The New Orleans Pelicans caused a sensation with 131 and 149 points in the first two games of the season. The team of Head Coach Alvin Gentry plays a breathtaking pace on the one hand, but also incredibly creative in the semi-field. The Big Man trio led by Anthony Davis, Nikola Mirotic and Julius Randle are currently swimming against the tide – and successfully so.
Those who followed the first week of the new NBA season with at least one eye will have noticed that both scoring and pace have increased enormously. It’s a trend that should be kept in mind and will probably be confirmed over time. Many teams now only play with a traditional Big, and the smaller rule changes also have an influence on the scoring explosion.
The whistle is more petty, the players are now even more protected, in addition the shotclock after an offensive rebound now starts (as with the FIBA) at 14 and no longer at 24 seconds. That means more ball possessions, more finishes and of course more spectacles.
The New Orleans Pelicans had the fastest pace in the league last season. Per game they generated just over 101 ball possessions, which would be 24th place after the first games of this season, an admittedly small period. We can expect the pace to slow down a little when the first signs of fatigue appear in the middle of the season or when there are several back-to-backs for the teams, but the trend towards faster play will be confirmed.
Also the Pelicans are in the top 3 again this season (108,75 possessions per game) and confirm this trend – or not?
The fact is: New Orleans has even given the Houston Rockets 131 and the Sacramento Kings an incredible 149 points in their two season games, both of which were won. This can not only be explained by a significant increase in ball possessions, but also by unparalleled efficiency, as the offensive rating of astronomical 127.9 points on 100 possessions shows.
It is almost certain that this value cannot be maintained, but the triple quota of a full 46.4 percent alone is far too high for this. Even players like Nikola Mirotic have shown in their careers that they can run mercilessly hot in phases, as is the case right now. 11 of his 17 distance shots have found their way into the basket so far, and with 33 points per game, the Spaniard is second in the scorer list behind Kemba Walker of the Charlotte Hornets.
“We’ve managed to find the hot hand so far. When Niko was hot, we ran good sets for him. Our boys knew how to give him the ball,” said Head Coach Alvin Gentry, analysing his protégé’s outstanding start.
And this is exactly where the uniqueness of the Pelicans becomes apparent. While most other teams rely on lots of spacing with versatile wing players and shooting, the Pelicans’ game is based on the Big Man trio, the Bayou Bash Brothers, such as Mirotic, Anthony Davis and Julius Randle were christened in Louisiana.
In the two games, the three of them played together 74.5 points, 33.5 rebounds and 11 assists. After the Kings game, Jrue Holiday even had fun doubting the necessity of his existence on the field. “Why are we here anyway? They score, they rebound, they block throws. They don’t need us.”
But it’s not that extreme, after all the guards like Holiday or newcomer Elfrid Payton did their job well. But above all, Gentry deserves a great deal of praise. As in the playoffs, his playing calling was excellent. New Orleans plays one of the most handsome offensives in the whole league, without being greatly dependent on the threesome. Only 29 per cent of all contracts come from beyond the perimeter (23rd place in the league).
The sets they run are not completely new territory, but the Pels simply interpret them differently – because they have the staff with their three bigs. All three can do something with the ball, throw with swabs, ergo they have a Guard-like skill set. So it is not uncommon for the Pelicans to play in the half-field with a usual HORNS formation – that is: with two players at the corners of the free-throw line – only in the case of New Orleans this is not the bigs but the small guards.
The big players also spend a lot of time at the perimeter, which allows them to cut, to get through Blocks position in the mail or to pull the trigger from a distance. This only works with a player like Davis, who is simply not defensible in the right position.
Houston’s Small Ball was overpowered by Davis, while the Kings wanted to counter this with size. The result? The three Bigs of Sacramento had collected 15 fouls at the end. “When teams play small against us, we have players who can punish us in the post,” Davis explained. “This will create space for our guards to attack the basket.”
It allows New Orleans to effortlessly hide a player without a throw with Payton; the ex-Magic player instead collected his counters with clever cuts. “We try everything we can to get the ball into the zone and then get light throws,” Davis continued, describing the strategy.
Successfully so far. In both games, the Pelicans scored 76 points each in the zone. The Phoenix Suns 2008/09 last achieved this in successive games. The coach’s name was Alvin Gentry, by the way.
In New Orleans, Gentry now has the perfect player in his system, an elemental force that can be stopped one-on-one almost exclusively by fouls (Davis takes 9.5 free throws per game so far). In addition, AD also appeared increasingly as a playmaker, as 16 assists in two games show.
But the Monobraue not only makes the difference offensively, also in the defense the MVP candidate is heart and soul of the team. The conditions to be an elitist defender were always there, there was no doubt about it. With 25 years and six seasons on his back, the former Kentucky player has seen pretty much everything and is now defending much more conservatively.
Not so long ago Davis’ reputation in defense was much better than he actually defended. Too often the top pick from 2012 chased after blocks and took a break, which also resulted in a lack of concentration.
The playoffs, especially the series with Portland, showed that Davis can actually be an anchor. It’s also helpful that New Orleans has two excellent defenders on the ball on guard positions, Holiday and Payton. Should one of the two be beaten, Davis is usually on the spot, who can now also effectively place small players.
Coach Gentry is not quite satisfied with the defense of his team yet, although even a mediocre defense (16th place) can be easily compensated by the full throttle offensive. “I’m very pleased with the pace we play, but defensively there is sometimes a lack of concentration,” Gentry rightly complained after the Kings scored 129 points in New Orleans.
That should be the crucial question in the Big Easy. Will these pelicans generate enough stops? The production will probably decrease a little bit offensively, but the series against the Golden State Warriors also proved that the Louisiana franchise can also conjure up points on the scoreboard against a top 5 defense. Over the five games, the Pels scored 108.5 points on average and were only below 100 points once.
This new edition of the Pelicans is certainly not worse. Davis is a year older and more experienced, the departure of Rajon Rondo less serious than thought, because Payton so far disproved his critics. The big coup of the off-season is probably the Randle obligation. For just 8.6 million dollars, the backup of AD and Mirotic plays this season, according to the first impressions and so far an average of 19 points and 11 rebounds, this is a real bargain.
“Our potential is huge,” Davis believes. “If we are defensively focused for 48 minutes and the vote gets better, the others will have to reckon with us. I like what I see and what we do here.” Who wants to disagree with the superstar?