State of the Pelicans: They should be better, but are they good enough?

The 2017-18 season may go down as the most important in the history of the New Orleans Hornets/Pelicans.

The Pels will enter their 15th season in the Crescent City with two of the league’s top 15 players in Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins, but Cousins becomes a free agent at the end of the year, so the pressure to make some noise in the Western Conference is both real and intense.

Even after missing the playoffs for the fifth time in the past six seasons, there were encouraging signs at the Smoothie King Center.

Cousins and Davis showed the ability to play together and the Pelicans were one of the NBA’s best teams on both ends of the floor during an 18 game stretch late in the year. While going 10-8 from March 1 through April 4, New Orleans ranked 11th in defensive rating.

The Pelicans shot 46 from the floor and made 36 percent of their three point attempts in those games, a definite improvement over their season averages of 45 percent and 35 percent respectively.

With “Boogie and the Brow” joining forces, the buzz is definitely back surrounding a franchise that has been operating on the fringes of the league. Now, as summer comes to an end and training camp looms just around the corner, let’s look back on the Pelicans’ offseason and what steps the team has taken to as it attempts to get back to the postseason for only the sixth time in the franchise’s history.

Front Office

While it may have been a disappointment to some fans, it was no surprise when the Pelicans announced that beleaguered general manager Dell Demps would be back for his seventh season at the helm. Demps has the trust of owner Tom Benson and his chief lieutenant Mickey Loomis. Demps is an easy target for those searching for a cause for the Pels’ inconsistent play during his tenure. While “Dealin’ Dell” has consistently been active in the pursuit of talent, he’s been far more successful in finding bench support rather than an effective supporting cast for his franchise player, Anthony Davis. Demps essentially earned his pardon from the governor after pulling off the Cousins trade at the deadline. If the Pelicans don’t make the playoffs this season, or if Cousins bolts, there may not be anything to save Demps next offseason.

Coaching Staff

Alvin Gentry has had it rough in his first two seasons. His debut season was marred by one of the most injury-plagued campaigns in team history. Last season, the Pelicans got off to a second straight horrible start. Were it not for the mediocrity of the lower end of the Western Conference, New Orleans would have been out of the playoff chase by December. Gentry has done a solid job in keeping his locker room together, as his teams have always played with effort (though not always with purpose).

It seems Gentry’s greatest asset is his willingness to identify assistant coaches who fill a need and then let them do their jobs. Darren Erman has been a tremendous hire as Associate Head Coach, pulling the Pelicans’ defense from the depths of the league standings to among the very best. Gentry is hoping for that same type of success with the addition of Chris Finch this offseason.

Finch spent last season with the Denver Nuggets as they finished third in the NBA in scoring at nearly 112 points per game. He coached versatile big men like Danilo Gallinari and Nikola Jokic as the Nuggets employed an entertaining and effective offensive attack. Before that, Finch was on the bench of the Houston Rockets and led the Rockets’ D-League team to consecutive finals appearances and the 2010 D-League championship.

Gentry knows this may be his last opportunity as a head coach in the NBA. Having coaches who understand their roles and Gentry’s vision will be vital to any hope he has of extending this opportunity for another season or more.

The Draft

Of course, the Pelicans’ first round pick went to Sacramento in the Cousins deal, so New Orleans leveraged its two second round picks to move up and select Duke guard Frank Jackson. Jackson missed Summer League play with injury and is just 19 years old, so whatever contributions he makes this season would be lagniappe.

The Backcourt

With DeMarcus Cousins taking any discussion of a contract extension off the table upon his arrival in New Orleans, this offseason was all about retaining guard Jrue Holiday.

The Pelicans were able to do that with a five-year contract worth at least $126 million and as much as $150 million. It was an extremely high price to play for a solid, if unspectacular, player who will be entering his ninth season. Holiday isn’t a “franchise” talent, but he’s being paid like one now. The fact that Holiday had the leverage to negotiate a contract like this one shows just how little leverage the Pelicans had with Jrue. Holiday will be under a glaring spotlight all season long as his play in relation to his pay will be hotly debated.

