Game Thread GAME# 66: BLAZERS @ PELICANS - MARCH 14, 2017 - TUESDAY, 5:00 PM (PST), CSNNW

I'd also put Harkless on Holiday as much as possible. He kills Dame/C.J. with his length, but with Evans, Heald, and Galloway all gone, they don't really have any big guards or small forwards that can hurt us. Hide Dame and C.J. on Hill and Thompson as much as possible. Jordan Crawford can score, but he makes Dame and C.J. look like first team all defense on the other end.

BNM

 

I have a feeling Nurk is gonna get jobbed by the refs against Cousins.

 

I actually hope he gets physical with Cousins and the refs let them play. Nothing takes Cousins out of a game mentally faster than perceived slight by the refs.

BNM

 

If you define a steal as talent incoming vs talent outgoing then it is definitely the Pelicans.

If you are talking which team fared better from their trade then it would have to be the Blazers.

 

If you thought Gortat was a tough matchup for Nurk wait until this one.

If the Pelicans aren't phoning it in he is going to have a real tough night on the defensive end. Offensively he's going to be limited to playing off the guards.

- Noah is going to need to stay out of foul trouble which will be tough.
- We will really miss Big Ed in this one, he'd be the difference maker in this game.
- Our guards will have to be locked in on defense because the bigs will have their hands full with the Pelicans bigs
- Shabazz could be a needed boost off the bench defensively
- Should stretch the Pelicans defense and force Boogie to move around on the defensive end

If I were Terry I would have already talked to Nurk about shooting 3's and this would be the game I would get his feet wet in that regard. Cousins won't want to come out and guard him unless he's knocking them down. The more he pops the more it's going to spread the court and open up the lane for the guards or the wings in the corner.

 

Beautiful evening here in The Big Easy FAMS.

 

Would be awesome to hear you rank your Favorite/Least favorite NBA cities to travel to and a brief explanation of why.

 

From my travels, Sacramento, OKC, Orlando, and Houston all make the bad part of the list.

 

What are your factors for ranking them?

I'd probably give points for Food/Weather/Traffic/Hotels/Airport

 

Houston is the worst.

Best kinda depends on the type of person you are.

I think New Orleans is a cool place.

 

I'm not sure I have factors to rank cities. It's just a general feeling. Sacramento has nothing. Their highest level of food or a hip bar is like something mid-level Eugene, which is saying a lot. Same for OKC, aside from some pretty damned good BBQ. Houston is actually a pretty cool city, but it is super scary to drive around that place. It is worse than LA traffic. I will never drive through there ever again. Orlando is nothing but strip mall after strip mall after strip mall after strip mall. And it is racist as fuck. I'll post a photo if you need some explanation.

 

That would be fun. Great idea.

 

Why on earth is Houston the worst? Great weather during the season. Great food. Great hotels. Great nightlife.

Now traffic......yeesh

 

I'm not so sure about this. Gortat is unflappable. He just plays his game and is very strong and crafty. With Boogie, you can get into his head. He doesn't like physical coming back at him. Between Nurkic and Biebs I can see him getting frustrated and doing something stupid--unlike Gortat.

Not sure what to do with Davis. Maybe give him the Westbrook treatment and just let him do his thing, but make sure nobody else does.

 

Davis is just a flat out tough cover for anyone. He's too quick and mobile for guys like Nurk and Vonleh and too long for guys like Aminu and Harkless. I think Aminu probably matches up best against him, of all the players on our roster. I like bringing Amimu off the bench in this case. Let Vonleh pick up the early fouls so that Aminu can play the majority of the minutes on Davis in quarters 2 through 4.

BNM

 

Let Davis get his.

 

I think you are much better off letting Boogie "get his" then Unibrow. Unibrow is nothing like Westbrook. He won't shoot them out of games.

 

This is very true. Good thing their starting 5 basically plays 3-on-5 on offense. With Solomon Hill and Hollis Thompson on the floor, we should have plenty of opportunities to help on both Davis and Cousins. I think out best unit tonight will be Nurk on Cousins, Aminu on Davis, Harkless on Holiday and hide Dame and C.J. on Hill and Thompson.

BNM

 

He won't, but frustrating Boogie to me should be the plan. Letting him get his will amount to bith getting theirs IMO