I think that anyone who is down on this season should watch Bane’s postgame interview. He made a lot of great points. The reality is that that Pelicans team has more or less been playing together for 3 years and knows each other well, while the Grizzlies lineups were playing together for the first time really. Learning where your teammates are comfortable picking their shots, the time it takes for them to learn what you like to do and where they like to move to when you do your thing, etc, etc… that all just takes time. Fandom isn’t known for patience but there’s really no other choice.
The positive side is that despite not have Ja, Adams, Clarke or Santi… despite shooting so dismally from beyond the arc or having people like X chucking up 5 threes (if you’re going to take the shot, you have to make them pay, otherwise you validated their decision to just let you shoot it out there) and having guys like Luke or Jake or Trip miss all theirs…
…despite that, it was a very close game in the end. A couple of made shots here, a few less turnovers there (looking at you, Wickit Smaht) and it’s a much different game. When you’re not down 10+ points most of the night, when you’re within striking distance, you just play differently.
Just one game of a long season. In a month, we’ll win games like that one.
I think that anyone who is down on this season should watch Bane’s postgame interview. He made a lot of great points. The reality is that that Pelicans team has more or less been playing together for 3 years and knows each other well, while the Grizzlies lineups were playing together for the first time really. Learning where your teammates are comfortable picking their shots, the time it takes for them to learn what you like to do and where they like to move to when you do your thing, etc, etc… that all just takes time. Fandom isn’t known for patience but there’s really no other choice.
The positive side is that despite not have Ja, Adams, Clarke or Santi… despite shooting so dismally from beyond the arc or having people like X chucking up 5 threes (if you’re going to take the shot, you have to make them pay, otherwise you validated their decision to just let you shoot it out there) and having guys like Luke or Jake or Trip miss all theirs…
…despite that, it was a very close game in the end. A couple of made shots here, a few less turnovers there (looking at you, Wickit Smaht) and it’s a much different game. When you’re not down 10+ points most of the night, when you’re within striking distance, you just play differently.
Just one game of a long season. In a month, we’ll win games like that one.