Holiday’s overall value as a player is in question due to his injury history (he’s missed nearly 40 percent of New Orleans’ games over the past four seasons) and his tendency to disappear for stretches during games.

Holiday also had advantages both offensively and defensively at the point guard position, but the arrival of another backcourt general could have a dramatic impact on his value going forward.

During the late stages of last season, Gentry experimented with playing Holiday off the ball while starting Tim Frazier at the point. At times the results were encouraging, though Frazier’s offensive and defensive limitations made it hard to fully evaluate the change in strategy.

New Orleans is essentially “all-in” on that plan now with the acquisition of point guard Rajon Rondo.

Rondo, one of the league’s top passers and a former teammate of DeMarcus Cousins in Sacramento, comes on the cheap. The Pelicans were able to sign him for just $3.3 million, a bargain for someone with Rondo’s resume’ and experience. However, Rondo has seen his value decline as he’s now on his fifth team in the past four seasons.

Rondo did have one of his best seasons when playing alongside Boogie during the 2015-16 season, averaging just under 12 points and 12 assists per game in 72 contests. But, he’ll be playing with a much different roster and with much different expectations in New Orleans.

One of the biggest needs the Pelicans had this offseason was shooting, and Rajon Rondo brings precious little of that. He’s a career 30 percent shooter from distance and his midrange offensive game is nonexistent.

Rondo is also a player that inspires extreme emotions. He had a contentious relationship with Doc Rivers and Ray Allen in Boston. One of the NBA’s top coaches, Rick Carlisle, publicly stated his regrets for bringing Rondo to Dallas. Last season in Chicago he clashed with Jimmy Butler and Dwyane Wade.

The Pelicans are counting on him being a leader, and they are willing to roll the dice that he’ll be a positive force on the court and in the locker room.

Pairing Rondo and Holiday in the backcourt, along with Solomon Hill on the wing, means the Pelicans will potentially one of the worst catch-and-shoot trios in the league.  Rondo had an effective field goal percentage of 56.4 percent in those situations, with Holiday coming in at 47 percent and Hill at 55.4.

With the lack of depth behind Rondo and Holiday, they should be on the floor together for extended stretches, which could be problematic for the Pelicans offense in the half court.

Jordan Crawford was a pleasant surprise last season as a scorer off the bench and the Pelicans will be expecting more of the same from the man dubbed “Instant Grits” by Cousins for his ability to get going quickly. He and E’Twaun Moore will have to compete for minutes with Holiday logging more time at the off guard spot. Despite his social media posts, Quincy Pondexter remains an afterthought more than someone the team can count on after missing two full seasons with injury.

The Frontcourt

Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins give the Pelicans the NBA’s most talented front court duo by far. They are generational talents and their skills seem to compliment each other. Neither has had a teammate of the other’s caliber since they entered the league, maybe since they left Kentucky.

Cousins’ ability to handle the ball, his court vision, and his outside shooting should make life easier for Davis and the rest of the Pels. With a second player drawing double teams, Davis was given the freedom to operate in space and had some of his biggest games of the season with Cousins on the roster.

With Davis, the concern will always be his health. He played in 75 games last season, the most of his young career (his previous high was 68 in 2014-15), but left several games early with injury. Keeping Davis on the floor remains priority number one for the Pelicans.

For his part, Cousins seems to have dedicated himself to getting into the best shape of his career this offseason. There were times last season where Boogie struggled to keep pace with the team’s defensive rotations and he was not great at changing ends of the court in transition. Coach Gentry pointed to improving Cousins’ conditioning as one of the Pels’ offseason goals.

Davis and Cousins have few question marks surrounding their play. Davis still has room to improve in the post and as a consistent shooter from distance, and Cousins can still work on his composure and attention to detail, but these are the pillars the franchise is trying to build upon. As they go, so go the Pelicans.

