Why the Thunder think Brandon Ingram can get going again for New Orleans Pelicans

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It's the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day.

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For the Pelicans to get back in their series against the Thunder ORG, big changes need to happen. And in today's show, I'm going to give you the inside scoop on what worries the Oklahoma City Thunder ORG. It's a crossover episode of Locked on Pelicans ORG. Let's go.

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You are Locked-on Pelicans ORG, your daily New Orleans Pelicans podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome to a crossover edition of Locked-on Pelicans,

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Locked-on Thunder. We are part of the Locked-on podcast network, your team every day. Welcome to a crossover edition of Locked on Pelicans, Locked on Thunder.

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We are part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day.

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I'm the Pelicans host, Jake Madison, at Nola Jake ORG on X. He is Ryland Syles, hosts of Lockdown Thunder ORG. Ryland PERSON, you've got to be feeling pretty good here.

Speaker 260.58s - 74.28s

Oh, it feels great right now if you're the Thunder ORG. I mean, you go 2 and O, you hold serve at home and you cap it off with a just dominating win. Everything feels right for Oklahoma City. Yeah, and you're coming to New Orleans GPE, too. So that's going to be a lot of fun here. Hopefully maybe I'll make a return trip. Who knows,

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back to Oklahoma City GPE here, depending on how this goes. We are, of course, part of the lockdown podcast network, your team every day. Please subscribe wherever you get your podcast, join Thunder fans on YouTube, Pelicans fans on YouTube and become an every day. That means you listen Monday through Friday to Locked on Pelicans, Locked on Thunder, or whatever your locked on show of choice is. So let's start with this. Thunder up 2 and O. Obviously you're feeling pretty good about that. As you've watched them play, what's your just general feeling around the team right now?

Speaker 2103.92s - 158.2s

Yeah, I think that you have to feel really confident if you're viewing this from a Thunder Prism. One of the reasons why you feel confident is because the defense has been so consistent back to back in 92 point games, but the way that they got to 92 points, not only is that a low number, but you're not letting Brandon Ingram PERSON go off and you're not having these random Trey Murphy games yet. And you're really content with living with whatever Valentunus PERSON does, whether he has a massive stat line on very good efficiency in game one or he misses a couple bunnies and Chet deters a couple shots in game two.No matter how Valentunis PERSON is the one that's scoring, you like that option if you're OKC ORG. And then their link. There's just a lot for their ball handlers to handle. I mean, the Pelicans ORG lack a true table setting playmaker. Seedier McCollum is their best option. And the Thunder ORG's length and sizehas been blowing up actions and not letting the Pelicans ORG really have any sort of organization offensively. So you have to be feeling really good on both ends if you're Oklahoma City GPE.

Speaker 0158.66s - 174.96s

You mentioned Brandi Ingram PERSON here, right? Because that's a huge focal point of this from the Pelican side of things. And he's just straight up struggles. He was not existent in the first half of game two you said them not letting him get anything is that lewdorton in his defense or is that also on brandon ingram do you think too yeah i see this notion from

Speaker 2174.96s - 230.26s

a lot of pelicans fans and i mean you guys watch brandon ingram more intimately than i do but i'm not really sure what there is for ingram to do i, he's gotten like three quality looks all series long, and they've all gone down. One of them was from Lou Dort PERSON simply flopping his way to being out of position at the nail. And then another one was a, you know, mischased screen by the Thunder ORG. And one was an advantageous switch for getting Jalen Williams onto Ingram PERSON,who despite being, you know, lengthy to defend Ingram PERSON, is not actually that good of a matchup for Ingram PERSON because Ingram seems to be more bothered by smaller guys than the longer guys who can contest him. So I've seen the pressure put on Brennan Ingram PERSON. I think it's a mixture of Ludo PERSON's just really, really good in the perfect kind of style of defender to harm Ingram PERSON.And like we said, the Pelicans ORG are not helping him out in the form of facilitation or in the form of letting him get freed up off ball and the screens that they're

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setting are either they're terrible actually like they're real bad either too easy to fight through

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or they're simply illegal and so it's like it's like there's nothing more for ingram to do I would be curious what the the opposition to Ingram PERSON is other than he only got off 10 shot attempts in game two. I think a larger part of that was the Thunder versus Ingram PERSON.

