re: Are we better or worse today than we were to start last season before all the injuries?

quote:

---

They trouted out Theis, Javonte Green, and JRE early on. Are you serious? That depth chart was non-existent.

---

Before the injuries racked up last season (before the season even started), we were going to see two of CJ/Herb/Trey come off the bench, and I liked/still like Jose. The end of the bench wasn't good, but the main two "backups" would have been good players getting ~30mpg. We don't have anyone close to that caliber now, at least not until Murray comes back and is playing at ~90%.

quote:

---

Even if you somehow think Poole/Bey/rookies is an upgrade over BI/CJ/Murray - we are more out of balance than we’ve ever been

---

So you are counting injuries for this year (Murray), but I can't consider the injuries we started last year with? That doesn't make sense.

I don't know if you remember this, but Zion missed the opening game. Murphy was injured to start the year. Murray got hurt pretty quick too for a bit. We were hobbled the whole year.

Zion and Ingram (plus Murphy) was a horrible fit. Moving one balanced it out a bunch. I'm counting on continued growth from Missi and Matkovic, the addition of the 3 rookies, and a comeback year from Bey. That's way more talent than we had last year. Basically swapped out Ingram for the 3 rookies and Bey (plus the rest of the team developing). That's a significant upgrade.

quote:

---

We have no defense, no shooting, no shot creation, and no rim protection. We are about as unbalanced for a modern NBA team as one could strive to be.

---

But yet we are a projected borderline playin team, out of the bottom ten, by every gambling site and analyst that I can find. No one is projecting us early lottery. If we can't do anything, shouldn't we be picked to be worse? We won 21 games, but our O/U is 32.5 games, more than an 11 game improvement. No one is picked for that large of a turnaround. Can you explain that?

quote:

---

Herb coming off the bench was the most wishful bullshite that came out of this fan base. They were going to try to play Herb in the starting 5. And that shite would have been clunky as frick. Willie would never bench Herb and you know that.

---

Which is why it was likely gonna be CJ and Trey coming off the bench, which is infinitely better than anything we have coming off the bench this year.

quote:

---

But yet we are a projected borderline playin team, out of the bottom ten, by every gambling site and analyst that I can find. No one is projecting us early lottery. If we can't do anything, shouldn't we be picked to be worse? We won 21 games, but our O/U is 32.5 games, more than an 11 game improvement. No one is picked for that large of a turnaround. Can you explain that?

---

Yeah, we can’t tank because we don’t have our pick

So instead of being bottom 4 we’ll be bottom 10

And not nearly as bad as the worst teams, because of the talent we do have, but also not good enough to make the playoffs, because of the fit we don’t have

quote:

---

Looks like the game in Baton Rouge had more fans than the Pelicans

---

You have to seriously stop trolling threads on here. You know what you are posting is complete BS and has no substance. You are intentionally doing it for attention.

It takes two seconds to see the attendance for that game is under 7K. That's great for a WNBA exhibition game in a one-off location. We were in the bottom third of the league and still averaged over 16K a game. So take that shite somewhere else. I don't care if people actually came or not, all that matters is who paid. When I went to Pelicans games, my tickets were over $100 a piece for the lower bowl. I could have got WNBA tickets if I upsized my meal at some restaurants. They aren't comparable at all..

quote:

---

You have to seriously stop trolling threads on here. You know what you are posting is complete BS and has no substance. You are intentionally doing it for attention. It takes two seconds to see the attendance for that game is under 7K. That's great for a WNBA exhibition game in a one-off location. We were in the bottom third of the league and still averaged over 16K a game. So take that shite somewhere else. I don't care if people actually came or not, all that matters is who paid. When I went to Pelicans games, my tickets were over $100 a piece for the lower bowl. I could have got WNBA tickets if I upsized my meal at some restaurants. They aren't comparable at all..

---

Sorry to hear you don’t like women. Now on that note you call me a troll but yet you compare this organization to the Thunder on another post. Stay off the Coke!

Read this!

https://intheno.substack.com/p/pelicans-problem-isnt-joe-dumars

Also funny you paid over $100 for lower bowl Pelicans tickets. Hilarious! You could have gotten them for much cheaper.

Guilty!!

Let's see what we lost from last year:

BI - replaced with no one.

CJ - replaced with Poole. Probably close to even trade, if Poole shoots as well as he did last year.

Theis (who should have had zero expectation to play meaningful minutes) - replaced with Looney (would should have zero expectation to play meaningful minutes). They both suck.


What we brought in:
Bey - who's just a replacement for Naji basically.

Missi - looking for improvement in year 2 as "what we brought in"

Fears/Queen - not expecting meaningful contributions from them this year, but still excited about their potential.


So no, we are not better today than we were to start last season, and that's ignoring all injuries.


When I look at a roster, I look at what the playoff rotation looks like.
Zion, Poole, Murray, Murphy, and Herb are the only solid rotation players who will contribute in a playoff game, and one of those 5 is coming off a serious injury. Jose/Bey/Missi are maybe's, and the slightest of chances Fears/Queen are playoff ready.


We still have no reliable starting or backup 5 (even though i like Missi), or a backup 4, or any player at the 4 or 5 who will even attempt a 3, much less make one.


It's sad that best case scenario for this season is the play in.

quote:

---

Considerably worse from a pure talent standpoint. Locker room chemistry is likely worse, too.

---

and that’s being charitable. This team is not good and won’t be good as constructed. Going to be another long year

quote:

---

We have no defense, no shooting, no shot creation, and no rim protection. We are about as unbalanced for a modern NBA team as one could strive to be.

---

Couldn’t say it better myself but that false optimism always happens in August. Some of these fans spent thousands on tickets won’t believe until it’s obvious they just flushed their money away.