Solomon Hill proved to be a very capable perimeter defender, but his offense was inconsistent all season. He’ll have to be the “3 and D” player he was expected to be when he was signed as a free agent to ease the pressure on the Pelicans’ bigs and the team’s new back court as well.

Cheick Diallo showed flashes of his ability in Summer League play as he nearly averaged a double-double with 18.6 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. His body has started to fill out as he nears 240 pounds entering his second season. His length and athleticism could help him play a valuable role as an interior defender and second-chance scorer.

Alexis Ajinca and Omer Asik return, and while Ajinca occassionally brings offense and rebounding to the table it is clear that Asik is no longer in the Pelicans’ plans. The only thing keeping Asik on the roster is his albatross of a contract, annually rated as one of the most untradeable in the NBA.

Darius Miller returns for his second stint with the Pelicans and should be Solomon Hill’s primary backup if the roster remains as is. Miller spent the last three seasons overseas and averaged 10.9 points per game while shooting 41 percent from three-point range for Brose Bamberg in Germany last year.

Miller is clearly being counted on to help space the floor for a team still in need of consistent shooting. It remains to be seen if he can provide it.

Analysis

It’s all or nothing for just about everyone in the Pelicans organization this season. The Pelicans may be better this season, but just about everyone in the Western Conference has gotten better as well. Even in a best case scenario, it would be hard to imagine this team winning a playoff series.

However, the most important thing the Pelicans can do this season is prove to DeMarcus Cousins that New Orleans in the place for him to be. Because if the season goes south, and it becomes clear that Cousins is on his way out, the New Orleans Pelicans could take a giant leap backwards. That could also initiate a chain of events that leads to Anthony Davis seeking his own path out of town and a further erosion of local fan support.

There are reasons for optimism and reasons for concern. And that, ladies and gentlemen, has been the story of the New Orleans Pelicans for quite some time.

After missing the postseason once again, Pels lament what might have been

NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Pelicans arrived back home at six this morning after closing the 2016-17 season with a 103-100 win over the Portland Trailblazers.

It was a high note for a team that entered its season finale having lost five straight, and is missing out on the postseason for the fourth time in the Anthony Davis era.

This afternoon, the Pelicans began the process of closing the book on the 34-48 campaign with players and team officials meeting with the media.

“As I reflect on the season, I always come back to the start,” said General Manager Dell Demps. “I felt like this year we were always playing in a hole. We got off to the 0-8 start, which was tough…Jrue missing those first games, I never thought we got out of that hole.”

Demps gave plenty of credit to Head Coach Alvin Gentry and his staff for weathering a second straight season filled with injuries and roster upheaval.

This season, New Orleans used 28 different starting lineups. It was a 14-game improvement over the 2015-16 season when the Pelicans trotted out 42 lineups over the course of a 30-win season. However, the increased health led to only a three game improvement in the standings.

“I thought the team showed a lot of resilience,” Demps said. “I think Alvin deserves a lot of credit for keeping the group together. It was tough coming into the season and not having the people you thought you were going to have and trying to figure it out on the fly.”

Demps, who has led the Pelicans to just two winning seasons in his seven years at the helm, stated that evaluation of this season will be difficult, due to the many changes throughout.

The consensus on Airline Drive seems to be that with DeMarcus Cousins in the fold for an entire offseason and if the team can re-sign free agent Jrue Holiday, the building blocks are in place to make the Pelicans a truly competitive team in the Western Conference. What that looks like depends on your definition of “competitive.”

“I think that we’re still going to be a team trying to find ourselves,” Gentry said. “I think the one thing that we have to do is we have to become more consistent. We have to be able to figure out what we’re going to get every night from certain players. I think talent-wise, with AD and DeMarcus, we have two of the top five players at their position in the league, and I think our perimeter play has to become more consistent.”

