Game 45: Pelicans @ Cavs 1/16/2023

[ijspeelman]

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[ijspeelman]

Okoro has a new haircut and he's 1/1 from three

[ijspeelman]

I'm obviously not ready to give up on Love, but this cold stretch is killing our bench spacing.

It doesn't help that Cedi is almost equally as cold.

[ijspeelman]

I cannot clip rn, but at 750ish in the 3rd, you can see how teams are defending us with Okoro and Mobley at the perimeter. Completely ignoring them. CJ waves off Okoro's three and just turns to rebound.

Yikes.

[JujitsuFlip]

I cannot clip rn, but at 750ish in the 3rd, you can see how teams are defending us with Okoro and Mobley at the perimeter. Completely ignoring them. CJ waves off Okoro's three and just turns to rebound.

Yikes.

Yeah, spacing gonna be a real tight for awhile with the current roster construction.

[mcfly1204]

Okoro straight bricking that dunk...

[ijspeelman]

I was at work trying to watch this so I don't have a lot to say. Should have won and won so that's at least good lol.

[jbk1234]

I'm reluctant to even articulate it, but Okoro may be turning a corner.

Stevens played hard and did the blue collar stuff for a change.

Allen had a good game.

Garland got us across the finish line with Mitchell out and Rubio on a minutes restriction.

[afarmenian]

Stevens played hard and did the blue collar stuff for a change.

Been a finesse player in your eyes? This is a confusing statement to me.

[jbk1234]

Stevens played hard and did the blue collar stuff for a change.

Been a finesse player in your eyes? This is a confusing statement to me.

He's been mailing it in for a few games. Little things like leaking out before we secured the defensive rebound, failing to get back in transition, or even attempting to go for the offensive rebounds, etc. I don't know if he was dissatisfied with his current role in the offense or what the deal is, but his role in the NBA is either as a high-energy off-the-bench hustle guy who's happy to mix it up, or he doesn't have a role in the NBA.

[ijspeelman]

I'm reluctant to even articulate it, but Okoro may be turning a corner.

Stevens played hard and did the blue collar stuff for a change.

Allen had a good game.

Garland got us across the finish line with Mitchell out and Rubio on a minutes restriction.

I'm staying away from the Okoro conversation for now... though I will mention the same thing everyone has mentioned: this month, he is currently shooting 11/20 from three. We'd be dumb to assume this is the norm, but is a course correct for his abhorrent shooting early in the season?

Who knows. The best sign for me is that he taking more off-balance threes. His confidence was so shaken that he could only shoot them when no one was closing out, and he was still missing. He's thrown in a stepback or two and he's caught the ball and tilted into shots when not being set.

[TheLand13]

I'm reluctant to even articulate it, but Okoro may be turning a corner.

Stevens played hard and did the blue collar stuff for a change.

Allen had a good game.

Garland got us across the finish line with Mitchell out and Rubio on a minutes restriction.

May be turning a corner?

He’s already done that.

He’s going to miss wide open threes. And his offense may never fully develop to the level of a legitimate 3/D player in the traditional sense. But he is no longer someone you can just leave open out at the perimeter anymore. There is no “living with him making that shot “. If you don’t respect him, he’ll make you pay for it, because he’s been doing that consistently now.

His confidence continues to grow with each game. His defense continues to be fantastic. He has found a place on this team.

[jbk1234]

I'm reluctant to even articulate it, but Okoro may be turning a corner.

Stevens played hard and did the blue collar stuff for a change.

Allen had a good game.

Garland got us across the finish line with Mitchell out and Rubio on a minutes restriction.

May be turning a corner?

He’s already done that.

He’s going to miss wide open threes. And his offense may never fully develop to the level of a legitimate 3/D player in the traditional sense. But he is no longer someone you can just leave open out at the perimeter anymore. There is no “living with him making that shot “. If you don’t respect him, he’ll make you pay for it, because he’s been doing that consistently now.

His confidence continues to grow with each game. His defense continues to be fantastic. He has found a place on this team.

No one wants Okoro to succeed more than me, but I'm going to need a much, much larger sample size.

[TheLand13]

I'm reluctant to even articulate it, but Okoro may be turning a corner.

Stevens played hard and did the blue collar stuff for a change.

Allen had a good game.

Garland got us across the finish line with Mitchell out and Rubio on a minutes restriction.

May be turning a corner?

He’s already done that.

He’s going to miss wide open threes. And his offense may never fully develop to the level of a legitimate 3/D player in the traditional sense. But he is no longer someone you can just leave open out at the perimeter anymore. There is no “living with him making that shot “. If you don’t respect him, he’ll make you pay for it, because he’s been doing that consistently now.

His confidence continues to grow with each game. His defense continues to be fantastic. He has found a place on this team.

No one wants Okoro to succeed more than me, but I'm going to need a much, much larger sample size.

Sure, we definitely want a larger sample size. I'm not denying that. But Okoro was doing the exact same thing last year once he got back into the swing of things after missing training camp. And teams continuing to lead him wide open will only continue to help him improve his shooting. Either way, we are benefiting from however teams decide to guard him.

[JonFromVA]

I'm just glad Isaac is back on the tracks even if we're still clueless where the train is heading.

The starting-5 still seems problematic, and I thought it was interesting how Garland once again found his shot and came alive in this game when basically given no other choice.

[afarmenian]

May be turning a corner?

He’s already done that.

He’s going to miss wide open threes. And his offense may never fully develop to the level of a legitimate 3/D player in the traditional sense. But he is no longer someone you can just leave open out at the perimeter anymore. There is no “living with him making that shot “. If you don’t respect him, he’ll make you pay for it, because he’s been doing that consistently now.

His confidence continues to grow with each game. His defense continues to be fantastic. He has found a place on this team.

No one wants Okoro to succeed more than me, but I'm going to need a much, much larger sample size.

Sure, we definitely want a larger sample size. I'm not denying that. But Okoro was doing the exact same thing last year once he got back into the swing of things after missing training camp. And teams continuing to lead him wide open will only continue to help him improve his shooting. Either way, we are benefiting from however teams decide to guard him.

I think teams leave him wide open because he doesn't shoot it well for a wide open shot. I am kinda speculating on this, but he has been shooting like 40 percent recently on mainly wide open no defender with a chance 3 pointers. I mean is that actually good? I know there are stats for wide open fg percentage and they certainly don't seem good. I don't know should't a player left wide open be hitting like 50 percent or more on corner 3s? Of course nobody would be able to do that because as soon as a player showed that ability teams would actually start to guard that part of the floor is at least my theory.

[jbk1234]

No one wants Okoro to succeed more than me, but I'm going to need a much, much larger sample size.

Sure, we definitely want a larger sample size. I'm not denying that. But Okoro was doing the exact same thing last year once he got back into the swing of things after missing training camp. And teams continuing to lead him wide open will only continue to help him improve his shooting. Either way, we are benefiting from however teams decide to guard him.

I think teams leave him wide open because he doesn't shoot it well for a wide open shot. I am kinda speculating on this, but he has been shooting like 40 percent recently on mainly wide open no defender with a chance 3 pointers. I mean is that actually good? I know there are stats for wide open fg percentage and they certainly don't seem good. I don't know should't a player left wide open be hitting like 50 percent or more on corner 3s? Of course nobody would be able to do that because as soon as a player showed that ability teams would actually start to guard that part of the floor is at least my theory.

I guess my question is, with Garland, Mitchell, Mobley, and Allen on the floor, do we really need anything other than a 5th player who opposing teams are afraid to leave open?