re: Pelicans Defense

NBA.com had Rockets highlights from the first half and it was the Rockets knocking down a bunch of 3s. The Pels defenders were about a step slow, but that's actually new and different from allowing wide open 3s.

On the plus side, Anthony Davis looks like he is going to be so much more aggressive offensively. He knows its his team and he is finally acting like it. And guys are looking for him first, second, and third on every possession.

His first instinct on every catch is to face up, so don't expect a ton of low post offense for him. More mid and high post so he can see the double coming and kick out of it. And once he gets the shooters around him, it will be deadly. I fully expect them to finish games at the end of the year with Jrue-Buddy-Moore-Hill, and that lineup will be nasty offensively while hustling defensively. The only question with that lineup will be if it could end possessions with rebounds.

He might be a necessary evil to get through the first two months, but he does not fit at all with what they are trying to do long term. So, they have to choose between

1. Being who they want to be from day one and perhaps not having enough raw talent to win many games
2. Sacrificing who they want to be for the beginning of the season (in stretches) to possibly win one or two more games

I am more of a process guy than a results guy, so I would choose #1, but I just get the feeling they will choose #2

Agreed. He looked lazy on those rebounds, maybe it's just preseason but that's something small ball teams excel at: being aggressive towards the ball

I am sure Lance wants to be what they want him to be, but you are what you are at this point. He isn't going to Etwaun Moore, just like Moore isn't going to turn into Lance

The Pels can use Lance now, but he will serve to purpose when Jrue and Pon are back

speaking of qpon what's realistic as to his return?
Has he been working with the team on the floor at all?

I got to catch some of it. Team still lacks defensive communication in a bad way.

Asik has a DRtg of 96.1 and AD is at 101.5. When the games matter both should be getting more minutes than they have in preseason and the defense will hopefully be better. Asik's play has been encouraging. 12/14 from the line over 3 games

Here's a strange stat, Asik is leading the team in Pace at 108.12 LINK Does that mean the team is playing fastest when he's in? I think that's what it's supposed to mean, so he's both playing at the highest pace and with the highest DRtg.

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how many minutes is Asik getting v preseason backups?

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That no doubt was part of the secret to his success leading the Bulls 2nd unit, I think most people would finally be happy with Asik if he lead a bench unit as effective as what they had in Chicago.

But that doesn't make the starting defense passable. What little bit I watched it felt like AD was struggling as the defensive anchor which isn't a good thing.

TBW:

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A quick look through some opponent shooting statistics on NBA.com reveals a troublesome story. The Pelicans have given up the fifth most attempts in the restricted area, accompanied with a healthy conversion rate by opponents (62.6%), and allowed the most three-point attempts from above the break, which opponents have converted at a 40% clip.

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"just preseason" but this is not only NOT improvement, its far worse than last year