“When we made the trade for DeMarcus Cousins, I think we really set ourselves up for the future,” he added. “I think DeMarcus is going to be an impact player here for a long time, and I think that him and Anthony (Davis) paired together…it took a little time, but I think we’re starting to see some of the potential.”

Gentry, for his part, feels like the style of play that he’s wanted to implement since he arrived two seasons ago will work well for Cousins and Davis as they get more practice time under their belts.

“(Cousins) is a very, very talented guy,” Gentry said. “He has the ability to step out on the floor, he’s an excellent passer, he shoots almost 36 percent from three…We were just adding a player who could do the things that we want him to do anyway.”

“The only thing that he has to do coming back in to make it work and fit in is just to be physically in great shape from a conditioning standpoint, and I think he’ll do that.”

The biggest area of need identified by both Gentry and Demps is shooting. The Pelicans finished 26th in the NBA in offensive efficiency this season, down from 15th last season.

“We have to be able to shoot the ball consistently,” added Gentry. “(Davis and Cousins) are going to create double team situations and when that happens, in order to alleviate the double teams, you’re going to have to knock down shots.”

Finding shooters will be a tall task for the Pelicans. The options are limited in free agency as will be the dollars the team has available to them. Especially, if the team follows through on its commitment to re-sign Jrue Holiday. Holiday is clearly the team’s priority this offseason, but the Pelicans also have to plan for the possibility that he could move on.

“We feel like we’ve positioned ourselves moving forward,” added Demps. “I think it will be a different looking team than we’ve had here before. Obviously with DeMarcus and Anthony, and hopefully we can re-sign Jrue and keep that group together and build a chemistry and move forward. We feel like the future is bright.”

Demps and Gentry have to hope that Mickey Loomis and Tom Benson feel the same way. Both the GM and the coach expect to discuss their futures with the top brass soon enough. Until then, the work continues as usual.

“I walk in here every day excited about my job,” Demps said.”I don’t ever feel the pressure or anything like that. We’re in evaluation mode. We’re going to sit back, we’re going to meet with Alvin and we’re gonna go over the whole season.”

“It’s not anything that I spend a lot of timing worrying about,” said Gentry about his job status. “I’m at the office and I’m working and I’m preparing for this summer and everything else like I would normally do. When the time comes, that decision will be made.”

All in all, no news was made at the news conference. Essentially the case was made for maintaining the status quo with the Pelicans and hoping that this time, it all works out. But even if it does, Alvin Gentry had one statement worth holding on to relative to the team’s chances of hoisting the Larry O’Brien trophy anytime soon.

“There’s a big ladder that we have to climb before we worry about Golden State or San Antonio.”

There are expectations and there are excuses. The question for the Pelicans is what exactly are the franchise’s expectations for building a consistent winner in New Orleans and after that, are Demps and Gentry to pair to do it?

If they aren’t, the rebuilding project that began the day Davis was drafted seems headed back to the drawing board.

Pelicans fall to Nuggets and are eliminated from playoff chase

NEW ORLEANS – The season doesn’t officially end for another week, but the competitive portion for the New Orleans Pelicans’ ended last night, with a 134-131 loss to the Denver Nuggets at the Smoothie King Center.

If someone asked for just one game to encapsulate what this season has been like for the Pelicans, this one would certainly be up for consideration.

Anthony Davis had a superlative scoring performance with 41 points in under 41 minutes. DeMarcus Cousins was often the best player on the floor; filling the stat sheet with 30 points, 14 rebounds, nine assists and two blocks.

At times, the supporting cast played well. Solomon Hill made five three-pointers, E’Twaun Moore scored 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting.

The Pelicans held the lead entering in the fourth quarter.

And yet, New Orleans was outscored 32-26 in that final period. Davis was limited to three field goal attempts and scored only four points in the fourth. Jrue Holiday was scoreless. Defensively, the Nuggets were allowed to make 58 percent of their attempts down the stretch, including 4-for-7 from distance. Denver was led to victory by young players: Emmanuel Mudiay, Jamal Murray and Gary Harris combined for 21 points and a grand total of six years of NBA experience between them.

