New Orleans Pelicans: Getting Defensive

Through the first two games of the young season, the New Orleans Pelicans are allowing a ghastly 108.9 points per 100 possessions. In other words, things are going to get better. I promise.

The sample size is far from large enough to start flailing your hands up in the air in disgust that the Pellies are once again on their way to a season nestled in the bottom third of the rankings in terms of defensive efficiency. Adjustments are going to be made and Stephen Curry and his micro-version clone (C.J. McCollum, apparently) are not going to be the opponents for each game.

POINT GUARDS ARE NOT GOING TO DROP 24 POINTS EVERY FIRST QUARTER. I SWEAR.

However, a defense that was expected to take leaps forward this season has still been troubling out of the shoot.

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Yes, the roster is far from intact, leading Alvin Gentry to have to play Ish Smith and the recently waived Nate Robinson alongside one other for minimal stretches, while simultaneously throwing away the defensive end. In fact, I am going to take the glass half full approach and attribute most of the defensive issues thus far to the personnel.

Additionally, the pace in which the Pelicans are playing at may be a sight to sore eyes for fans, but it can also be attributed to easy buckets for the opposing team. In an effort to push the pace, Jrue Holiday and Eric Gordon will kamikaze their way into the lane early in the shot clock and hoist inefficient layups to try and catch the defense before they are set. Unfortunately, most of these layups haven’t been falling, allowing teams to blitz New Orleans going the other way and attack their defense before it is set.

Hopefully this isn’t news to everyone, but it is pretty darn tough to stop Curry and Damian Lillard when they have a scrambling defense and open court ahead of them. Two yo-yo dribbles and they are either taking an open three or setting one up for their teammates.

Also, God bless Kendrick Perkins and all of his thunderous glory, but man does it hurt a team to have to play him extended minutes. He isn’t shifty enough to stick with roadrunner guards slicing their way into the lane off of the pick-and-roll and is more likely to knock someone on their butt than block a shot. I don’t blame Perkins — not much is expected of him at this point — I just am anxious to see what the defense looks like with Omer Asik soaking up the minutes that Big Perk is getting right now.

At least the man still has a mean post-game.

Lastly — and brace yourself for this — Anthony Davis has not been good on the defensive end thus far. He too often gets beaten on the pick-and-roll because he neglects to shuffle his feet and some of his technique has been sloppier than what is to be expected of him. Davis is a lengthy freak that should be a defensive anchor, swatting and swiping at the ball to wreak havoc on nearly every possession.

His stats always seem to exemplify that he is having a tremendous defensive impact (2.5 blocks and 1.0 steal per game thus far), but when you watch the game you can’t help but think otherwise.

I am going to save specific examples of Davis’ defensive struggles for tomorrow in a different piece. Stay tuned.

As for the Pelicans as a whole, it is important to hamper expectations until the roster gets entirely healthy. Two games will not illustrate the narrative for the entire season.

It is important for the fans, players and coaches to continue to stay the course.

Next: NBA: Top 10 MVP Candidates In 2015-16

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