@shane0911 Having Zion makes OKC have to decide who Dort is guarding. He ate BI up the other night, but I think he has to guard Zion if he's in there. Also, if the past is an indicator, tonight is the night BI finally shakes off the rust from an extended injury layoff. Usually takes him 3-4 games to find his shot.
I'm not sure we'd put that pressure on Zion. Either way I'm more concerned with the NHL playoffs anyway. I doubt if I even watch the game tonight.
What an atrocious display of basketball. In a nutshell; OKC fixed every problem they had in game one. Nola recycled game one and played it again. Granted, you usually have to watch WWE to see more laughable officiating, but Pels were losing this one anyway. Offense is completely stagnant. No movement off the ball, BI just wants to play one-on-one against a guy who's got him in handcuffs. Trey Murphy's game is totally bi-polar, guy is on fire or he's a glacier. He's been a glacier both games. CJ hit a few shots last night, but he's the unspoken reason Pels get so many offensive fouls. Guys set a screen for him, and he dribbles two feet around the screen. Defender has all the room he needs to get by, so screener has to lean to draw some contact, and gets called for a moving screen. They've been below 30% from deep four of the last five games, you've got two guys (Hawkins and Ryan) you brought in this year specifically for their 3-point shooting, and their chained to the bench. And Willie Green is so overly calm its a wonder guys don't fall asleep during time outs. Worst of all, Zion is slated to be re-evaluated AFTER game 4. Series will be over after game 4 if a bunch of guys don't wake the fuck up. And considering the fan base is so disgusted after the last two weeks there will be no home court advantage in next two games, I don't see that happening. Hope I can come in here in a few days and say I'm wrong about everything. One more comment about officiating...you didn't see games like this before the league embraced Fan Duel and Draft Kings. That's all I've got to say about that.
The way the "challenge flag" (NFL term) is supposed to work in the NBA, the refs are supposed to keep the game moving. If a coach wants to challenge, he must first call time out, and then signal for the challenge. If the challenge is successful, they get the time out back, and also get a second challenge. In the first half, refs called a defensive foul on OKC. But instead of getting the teams organized for an inbound to restart, they stood around in a huddle for a minute until the OKC coach challenged the foul call, no time out needed. What's supposed to happen now is that they either decide the foul as called was correct or incorrect. Instead, not only did they decide the foul was incorrect, they called a foul on Nola. Don't ever remember them using the replay to call a foul. Opening minute of the second half, they call Shai for fouling Ingram while attempting to shoot. Teams line up for the FT line, but again, instead of giving BI the ball for the FTs, they stood around until OKC coach again challenged. This time, they correctly upheld the foul call, but added that Ingram elbowed Shai in the chin. He did, but it was part of the shooting motion; he was bringing the ball up to shoot, and SGA was so all over him it was almost sexual. There was no way for Ingram to shoot without making contact, but they ruled it "violent contact" and awarded SGA a technical free throw. Again, in a challenge, you're supposed to either rule the call correct or incorrect. Adding another call is not supposed to be an option. Moments later, Chet Holmgren hit Ingram with an elbow in the gut so hard he went down for several minutes and the med staff had to come check him out. No foul called. There was a challenge in game one, ball went out of bounds and it was so hard to tell in the moment who touched it last, they ruled jump ball. OKC challenged, and in the replays it was obvious the ball was off OKC. Refs got it right in replay and awarded Pels the ball, but also ruled since the original call was overturned, it was a "successful challenge." The call as overturned went against OKC, but they call it "successful" and give OKC there time out back along with a second challenge. In the final minutes of the game, which was down to the wire, they called a charging foul on Ingram that was an obvious flop by Dort (Ingram made the shot, which was erased), then seconds later, awarded SGA 2 (made) FTs on a supposed reach-in foul. Multiple replay angles showed the contact wasn't incidental, it was non-existent.
with Zion out its a deflating and sad state of affairs. Idon't like ingram. takes bad shots, appears selfish and lazy. I very much like herb Jones and Trey murphy. I say keep those guys and trade ingram. willi green doesn't seem to have any idea how to coach set plays for the end of half or end of game. its always a turnover and the other guys score with .5 seconds left. its very frustrating. the pelicans are very entertaining when Zion is healthy. there is no other athlete in the world like him. when he is out, might as well turn it off and watch soccer.
A lot of speculation that BI came back from the knee injury too soon. May be part of his problem, but I think in general, the Zion injury just completely deflated the team. They may not have won a 7-game series over OKC with him, but they'd at least be competitive. Will watch tonight (was working Saturday and didn't bother with the replay) but I have no expectations for a win. I still think running it back this season with basically the same roster was the right thing to do; they showed so much potential in the first half of last season before the injuries started. Now (but I doubt it will happen) I think a substantial overhaul of the starting lineup is in order. Zion appears to have taken over the leadership role from CJ. You still need a true point guard; Point Zion is just not a sustainable offense. Keep working with Herb on his outside game, but if you can add a point who's solid from deep, you can live with Herb not being a major outside threat because of what he gives you on defense. Jonas is expendable; need a more mobile big who can shoot from outside and not only defend the rim against other bigs, but offer help defense. I want Murphy to be ready to take BI's spot and I think most people think he is ready. I think he's too inconsistent, but I also think the window to BI being marketable is going to close if we don't move on him soon. And yes, I'm done with Willie Green.