Finally, the capper. Holiday making two horrible miscues on consecutive possessions. First, dribbling the ball off his own leg and committing an over-and-back violation, and then Holiday threw a pass right into the arm of Gary Harris who collected the steal.

Even after that Holiday was the one with the ball in his hands, taking the final shot of regulation with a chance to tie, a chance to postpone the inevitable one more night. And he missed.

“We can’t have the crucial turnovers,” said Head Coach Alvin Gentry. “But it’s like I said to the guys…that play is not the play that lost the game for us. There are twenty plays before that (play) that you can look at that we should have been better at.”

“All of those add up so you can’t take one play at the end of the game and say that is the reason you guys lost. So yes, Jrue made, there were two turnovers, but those two turnovers shouldn’t have been the difference.”

For his part, Holiday apologized to his teammates.

“Obviously, hate to make those type of decisions and mistakes in such tight quarters,” said Holiday, “but I have great teammates. They told me to keep my head up. Obviously, some of the best players have done it in similar situations and they told me that wasn’t the reason we lost.”

“It’s basketball, mistakes happen,” added Cousins. “To sit there and take the blame for a game that was full of mistakes…I appreciate him for trying to take that blame, but that’s not the case.”

So, we move on. The Pelicans still have four games remaining, though they don’t expect to focus as much on winning as they do on ending the season with no more injuries.

“I won’t play AD 40 minutes,” said Gentry of his plans for the road trip. “I’ll try to take a look at a few guys. I’d like to take a look at Quinn Cook, see if we can find some minutes for Cheick (Diallo) these last four games and have him play some time. DeMarcus has an Achille’s problem, so we’ll monitor that and see what we want to do there.”

The sound of the final buzzer last night wasn’t just signaling the end of the game. It marked the end of what is the team’s fifth season in the last six outside of the playoffs. If the Pelicans maintain their standing of tenth in the Western Conference, it will be the franchise’s second best finish during that same span (behind the 2014-15 playoff team).

Gentry is already thinking about next season, he knows what he has in his superstars.

“I think we can see that DeMarcus and AD can coexist and be fine together,” he said. “You put them in a training camp and you’re able to really hone in on what you want to do and how they can play together and they can be very, very effective.”

But there are questions. First and foremost is Jrue Holiday’s impending free agency. Holiday addressed the fans before the game, ending his remarks by saying he hopes to see them next year.

“New Orleans is kind of like a second home to me,” said Holiday after the game. “Obviously, with what I went through this year, and being able to have the support from the fans, and my teammates and all that. Sure, I’d like to see them next year. But, obviously, I’m going to do what’s best for me and my family.”

Understanding the business side to all this, his teammates want Holiday back next season as well.

“I would love to have Jrue back here for next season,” said Cousins. “Me convincing him, AD and everybody else in this locker room, it’s still on him. He’s gonna make the best decision for him, his family, his career.”

“Of course, Jrue is a big part of our team and we want to keep him here,” added Davis. “But when it’s all said we’re going have to figure out a way to get him to come back here and play with us next year.”

Whatever your feelings about Pelicans’ General Manager Dell Demps or Alvin Gentry, the Cousins trade seems to have been a reset button for their stints in New Orleans. In each of Gentry’s first two seasons, he’s dealt with injury and incredible roster instability. While he is disappointed at missing the playoffs, he welcomes the opportunity to finally enter a training camp with his team intact.

“You put (AD and Cousins) in a training camp and you’re able to really hone in on what you want to do and how they can play together and they can be very, very effective,” he said. “I think we’ve got a chance to move forward. For us, we just need to have a training camp that’s injury free, where we have everybody there, where we can put in a system, then play the pre-season games and then play.”

“I like the way we’ve been playing,” added Solomon Hill. “We just gotta try to handle business in the offseason with taking care of our guys and getting the right guys back and definitely building from that. We’ll see where it goes.”