Speaker 0250.84s - 338.7s

I think it's a mix of both, right? I think part of it is his style of play too, right? This is a guy whose entire game is built around taking and making tough shots and the Thunder ORG are very content with letting him do that. Notice they're not doubling him really, right? Like that to me, given that he's the focal point of the offense or should be the focal point of the offense, strikes me as surprising. And then you think about it, well, if he's not going to try and get to the rim, if he's not going to take threes and he's just going to take long midrangers, the thunder are going to be thrilled with something like that, right? Even if you have a good game where you makethose sorts of shots, it's how you and I probably both kind of viewed game one EVENT for the thunder in their shooting, right? Process over results. They took really good looks from three. They just didn't fall in game one. And if they do, that might be a 10 point win for the thunder. It really did in game two and look at how they kind of ran away with it, right? After game one, say they even had lost that, they probably would have felt really good going into game two and being able to win this series as well. So brain,it's kind of the reverse of it for brain ingham. You're going to be fine with him taking some of these really tough shots that even if he's making him, let's say, cool. That means the offense is a little bit out of rhythm. Those aren't going to, he's not going to stay hot for the whole series. And so they're content just to kind of play him a little bit physical and force him into those tough shots, which he's more than happy to take. And if you can't get this Oklahoma, Oklahoma City GPE, Oklahoma City, there we go, I can say this,Thunder ORG team rotating on defense, they're going to turn you over. They're going to put pressure, and that's where you're seeing a lack of offense. I think come from New Orleans GPE a good bit.

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Yeah, you're seeing the offense not be able to put the Thunder ORG in a compromise position. And whatever they do, they're not able to take the thunder in a compromise position. And whatever they do, they're not able to take advantage of it because of the lack of creative passing. And you know, with the thunder, like even whenever they're they're living with certain things, right, like having Ludwart fight over screens, yes, it might open up a window for a Herb Jones PERSON role or it might open up a Valanchunis PERSON, you know, in the Dunker Spot type of opportunity or rolling to the rim opportunity. You don't really care about that. Like, they care aboutcutting the hell of the snake for CJ and Ingram PERSON. And if you don't have tough shot makers against the Thunder and you want to boil this down to hitting tough twos going back and forth, the Thunder of the toughest, you know, two point maker in the NBA ORG in SGA. Like, he is the very best at it. And so the Thunder will win that style of fight as they did on Sunday. If it's better predicated on defense, then like you said, if the shots are falling on Wednesday,it's going to be a blowout win for O KC ORG. And that's been the story all year long. Like for as much as we talk about the playoffs and the, and the atmosphere changes and the game changes. So far, three two playoffs games with the Thunder ORG won't stay this way, but so far, it's been the same story as the regular season.

Speaker 0409.24s - 468.94s

Yeah, no, they, you know, this is the team that we saw. And I think it's a little bit interesting that, you know, maybe the Thunder ORG were being somewhat disrespected or a little bit underrated going into the playoffs. There was a lot of talk about wanting to dodge the Denver Nuggets in the first round, right, whether you're the Lakers ORG, should you lose that game to the Pelicansso that you can get OKC ORG? And maybe they're a better matchup with OKC, having won the season series EVENT and everything like that, certainly, than Denver GPE might be for them. But at the same point, I mean, look at what this team's doing right now, what the Thunder ORG are doing.I don't think anyone was expecting game two to be that bad for New Orleans GPE. You know, but this is a team that has the fourth best defense going into the postseason, the third best offense. They're a very complete team and I think people may be lost side of that a little bit with this with this franchise and it's coming kind of back into play here where people are like, oh yeah, SGA's really good. Chet Holmgren PERSON is playing really well. We'll get into him a little bit more in the third segment because you kind of talked about him in Valchunas and I want to touch on that later here. You know, so let me ask you this, a prediction.How far do you think this series goes right now?

Speaker 2469.88s - 513.84s

Yeah, right now, I think it's still hard to predict a sweep. I think that the Thunder saw firsthand last year, even though they won, how difficult it is to win in New Orleans GPE. I mean, they, they scrapped by in that game. They obviously didn't have Chet last year, but, you know, it was a,it was a tough one that needed a huge Josh Gitty PERSON game and all the big promoters of the Thunder ORG played really well. But that was a dog fight. And this is going to be a dog fight, you know, this weekend in New Orleans GPE as well.I would give the Pelicans a game in the smoothie King Center, whether that be Saturday where the Thunder ORG have typically struggled in the afternoon tips or it be on Monday. I think they're going to get one, send a series back to OKC ORG. But that's really as far as I think that things can go with this current iteration of thePelicans that have Ingram not looking like himself and no Zion ORG.

