Demarcus Cousins Watch
- Thread starter KingsFanGER
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Pelicans progressing through the adjustment and starting to win regularly. Probably too late in the year for them though. Not sure about Gentry coaching a team with two star bigs. Going to be a curious off-season for them. Pel fans I knew weren't really feeling Gentry before the trade and were fed up with Demps. The injury/health thing in New Orleans is a real question in regards to the front office. Has anyone else seen the pictures of Asik? The infection/whatever he got has decimated his weight.
I have a question for all those obsessed with tanking for draft position. What's more important for the Kings to lose to improve our pick, bearing in mind if it gets too good we lose it to Philly, or for the Kings to beat New Orleans to improve the pick we get from them? I'm always curious and amused by the machinations of strategic thinking.
Hm. Good question. I don't think, realistically, the Pelicans are making the playoffs, as Portland has a clearer path, and Denver is still fighting. I don't worry about the first premise, because I don't think we can "get too good", since it probably won't be a swap unless we hit top 3. If we hit top 3, then it was due to the way the balls bounced, which was beyond our control. Similarly, we could win out, and still magically hit a combination that gets us into the top 3, so, I guess I'm not worried from that perspective.
Also, NO could hit that magic combination and get into the top 3, meaning we won't be getting that pick. Basically there are two teams now we don't want in the top 3, us and NO. Because of the magic of the lotto balls, we can't control the result. Sucks, right? That said, I say you go with your gut. A loss for NO increases our chance for their non-top 3 pick, which would still be a very good pick, so, we should want to beat NO. HOWEVER, a win for NO increases our own chance for a non-top 3 pick, which, again, would still be a very good pick.
The moral of the story? Cheer for whomever you want. Personally, I want Boogie to singlehandedly demolish the Kings. Also, I want AD to do well because I'm in a fight for the league championship, and that would be good money coming my way if I pull it off.
Also, NO could hit that magic combination and get into the top 3, meaning we won't be getting that pick. Basically there are two teams now we don't want in the top 3, us and NO. Because of the magic of the lotto balls, we can't control the result. Sucks, right? That said, I say you go with your gut. A loss for NO increases our chance for their non-top 3 pick, which would still be a very good pick, so, we should want to beat NO. HOWEVER, a win for NO increases our own chance for a non-top 3 pick, which, again, would still be a very good pick.
The moral of the story? Cheer for whomever you want. Personally, I want Boogie to singlehandedly demolish the Kings. Also, I want AD to do well because I'm in a fight for the league championship, and that would be good money coming my way if I pull it off.
New Orleans pretty much has to be perfect, the rest of the way, and get Portland and Denver to collapse, in order to make the playoffs. However, comma, the Pelicans need to try and play to win: they've got, like, seven more games to figure out whether or not they can build a team around Davis and Cousins, and they're not going to be able to do that by not playing competitively.
Actually, aside from some sort of satisfaction in either Philly not exercising the swap, or in Philly not getting another top-3 pick, there's no reason to hope we don't hit the lottery. If we hit the lottery, our pick will be the same or better than if we don't.
Imagine Philly hits the lottery. (In this case it doesn't matter who had the better base pick.). If we hit the lottery, we get either #2 or #3. If we don't hit, we get our base pick (or even drop a bit if another team jumps us). Advantage to hitting lotto.
Imagine if Philly doesn't hit the lottery. Now if Philly is two picks or more in front of us, we move up to their pick (which moved down by one because we jumped, but we still move up. Advantage to hitting lotto. If Philly is only one pick in front of us, they drop down to our slot and it's even whether we hit the lotto or not. If Philly is behind us, they'll take our pick whether we hit or not, so again it's even (assuming they don't hit the lotto).
So worst case scenario, hitting the lottery results in us not seeing a difference - it's never worse to hit the lottery. AND if we do hit, that's one less chance for the Lakers to get top-3, and a better chance they lose their pick!
Imagine Philly hits the lottery. (In this case it doesn't matter who had the better base pick.). If we hit the lottery, we get either #2 or #3. If we don't hit, we get our base pick (or even drop a bit if another team jumps us). Advantage to hitting lotto.
Imagine if Philly doesn't hit the lottery. Now if Philly is two picks or more in front of us, we move up to their pick (which moved down by one because we jumped, but we still move up. Advantage to hitting lotto. If Philly is only one pick in front of us, they drop down to our slot and it's even whether we hit the lotto or not. If Philly is behind us, they'll take our pick whether we hit or not, so again it's even (assuming they don't hit the lotto).
So worst case scenario, hitting the lottery results in us not seeing a difference - it's never worse to hit the lottery. AND if we do hit, that's one less chance for the Lakers to get top-3, and a better chance they lose their pick!
Boogie was asked by the media about tomorrow's game. He said "Just gonna play hard and try and get the win." It wasn't his words so much as the grin on his face that told the story.
We're gonna get killed.
And there's this:
New Orleans PelicansVerified account@PelicansNBA 2h2 hours ago
"I definitely think y'all should have your popcorn ready. I'll leave it at that." -@jcraw55 on Boogie facing Kings Friday
We're gonna get killed.
And there's this:
New Orleans PelicansVerified account@PelicansNBA 2h2 hours ago
"I definitely think y'all should have your popcorn ready. I'll leave it at that." -@jcraw55 on Boogie facing Kings Friday
http://twitter.com/PelicansNBA/status/847506950510260224
There's the Boogie "play hard" video.
I can't wait. My popcorn will be ready.
There's the Boogie "play hard" video.
I can't wait. My popcorn will be ready.
http://twitter.com/PelicansNBA/status/847506950510260224
There's the Boogie "play hard" video.
I can't wait. My popcorn will be ready.
There's the Boogie "play hard" video.
I can't wait. My popcorn will be ready.
Well... it's still mathematically possible for the Kings to finish with as high as the twelfth-worst record in the league. So, the "worst case" scenario for a Kings fan would still involve the Pelicans finishing Top 3, and thereby keeping their pick, and the Kings having to surrender their pick to Chicago.
The scenarios in question were hitting the lottery vs. not hitting the lottery. If we finish 12th, hitting the lottery is very very very very good because we would get the Sixers' pick (or possibly keep our own if the Sixers hit too) instead of sending our pick to Chicago. So my statement holds. Given a particular set of lotto balls, the worst outcome of the Kings hitting the lottery is never worse than not hitting the lottery. That's what I meant in my "worst case scenario" comment.
I hope he does kill us and sets a record, i think we have a chance to grab a win though. Theres too much pride the crew has in the jersey and they'll want to portray the image that - we goona be alrite.
Coach will make sure the kids are out enough so we snatch defeat if thats the plan but honestly we're far from no hopers.
Coach will make sure the kids are out enough so we snatch defeat if thats the plan but honestly we're far from no hopers.