New Orleans Pelicans: 3 wishes this holiday season
By Eric Magana
3. Consistency
If there is anything that has plagued the New Orleans Pelicans, it is lack of consistency. After all, with two All-Stars this team has to be more competitive. However, there are nights where the Pelicans look really good, and other nights where they look lost. Boogie looks great in New Orleans and has actually been more of a basketball player instead of the hothead he was known as in Sacramento.
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No doubt, this is still Davis’ team. But there has to be more from this team than Pelicans fans have been getting. Perhaps New Orleans makes a trade to bolster the roster, or the team jells and stays healthy — and health is key in this case. Right now, the Pelicans are without Davis and he’s lucky to have avoided a major injury (more on that later).
The consistency issues lie in one area: defense. With big guys like Davis and Cousins to go along side big guards such as Tony Allen, Rondo and Holiday, this team would be at least good on that end. Not quite the case. In terms of defensive rating, the New Orleans Pelicans rank 20th in the league. That simply can’t be acceptable with defenders like Allen, Davis and Rondo.
In other words, the Pelicans have a really bad tendency to blow leads. Often times the Pelicans look great for three quarters, but can’t hang on. If this team is going to compete for the playoffs, then they must learn to finish games and build better defensive habits.
As a whole, the Pelicans don’t create a lot of turnovers, and in terms of opponent effective field goal percentage, New Orleans also ranks 20th in the league. And yes, while coach Gentry is no defensive guru, he has some pieces that are capable of playing better defense. Davis and Cousins can bully teams with size and ability, but without a defensive presence, the Pelicans can go ahead and prepare for a first round exit. Or miss the playoffs all together.