re: Pelicans @ Portland | Season Finale Game Thread

Well don't get excited and don't renew your tickets then.

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How do we explain the lack of wins surrounding their 2 teams over the last few years?

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Because they are bigs and this is a guard driven game. They also both have personality "flaws". Cousins wasn't far off with Fire and Ice and I really do think they'll be good for each other in terms of minimizing/masking those flaws.

It was obvious that on some nights this team needed a guy in addition to AD/DC that could drop 25-30. Holiday just isn't consistent enough to be that guy, so whether you keep Holiday or not, you still need someone like that. I'd throw all my trade assets into getting Bledsoe or Dragic. If you can't get either Lin can be close enough to maybe be a stop gap.

Ish is playing well enough to be a 20mpg bench guard who's gonna generate offense and minimize mistakes.

Ennis is a heavy minute guy on a playoff team who still spaces the floor. Plays good d as well.

Collison has always been a solid bench guard, even as a starter he's not half bad either.

The two bad ones are really Frazier and Thornton.

Crawford very well could regress heavily. At the same time he could have improved (shocker) and be more consistent as long as he doesn't keep checking up bad shots. You obviously haven't watched the difference between him in Boston vs here. He's not forcing those same bad shots, instead passing the ball into the flow of the offense. His numbers may regress but he's selecting better shots to take and avoiding the bad ones.

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This isn't like Norris Cole for half a season under Monty where he was just hot while hitting a ton of bad shots he shouldn't have been taking.

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i agree that his improvement can be real. that the Pels have done a nice job of improving shooting for players. and that Crawford seems to be saying/doing the right things as an older guy who's been in China and accepts his role. all of those things are true and could mean he's going to be a guy to help make the Pels better.



same time, i do wonder how much of the "he takes good shots" idea is more b/c he is hitting them at high rates than anything else.

for example...over the last few years, there have been roughly 30-35 guys each year in the entire league who took 5 3PA/36 and hit higher than 38% (Crawford was at 7.7 and 38.9%). interestingly, Galloway, Babbit, and Hield also hit those marks this year.

just last summer some here were calling for the Pels to spend big to go after Marvin Williams, who made that list in 15/16 going 40% on 6 3PA/36. nevermind he was an 11 year pro who had hit above 36% from 3 only twice in his career. this year he shot 35% from 3. Solomon Hill shot 34.8%

perhaps Crawford can keep it going for the reasons you mentioned (i certainly hope so and am rooting for the guy). but we shouldn't be shocked if there is a bit of a regression with his shooting. he can still be useful even at lower efficiency

and, of course, unlike Hill/Williams, he is dirt cheap

how is his volume different or lower than before?

11.2 FGA/G career
11.5 FGA/G w/ Pels

16.5 FGA/36 career
17.8 FGA/36 w/ Pels

23.5 FGA/100 career
24.2 FGA/100 w/ Pels

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The biggest problem in his early career is his volume

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No im pretty sure it was the fact that he wasn't a good shooter

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I would be surprised if they don't bring in a real POBO this offseason regardless of the decision on Demps.

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Is that based on how stupid it is to expect Loomis to be in charge of the Saints and Pels, or have you heard that they're thinking about it? Like Fun Bunch said, it's ABSURD to have Loomis as POBO, even if he was good at it. It's not something that should be done like a hobby in your spare time.

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David Fisher? @DavidFisherTBW 1 minute ago

NFL Draft is in 13 days. Saints holding a pro day today. And the POBO for the Pelicans doubles as the Saints GM.

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