This team will go nowhere until they learn how to play defense. Simple as that.
Ciccone7
Defense. Defense. Defense. Not going to win any games allowing 30 and 40 points quarters consistently. Gotta figure something out on that end. On to the Bulls.
drwatsonlll
We ain’t who we thought we was
FlockedDown
We need defense. Stop playing Graham. Use Dyson inject defense. At some point we gotta have defenders in here.
Sslagathor
I cant believe the Kings traded Hali, its mental.
Also CJ has been terrible this season
_Wado3000
Zion and JV cannot coexist defensively. Every team will inevitably get either the easiest looks under the rim or the widest of open 3’s.
After tonight, I think JV is our best trade chip and I fucking love that man. Have to address defense.
legend023
We can’t be considered a clear top 6 seed let alone contender until we fix our defense
We scored the ball today but that doesn’t matter when Myles Turner has the game of his life because you don’t know wtf to do to stop him and Haliburton is dicing the defense up all game
IWV23
At no point did I feel like they were going to win this game or the last…the offense is no where near good enough to keep up with just how awful they are defensively.
Agreeable-Fig-1132
They really let Myles Turner go off. 😂
Lyte_Work
Same team that let the worst 3pt shooting team beat them with a 3. Zion never gets to enjoy his elite scoring games.
kyledanna
is Larry okay??
GreenVisorOfJustice
Willie has somehow created a less interesting looking version of Alvin Gentry’s team with a better record.
All of this is on Willie right now because the buck stops with you when you won’t play high upside rookies, will let players (CJ) take awful shots with your two max players on the court and not touching the ball, and got one of your max players (Zion) not playing a lick of defense for 80% of the game.
SpaceAfricanJesus
Terrible defensive awareness all around. Funnily enough, Zions first really solid game on defense goes to waste, he was a beast all game long on both ends.
BI got it going in the 2nd half.
I’m not gonna say the refs were the reason they lost, but some of these errors matter in the end. The out of bounds call that led to a 3, the “foul” Herb had that made Willie use a challenge, and multiple missed walks on the Pacers. Also don’t know how they attempted 6 more FTs while attempting 14 more 3s.
I also get 3 of our 5 losses have been in OT, and we’ve had 3 home games out of 10, plus some injuries, but we still should be better than .500.
Oh well, Now for the Saints to let me down too 🙁
Fantasy_Guru11
Alvarado>CJ
causewaytoolong
Felt kinda like Gentry Pels tonight.
No cohesive offensive identity, super inconsistent defense.
They’ll figure it out tho. Onto the next one.
LuthorNZ
Another big L for Willie as a coach. Stagnant, stubborn, shellshocked.
There is no excuse in the fucking universe to not have Dyson out anchoring this defence. If we stick with the same rotations that got us three OT choke losses, we’re going to be getting the same results.
We know what Graham gives us, and it’s appreciated when the streakiness lands. But I’ll take Dyson 9 times out of 10 for the length, defence and playmaking.
WhoDat-2-8-3
At least we still have the saints .
shahsnow
We need to grow up as a team, simple as that. We are not the cute little brother underdogs anymore. If we want to be respected we have to play like we belong.
Some positives in Zions offense tonight but we won’t go anywhere with our defense.
Ok-Tiger6419
Valanciunas is a walking liability. Enes Kanter bad. Has cinderblocks for feet. Trade him
SevenHunnet3Hi5s
this team is like me in college how i don’t try on an assignment until right before it’s due and i still ultimately fail
RaginCajun28
Just a Pathetic display
GentlestCrib15
We gotta get a center that can defend with Zion on the floor. If we gotta trade JV, Jaxson, Billy to do that then it is what it is
TurboS54
Myles Turner had more points than Zion and CJ combined and the defense gave up 50/46/92 shooting splits trolololol get the fuck outta here
liljettt
We’ve reached Alvin Gentry level defense, we not winning shootouts right now
WelbeckStoleMyHeart
Defence is putrid. Bigs that shoot 3s eat us alive.
Willie also needs to find ways for Zion to catch the ball and get to his spots more comfortably. Z is quite hesitant mid drive at times today. Too few shot attempts for him.
On a sidenote, some zion stans are coming out of woodwork to berate everyone else and demand 40 shots from him in a quarter. How reminiscent of 2020-2021.