Speaker 0514.38s - 766.26s

No, they're lacking creation, right? And no Zion ORG really hurts. There's just no one that can draw two. There's no one that can draw a double team. And if you're just going to let this team, which is a good defense, play you one-on-one, which is what New Orleans GPE is doing right now now that's a big part of it i don't know if every screenthe pelicans NORP are setting is illegal we don't need to go too much into the officiating here with everything but one of the things on the screen setting ingram's not even waiting for them either and that's partially why they're getting some of those illegal screen calls is he sees someone coming and he wants to start his move whether he's a little rattled or whatever, and then he gets that defender running into a guy that's not yet set, not yet planted, and they're going to call some of those as illegal screens, even if head coach Willie Green PERSON thinks there's some flopping going on with that. So just, I don't know,being a little bit more settled might go a long way and maybe even though New Orleans GPE is not a good home team this year, just being at home maybe calms you down a little bit, settles you down a little bit. And that could make a pretty big difference, I think, and help New Orleans GPE maybe get back into this series. So coming up next, you want to talk about the Pelicans ORG defense and what the heck they're doing. And I am more than happy to explain it, because I don't know if there's a solution to this.That's coming up here next in a crossover episode of Locked on Pelicans, Locked on Thunder WORK_OF_ART. Today's episode of Locked on Pelicans Locked on Thunder is brought to you by Nissan ORG. Are you the kind of driver that likes to push things a little further? Ever wonder what adventure could be around the next corner? Our friends at Nissan ORG have a lineup of SUVs with the capabilities to take your adventure to the next level. 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Take the Nissan Rogue PRODUCT, the Nissan Armada, or the Nissan Pathfinder PRODUCT, and shop NissanUSA.com for your next big adventure. Today's episode of Locked-on Pelicans Locked on Thunder is also presented to you by our sponsor Better Help ORG. You know, sometimes we all need the opportunity to get something off of our chest. Big or small, certain things can really start to get to you, and it's important to let that out, especially to someone who's unbiased in your life. So today, I want to say how I really feel aboutsomething. You might even be thinking about the same thing. I think the fans of both teams are going to be thinking about this. Officiating, right? Is it good? Is it bad? It's a little inconsistent in this series, but maybe consistent everywhere else. Or maybe you're just tired of opposing fans complaining about it when they've gotten blown up. That's a very valid thing too. So getting things off your chest can be important and therapy can be different for everybody.And most of us have bigger problems than our favorite sports teams, but it's important to get things off your chest every once in a while. So if you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp ORG a try. It's entirely online, designed to be flexible and suited to your schedule. Visit BetterHelp.com slash locked on NBA to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P.com slash locked-on NBA ORG. And thank you for making Locked-on Pelicans, Locked-on Thunder, your first listen today and every day.We're here Monday through Friday. We're covering everything you want to know about your favorite team. There's a locked-on show for everybody. But also, we've got a couple of national shows. And if you're tired of listening to Fox Sports, ESPN, yell at you all day long. Make the switch to Locked on Sports Today, a free 24-7 sports streaming channel program for you every day to bring you the biggest stories without all of that screaming.Locked-on Sports Today ORG is going to bring you the can't-miss analysis opinions and news streaming 24-7 on YouTube with a free Amazon Fire PRODUCT TV channels app. Part of the lockdown podcast network your team every day. There's playoff basketball. There's the NFL ORG draft.Get caught up on all of it over the Lockdown Sports Today ORG channel. All right, Rylan PERSON. You want to talk some defense in the pelicans here? Because you got some thoughts.

Speaker 2766.26s - 795.56s

I do. I have many thoughts. And I want to admit that this is what I think makes lockdown special as the willingness to admit this. I don't want to judge Willie Green off of two games, you know, watching very intimately. I think that my overall opinion of Willie Green PERSON coming into this season was very positive.So I don't want these two games to detract from what I used to think about Willie Green. But watching these two games, it's just head scratching. Number one, going back to the illegal screens for a minute, you and I, no matter how many times we watch these two teams and pot about these teams do not know more than NBA ORG coaches.

Speaker 0795.56s - 805.94s

But even we, I always say that on the show, right? Like it's really easy to come in and be like, I'm better than this. No, they have so much more info and they know so much more than we do. Like it's worth mentioning. Yes, know so much more than we do. Like, it's worth mentioning.

Speaker 2806.32s - 853.18s

Yes, they know way more than we do. One of the things that they absolutely know, which is why I don't really understand who to put the blame on the illegal screen, you know, the category is. But Ludo is the best illegal screen drawler in the NBA ORG. And he consistently leads the NBA ORG in offensive fouls drawn. And it's based off of, you know, to kind of boil it down to a very simple tactic of just attacking the outside hip. And if you're coming up to the set of screen, if either your ball handler does not let the screen get set and get, you know, of course, set to place the screen,or your screener's a little too open, a little too lazy, whenever a guy Lou Dwart's PERSON size is barreling into your back hip, it's going to stumble you. It's going to make it look to the official in real time who's got to observe so many different things like it was absolutely an illegal screen to an extent.

