(Text/Los Ato Mitsui's basketball story)
In the just-concluded Pelicans vs. Thunder game, the Thunder eliminated the Pelicans and successfully entered the next round of playoffs, which also announced that the Pelicans had ended this summer.
At the end of last season, the Pelicans' youth team went all the way to the next level, starting with a 1-12 start to the second last place in the West and playing ninth in the West, winning two consecutive play-offs to secure the last playoff ticket. Later, in the playoffs, he played six games with the Western No. 1 Suns, which made the Suns break out in a cold sweat, and although he was out in the end, he still played the spirit of this youth army.
And this season, the team's lineup last season is basically preserved, after the return of one of the cores, Zion Williams, the team's prospects are very good, the Pelicans at the beginning of the season, gradually reduced to a play-off team, and now lost in the play-offs, what a sigh.
I summarized a few points about the reasons for the Pelicans' failure, and also gathered the opinions and opinions of some Pelicans fans who, like me, have watched all the games throughout the season.
One of the biggest reasons is the deformity of the lineup
Many fans may think it was an injury, but I have carefully analyzed that the roster's flaws are a difficult problem for the Pelicans to solve. The most important point is that the team does not have a point guard, there is no reliable playmaking point, and the only organization the team can rely on is Ingram, so as long as the Yingsong is on the field, the team's offense is chaotic and stagnant.
There is also the incompatibility of the team's internal line, the Pelicans inside line looks at a lot of people, the actual inside is the weakest link, Zion needless to say, historical level offensive ability, but the defensive end is a big colander, and the No. 4 position needs to do on the field to assist defense, sweep, frame protection can not do, but the unsolvable offense can be slightly made up, but the defensive end of the defensive end will be infinitely amplified by the opponent.
This season, Zion led the team 9-7 in the absence of the Warblers, and it can also be seen from here that although there is no solution to the attack, the deficiencies in the ability to lead the team and the defensive end are difficult to make this talent more successful. In this season, when Yingge and Zion play at the same time, the defensive end often has to let Yingge go to the No. 4 position to assist the protective frame, but Yingge has both the burden of scoring and organization, and at this time it is necessary to top the No. 4 position where the opponent's height and weight are advantageous, which directly leads to the Yingge's already somewhat lacking physical strength being infinitely amplified, and the fourth quarter thunder must have 8 minutes left to play, unable to bring help to the team in time.
At the same time, the incompatibility of Varan and Zion is also a big problem, Zion does not have the ability to shoot, Varan must go outside the three-point line to shoot three points, reduce the basket scoring ratio, which is a very unfriendly way for a traditional big center to play, so this season Varan offensive efficiency is a notch lower than last season.
And because Varan and Zion do not have the ability to protect the frame, Varan is too slow and often criticized for defensive ability, in this way, the Pelicans' starting inside duo is just strong on paper, but in fact, the flaws are huge, the two are difficult to have good chemistry, and the actual field is full of holes.
There is also the difficulty of interior substitution, the first interior substitute Nance Jr. is injured, Gomes is not as good as Varan defensively, and Hays, who has speed and a certain frame and mobile defense, is too lacking in offensive ability and was also pressed on the bench by the team.
Finally, there is the three-point shooting ability of the outside, the only professional three-point point point on the team is only Murphy, and the three-point ability is too poor, resulting in extremely crowded space for the team. So on the whole, the incompatibilities and loopholes in this team's lineup are the stubborn problems that this team can't go far.
The second reason is injury
Injuries are the biggest reason for directly cutting the Pelicans, and the Yingge concussion and toe injury at the beginning of the season directly caused the Yingge to be defective for almost 30 games, and finally because Zion was also injured, the team forced a comeback from consecutive losses, only to pull the team back from the line of life and death.
The other core of the Pelicans, Zion Williams, has been affected even more by injuries. At the same time, it is still the old question of growth, can Zion's health be maintained? He played 114 games in four seasons, while the Nets' Bridges, on the other hand, played 83 games in one season.
Is it that hard to maintain weight? Is projection so hard to practice? Without a stable projection, you can only gouge in one ball at a time, which is a kind of overdrawn playing defense, that is, James's kind of stable and scary tank layup must also have three-pointers as a conventional means to reduce the pressure on the body.
Moreover, Zion's original health is a problem, and he has not enriched his offensive means and arsenal, and this single attack is bound to aggravate his glass physique. If Zion doesn't change his way of playing and try to shoot, his career may be accompanied by injuries for a long time.
Although the current boss of the Pelicans is Ingram, the configuration of the team is completely built around Zion, and it is a bit irresponsible for you to hang the no-go card when the whole team revolves around you.
Meanwhile, injuries to Alvarado, Nance Jr., and Dyson Daniels since mid-season have severely weakened the depth of the squad. Not only are the two core Warblers and Zion glass, but even the players on the bench are plagued by injuries.
The third reason for failure is coaching and management.
Needless to say, management does not pay attention to the Pelicans and is reluctant to spend money to upgrade the roster. But this is not the core reason for this season's failure, and as for this season's failure, manager Willy Green is really to blame.
First of all, Varan was picked and played by the opposite side on the defensive end, and he did not want Shanghai to strengthen the defense, but let Yingge go to the top 5 position. A player with a strong size advantage in the No. 3 position, constantly top the center position, to score, to organize, to protect the frame, to defend, originally Yingge physical fitness is a weakness, but also let him take on a lot of unnecessary tasks, do so much dirty work. Hayes is no matter how much he is the No. 8 pick in the first round, but the team is not willing to develop at all, which shows the chaos of this team's management.
The second is the rotation problem, before Alvarado's injury, it was the team's first rotation, and a defensive colander with average offensive ability and short height served as the team's first rotation. Last season proved that the most appropriate thing is to use him as a surprise soldier, suddenly playing to "steal the ball" to ignite the atmosphere and ignite the passion of the team. But once he has too much possession, a lost draft is limited by talent, and it brings more side effects to the field.
The third is Green's leadership problem, the team discipline is extremely poor, J often gives power to let role players play randomly, role players are to assist the core players, at the beginning of the season, sometimes an offensive round, Yingge and Zion two cores can not get the ball, but Alvarado and Marshall are playing at will, playing randomly, how can an undisciplined team go far? And today, CJ has seriously injured the team, Willie still keeps him on the field, not once or twice this season, CJ's slump and a lot of possession of shots and defensive loopholes have caused great damage to the team.
The fourth is Willy Green's tactical literacy, when Zion retired from injury in the middle of this season, it is completely possible to copy the winning streak at the end of last season, putting Hays as the starting lineup and Varan complementing each other to form twin towers, but Green not only does not use Hays, but often gives the ball to players in the game, I have seen the Pelicans game mess and no tactics more than once, which is completely Willy Green's dereliction of duty.
But the Pelicans still have a good outlook, the Warblers, Zion can turn the tide in the West as long as they can stay healthy, Murphy and Jones are very promising young men. Just as passionate as the end of last season, next season, no one wants to meet us.
The loss of the game must be very uncomfortable for our fans, working hard for so long, still unable to do anything about the failure, presumably everyone is very unwilling. I didn't even look at the screen at the last moment, my heart was pounding, my palms were full of sweat, and I really had a sore nose at the moment I finally lost, but where in the world are there so many good things? I hope that the life of all fans is greater than basketball, and don't let the bad mood of losing affect you.
Finally, a poem to the Pelicans and us: The children of Koto are talented, and the comeback is unknown. I also hope that the brothers will face life positively and optimistically