What To Make Of The New Orleans Pelicans

The 2020-2021 season for the New Orleans Pelicans has been, in a word, confusing.

While a multitude of fans and media talking heads would deme the 5-10 record and recent loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves (arguably the worst team in the league at 4-11, on the second half of a back-to-back and without their two stars, Karl-Anthony Towns and D’Angelo Russell) as a hell of a lot more words than confusing, the word has a home with this Pelicans team.

After starting off 4-2 with two wins over the 2019 NBA Champion Toronto Raptors and ever-competitive San Antonio Spurs, the immediate future looked bright for one of the youngest and up-and-coming teams in the NBA’s Western Conference.

Then the tide turned.

Since their hot start, the Pelicans have gone 1-8. Not only did they lose to the aforementioned Timberwolves, the defense has fallen from the top three league-wide to now ranking 19th. The Pels rank 27th in three-point shooting (33.2 percent), 29th in three-pointers made per game, 23rd in opponent three-point shooting (38.1%) and 30th in opponent three-pointers made per game (15.9).

One must hope that whoever reads this doesn’t profusely vomit at those horrid, horrid statistics.

With that now out on the table, believe it or not, it’s actually quite difficult to blame Pelicans fans for getting their hopes high going into this season. Yes, the experience in the NBA bubble was a disappointment. But, the team got their new head coach in Stan Van Gundy that was promised to bring accountability and defense to a team that had a dire need for both, Jrue Holiday was traded for an upgrade on team defense in bringing in Steven Adams and Eric Bledsoe, Brandon Ingram was given his max contract, and Zion Williamson was healthy and looking thinner.

There weren’t championship expectations — that’d be unfair. The expectations were somewhat reasonable. Be a playoff contender, get into that 7-10 position to make the play-in and have a hope of mixing it up with some of the league’s best in the following round. That was the optimistic view of a majority of Pelicans fans. While those hopes aren’t completely dashed with the season still being young, it doesn’t look like it’s going to be likely.

With the lack of success comes the common (and also reasonable) sentiment to stay patient from fans and media. Ingram and Zion are still young, and the Pels are also sitting on a bevy of developing talent as well as a plethora of first-round picks acquired in the Holiday and Anthony Davis trades. There’s a good amount of potential to fall back on.

What it all comes down to is the message the organization is sending. Prior to the season and in one of Van Gundy’s introductory press conferences, the tenured NBA head coach said that no one would come into the Smoothie King Center and “punk the New Orleans Pelicans.” He and executive vice president of basketball operations, David Griffin, both made references to the team slogan: “Won’t Bow Down.” Saying the Pelicans would like to embody that this season. 

Based on the current record of the team and the complete lack of energy against the T-Wolves on Saturday night, it’s not difficult to find the confusion in all of this. 

The actions of the organization are certainly speaking louder than its words. 

Is this team trying to win, or are they trying to rebuild?

And if it is a rebuild, why not give the young guys on the bench some playing time? In a loss to one of the worst teams in the league, the Pelicans first-round pick, Kira Lewis Jr. out of Alabama played zero minutes. Another young player on the far end of the bench, Wenyen Gabriel (who, with his tenacious defensive play will be a fan favorite immediately), didn’t play at all. For a team completely devoid of defensive effort, many are left perplexed.

If there is genuine desire to win this season — the same sentiment could be made of not playing  either of the budding talents. During Fox Sports New Orleans’ broadcast of the game, color announcer Antonio Daniels made reference to his time playing for Gregg Poppovich on the Spurs. Daniels pointed to the fact that when the starting five for San Antonio brought no energy Coach Pop would pull them all from the game, essentially forcing them to earn their minutes back with energy. That includes the Hall of Famers, Tim Duncan and David Robinson. Do you know what that is? Accountability.

Did it have to be that exact coaching strategy in a game that was embarrassing for the entire city of New Orleans? No, but it’s not too much to ask to change something.

In the middle of a mess of losses, there are plenty of changes that could be asked of this coaching staff and the front office.

Start Nickeil Alexander-Walker and bring Eric Bledsoe off the bench. Mix up the offense. Pull players who don’t want to be on the court. Make a trade or cut and bring in a player to shake things up a bit. Bench players who aren’t giving what they’ve got. Give the aforementioned Lewis and Gabriel some minutes. Just do something.

If the season is to progress and little-to-nothing changes, whether it be the communication from the organization or actual play on the court, the ship must be righted. There’s got to be some level of continuity as to what the plan is and how this team will eventually win.

Wasting time with talents like Williamson and Ingram in a small market like New Orleans gets the franchise nowhere. It does the city, the fans and the players a complete disservice. A firm, well-communicated plan needs to be set forth by this team, and quickly.