Speaker 0853.38s - 870.96s

It is. That's how you draw illegal screens. That's how illegal screens happen is by the ball handling being too rushed. So I refuse to believe Willie Green has not preached that message to this Pelican's team about Lou Dore and about this Thunder ORG team. So like, do you put that on the players you put that on him like that's the first and foremost thing of just how this team has looked a little uh

Speaker 2870.96s - 875.6s

ill prepared and it could be just simply they're gassed they're short-handed and they're playing on the road

Speaker 0876.56s - 956.2s

so that's like really good insight just on how to attack the screens and knowing your guy and lewd or right like that that's truly like the power of locked on right here with what you just said. That was awesome. You know, in terms of like preparation, so yes, right? Like there are, you know, we don't actually know morethan coaches and things like that. Although, man, there's been a couple times a season with Willie Green PERSON when I'm like, maybe I actually do. Like to the point where like I admit it I don't know as much. And he has, there's moments when I'm like, yeah, no, that's like completely wrong.And I don't know what's going on there. And so the lack of preparation in this series is actually kind of shocking. And Jonas Valchino said it after game two, right? He's like, they were more physical than we were. And we weren't prepared for that. We weren't expecting that.And after going through game one, where that defense, particularly from Lou Dort PERSON, was insanely physical. And Brian Ingram PERSON even said after game one, let him be physical with me. I'll be ready for it, right? To have a player on your team be like, oh yeah, we weren't expecting them to be that physical is just kind of like, what?Like, what are we doing here? Right? Like, that is genuinely shocking to me and something that I'm talking about on my Friday episode as well for locked on. So it's like, I don't know, man. Like, I wish I had an answer to that and something that I'm talking about on my Friday episode as well for locked on. So it's like, I don't know, man. Like I wish I had an answer to that. And trust me, you know, where the talking heads were supposed to have answers for this sort of thing.And I don't have one on kind of them being unprepared for this series, it feels like.

Speaker 2956.74s - 1046.1s

Yeah. And then the second thing I think that Willie Green PERSON will catch a lot of heat for this series is another conversation I think is multi-layered and one that you need to help us with here. When you watch the Thunder try to defend the go-to-score, it is Lou Geert PERSON fighting through every single screen and not even thinking for a split second about switching screens and just locking in onto Brandon Inger because we've addressed that he's the perfect mold to defend Brandon Ingram PERSON. Whenever you look at the opposite side of the floor, the perfect mold to defend Shea PERSON,the only guy who has consistently found success against him in his life of being a number one 30 point per game score has been Herb Jones PERSON. And yet there's plays, there's plays Jake PERSON, where Josh Giddy is setting a screenand Larry Nance PERSON is switching on to Shea and Herb was just content with falling back to Josh, to Josh Giddy. And I screen and Larry Nance is switching on the Shay and Herb is just content with falling back to Josh to Josh Giddy. And I don't want to say anything negative about Josh Giddy. There's no negative about what Lou Dord does either, but you're willing to live with Trey Murphy, Josh Giddy, you know, Herb Jones PERSON, these type of guys beating you offensively. Then you are willing to live with just Shay PERSON getting whatever he wants, which he gets whenever you switch Nance on him and Valanchunis PERSON on him. And to that point, though, whenever I go in thePelicans locker and ask them why they're so good at defending Shea, they give a lot of credit to Herb PERSON, but also give a lot of credit to throwing a ton of bodies at him. So at some point, you know, you wonder, is this just Shay PERSON being one of the best scores in the world? And there's not much else that they could have done. Yeah. So I think this is kind of one of the best scores in the world? And there's not much else that they could have done. Yeah.

Speaker 01046.26s - 1188.62s

So I think this is kind of one of those problems without a solution. Though I think you'll see some big adjustments in game three for this. And this is something that I talked about when I did my live post game show after game two. And you and I were texting about this during the game. Like your text to me, I'll read it out here because this is what the host do here. He said, Pels ORG have to stop switching with have to in all caps here.Herb, leaving Shea to go with Giddy and having Nance PERSON outside is criminal, right? Like, so what the Pelicans ORG do defensively is they switch everything. That's why they tend to close games with Larry Nance, Jr. over Yonis Valchunus PERSON. Yonis PERSON can't do that on the perimeter. You kind of saw that early on in game too, where he was getting lit up in situations. They like Larry Nance Jr., because they want to switch everything, and that's made them kind of saw that early on in game two, where he was getting lit up in situations.They like Larry Nitz Jr. because they want to switch everything and that's made them kind of good this year. They don't have rim protection. So by switching everything, you just prevent people from getting into the paint by not allowing anyone to get that kind of first step, even if it means you're going to be cross-matched and you have a bit of a mismatch there. So part of this is, look, Shea PERSON's just really good. Like, Shea's just really, really good. And whoever you kind of put on him, he's going to be able to go. So even though your switching scheme normally works, and they have the six bestdefense this year. It's not like this was a bad defensive team. Right. Like, that is a proven strategy that worked over the course of the year. It's not working in the playoffs where star players take over and Shay PERSON is just doing that right now.So they tried something different. They tried something different in game too, right? Because if you look at that game and, or if you look at the switching game one, he hit that, that go ahead and won when Herbs PERSON was on him. The Giddy set a screen, Herb switched on to Giddy, and then that put C.J. McCollum PERSON on to Shea PERSON and he just took him off the dribble, right? Then got the foul call, went to the line, it was a three-point play.You had Herb PERSON on him. Why are you switching, right? That was a big issue for me in game one. They switched less at the start of game two. They switched less at the start of game two and tried to fight through some of those screens. They're not great at fighting through screensbecause they haven't really done that all season long. This is just not what they do. They're certainly capable of it. Herb and other players can do that. But if you're not used to doing that over 82 games and now you're just starting to do it, it's not necessarily a skill, in my opinion, that's probably built up. So they started doing that, trying to fight through screens, which kept a little bit of room on the perimeter. But because they were dying on those screens, someone had to rotate over. So all of a sudden, a shooter is now just one pass away. what did the Thunder shoot in the first quarter from three in that one? I can pull it up here, right? It was like 60 something percent.