BobMarleynthewhalers
we are not as stacked as we think. lots of work to do as players and coaches
Agreeable-Fig-1132
1) There’s no excuse for not running the offense through Zion or BI every single play down the floor. None whatsoever. Even SVG knew that.
2) Dyson. Dyson. Dyson. WTF is he doing rotting on the bench when the team needs hustle, rebounding and defense. WTF is it with Willie Green and rookies.
3) The rotations are garbage as usual. Stop it with these 2 big 90s lineups. Stop it with these 3 midget guard rotations where they give up every single rebound.
TurboS54
If we just forced Zion to take 40 shots a game instead of 15, the defense would fix itself for sure
BasketballLiker
Can’t say I’m a big fan of Willie going super small for the entire fourth quarter. It clearly didn’t work at all. I hope Larry isn’t hurt because this team can’t withstand 28 minutes a game of Zion at center, and Willie apparently hates JV now
BrunoBuckets64
Last season JV was our saviour, remember when BI missed some games he single handedly won us a few games. However now with the big 3 we don’t have as much need for him on the offensive end, this combined with his black hole defence creates a massive net negative. Like BBQ chicken with him and Zion out there.
Select-Hearing-9298
Pels stacked. League outworking Pels.
enrobderaj
Rough one again tonight. Bought into the hype again. Getting disappointed again. Early in season but already losing hope. I don’t know what defensive sets we were running today but leaving everyone open was pretty awful.
rockmusic83
I think we may have expected too much too fast. This team hasn’t played together. This team with the bench also hasn’t figured out rotations. We have to be better on defense and at the free throw line. I’m not worried yet. I’ll let them figure it out. It’s not even January.
amadea_saoirse
Honeymoon phase over. We got talent but man, people are being misused and underutilized.
DexPrezShort
I love JV, but he simply doesn’t fit on this team with Zion, BI, and CJ. We can get great value for him from a team that needs a center like him.
itskarl
Might be a hot take, but I always thought that to make this team a contender is to replace CJ and JV. I don’t know with who, but these 2 are below average defenders and take possessions off our 2 main guys.
Loverofsports2022
So why isn’t Trey shooting more? I know he had a few rough nights but he was making shots tonight. Rough perimeter defending for the team.
JayDogon504
We some mid
BatmanHive
The scouting report is out on this team and that is to attack them via pick and roll each time. Even Jordan Clarkson did that in the Jazz game. JV and Zion on defense together is just not going to work unless Zion randomly takes a huge leap there. You need a big there who is able to move his feet on defense especially if Pelicans insist on playing switch defense.
I like JV and still want him on the team but his best role might be as a 6 man like he was earlier in his career and getting a defensive 5 to start. Nance has already been overused by Willie Green and as much as I like him, he can only do so much and in spurts. He just isn’t big enough to do it full time
Vince3737
Dyson NEEDS more min. He is our only above average defender besides Herb
BubbleGumGuy94
Honestly offence I’m happy with, even with cj being ass at the moment, we’re not doing too many turnovers, it’s the defence!
Honestly from what all these ten games, Zion and JV cannot coexist, we need a quicker switchable big that doesn’t drop in every screen, I would actually trade for turner he looked great
Also the defensive discipline isn’t where it should, too many times I saw someone on the perimeter whether it was Jose or Zion just drifting into the paint so by time it was kicked out to the corner it was too late and they got a three, also trey defensively isn’t communicating, he’s getting stuck on switches
YourPostTitleIsTrash
Feels like other teams run up and get a bucket with little to no stress. All our buckets feel hard earned and fragile.
The parts of our team are great but getting them to work together smoothly doesn’t feel like it’s there yet.
Zion gets tilted easily and becomes aggressive. It gets him to back himself more for plays but also puts the blinkers on. Needs to find a good balance.
dumbledorky
Hope Larry is alright. 2 things we (Willie and the coaching staff) need to work on:
* PnR defense. Something must be done. * Rotations. Why is Jose only playing 14 minutes? Devonte’s shot was falling in the first half and he had an alright game, but why is Naji out there? More of those minutes should be going to Dyson, he’s already one of our best and most versatile defenders. Trey got 28 minutes tonight but the last 2 he got 24 and 19, he should be in the high 20s every night at least.
