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Started By
Message
Zach Lowe Western Conference Power Rankings
Posted on 12/23/14 at 11:47 am
Posted on 12/23/14 at 11:47 am
Today's column.
Pellies come in 10th.
He breaks down defensive problems and spacing problems on offense with pictures/video
These two stick out for me
I really think Davis has to guard 5s with Anderson. There is no rebounding or rim protecting presence if he doesn't.
LINK
Pellies come in 10th.
quote:
This is the one team among this group that cannot give up the dream of a playoff berth. The Pellies have dealt away three consecutive first-round picks to chase the no. 8 seed, and too many jobs are at stake across the organization to cut bait now.
It’s fashionable to bash New Orleans for mortgaging the future to construct a flawed present, but the team is unquestionably better today with Tyreke Evans, Jrue Holiday, and Omer Asik than it would be with Nerlens Noel, Elfrid Payton, and a 2015 first-rounder. Improving now was the priority, and in the most basic sense, the Pellies accomplished it.
quote:
And yet: There were other paths to .500 basketball. The Eric Gordon contract is a disaster, and the convoluted deal that effectively exchanged Robin Lopez and Greivis Vasquez for Evans has probably failed. Evans can’t shoot,4 and though he’s a bulldozer with the ball, his skills overlap with those of Holiday and Gordon. The Pelicans could have kept Lopez, spent the Evans money elsewhere, and held on to their 2015 first-rounder instead of dealing it to Houston for a rim protector (Asik) they would have already had.
But what’s done is done. In their present form, the Pelicans overcomplicate things to make up for the weirdness of their thin roster, and the awkwardness hurts them most on defense. The Pelicans rank 26th in points allowed per possession, unthinkable for a team sporting Asik and Anthony Davis.
He breaks down defensive problems and spacing problems on offense with pictures/video
These two stick out for me
quote:
Ryan Anderson is guarding the screener, Chris Kaman, and Anderson, bless his soul, has been a catastrophe in every aspect of defense this season. The Pelicans often have Anderson guard beefy centers like Kaman as a way of preserving Davis’s body. Speaking of which …
3. Davis is guarding LaMarcus Aldridge near the 3-point arc, too far away to make any impact. This happens a lot, especially when teams go small against the Anderson/Davis pairing; if Anderson is guarding the bulkiest screen-setter, Davis and his arms are floating around 25 feet from shot-blocking territory.
I really think Davis has to guard 5s with Anderson. There is no rebounding or rim protecting presence if he doesn't.
LINK
5
Posted on 12/23/14 at 11:59 am to corndeaux
After reading that garbage by Lowe, I am 100% sure the only Pels game he watched this year was that disaster vs. the Trail Blazers. They are not a perfect team, but even look at the L to the Warriors, the Pels know how to play to their strengths. Absolute trash for a guy of Lowe's "quality" to spin things like that.
Lowe also put OKC at #1 on his "Rankings" who haven't beaten a top 8 Western Conference team yet this season. OKC's only marquee win was vs. the Cavs, who the Pelicans, Blazers, and Spurs all beat. Seriously disappointing stuff from Grantland's NBA guy imo
Lowe also put OKC at #1 on his "Rankings" who haven't beaten a top 8 Western Conference team yet this season. OKC's only marquee win was vs. the Cavs, who the Pelicans, Blazers, and Spurs all beat. Seriously disappointing stuff from Grantland's NBA guy imo
This post was edited on 12/23/14 at 12:05 pm
Posted on 12/23/14 at 12:01 pm to corndeaux
He seemed to unnecessarily rip into Cunningham. Or is the problem we're comparing Cunningham to Salmons and overrating him?
Posted on 12/23/14 at 12:04 pm to corndeaux
You can't really disagree with anything he said. It does make me wonder if we'd be better off trading Anderson for a 2-way SF. The problem is Evans/Asik doesn't really work, either. So you almost need to swap Evans/Anderson for a more complete SG and SF pair.
Posted on 12/23/14 at 12:06 pm to TigerinATL
quote:
we're comparing Cunningham to Salmons and overrating him?
I think we're all starved for a competent wing that we are fired up about him. Cunningham has been good, but he's not a wing. That seems to be his main point.
It's more a rip on roster construction than the player, to me.
Posted on 12/23/14 at 12:06 pm to Galactic Inquisitor
I don't think we need to swap out any of our big 5. The only players who should be on the chopping block are Rivers, Gordon, and potentially Babbitt. There are noticeable spacing problems at time, but it is not like the Pels have huge trouble gettting to the rim.
Posted on 12/23/14 at 12:08 pm to Galactic Inquisitor
Yeah.
They should be really flexible on the court with those core 6 guys. But they just don't have any wings to fill in gaps and make it a complete team.
They should be really flexible on the court with those core 6 guys. But they just don't have any wings to fill in gaps and make it a complete team.
Posted on 12/23/14 at 12:08 pm to NOLAbaby
quote:
After reading that garbage by Lowe, I am 100% sure the only Pels game he watched this year was that disaster vs. the Trail Blazers. They are not a perfect team, but even look at the L to the Warriors, the Pels know how to play to their strengths. Absolute trash for a guy of Lowe's "quality" to spin things like that.
You're overreacting a bit. Lowe's points are all true and the numbers reflect it. This is a really off-balance roster that has serious holes in its rotations.