Speaker 11188.7s - 1209.86s

They were, yeah, they were seven for 11 from three, 63.6 percent here, right? That was because these guys were dying on the screen. A help guy would come over and the pelicans NORP were constantly rotating on defense. So they did what you said, right? Fight through screens don't switch. And that then burned them from three point range in that first quarter of game too. So they did what you said, right? Fight through screens don't switch and that thenburned them from three point range in that first quarter of game two. So they went back to switching.

Speaker 01210.92s - 1257.42s

You know, they tried some zone at times and all that allowed the thunder to do was just put Shea at the free throw line, get him matched up one-on-one with Larry Nance Jr. PERSON just take him off the dribble. That didn't work. They've tried multiple things and none of it's worked. And so what I'm assuming you're gonna see and I'm gonna be curious your thoughts on how this could go for New Orleans GPE is,I wonder if they're just gonna throw two bodies at Shea PERSON. Right? Like I think on a screen at this point, don't switch, right? Don't fight through it. Just throw two bodies on him, right? Don't switch and then have the other guy fight through the screen to try and just keep two on him. Someone's gonna be open then, right? That's how this works.We're talking about the Pelicans ORG and the lack of doing that. But at a certain point, that's better than Shea PERSON beating you. Look, Josh Giddy scores 30 and they win, but Shea PERSON is held to a limited game. Like, you just, it is what it is, right?

Speaker 21258.12s - 1302.42s

Yeah, it's funny that you mentioned that. I think that that's the only real solution to this, to this problem. And that's the, that's why the Thunder have won 57 games. I think that people forget to talk about this team as a team that won 57 games and the toughest conference we've ever seen. Like this is, this is like insane that this is some sort of a new discovery for many peoplewhenever looking at this Thunder ORG team. But the only, the only thing you can do, I think, is throw those extra bodies at Shea PERSON. And I think that you would reverse the logic from what the Pelicans ORG, I think, tried to do in game one and in game two of this series for the most part is throw all of your bodies at Shea PERSON. And because you're so long and athletic, I think that that's what, I think that being long and athletic is what convinced Willie Green and the pelicans NORP to go ahead and switch because you feel comfortable with the rest of your guys.

Speaker 01302.42s - 1303.88s

And a lack of rim protection, but yeah.

Speaker 21304.24s - 1383.44s

Yeah, and that, and that as well. But you feel comfortable with your guys that you guys. And a lack of rim protection, but yeah. And that as well. But you feel comfortable with your guys that you can just throw these guys at Shay PERSON and they can all hold their own as best you can against a superstar like that. If they get switched on to him, the thing that I would do is exactly what you're saying. Throw your guys at Shay and trust that whoever didn't go to Shay if you're throwing two guys at him is long and athletic enough to get back back to to a rolling giddy or a rolling door or J-dub that is rolling or open and contest a shot. And the problem for the Pelican NORPs in every team, this is not a Pelican's exclusive problem.Whenever you look at the starting five, Shea PERSON is a good enough passer to find the opening crease. That's exactly what he did to start the game where he had zero shot attempts at the first time out, but had a lot of hockey assists and a lot of creative passing. He's good enough to find the opening crease. That's exactly what he did to start the game, where he had zero shot attempts at the first time out, but had a lot of hockey assists and a lot of creative passing. He's good enough to find the next guy. Then when you look at the starting five only, before the Thunder ORG even try to go with an all-out offensive lineup,the starting five only, who of Lou Doer, who went and hit four, you know, triples last night on six attempts, Lou Doort, Josh Giddy, Jalen Williams, and shot Holmgren PERSON, who would you want to leave open in that case?I mean, it'd be Josh Giddy, obviously, but if shot homegren, who would you want to leave open in that case? I mean, it'd be Josh Giddy, obviously. But if you leave a six, nine guy open rolling to the rim, he's bound to hit the layup where he's had this best rim finishing stretch of his career since March 1st till now. And we know what he's done in New Orleans GPE for that little bit trivia. So like there's just a noted Pelican NORP killer, man.