If Larry is out for any extended period we need a backup big tomorrow.
jacobythefirst
Defensively we need to be able to adjust it’s obvious that teams pick us apart with PnR’s all day long and it’s obnoxious watching someone always getting open when it happens. We either need to step up the energy out there or we will die.
Offensively not great but not bad either. Going scoreless for almost 3 minutes in the 2nd is not ok. But the points we did score was enough.
Ultimately we lost due to the differences in hitting 3’s and the defensive end.
44 Comments
This team will go nowhere until they learn how to play defense. Simple as that.
Defense. Defense. Defense. Not going to win any games allowing 30 and 40 points quarters consistently. Gotta figure something out on that end. On to the Bulls.
We ain’t who we thought we was
We need defense. Stop playing Graham. Use Dyson inject defense. At some point we gotta have defenders in here.
I cant believe the Kings traded Hali, its mental.
Also CJ has been terrible this season
Zion and JV cannot coexist defensively. Every team will inevitably get either the easiest looks under the rim or the widest of open 3’s.
After tonight, I think JV is our best trade chip and I fucking love that man. Have to address defense.
We can’t be considered a clear top 6 seed let alone contender until we fix our defense
We scored the ball today but that doesn’t matter when Myles Turner has the game of his life because you don’t know wtf to do to stop him and Haliburton is dicing the defense up all game
At no point did I feel like they were going to win this game or the last…the offense is no where near good enough to keep up with just how awful they are defensively.
They really let Myles Turner go off. 😂
Same team that let the worst 3pt shooting team beat them with a 3. Zion never gets to enjoy his elite scoring games.
is Larry okay??
Willie has somehow created a less interesting looking version of Alvin Gentry’s team with a better record.
All of this is on Willie right now because the buck stops with you when you won’t play high upside rookies, will let players (CJ) take awful shots with your two max players on the court and not touching the ball, and got one of your max players (Zion) not playing a lick of defense for 80% of the game.
Terrible defensive awareness all around. Funnily enough, Zions first really solid game on defense goes to waste, he was a beast all game long on both ends.
BI got it going in the 2nd half.
I’m not gonna say the refs were the reason they lost, but some of these errors matter in the end. The out of bounds call that led to a 3, the “foul” Herb had that made Willie use a challenge, and multiple missed walks on the Pacers. Also don’t know how they attempted 6 more FTs while attempting 14 more 3s.
I also get 3 of our 5 losses have been in OT, and we’ve had 3 home games out of 10, plus some injuries, but we still should be better than .500.
Oh well, Now for the Saints to let me down too 🙁
Alvarado>CJ
Felt kinda like Gentry Pels tonight.
No cohesive offensive identity, super inconsistent defense.
They’ll figure it out tho. Onto the next one.
Another big L for Willie as a coach. Stagnant, stubborn, shellshocked.
There is no excuse in the fucking universe to not have Dyson out anchoring this defence. If we stick with the same rotations that got us three OT choke losses, we’re going to be getting the same results.
We know what Graham gives us, and it’s appreciated when the streakiness lands. But I’ll take Dyson 9 times out of 10 for the length, defence and playmaking.
At least we still have the saints .
We need to grow up as a team, simple as that. We are not the cute little brother underdogs anymore. If we want to be respected we have to play like we belong.
Some positives in Zions offense tonight but we won’t go anywhere with our defense.
Valanciunas is a walking liability. Enes Kanter bad. Has cinderblocks for feet. Trade him
this team is like me in college how i don’t try on an assignment until right before it’s due and i still ultimately fail
Just a Pathetic display
We gotta get a center that can defend with Zion on the floor. If we gotta trade JV, Jaxson, Billy to do that then it is what it is
Myles Turner had more points than Zion and CJ combined and the defense gave up 50/46/92 shooting splits trolololol get the fuck outta here
We’ve reached Alvin Gentry level defense, we not winning shootouts right now
Defence is putrid. Bigs that shoot 3s eat us alive.
Willie also needs to find ways for Zion to catch the ball and get to his spots more comfortably. Z is quite hesitant mid drive at times today. Too few shot attempts for him.
On a sidenote, some zion stans are coming out of woodwork to berate everyone else and demand 40 shots from him in a quarter. How reminiscent of 2020-2021.
we are not as stacked as we think. lots of work to do as players and coaches
1) There’s no excuse for not running the offense through Zion or BI every single play down the floor. None whatsoever. Even SVG knew that.
