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CameronCrazy06 said:
Because there is still an entire quarter of basketball that the Pelicans play a game without AD, a ton can happen in 12+ minutes of action.
and I don't know where this team would be if you could turn injuries off. I will say this, when a team loses a player or multiple players, there are things the coaching staff can do to minimize the loss. The one thing that no coach can do, I don't care how good he is, is make up for a lack of continuity. That is the least talked about thing in basketball, history suggests that if you take an average or slightly above average team and give them exceptional health then that team will play more like an elite team than the average team they are. I think that's some of what you are seeing with Atlanta this season, their top 5 guys have missed just 30 games this season. Look at Portland last year, their starting 5 missed just 13 games. Last season their starting 5 played nearly 1700 minutes together, the Pelicans starting five will likely not even get to 200 this season. Continuity is so important. It's why you won't ever hear me feel sorry for OKC this year, they've had exceptional health ever since moving to OKC, I would kill for it. In their first playoff season their top 8 guys missed a combined 13 games. Without the health they've had, they wouldn't be the team we know today. So I don't know, I'd definitely take them over Dallas at full health. You can only go off what you know. Over two seasons this team has proven to be a top offense in the league when we have Jrue, Gordon, Reke, Anderson, and Davis healthy. Since the addition of Pondexter and Cole the team has improved to about average defensively. Add Jrue? I don't know. I think a team of Jrue, Gordon, Pondexter, Davis, Asik, Evans, Anderson, Cole, and Ajinca could be damn good if they ever get to play together. Good compliment of shooters, guys who can get to the rim, passers, perimeter defenders, interior defenders, and so on. Lots of talent.
