We are moving slowly with our 2020-21 reports, and we move on to those teams who could have, who perhaps should have, but which in the end “did not”. For different reasons, and for the Pels, in particular, the fact of playing two against five and often without a coach. Come on, zou, we’re talking about it, and it’s not necessarily jojo.
WHAT TRASHTALK HAS REPORTED
Strictly speaking, there is no real “hype train”, but still some hopes at the dawn of this 2020-21 season. The arrival on the bench of Stan Van Gundy, the extension of Brandon Ingram for 158 potatoes and the expected domination of Zion Williamson… enough to imagine the Pels playing a place in the Playoffs calmly? Um, hype measured all the same, the departure of Jrue Holiday being clearly bad news for the balance of the roster in place while the arrival in the staff of … Gar Forman, even in a shadow role, was not necessarily good news given the loser CV of the guy. So it started in a tenth place potentially “play-inable”, tenth place so Pels but clearly more interesting to go for this season.
WHAT REALLY HAPPENED
A season that begins not on the hats of wheel but at least on roulette caps. 4-2 at the start then the problems begin, Lonzo Ball has become a sniper but Zion Williamson for example struggles to get started. A small victory in nine games, and the great moment of the beginning of the calendar year which lies in the meeting on January 8 between the Ball brothers, great, great. It always loses as much in January, even if the month of Kings ends with a nice wink – which is useless – and a prestigious victory against the Bucks, with a particularly fit Eric Bledsoe, she is very good that one.
The following ? A literally unplayable Zion Williamson and a less constant Brandon Ingram but also in All-Star border mode, and the bayou which begins to rollercoaster. 6-2 at the start of the month then a small victory in six games, before seeing the returning Isaiah Thomas show his three apples in the space of a few games, before (re) losing five times in six games. It starts to smell like red beans, especially when the handyman Josh Hart is injured, despite the great revelation … Naji Marshall, who will also be rewarded with a well-deserved contract in the spring. The more the days go by, the more the play-in moves away, and finally the ax falls at the beginning of May. No playoffs, no play-in, no arms, no chocolate and… no more Stan Van Gundy, dismissed from his functions exactly as these lines are written, after only one year at the head of the New squad Orleans. How was this season at NOLA then? It was ugly.
THE IMAGE OF THE SEASON
November 17, and the dreaded news falls for Pels fans, assuming it exists. After seven years of good and loyal service in Louisiana, including incredible 2018 Playoffs in which he had, among other sweets, put a certain Damian in his back pocket, Jrue Holiday packs his bags and leaves NOLA. 17.2 points, 4.6 rebounds and 6.8 assists, that’s for the stats, but above all a real aura, a two-way player background elite and ultimate team player status which will now be lacking in New Orleans. Lonzo Ball has talent, there is something young to develop on the back line, Eric Bledsoe has a bit of chest and XP… but the loss is immense and the Pels will quickly realize it.
HE CARDED: ZION WILLIAMSON
So we are going to do like Zion Williamson when he attacks the basket: we are not going to go four ways. This season, Zion held on to the oaks that serve as his legs, he played 61 games out of about 65 possible before throwing in the towel at the very end of the season, when it was no longer useful to tire himself anyway. Before that ? The term “show of force” would be too weak. From a pure statistical point of view first of all, because it is quite simply… nonsense. 27 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists at 61.1% shooting over the season, and a few evenings of pure cannibalism, especially from mid-January. 28 points at 12/14 shooting against the Suns, 29 points at 10/14 against Memphis, 29 points at 12/18 in Chicago, 36 points at 14/15 in Dallas, 31 points at 13/16 in Memphis, 36 points at 12/18 against Portland, 32 points at 13/18 against Detroit, 34 pawns at 15/26 in Milwaukee, 39 points at 16/19 against Denver, 38 points at 16/22 in Cleveland… in short, dozens of bulimia nights and a list that could be the size of Kawhi’s hands, Zion’s bicep girth. A season spent beating up guys ten years older than him, making his way like an elephant in a porcelain store, and in the end an All-Star star, his first, quite deserved given the barouf offers. All in power but also all in technique, all out, all in touch, all in placement and all in hang time because, let’s face it once and for all, Zion Williamson is not just a freak phenomenon but a real basketball player. The following ? Quite simply, no one is ready.
WE WERE WAITING FOR IT (A LITTLE), AND WE ARE STILL WAITING FOR IT: ERIC BLEDSOE
Alternately supersub in Los Angeles, in MIP mode in Phoenix before proclaiming loud and clear from his hair salon that he wanna plus be here then become an excellent role player and one of the best defenders of the League in Milwaukee despite an express passage in the pocket of Terry Rozier, Eric Bledsoe was finally seen last November 23 the direction of the exit by the leaders of the Bucks, very happy to welcome the excellent Jrue Holiday to their home. An arrival not particularly pimped for NOLA, but who could at least count on a relatively solid third man to bring his experience to the duo of All-Stars in place and to Lonzo Ball on the back lines. Seven months later? The observation is relentless, and it is synonymous with failure. Clumsy shooting (worst season since his year II in the League), suspicious choices in attack, defense become commonplace and less so affinities, and throughout the year this question for the Pels: how to get rid of a man who became embarrassing for the project, a man who nevertheless continued to eat the minutes of little Kira Lewis Jr., probably because the leaders of NOLA utopically counted on Rico’s beautiful perfs to catch the eye of the idiot barge. 12.2 points in the end, slightly embellished with 3.4 rebounds and 3.8 assists, and a status passed in a few months from mini-LeBron to maxi-banana, to giga-cassos. The best news? Le Bled will get $ 18 million next season, and $ 19 the next. If you are looking for the new hero of the next season of Casa de Papel, his name is NOLA and is a specialist in long-term heists.
THE FOLLOWING
Steven Adams, Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Ingram and Zion Williamson together it’s no longer possible. For the salary cap, for the spacing, and for the desired victories. Two men have to go and we are not drawing you a picture. Stan Van Gundy? This is officially no longer possible and it’s over, because the proposed game will have been far too predictable and aggressive to the eyes. The positive point ? Jaxson Hayes, Nickeil Alexander-Walker and Kira Lewis Jr., even Lonzo Ball, even Naji Marshall, as many young people with a certain potential, or a certain potential we do not really know, and some kids therefore capable of being part of the beginning of reconstruction. A spine exists, around the ribs are cracked, so David Griffin to use the right osteo.
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