Bourbon Street Shots hosted our first watch party of the season at Tracey’s. Tracey’s is a great sponsor and a better po-boy shop/bar (many years ago, they were one of my first po-boys, and on the same street where I used to play basketball.) I walked into the game at halftime, emulating the casual fan that only watches the last two minutes of the game (or however that depiction of said fan goes). Here are observations from the game.
- The game was 56-51 at the half. It is nice to walk into a bar and see your team winning. And for the Miami in me, seeing certain small forwards on Cleveland losing (Shawn Marion).
- Eric Gordon spent most of the time after practice open to the press last week working on his baseline three-point shot, and he got two quick ones to start the half. One went straight in, the other in and out. Was good to see him put some work in and reap some benefits. Also, we’re a much better team with him playing well.
- Demographics display: Points in the paint stat shows the Cavs outscoring the Pelicans 42-24 in the paint. Which is the graphics guy’s way of saying the Pelicans stopped attacking the Cavs defense.
- But seriously, the Pelicans really did stop attacking that porous defense.
- The Cavs end the third quarter on a 16-1 run (just over 4 minutes).
- The run increases to 22-5 (around 6 minutes total), making the game 91-83, Cavs leading.
- Meat pies and cheese fries. I now catch myself intrigued by my bar neighbor’s food. It may be that it’s delicious (thanks sponsor) or it may be that the Pelicans are losing.
- Kevin Love was wide open, like Moses open, for four straight three point shots in the fourth. He made three of them. The lack of discipline on Love was disconcerting. No matter what the Pelicans’ pick and roll defense or rebounding philosophy is, a new set of rules has to be developed for a player like Love, and the team’s inability to make or adhere to those rules falls at the feet of Coach Monty Williams. (Love finished the game making 5 of 8 three pointers.)
- Omer Asik made back-to-back field goals off offensive rebounds. On the second make, he was walking back and the feed went out. Apparently no one can see Asik smile.
- On the other end, I think I will always remember Gordon via his patented hands outstretched, shrug and squint maneuver when he is called for any foul. Like how he did against the Spurs on Saturday at the worst of times, and a few times in the third and fourth of this game.
- Is it a foregone conclusion that Anthony Davis will average 20/10 this year?
- While I am amenable to mixing up matchups on defense, today’s seem to greatly fail. By putting Jrue Holiday on LeBron James, they allowed the team to see an obvious plan of attack, something that allowed what has been a skittish offense to focus on a weakness in the defense. Secondly, it took Jrue Holiday off of Kyrie Irving (who scored 27 points in the second half). Also, putting Davis on Love late in the game only took Davis away from the basket, as opposed to having him cover Tristan “No Range” Thompson. This allowed James to take his time while posting up our point guard.
All in all, the Pelicans hung around and played a good game with a team that has elite talent, but hasn’t put it all together. Cleveland is a hostile place to play, and the Pelicans were underdogs coming in. After beating the Spurs in San Antonio, they can leave this situation happy. But this game did bring some issues to the forefront. The Pelicans once again had too big a lull on offense when the starters were taken out of the game. Also, the lack of small forward on the team was obviously going to be a problem when playing against the Cavs, but other teams with big wings may start focusing on this. In the end, the Pelicans continue to make good strides, and it will be interesting to see how the return home treats the team.
14 responses to “Moleskin Moments: Cavaliers vs. Pelicans, Meat Pies and Cheese Fries”
Sorry, but BSS is really slipping in the basketball analysis phase of your game. If this is all that will be generated for this game, then shallow analysis of one half is pretty weak. If more analysis is forthcoming, then the time lag is overlong for the new media. I sense a decline in both quality and quantity of basketball analysis at this site compared to previous seasons…..
Points in the paint was hurt by many missed point-blank shots by Evans, Gordon, and Asik. The attacking was there, but the finishing was not. Evans did not settle for jumpers, but the results were still poor. I don’t recall a lot of “dumb zone” shots from our team as a whole.
Gordon continues to be a sieve on defense. He needs to be hidden, not started.
Anderson is back from injury, in all his glory. He got tired to end his own run in the first half, and was mostly ignored in the second half by our guards.
Sorry, but this was a non-winnable game from the referee standpoint. Love and Irving made big shots, but James did most of his damage with the benefit of extra free throws and uncalled push-offs. On the other end, Evans and Rivers were just the most obvious victims of swallowed whistle syndrome. We aren’t quite good enough to overcome that yet.
Woah up.
For each game, you have no doubt noticed that we have multiple post game pieces. They do not all come out at once. They are not all of the same focus or the same style. This one came out first.
If you want something ginned up in an hour, you can get that elsewhere. What we want is to give you what you can not get elsewhere, and sometimes that takes time.