Speaker 01383.58s - 1384.26s

Noted Pelican NORP killer.

Speaker 21384.92s - 1419.16s

And there's just a pick your poison element to this Thunder team that I think has put them in the position to win 57 games. But you've got to try. You've got to try something different. I think that the zone, I think that junking up zone periodically throughout the game is your best bet because it does take the thunder historically this whole season. And in that and in that game too, even with everything clicking, it does take them a couple possessions to get accustomed to playing their zone offense or their zone busting offense. So going back and forth as much as you can throughoutthe game as much as you can handle, I think would be also another good solution for the Pelicans ORG.

Speaker 01419.7s - 1578.04s

Yeah. And look, they need to get some stops, right? There's there's a debate here of should they lean more offensively? Should they lean more defensively, and I'm not exactly sure what it is. You know, part of it is the Pelicans' offense and the half court is not great, not elite. They thrived off forcing turnovers getting out and running. The Thunder ORG don't turn the ball over, and also if you're inbounding the ball, you know,their defense can get back and set turn you over again, and then now you're not doing the same thing to the thunder. And that creates a big problem here. They need to get some fast break points in transition and get out there and score. And they did not do that in game two where they just had six, right? Like that's going to be a huge problem, I think. So figuring out finding just something that works defensively, easier said than done.But I think there's enough info from game one, game two, to know what they're doing right now, even though it worked in the regular season, is not working, and there needs to be a bigger adjustment coming with that. Finding a way to stop Shay from just hunting a guy like C.J. McCollum PERSON,I think is dramatically important for them to have a chance in this series. So coming up next, let's talk about the Big Med ORG, because Chet Homgren had himself a game in game two. Him and Valenciunus, him and Nance PERSON, I think is really interesting to look at. Let's take a look at those kind of matchups coming up here next in a crossover episode of Locked on Thunder and Locked on Pelicans ORG. Today's episode of Locked on Thund, is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs ORG.When you're hiring for your small business, you want to find quality professionals that are right for the role. And that's why you have to check out LinkedIn ORG jobs, because LinkedIn jobs is the tools to help you find the right professionals for your team faster and for free. You've got a small business. It takes everyone. It's all hands on deck. You have a missing person there.You're stretching the rest of your employees thin. It might be costing you money. You can't deal with that, right? LinkedIn ORG isn't just another job board, though. LinkedIn ORG helps you hire professionals that you can't find anywhere else, even those who aren't actively searching for a new job, but might be open to the perfect role. In a given month, over 70% of LinkedIn ORG users don't visit other leading job sites, so if you're not looking on LinkedIn, you're looking in the wrong place. On LinkedIn, 86% of small businesses get a qualified candidate within 24 hours. Hire professionalslike a pro on LinkedIn ORG. LinkedIn knows that small businesses are wearing so many hats and might not have the time or resources to hire. They make it easy. And that's why 2.5 million small businesses use LinkedIn for hiring. So post your job for free at LinkedIn.com slash locked on MBA WORK_OF_ART. That's LinkedIn.com slash locked on MBA WORK_OF_ART to post your job for free. Terms and conditions apply. Looking for an assist with your credit card but can't get a hold of anyone.

Speaker 11578.44s - 1599.1s

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Speaker 01601.86s - 1630.88s

Thank you for making Lockdown Thunder, Lockdown Pelicans, your first listen today and every day. We are here Monday through Friday, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Subscribe wherever you get your podcast. Tell your friends about Lockdown Thunder, Lockdown Pelicans ORG, get them clued into what's going on. It's the postseason. One of these teams is going to be in the off-season soon, and we're going to be looking towards that.We cover it all here as part of the lockdown podcast network, your team every day. How are you feeling about Chet, Rylan PERSON? He's a rookie.

Speaker 21631s - 1713.56s

That was an impressive game too. You have to feel really good about Chet PERSON. I think even in game one, people did not see Valanchunis enough credit in game one, surprisingly, because it wasn't as though he was just knocking Chet to the third row. He had some really difficult shots whenever Chet PERSON had good positioning on him and Chet PERSON was contesting at the rim.But the soft touch of Alan Chunis is where he found success in game one. And then in game two, Chet PERSON deterred more of those shots. Chek got a couple blocks and Chet PERSON got a few tapout rebounds where maybe it doesn't go to Chet PERSON's log on the rebound, but that's what created some rebound advantages for the thunder. His ability to respond, and I think that what makes this team so different from typical youngteams and just typical stars in general is that they don't buy into narratives and they don't get kind of goaded into playing outside of themselves. Like whenever Valachunis, you know, you hear all the talk, even after a win in game one, all the talk is about Valencianus PERSON and the rebounding and the struggling down low. And then Valencius rips off 11 straight points in game one. You easily could have as a competitor just tried to take it upon yourselfto go make a statement and play outside of yourself and really press the issue. Same with SGA, who didn't have an MVP caliber game on Sunday and then does on Wednesday, but they let it happen through the flow of the game, which I think was so impressive and so important for these two teams. But for chat specifically, I don't think the Valentunas can guard Chet PERSON. I think that there's just no shot. We, we, we,

