（订）Three points: Here's how the Pelicans' 'Achilles' heel' keeps hurting them由asjkfj 发表在翻译团招工部 https://bbs.hupu.com/fyt-store
As halftime approached against his old team Saturday, JJ Redick stared into an NBA bubble abyss. It was the look of a player who knew his team was defeated. The Pelicans trailed by 33 points at that point in their game against the Los Angeles Clippers — buried by their own unforced errors, lack of effort and a barrage of Clippers 3s.
The final score — Clippers 126, Pelicans 103 — wasn’t indicative of how lopsided the game was. Redick’s thousand-yard stare was a better barometer.
In Thursday's narrow loss to the Jazz, Redick — who in his first 13 seasons has never been on a team that didn’t make the playoffs — did his best to rally the Pelicans by nailing outside shots and being active on defense. In that game, the Pelicans climbed out of an early double-digit hole and were in control until the very end, when they fell behind and lost 106-104.
Two nights later, they got down early and never bothered to fight back.
Now, the Pelicans’ margin for error is next to none. They are four games behind the No. 8 Grizzlies and 2½ games (factoring in tiebreakers) behind the No. 9 Trail Blazers with only six games remaining.
Monday’s game against Memphis is essentially a must-win. Before we look forward, let’s take a look under the hood at Saturday’s embarrassing effort.
1. The Pelicans have been careless with the ball
Asked what went wrong Saturday, Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry declined to tee off on his team’s effort.
“It wasn’t the effort we played with,” Gentry said. "It was the decision-making."
In the first two games of the NBA’s restart, the Pelicans have given it away 39 times. They had 18 turnovers Saturday, which the Clippers converted into 34 points. Lonzo Ball, Jrue Holiday, Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson combined for 13 of those turnovers. The starting group, which includes those four plus Derrick Favors, was a strength before play was suspended indefinitely. But in the past two games, that group has looked exceptionally clunky.
So many of the errors they committed were unforced, the result of a team that can’t space the floor properly or even deliver simple passes. Jrue Holiday, who has nine turnovers in two games, is air mailing passes out of bounds.
The Pelicans’ assistant coaches had to look alive Saturday. They were frequent targets.
Turnovers have been an issue all season. The Pelicans have turned it over on 15.5% of their possessions, the second-highest rate in the NBA. In their two bubble games, they’ve turned it over on 19% of their possessions. Essentially, one in five possessions has ended in a giveaway at Walt Disney World.
It’s hard to win that way. They almost did Thursday because the Jazz weren’t making 3s. When you’re turning the ball over and your opponent is sinking 3s, it’s a recipe for a blowout.
"They made a bunch of 3s," Gentry said. "That being said, I still think the game came down to: We have to start managing out turnovers. It’s been our Achilles' heel the last two games."
2. Zion plays his least impactful game in Pelicans tenure
Usually, even Williamson’s “bad” games are good. In his first 20 games, he never scored fewer than 13 points. On Thursday, he left a lot to be desired in the defense and rebounding departments, but he was productive on offense in limited minutes on the floor.
His performance Saturday was the least he’s impacted a game as a Pelican. His final line: seven points (3-of-7 FG), five rebounds and three turnovers in 14 minutes. It was a carer low in points and minutes.
Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin said the team is using the No. 1 overall pick in such a limited role because Williamson didn’t play basketball for 13 days while he was dealing with a family matter and in quarantine. Griffin said the Pelicans want to avoid a soft-tissue injury.
“We’ve got perhaps the brightest young future in the NBA, and we’re going to protect that coming through this,” Griffin said in a midgame interview. “Zion’s being treated exactly like every member of our roster was. When it’s time for them to be opened up from a sports science standpoint, they were. And unfortunately, I know everyone watches our games — they want to see him. But he missed out on 13 days’ worth of what the rest of the team got. So unfortunately the nature of the bubble and the way the games are being played, we’ve just got to get him his 5-on-5 reps in these games.”
Headed into bubble play, there was buzz that Williamson had gotten into the sort of shape he was in during his lone season Duke. But whatever progress he made getting leaner was apparently lost during his 13 days away. He is back at square one.
3. Lonzo Ball's struggles at the rim
One of the biggest factors in the Pelicans’ midseason turnaround was Ball’s improved play. From late December to mid-March, Ball was the conductor of one of the NBA’s more efficient, entertaining offenses. What happened to that guy?
In two games, Ball has shot 4 of 19 from the field, including 2 of 8 from 3-point range and 1 of 4 at the free-throw line, and had 10 assists compared to six turnovers. He’s shot 2 of 8 inside of 5 feet. His inability and, at times, unwillingness to drive the ball inside and finish is perhaps the biggest hole left in his game. His touch around the rim comes and goes. He doesn't relish contact. At 6-foot-6, he has great size for a point guard, but too often, he doesn't take advantage of it.
Ball has played two poor games after a four-month layoff. He could easily turn it around Monday against Memphis. The purpose of this isn’t to overreact. It's simply to say that if the Pelicans want to make a run at the play-in tournament, they need their starting point guard to play better.