I can not solve “I want it all, I want it my way, and I want it now.” Therefore, I will not try.
As far as a decline goes, I think you are right about fewer large analytical pieces. I can tell you in no certain terms that my out rate has declined. The quality, however, has not. Quite the opposite.
Good analysis, however, requires data. 6 games is some data, but not a ton. So decent analysis not overly affected by small sample sizes is hard to come by. You get some, but not a ton. Sorry, it does not float your boat, but we make choices. Could we do more? Sure. But, we are doing more… Just not more print analysis. More radio, twitter (largely replaced in game conversation threads), more in person events (last night took extra hours of hosting for us all, and Chris came late due to a class THEN stayed up to write his post), coverage of some practices, and more.
Again, choices. You’ve been a loyal reader for a long time, so I am taking the time to explain it. Feedback is great, so feedback both ways is doubly great. There’s your peek behind the curtain, and you’ve been heard. I think your comment is a bit harsh, but you’ve earned the right to be a bit harsh. I just think that perhaps our attempt to maximize value of our unpaid time by giving you less stuff duplicated elsewhere (e.g. typing out key parts of the game, X played well, Y did not) and more stuff that is not is running contrary to your expectations. That is understandable.
I thought we played pretty well overall. Cleveland just got red hot in the second half and that, coupled with the refs trying to screw us over, was too much for the Pelicans to overcome.
1. Asik was a really good pickup for us. The guy is in the mix for every rebound, even against big hustle guys like Varajeo. If he doesn’t get the rebound, he often can tip the ball, and that’s when the Brow cleans house. Both Asik and Davis were grabbing some TOUGH, heavily contested rebounds tonight. These two together bring something to the table that we haven’t really had in previous years (including the CP3 years).
2. Glad to see Gordon getting his stroke back. We’re going to need him this year. That reverse layup he missed near the end of the game was a killer, though.
3. Rivers is still a work in progress. He misses a lot of opportunities to make passes. Case in point: it was the second half and Kevin Love shot a 3 from the wing (and shockingly, missed it), and Rivers went over to the opposite corner to fight off, unbelieveably, Kevin Love for the rebound (how did he even get over there?). Rivers gathered the ball, dribbled past a slightly gassed Love into the open floor to start a mild break. Now, if you had their power forward far behind in your rear view mirror, wouldn’t you at least TRY and survey the paint to see what you can exploit on the other end? Anthony Davis wound up beating his man down the floor (and no help defense came because Love still hadn’t crossed half court) and clapped his hands to show he was open, but Austin didn’t even see the clap, because he’d already turned to pass to Holiday on the perimeter. Come on, dude.
Really looking forward to DESTROYING the Lakers on Wednesday and hearing the weeping and gnashing of teeth of all the Kobe Trolls in the SKC.
Hey Chris I was your neighbor with the meat pies, cheese fries, and Wikipedia citations. Nice read (I keep imagining Asik with what he calls a smile looking at the camera and the network losing its feed) and nice observations. Looking forward to reading more!
NOEngineer I appreciate feedback. This was only a half of coverage, which I didn’t like doing, but alas that is what I saw and shared (and I’m glad you’re not accusing me of jinxing the team, which I wondered aloud about.) While these articles are not exactly analytically soundproof, it is merely my perspective as a fan watching the game and mentioning what I see, as someone who has played and coached basketball at amateur levels. It is not the end all be all of coverage, but it is just a list of things I saw, a running diary in a similar vein to what Bill Simmons used to do pre-Grantland, and Ira Winderman still does for the Heat in the Sun Sentinel before releasing other articles. We usually have more analysis either by other writers or myself to supplement games and trends, but I write merely want I see for these pieces. You saw Gordon being a sieve, I saw cross-matchups being an issue. You saw favorable reffing being a factor, I thought our lackadaisical coverage of Love and Irving was an issue. We see different things, and I like the idea of us discussing it as if we were sitting at the bar together. I appreciate the read, and equally important, I appreciate the comment. And I have no problem discussing games or articles with anyone. And I hope when I come out with articles detailing trends via analytics and perspectives of players and coaches, that we can discuss those as well.
nolahog Yea Asik is a monster. Such a valuable player to have, anchors our defense, and such a huge effect on our rebounding. At a time when everyone is valuing space, it is interesting to see the effect of post players such as Asik and Boogie have on their respective teams. Our team looks completely different with him on the floor and overall.
On Gordon, I don’t think it can be said enough, we’re on another level when he plays up to his potential. He is our best floor spacer, and the only one we have that can burn you off the dribble if you close out too hard. I don’t expect to lose games he plays well in. Seeing him hit a couple of shots was encouraging.
