Pelicans 114, Spurs 96 Pels rally from a god-awful first half (16 points in the 2Q, trailed by as many as 17) to win going away over the Wemby-less (he's out for the year) Spurs. Off night for the scoring big 3 of Zion, Murphy and McCollum (although Zion finish with 22), but they overcame it with a career-high 19 from Karlo Matkovic and a 14 point, 15 rebound night by Kelly Olynyk in his Pelican home debut. They've been starting Murphy at shooting guard for the past few games, I'm guessing as an experiment to see if he can work in that spot and free up a front line position for Cooper Flagg if he falls in their laps. Pels currently have the 2nd worse record in the league (Washington working hard to wrap up #1), half game ahead of Utah, a game ahead of Charlotte. Run it back with the Spurs Tuesday night.
Pelicans 109, Spurs 103 For the first 20 minutes it almost looked like a parody of an intentional tank job. They were comically lifeless and bad. Surprisingly, it was Bruce Brown who came in and sparked the turnaround. Brown finished with 8 pt, 6 reb, 6 ast and 3 stl and gave the Pels some much needed energy. Murphy ended up with 24, Zion with 18 (he was the poster boy for the horrible start, but finished looking like the old Zion that attacked the basket like he had a personal grudge) and Missi had his first double-double in awhile with 10 pt, 11 reb. Two straight wins have unfortunately moved the Pels up in the standings, now 4th worst in the league. Now they go on the 4-game Mardi Gras road trip, starting with a back-to-back in Phoenix Thursday and Friday. @Jmg Several reports saying Naz Reid will turn free agent after this season. I'd love to see him in New Orleans.
naz reid would be incredible with zion because naz reid is the perfect modern big. he must be guarded deep because his 3 pt % is incredible. this would create space and zion would be unstoppable on the drive. zion should not be paired with an old style big that doesnt shoot. also they would be two of the hardest dunkers in the league together. ferocious
Agree completely. A front line of Zion, Naz and Missi would be strong. Speaking of dunking, I was looking for some stats on nba.com and I ran across the Dunk Score page. I'm surprised I never hear anyone talking about that on the NBA shows. Anyway, they have the top 50 dunks of the year listed - you can select any one of them and it looks like there's a video link, but my phone won't play it. Missi's on the list twice. Quentin Grimes for Dallas has the best one of the year so far, from a game last month. Second is a dunk Shaedon Sharpe for Portland threw down last night. I saw it...it was nasty. Zion had a really nice one Tuesday, not hard, but he launched from inside the dotted line and put down a 2 hander in traffic. When he launched, I never thought he'd dunk from there.
its getting more and more difficult to post here I have to click shit like 8 times, I cant just click replay I have to click more options and then reply and then maybe it wont work. and already I cant use my normal browser. its a real goddamn hassle. I am listening to the pelicans game now they are killing giving the sun all they can handle. I watched the top 5 dunks of the year today, they had last night sharpe dunk, it was alright.I saw Zions long distance jam as well. nobody looks as effortless as zion. I mean he dunks hard sometimes but other times he sails in and jams it smoothly when you thought it would have to be a layup becasue he was either pretty far away, or didnt have time or space to get a good leap. he is so strong he gets to dunk height without any effort. its incredible LSU has had a pretty poor year for dunks but I think the two dunks of the year were vycorious miller vs florida gulf coast, and trey'dez green vs bama. I was just telling my friends I wasnt sure if green would play at all this season and then I was like "hey wait he is in the game right now!" and then he blocked a 3 and dunked it on the other end, hard. sucks he wont be playing anymore.
Pelicans 124, Suns 116 Pels seem intent on blowing the tank, as they win their 4th in 5 games. Seven players in double figures, led by Zion's first career triple double: 27 pts, 11 ast, 10 reb. Karlo and Missi had double-doubles, CJ had 19 and Trey 18, but only 4 after the first quarter. He hit his first 4 3-pointers, all 30-footers, and then went 1 of 8 behind the arc rest of the night. Trey's inconsistency is all that stands between him and superstardom. Same two run it back tonight, no doubt with Zion sitting out (he played 30+ minutes last night for the first time since coming back from the hammy, I can't imagine them letting him run tonight). Team still sits with 4th worst record in the league.
iam in the minority maybe but I think mcmahon is a good coach. he just doesnt have enough shooters this year and the SEC is literally the best conference in history, which sounds like hypoerbole but isnt. the SEC is stacked with NBA players everywhere and crazy athletes and teams. I think will wade is the best couch in the country, which also sounds like hyperbole, but isnt. I think whatever team hires him after this year will be a top 3 in the their conference immediately. even if its NC st and he has to deal with duke and UNC. but thats beside the point. I think mcmahon will be better next year if the rumors aare true about NIL being bad now but growing next year. its seems possible the reason we missed out on 1 or 2 higher level transfers was money. I dont know. we just dont have the shooters and rebounders now. too many players have not just a flaw, but a huge flaw. like bailey. he is great at everyrhing exccept shooting. and chest. cant shoot. collins is amazing but he is so tragically skinny he cant rebound. sears is a good scorer but doesnt seem to to run offense at all. carter is amazing but doesnt have good handles and tends to dribble the ball off his foot and let it get away . I dont see why if they keep the team together and pick up two high priced big time transfers they will not be ok. they will lose 4 from being seniors running out of eligibility. sears, carter, fountain, and bailey. they have 3 coming in, mosely, the shooting guard, gilhool, the white forward who shoots, and jalen something the tiny pass-first PG. need a thick rebounder and a very experienced PG. pair those guys up with both millers, who I think are very good, and I think you have a decent chance next year. NIL, man, I dont know how it works, who has what, how its paid to who in terrms of team distribution, whether the players need raises to stay etc. its all new and confusing. long story short I do think they might be able to buy 2 or 3 transfers that could change everything. can they afford that? no clue, only know rumors.
Suns 125, Pelicans 108 Zion sat, CJ sat, all Phoenix had to do was make sure Murphy didn't beat them...they held him to 10 points on 8 shots in 34 minutes. One of those things the "Murphy is the next big thing" never seem to realize. He can be taken out of any game by any reasonably good defender. They got career highs from Missi (24 points) and Antonio Reeves (11), and Hawkins got 24 as well, probably his best game since November. At Utah next, they are half a game to the good of being the worst team in the West ahead of us. We'll see who wants the tank more.
Pelicans 128, Utah 121 Utah sat everyone except the popcorn cooks in the most obvious tank job of the year. Pels played as normal...if you're tanking, Jamal Cain and Antonio Reeves would get significant minutes...they got 0:00. Kelly Olynyk was fired up for a return to Utah and he went for 26 pts, 9 reb. Zion with 24 pts, 9 ast (he'd have had about 15 if anyone on this team could shoot consistenty) and 6 reb, and McCollum 25. Murphy had 20 on 3 of 13 3's, but he's getting more and more prone to launch from 30-35 feet. He took one on the first possesion, made it, but then missed 3 in a row, and when he tried moving in closer, he was just off. If the Pels have decided he's the guy to pair with Zion for the future, OK, but be ready for a roller coaster ride. At the Lakers Tuesday night.