2) Dyson. Dyson. Dyson. WTF is he doing rotting on the bench when the team needs hustle, rebounding and defense. WTF is it with Willie Green and rookies.
3) The rotations are garbage as usual. Stop it with these 2 big 90s lineups. Stop it with these 3 midget guard rotations where they give up every single rebound.
If we just forced Zion to take 40 shots a game instead of 15, the defense would fix itself for sure
Can’t say I’m a big fan of Willie going super small for the entire fourth quarter. It clearly didn’t work at all. I hope Larry isn’t hurt because this team can’t withstand 28 minutes a game of Zion at center, and Willie apparently hates JV now
Last season JV was our saviour, remember when BI missed some games he single handedly won us a few games. However now with the big 3 we don’t have as much need for him on the offensive end, this combined with his black hole defence creates a massive net negative. Like BBQ chicken with him and Zion out there.
Pels stacked. League outworking Pels.
Rough one again tonight. Bought into the hype again. Getting disappointed again. Early in season but already losing hope. I don’t know what defensive sets we were running today but leaving everyone open was pretty awful.
I think we may have expected too much too fast. This team hasn’t played together. This team with the bench also hasn’t figured out rotations. We have to be better on defense and at the free throw line. I’m not worried yet. I’ll let them figure it out. It’s not even January.
Honeymoon phase over. We got talent but man, people are being misused and underutilized.
I love JV, but he simply doesn’t fit on this team with Zion, BI, and CJ. We can get great value for him from a team that needs a center like him.
Might be a hot take, but I always thought that to make this team a contender is to replace CJ and JV. I don’t know with who, but these 2 are below average defenders and take possessions off our 2 main guys.
So why isn’t Trey shooting more? I know he had a few rough nights but he was making shots tonight. Rough perimeter defending for the team.
We some mid
The scouting report is out on this team and that is to attack them via pick and roll each time. Even Jordan Clarkson did that in the Jazz game. JV and Zion on defense together is just not going to work unless Zion randomly takes a huge leap there. You need a big there who is able to move his feet on defense especially if Pelicans insist on playing switch defense.
I like JV and still want him on the team but his best role might be as a 6 man like he was earlier in his career and getting a defensive 5 to start. Nance has already been overused by Willie Green and as much as I like him, he can only do so much and in spurts. He just isn’t big enough to do it full time
Dyson NEEDS more min. He is our only above average defender besides Herb
Honestly offence I’m happy with, even with cj being ass at the moment, we’re not doing too many turnovers, it’s the defence!
Honestly from what all these ten games, Zion and JV cannot coexist, we need a quicker switchable big that doesn’t drop in every screen, I would actually trade for turner he looked great
Also the defensive discipline isn’t where it should, too many times I saw someone on the perimeter whether it was Jose or Zion just drifting into the paint so by time it was kicked out to the corner it was too late and they got a three, also trey defensively isn’t communicating, he’s getting stuck on switches
Feels like other teams run up and get a bucket with little to no stress. All our buckets feel hard earned and fragile.
The parts of our team are great but getting them to work together smoothly doesn’t feel like it’s there yet.
Zion gets tilted easily and becomes aggressive. It gets him to back himself more for plays but also puts the blinkers on. Needs to find a good balance.
Hope Larry is alright. 2 things we (Willie and the coaching staff) need to work on:
* PnR defense. Something must be done.
* Rotations. Why is Jose only playing 14 minutes? Devonte’s shot was falling in the first half and he had an alright game, but why is Naji out there? More of those minutes should be going to Dyson, he’s already one of our best and most versatile defenders. Trey got 28 minutes tonight but the last 2 he got 24 and 19, he should be in the high 20s every night at least.
If Larry is out for any extended period we need a backup big tomorrow.
Defensively we need to be able to adjust it’s obvious that teams pick us apart with PnR’s all day long and it’s obnoxious watching someone always getting open when it happens. We either need to step up the energy out there or we will die.
Offensively not great but not bad either. Going scoreless for almost 3 minutes in the 2nd is not ok. But the points we did score was enough.
Ultimately we lost due to the differences in hitting 3’s and the defensive end.
On to the next one.