New Orleans Pelicans: Takeaways from preseason opener vs. Bulls

The New Orleans Pelicans faced the Chicago Bulls on Tuesday night and left their home floor with a 113-109 loss to kick off their preseason.

The first game of the 2017-18 preseason ended with a dud for the New Orleans Pelicans. The game ended as soon as the Pelicans starters headed to the bench. Anthony Davis had 24 points and 10 rebounds, while DeMarcus Cousins had 20 points and 10 rebounds.

This loss is something that can be easily adjusted for the next game. These preseason games are meaningless, but the habits that are developed in those games do translate later in the year.

That’s the key that Alvin Gentry will need hammer on for the rest of the preseason. The Pelicans haven’t made the playoffs in nearly two years and with the talent they have, they have absolutely no excuses this season.

Ball Movement

The New Orleans Pelicans had 23 assists, but the issue was how the ball was distributed. In the first quarter, DeMarcus Cousins and Rajon Rondo were active in getting their teammates involved, scoring 46 points. The team wasn’t engaged in the second half and Rondo was forcing passes that his teammates didn’t deliver with buckets.

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The problem with that scenario was that the Bulls did a decent job in keeping their hands up and anticipating the passes from either Rondo or Jrue Holiday. There were a few sequences where either point guard was forcing passes in the paint or the baseline to teammates who weren’t at the right spots to catch the passes.

One major adjustment that Alvin Gentry will need to make is utilizing DeMarcus Cousins’ playmaking skills. It was obvious in the first quarter that the Bulls had no answer when DeMarcus Cousins grabbed the defensive rebound and started to lead the fast break. He made either quick passes for a slashing Anthony Davis or to spot-up shooters, anticipating the read.

Once Rondo started handling the playmaking throughout the game, the offense got stagnant and everyone started settling for contested jumpers — hence why the Pelicans lost to the Bulls. It’s easy to guard a team when one player dictates the offense, especially a player like Rondo. Nobody in the league can match up with Cousins when he handles the ball, which is an avenue Gentry needs to exploit more often.

Identity

The Pelicans at the moment didn’t really establish anything concrete in this game, which is to be expected for the first game of the preseason. Both Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins played well based on their stat sheets, but it didn’t help out their teammates. This team can’t be defined by its star players; the role players need to step up their games as well.

This team shot 31.3 percent from 3-point land and the reason why is because everyone settled for long range jumpers. It’s clear at this point that the Pelicans have the talent to be an offensive machine. But defensively, they have a long way to go, especially with how they lost the lead.

Lack of communication for the Pelicans gave the Bulls some hope when they dropped 26 points in the third quarter. This can be corrected in future games if the team is engaged on both end of the floor. Either Davis or Cousins must be the anchor on defense if the other is guarding the perimeter. There were a few occasions where neither player was protecting the paint, which led to some easy baskets for Chicago.

What to look for next game

One other thing to watch out for is the small forward spot on the starting unit. Dante Cunningham got the nod this game, but he only scored four points in the 13 minutes he played in. It wouldn’t be surprising if E’Twaun Moore gets the call for the next game. He had a stellar night of 16 points and was 4-of-6 from the 3-point line. If he can bring that consistency for the next few games, he should be a starter by mid-October.

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The next Pelicans game will be on Friday night against the Oklahoma City Thunder. It’ll be fascinating to see how the this team matches up against one of the powerhouses of the Western Conference.