Speaker 01713.56s - 1740.4s

I think that's pretty obvious, right? Like that was a big concern of mine going into this series. The center position has been a problem for New Orleans GPE. Like I get that a lot of people are just simply like literally looking at the two people and looking at Valentunus and being bulkier than Chet PERSON is and being like, oh, you know, Valentunus PERSON can take him or he can't guard, you know, can't guard him, or whatever it might be. That simply hasn't been the case of this series, right? Like Chet PERSON has won that match up

Speaker 21740.4s - 1782.16s

easily, I think. Yeah, very easily. And especially in game two in the sense of, and in both games, like I said, like Valenzhenius hit tough shots in game one. If he's going to have a soft touch around the rim, especially at this stage of his career, you tip your cap and you move on. And in game two, he missed a couple of ones that he hit in game one. Chet PERSON deterred a couple of them.And you end up seeing that it plays right into the thing we discussed most importantly over the weekend in our series preview. Even if Valentinus has a 2020 game, it does not matter. It does not matter. It's not going to impact winning in any significant way. We don't talk about big men this way, but it is just the version of stat patting and notwinning for your team.

Speaker 01783s - 1858.28s

No, I'm with you, right? Like, I'm with you. You know, Valen Chinas had those 11 straight points and then quickly, like, regressed and got played off the court defensively, right? Like Chet PERSON went out and hit a bunch of threes and he can't do anything about that. And he can't play out there in space.And when you pull him out there, cool, it's even easier for guys to get to the rim against New Orleans GPE there. And that's why they ended up rolling with, you know, Larry Nance Jr. I will say at a certain point, I wonder if they've just got to stick with JV and see if you can maybe get some sort of advantagewhen it comes to the rebounding, something like that. But one thing that's, I think, worth noting, is I don't know if rebounding is going to really impact this series a whole lot. You know, the Thunder haven't been a good defensive rebounding team all year long, right? Like, that's one of the areas that they just do not do a tremendous job with.And it's fine. It's fine when you force turnovers like that and you play defense the other way that they play, right? That was kind of built into how they've molded themselves this season. So beating them up on the offensive class doesn't really matter because, look, New Orleans has gotten a lot of second chance points, but it's not at the efficiency that you would want, right?In that first game, I think they had 24 second chance points on 18 offensive boards. That number for points should have been way higher, but that speaks to the defensive advantage, it seems like that Oklahoma City GPE has here.

Speaker 21858.84s - 1931.62s

Yeah, that's been their entire MO this season. Yeah. They're going to turn you over. And what I would look at at point one. And it's not as simple as this, but for the sake of a podcast, let's make it the simple. The Pelicans, whenever you net out the second chance points were a plus 13.Whenever you net out the fast break points to Thunder were a plus 13. So at that point, you move. At that point, it's even. You've counteracted the biggest advantage the Pelicans ORG have, and then you have every other advantage. You have the shooting advantage.You have the shot making advantage. You have the defensive advantage. You have every advantage that there is. So if you can just get out and run, as the Thunder have all year long, then you're going to be fine. And you're going to negate that weakness. And even if you can't get out and run, you're still, you're still able to give awayone flaw, because I would look around the NBA, as we said last Saturday, even the almighty Celtics ORG all the way down to the pistons, like they all have flaws, some larger than others. The Thunder's flaws are really boiled down to two. Even the biggest critics of the Thunder can only muster up rebounding and an experience. And one of those issues, like, that's not, that's not even fixable. Like, you cannot just get older in one calendar year. And the other issue is like, yeah,

Speaker 11931.68s - 1940.9s

okay, they're a bad rebounding team. But many other teams have more than two issues or at least two. So like no team's perfect. You're never going to create a perfect roster ever. So like this is just

Speaker 21940.9s - 1946.1s

an disadvantage of Thunder have to work around. And they have to the tune of 57 wins in a 2-0 series lead.