As halftime approached against his old team Saturday, JJ Redick stared into an NBA bubble abyss. It was the look of a player who knew his team was defeated. The Pelicans trailed by 33 points at that point in their game against the Los Angeles Clippers — buried by their own unforced errors, lack of effort and a barrage of Clippers 3s.
The final score — Clippers 126, Pelicans 103 — wasn’t indicative of how lopsided the game was. Redick’s thousand-yard stare was a better barometer.
In Thursday's narrow loss to the Jazz, Redick — who in his first 13 seasons has never been on a team that didn’t make the playoffs — did his best to rally the Pelicans by nailing outside shots and being active on defense. In that game, the Pelicans climbed out of an early double-digit hole and were in control until the very end, when they fell behind and lost 106-104.
Two nights later, they got down early and never bothered to fight back.
Now, the Pelicans’ margin for error is next to none. They are four games behind the No. 8 Grizzlies and 2½ games (factoring in tiebreakers) behind the No. 9 Trail Blazers with only six games remaining.
Monday’s game against Memphis is essentially a must-win. Before we look forward, let’s take a look under the hood at Saturday’s embarrassing effort.
1. The Pelicans have been careless with the ball
Asked what went wrong Saturday, Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry declined to tee off on his team’s effort.
“It wasn’t the effort we played with,” Gentry said. "It was the decision-making."
In the first two games of the NBA’s restart, the Pelicans have given it away 39 times. They had 18 turnovers Saturday, which the Clippers converted into 34 points. Lonzo Ball, Jrue Holiday, Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson combined for 13 of those turnovers. The starting group, which includes those four plus Derrick Favors, was a strength before play was suspended indefinitely. But in the past two games, that group has looked exceptionally clunky.
So many of the errors they committed were unforced, the result of a team that can’t space the floor properly or even deliver simple passes. Jrue Holiday, who has nine turnovers in two games, is air mailing passes out of bounds.
The Pelicans’ assistant coaches had to look alive Saturday. They were frequent targets.
Turnovers have been an issue all season. The Pelicans have turned it over on 15.5% of their possessions, the second-highest rate in the NBA. In their two bubble games, they’ve turned it over on 19% of their possessions. Essentially, one in five possessions has ended in a giveaway at Walt Disney World.
It’s hard to win that way. They almost did Thursday because the Jazz weren’t making 3s. When you’re turning the ball over and your opponent is sinking 3s, it’s a recipe for a blowout.
"They made a bunch of 3s," Gentry said. "That being said, I still think the game came down to: We have to start managing out turnovers. It’s been our Achilles' heel the last two games."
2. Zion plays his least impactful game in Pelicans tenure
Usually, even Williamson’s “bad” games are good. In his first 20 games, he never scored fewer than 13 points. On Thursday, he left a lot to be desired in the defense and rebounding departments, but he was productive on offense in limited minutes on the floor.
His performance Saturday was the least he’s impacted a game as a Pelican. His final line: seven points (3-of-7 FG), five rebounds and three turnovers in 14 minutes. It was a carer low in points and minutes.
Pelicans executive vice president of basketball operations David Griffin said the team is using the No. 1 overall pick in such a limited role because Williamson didn’t play basketball for 13 days while he was dealing with a family matter and in quarantine. Griffin said the Pelicans want to avoid a soft-tissue injury.
“We’ve got perhaps the brightest young future in the NBA, and we’re going to protect that coming through this,” Griffin said in a midgame interview. “Zion’s being treated exactly like every member of our roster was. When it’s time for them to be opened up from a sports science standpoint, they were. And unfortunately, I know everyone watches our games — they want to see him. But he missed out on 13 days’ worth of what the rest of the team got. So unfortunately the nature of the bubble and the way the games are being played, we’ve just got to get him his 5-on-5 reps in these games.”
Headed into bubble play, there was buzz that Williamson had gotten into the sort of shape he was in during his lone season Duke. But whatever progress he made getting leaner was apparently lost during his 13 days away. He is back at square one.
3. Lonzo Ball's struggles at the rim
One of the biggest factors in the Pelicans’ midseason turnaround was Ball’s improved play. From late December to mid-March, Ball was the conductor of one of the NBA’s more efficient, entertaining offenses. What happened to that guy?
In two games, Ball has shot 4 of 19 from the field, including 2 of 8 from 3-point range and 1 of 4 at the free-throw line, and had 10 assists compared to six turnovers. He’s shot 2 of 8 inside of 5 feet. His inability and, at times, unwillingness to drive the ball inside and finish is perhaps the biggest hole left in his game. His touch around the rim comes and goes. He doesn't relish contact. At 6-foot-6, he has great size for a point guard, but too often, he doesn't take advantage of it.
Ball has played two poor games after a four-month layoff. He could easily turn it around Monday against Memphis. The purpose of this isn’t to overreact. It's simply to say that if the Pelicans want to make a run at the play-in tournament, they need their starting point guard to play better.
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