guards playing the bulldog defense we thought we'd see from almost all of our guards. You don't even have to know anything about basketball to see he's playing hard. That's part of his endearment to the fans.