Speaker 01946.64s - 2025.24s

Yeah, no, like it's, they know, they know that they're at a disadvantage with that. So they've kind of just built around it and with that in mind, right? And it's not just this thing. They're like, oh, that's our fatal flaw here. Like, yeah, it's a disadvantage. But if everything else is going well, like you're going to be fine with it.And that's what I think you're seeing from this Thunder ORG team in this series. And it's actually pretty impressive overall. You know, I've come away with a lot more respect for this team. I had a lot of respect for him anyway. SGA PERSON is one of my favorite players to watch. But watching them in this series just how well executed everything is has impressed me. And man, Chet PERSON, Chet plays tougher than he looks, right? Yeah, it looks like a stick. Don't get me wrong. But he, there's more strength to him, I think, than people realize.Brandon Ingram tried to initiate contact on him, and he didn't move at all. It maybe would have been different with Zion Williamson, but that's not the case in the series and that's not the reality. So it doesn't end up mattering right now that if the pelicans aren't going to play in Willie Green's PERSON words with force, with aggression, right? I don't know there it's an uphill battle you know i think the optimists for the pelicans NORP can look at it of like okay see one at home that's what they're supposed to do right the series doesn't start until someone wins on the road but there isn't a ton and this sounds very pessimistic but it's the reality of the situation there isn't a ton that makes you think new orleans is going to be able to kind of flip this around going into game three i don't think yeah i don't think.

Speaker 22028.3s - 2038s

Yeah, I don't really know what you would grasp at to feel confident. I mean, whenever the biggest takeaway that I could find is maybe as you collapse in the paint to try to stop Valanchunis, maybe he can fire it out to Tray Murphy and Tram Murphy can hit 10-3s and Tray-Murphy PERSON. And Tray-Murphy and Tray-Murphy.

Speaker 02038.1s - 2065.88s

When you're counting on that, that's a good formula to win one game. But Trey-Murphy's not going to hit 10-3s four times in a row. He's not going to win. He's not going to hit 10 threes four times in a row he's not going to win he's not going to hit 10 threes in a game before the thunder win three more you won two more to win the series so there's just not that much hope around the pelican team and it's it sucks because i do think that zion PERSON especially the way that you played on on that tuesday playing game against the lakers would have dramatically changed things uh obviously it's a kindof does statement but but uh you know not getting to see that's a kind of just, does statement, but, but, you know,

Speaker 22065.9s - 2077.28s

not getting to see that as a basketball fan does suck, but you're right. I think that, I think that the Pelicans ORG fan base wouldn't be feeling as bad, or in my opinion,they wouldn't be feeling as bad, if people just talked about the center team the way that they deserved we talked about. Like,

Speaker 02077.36s - 2145.18s

there's no shame in losing the team. Like, a big part of it's that. Like, that's kind of the narrative aspect of this, right? Like,people forgot how good this team was. People forgot how good the Thunder ORG were. Doesn't mean New Orleans GPE should be this bad in a series against them. Don't get me wrong with that, right? And they've looked bad. But people forgot about this.All of it was that talk of should the Lakers ORG tank, everyone wants to avoid Denver GPE. The Thunder are a better matchup than Denver GPE. Like, yeah, no. And clearly the Thunder have a lot to prove with it and it's leading to Denver GPE. Like, yeah, no, and clearly the thunder have a lot to prove with it and it's leading to this. But look, you also have to playthe game to a reason. We've seen crazier things. And who knows if coming back to New Orleans allows them to make some of these adjustments to maybe get back in the series. Because as we talked about, there's things they can do to defend Shea a little bit easier. And maybe Brain PERSON and Ingram breaks out of the slump he's and gets aggressive, starts attacking a little bit more and is ready for leudor ORG's physical style of defense if they can do that who knows what the series is going to look like come monday but saturday it's going to be an uphill climb for new orleans but i think they're going to be up for the challenge so i'm excited to watch the gamei'm excited for you to be here in new orleans we're going to hang out at some point i know go get drinks dinner all of the stuff here in new orleans so it's going to be a lot of fun any final words on this one yeah it's going to be fun lot of fun. Any final words on this one?

Speaker 22145.76s - 2149.06s

Yeah, it's going to be fun. I think that to leave the Pelicans ORG fan base on a positive note,

Speaker 02149.72s - 2215.98s

role players and contributors shoot better at home. Like they just do. Like so shot variance tends to favor the home team. You've had two just awful shooting nights and nearly won a game. Get that back to the average or have a, have a your own shooting night where you're shooting above your skis as the Thunder did uh you know on Wednesday then who knows what can happen and you steal a game at home and you extend the series and extend your season and the more games you play the more randomness that there is there you go he is Ryland styles host of Locked on Thunder I'm Jake Madison host of Locked on Pelicans Pelicans. Make your second listen. Locked-on NBA ORG.It's going to cover everything about all the other games going on around the association as well. Appreciate you all listening. Please subscribe to Locked-on Thunder. Subscribe to Locked-on Pelicans ORG. We are part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hey, Prime members, you can listen to this locked on podcast ad free on Amazon Music ORG.

Speaker 12216.52s - 2218.68s

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