Evans and Asik can't shoot
Anderson, Babbitt, and Evans can't defend
Evans and Holiday can't both run the offense (Gordon seemed willing to pick and choose his spots)
Posted on 12/23/14 at 12:08 pm to Galactic Inquisitor
quote:
So you almost need to swap Evans/Anderson for a more complete SG and SF pair.
This. It's almost seeming like this is the ideal package deal.
Posted on 12/23/14 at 12:09 pm to corndeaux
quote:
It's more a rip on roster construction than the player, to me.
Most of his points seemed to focus on the roster. The one coaching point was that we were complicating things to compensate for the roster flaws.
Posted on 12/23/14 at 12:10 pm to corndeaux
quote:
I think we're all starved for a competent wing that we are fired up about him. Cunningham has been good, but he's not a wing. That seems to be his main point.
This is kind of a silly point by Lowe. For all intents and purposes, Ryno is our "wing" on offense. On defense, Cunningham has been more than adequate guarding 3s. He's had a couple "stinker" games. But overall, I honestly think this team's record would be different (for the worse) without him.
Posted on 12/23/14 at 12:11 pm to Galactic Inquisitor
I agree in that I think Lowe is moreso ripping out roster construction than our actual players.
But I think he could have toned down the construction argument a little and rather argued about Monty not playing to our team's talents.
Monty doesn't know how to maximize the talent he has. IMO at least.
But I think he could have toned down the construction argument a little and rather argued about Monty not playing to our team's talents.
Monty doesn't know how to maximize the talent he has. IMO at least.
Posted on 12/23/14 at 12:13 pm to Galactic Inquisitor
quote:
Evans and Asik can't shoot
Anderson, Babbitt, and Evans can't defend
Evans and Holiday can't both run the offense
But they play to their strengths the majority of the time because they are clever, veteran players. That's my point. Lowe's right about our team having flaws because every team has flaws, but he's a dick about it so frick that prick.
Posted on 12/23/14 at 12:13 pm to ShamelessPel
quote:
For all intents and purposes, Ryno is our "wing" on offense.
One of his points was that Ryno has been drawing SF defenders which is causing him problems, but I don't think that's true at all. Ryno's primary problem on offense has been missing wide open 3s. Who defends him is irrelevant. And Cunningham has been knocking down open jumpers at a good rate, so keep putting PFs on him and let Cunningham either get an open jumper or draw a big away from the basket.
Posted on 12/23/14 at 12:16 pm to TigerinATL
Couldn't agree more. Ryno's been getting to the rim and finishing better than I noticed last year. 3 pointers are inconsistent.
Posted on 12/23/14 at 12:19 pm to TigerinATL
quote:
One of his points was that Ryno has been drawing SF defenders which is causing him problems, but I don't think that's true at all
Yeah. The spacing stuff is real, but not a grease fire like the defense.
Anderson has been missing and he's been saddled with creating too much on his own because the backup guards can't do much on a regular basis
Posted on 12/23/14 at 12:25 pm to NOLAbaby
quote:
I don't think we need to swap out any of our big 5.
If we want to compete in the playoffs, we'll have to, because
quote:
Rivers, Gordon, and potentially Babbitt.
Don't allow you to upgrade the roster.
quote:
There are noticeable spacing problems at time
Created by 2 of your "big 5"
quote:
it is not like the Pels have huge trouble gettting to the rim.
They do, though. Evans has no trouble getting near the rim, but often has nothing to do with the ball when he gets there, which goes back to spacing.
Posted on 12/23/14 at 12:26 pm to corndeaux
quote:
backup guards can't do much on a regular basis
Rivers has had a nice little run with all of the runners and FTs he's hit lately. It will be interesting to see if this is another tease or he's finally emerging as a useful rotation player.
This post was edited on 12/23/14 at 12:27 pm
Posted on 12/23/14 at 12:28 pm to Galactic Inquisitor
quote:
but often has nothing to do with the ball when he gets there
He figures out something to do with it
I think I've seen him pull out and reset once this year.Posted on 12/23/14 at 12:41 pm to corndeaux
Same old stale Pelican doom and gloom from the national guys. Old stale Gordon/Lopez/Vasquez/Evans stuff.
You'd think we were an awful team reading that. Lets pick out the worst game of the year and show how much they suck. Defense is bad, no mention of the offense being one of the best in the league.
Sorry, I don't think I'm being a homer when I say there is a bias in how national guys cover this team. Lowe found a way to find a positive in Denver, Sacramento, Phoenix, Minny, and even the Lakers' season... Pelicans, nah.
I follow all of these guys on twitter. Davis gets love. Jrue got some love for his defense on Westbrook the other night. Literally NOTHING else positive comes from these guys, even after nice wins. Not a peep. Lose, and I get a barrage of shite about how dumb the entire organization is. Its like clockwork.
You'd think we were an awful team reading that. Lets pick out the worst game of the year and show how much they suck. Defense is bad, no mention of the offense being one of the best in the league.
Sorry, I don't think I'm being a homer when I say there is a bias in how national guys cover this team. Lowe found a way to find a positive in Denver, Sacramento, Phoenix, Minny, and even the Lakers' season... Pelicans, nah.
I follow all of these guys on twitter. Davis gets love. Jrue got some love for his defense on Westbrook the other night. Literally NOTHING else positive comes from these guys, even after nice wins. Not a peep. Lose, and I get a barrage of shite about how dumb the entire organization is. Its like clockwork.
quote:And we might finish 9th... How awful are we. Can't wait for the east rankings when he gives Orlando love for fighting for an 8th seed over there.
This could be the greatest single-season conference in league history
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