New Orleans Pelicans: 3 reasons the season is over

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3. Talent gap too much to overcome for NOLA

With Anthony Davis, the Pelicans possess one of the five best players in the NBA, one that can go toe-to-toe with the other elites roaming around the basketball landscape, and that includes the Warriors.

The rest of the roster, however, doesn’t really match up.

Holiday asserted himself as a two-way stud during New Orleans postseason run, but the rest of the team is, for the most part, deeply flawed role players.

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Nikola Mirotic is a good outside shooter, but his defense isn’t great nor does he protect the rim. If his shot isn’t falling, he doesn’t do much else. Rajon Rondo is one of the smartest players in the league, but opponents would let him shoot 100 3-pointers before even considering guarding him out there.

Compare this to the team in Golden State, with four of the top 20 players in the game along with an unselfish, versatile and high-IQ supporting cast, and it’s easy to realize the Warriors were simply better than the Pelicans.

Execution over the course of an NBA game matters a great deal, but if a team doesn’t have the talent to run those plays to perfection, the X’s and O’s can only do so much. At a certain point, the game whittles down to one’s ability to put the ball in the basket and prevent the opposition from doing so.

DeMarcus Cousins would’ve been a great interior presence for New Orleans, taking advantage of the one position where Golden State is lacking and putting their bigs in foul trouble.

The Pelicans have some nice pieces, but against a historically great opponent, it just wasn’t enough.

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