Rivers is definintely a work in progress, but it is great seeing him play well in this role. He is our best reserve sans Ryan Anderson, and we don’t see much of a drop off when he comes in (as opposed to when the second wave of reserves come in.) I’m looking forward to watching him grow, I think he can be a valuable piece for us, especially since we’ve given up every pick since he’s left.
Voodooman Thanks for the read. Was great meeting you and talking about the game. Looking forward to catching more games around town, should definitely meet up for a game soon (next time, I’m getting the meat pies.)
I again enjoyed reading your piece. Also, as a basketball fan in general (who is interested in seeing how the Pelicans are going to develop) and a Heat fan in particular, I was interested in seeing how the Pelicans would match up with the Cavs. You make some very good points regarding the strategies used during the game. I was especially interested in seeing how AD and Asik would attach the lack of interior defense of the Cavs, which as you noted, never materialized. Thanks for the nice job and keeping us with no access to Pelican games up to date.
ChristopherRomaguera I like it when a revelation about the Pelicans hits me out of the blue and causes a bulb to light up over my head, and your comment in your reply to nolahog about Austin Rivers did that for me today, Chris. It should have been obvious before you even mentioned it, but you’re absolutely right that Rivers is currently the Pelicans’ best bench player after Ryan Anderson. Now, overall my assessment of last night’s road loss against the King and his Cavs is positive. I saw a lot more good things from our squad than bad. And it is definitely good to start to see hints of legitimate NBA caliber play out of Rivers. But it’s sad when you realize he is the 7th best player on this team, and as this season drags on, the excessive number of minutes that Monty Williams will justifiably give to players 1 through 7 (assuming they stay healthy) — combined with the limited minutes for players 8 through 15 — will help guarantee that any hoped-for playoff appearance by this team will be short-lived. But I’m still encouraged about the direction of the team and am anxious to see roster upgrades as soon as Dell Demps can afford them.
Jason Calmes GOL! Not laugh out loud, but Guffaw Out Loud! I lost my breath 2 or 3 times expelling air after reading and then reconsidering “Woah Up”…nice intro into that diplomatic response. I look forward each day to see what the next posting might be, but will fall short of asking you to have all writers post daily. Methinks that would turn into a mound of lower quality output. Still, I’d take it if you could pull it off.
Although the Pelicans lost I thought there was a little bit of
respect earned in this Cav’s game. From Australia and a fan from the CP3
Hornets to the now NOLA Pel’s, I’ve never heard an away feed commentators say
things like “This team can really play” and about AD “And he’s
only 21” or “This guys going to be an MVP before his careers
over” for a while which is great.
I thought our offence started really slow, AD getting the first
couple of buckets was good but it wasn’t till Ryno came one that we really jump
started our offensive game. I’m not a big fan of starts like this and I’d love
to see Monty get Gordon the ball for some early touches if this starts
happening again, I think early touches will bring him more into the game, even
if its just as a primary ball handler into the half court a few times early on.
Our D is getting better, the Mav’s (I thought) played a great pick/roll and
pick/pop game which I think was great learning curve for the Pel’s so early in
the season and I can see improvements.
AD’s last quarter was fantastic, getting into perfect
positioning, great hands. But I thought there wasn’t as many AD plays going
during Q2 and Q3 as I would expect someone to get after making the game winner
against the Spurs. (might be wrong if I rewatch the game)
Gordon and Tyreke weren’t great (and they don’t need to be every
game) but we lacked penetration, especially when Ryno was demanding the floor
be spaced through his ‘on fire’ shooting. Consequently that help D from the
Cav’s during a penetrating move never came across to leave Asik/AD for the easy
dunk that many times. Asikcould have gone to town on the Cav’s.
RE Cav’s: They needed all 3 of their guns to fire against us to
win, and they did… if one doesn’t fire we win that game… I agree with the
comment that Lebron gets some dubious calls because he’s Lebron. Love needed
the same respect as Ryno and Holiday on Kyrie in defence… I’ll finish by saying that
Gordon’s face is awesome when he gets picked up for fouling… pure awesome,
love it lol.
Good game to watch despite the lost…. wish I was in New
Orleans to make it to Tracey’s.
Honestly, it disappointments me when we do not have at least two things up each day: one game related, one additional. I understand why it is not this way, and I work to change it.
For me, it will become clear to all why I have been more irreglarly active soon. For others, that is for them.
Jason Calmes Well I hope all is well…thinking that new Pel slogan needs be “WOAH UP” as the league begins to take notice of our hopefully improving team…a win vs Cavs after winning on the road vs Spurs may have done the trick!
I do not think this team is there yet, winning thst game or not. However, I think they will be.