The New Orleans Pelicans host the Charlotte Hornets in a battle that proves to be much more interesting than a collision of 1-2 teams in different conferences normally is. First, the Pelicans have lost two division games in a row after a strong showing against a weak Eastern team. Dropping a third game to the still-iffy-now-Hornets may start some panicky rumbles. Next, Charlotte is dealing with just who they really are, and that’s not even touching the branding. Lastly, if the on-court battle is both as epic and as silly as the battle of the brands, this one is going to be hard to not watch.
We’ll update this post with any news, relevant articles, or great comments, of course.
Check out Chris Trew’s take on the branding.
My questions to start the chit-chat:
- Can Alexis Ajinca keep his fouling under control?
- How will Jimmer Fredette score his first field goal for the Pelicans?
- Is this the game where Tyreke Evans actually shoots a fireball, and (bonus) would that be a foul?
19 responses to “Charlotte Hornets @ New Orleans Pelicans Open Thread”
Although the Pelicans have played only 3 games. The need for a 3 and D seems more obvious with EG struggling and no other options available on the bench….No panic, but It would be great to have that and allow Tyreke to play his natural position at SG. If EG continues to struggle, Monty should bring him off the bench to play against mostly second unit guards……Perhaps Salmons as a starter with limited minutes want hurt……
Can Alexis Ajinca keep his fouling under control? NoHow will Jimmer Fredette score his first field goal for the Pelicans? Catch & Shoot 3Is this the game where Tyreke Evans actually shoots a fireball, and (bonus) would that be a foul? Yes, No and he will follow it with a hurricane kick. THAT will be called for a foul, fine & possible suspension.
The only question that matters imo…..Can we make shots?
No but that’s ok. Jinx is there to play back up
– who cares, Fredette isn’t that important
– tyreke.just needs to play smart
Going on an adventure, ill be watching with the Hornet’s commentators. If i hear NAWLINs one more time its over with, im changing streams
So far they look ok, gordon continues to struggle….. ASIK 4 made free throws!! More defensive miscues than i would like
Yeah i think i might be done watching this. Monty takes out Austin while he is doing well, to insert gordon who is obviously struggling with everything even shooting. the hard hedge is in full effect and as confusing and ineffective as ever. Multiple times Davis hard hedged and tripped his team mate. who was trying to recover. We aren’t getting a lot of good shots, just making some tough ones and getting offensive rebounds. I don’t want to admit it, but i don’t think we make the playoffs with Monty….
Loving what I’m seeing with the Pels defense. At least with the starters. When the top guys go out idk about that. But our top 6 replacing Gordon with Rivers is playing nice now. As for Gordon, there aren’t many starting or backup SGs in the league that I think could have as bad a shooting percentage as him now.
Bench Players: Rivers is playing much better. Ajinca has it all, once he controls his fouls. Jimmer tonight showed everything but a shot, and is looking like he has a more well-rounded game than he has previously shown.
The Core 5 (Davis, Evans, Holiday, Asik, and Anderson): All played well: 3 double doubles, a near double double, Ryan shot very well, and Tyreke has a the team leading 3 pt shooting percentage(!) so far this season.
Gordon: Increased the likelihood he comes off the bench against the Spurs. He has to have set the record for a starter playing the most minutes to start the season and still having a negative # PER. That’s right, his PER has a negative sign (-) in front of it!
ByronMarcusWashington Monty get any credit for the adjustments and the win? Or does he just get blame and then when the team wins it is in spite of him?
I think there are fair criticisms of Monty. What bothers me is when it is so unbalanced. Point out the bad, sure. But acknowledge the good too. Only fair.
504ever Agree with a lot of it, but Ajinca can’t be played. His fouls aren’t just something he has to get over. They are a killer and he obviously can’t help himself. He gives away free points and he hurts our team even when he isn’t on the floor. When he racks up fouls like that, it gets us in the penalty early – like it did in the Memphis game.
Now, every foul is 2 FT’s. Thats a killer. He can’t play. His fouls outweigh all his positives. Its a shame.
Michael McNamara 504ever Totally agree…the foul with 0.4 sec left in the first half cost us the lead…when he came in the second half, he fouled again within his first minute. Must be terrible footwork or possibly his bird-thin legs can’t hold anyone off?
Indeed there is always some good to be seen in a game, I’m just tired of saying “you can’t blame it all on the coach” I’ve been saying that for the last three to four years now and it’s getting a little redundant. Ive been a supporter of monty through and through only to see the same mistakes being made over and over again. He sometimes does adjust as you stated, and my comments were around halftime so they were premature, but to me he does not adjust fast enough where as some casual fans can see that something isn’t working he goes with that something for an extra 6 min. To even everything off, I’m fairly critical of asik and Evans missing point blank range layups, (More so Evans) Gordon getting all this pt and being a no show, and also Davis taking mid range j’s, not attacking and not being in the flow of the offense sometimes ( not often)
– E.Gordon is STEALING money. lol. im sure hell bounce out of this slump but hes not worth 16 mill and thats killing the team
– Evans continues to shoot well!
– the team is lead by Holiday and Unibrow. solid games. as well as Ryno
– Bench is still horrible but rivers played well. Jimmer, russ and Jinx are not NBA players
– Charlotte is NOT a good team (they took a step back by losing McBob in the off season). this etam cant shoot. Kemba and Lance were 5/19 13pts and 6 turnovers
Pelican Poster Michael McNamara 504ever
Agree, that’s why I say “once he controls his fouls”. Believe it or not, that will happen.
504ever Pelican Poster Michael McNamara What evidence is there that he will control them? If a guy never picked up fouls and then I said, “But eventually, he will start fouling a ton.” – that would sound crazy right?
So why isn’t it crazy when people assume the opposite? Not only has he failed to improve it over last year, the problem has gotten worse! He is averaging 16 fouls per 36 mins this year.
You can be an optimist, but as a realist, I see absolutely no reason to believe that it will get better.
Monty frustrates the hell out of me.
“Crazy?” What? Are you a doctor? You going to 5150 @504ever? Humble yourself bro. You’re the moderator on this site and calling people crazy. As a moderator, shouldn’t you run the discussion with more integrity and maturity? Nonsensical, illogical, irrational” are all better terms you could have used to argue your point. Why do you feel the need to berate everyone that disagrees with you? You’re so bitter.
504ever Pelican Poster Sorry, crazy was the wrong word because it could be taken literally. Substitute absurd or fantastical instead.
I just think giving Ajinca the benefit of the doubt is optimistic. The numbers say we shouldn’t. He is who he is in that regard – a foul machine sent from the future to destroy us all.