We will see. Because the reality is that this season was a disappointment. It was not a disaster, and perhaps without the underachievement of the early season, the DeMarcus Cousins deal never happens.

Cousins seems to enjoy playing alongside Davis and in New Orleans and looks forward to his first offseason with the team.

“I mean, it would have been great to make the playoffs,” said Cousins. “I’m more excited for next season. This was just a learning curve.”

“I’m proud of the steps we’ve taken as a team. Under the circumstances of how this team kinda came about, I think we improved greatly…I think this team has a bright future and is full of potential. It’s just a matter of time before everything comes together.”

“I think we made a lot of progress,” said Davis. “I think next year we’ll be a lot better. Especially after this second half of the season.”

However, the Pelicans must continue to bolster the roster. Small forward and lead guard among the most pressing personnel needs at this stage. What we’ve seen of Davis and Cousins together thus far has been encouraging, but with Cousins headed for free agency himself after next season, anything short of a playoff run could separate this duo before it ever reaches its full potential.

Davis leads Pelicans past Mavs with historic effort

NEW ORLEANS – Though their still exists a slight chance that the Pelicans can earn a spot in the playoffs, the most likely scenario is that the Pels are playing out the string and preparing for next season.

Now with seven wins in their last 10 games, the Pelicans are creating a renewed sense of optimism for fans, and themselves.

New Orleans began its final home stand of the season by hanging on to defeat the Dallas Mavericks 121-118. Anthony Davis led the way with 30 points and 13 boards, topping that mark for the sixth straight came and becoming the first player since Shaquille O’Neal in 2000 to accomplish that feat. DeMarcus Cousins was right behind with 29 points while grabbing a game-high 16 boards and handing out six assists. Jrue Holiday finished with 18 points and 7 assists.

Dante Cunningham and Jordan Crawford scored 15 points each off the Pelicans’ bench. Crawford has now reached double figures in 11 of 12 games since joining the team.

Dirk Nowitzki had team-high 23 points for the Mavs, who fell a half game behind New Orleans in the Western Conference standings with the loss.

The Pelicans’ defense, which had been stout for most of the season, twice let double-digit second-half leads slip away as it allowed the Mavericks to put up 67 points after the break.

However, the team’s offense was there to pick up the slack all night. New Orleans topped 50 percent shooting from the floor and 40 percent from beyond the three-point line. The team also finished with just six turnovers, with no player giving the ball away more than once.

The Pelicans improved to 8-0 when scoring 120 points or more this season, with four of those wins coming since the Cousins trade.

“It was an ugly win,” said Cousins. “We’re better than that, especially defensively. Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy about the win, that’s all that ever matters. I also know we could have done a lot better job and made the game easier on ourselves.”

Dallas tried to beat the Pelicans by going small for long stretches of the game, sometimes putting four guards on the floor, but Alvin Gentry stuck with his big men to pull out the win.

“We’re not the team to take our bigs out because they have a small lineup,” said Gentry. “I don’t understand that anyway. We’re going to take advantage of what we have versus what they’re trying to do offensively by having a smaller lineup.”

“Obviously, we have to adjust defensively (when other teams go small),” added Holiday. “But offensively, what five man could honestly guard DeMarcus or Ad? If you put in a four, or a three or anybody else on them, it’s definitely in our favor.”

The Mavericks didn’t really have an adjustment on the defensive end. Nerlens Noel, Dwight Powell and Nowitzki each took their shots at guarding Cousins and Davis, with none having any real success.

“They are a tough combo,” said Nowitzki. “They are tough together and they stagger their minutes. When one guy is out, the other guy is featured and they are both franchise players. Once they have a full training camp under them next year, if they stay healthy they are going to be a load.”

Cousins echoed those sentiments after the game. “I know it’s the small ball era, but I think we have two non-traditional big men and we can kinda use that to our advantage, especially when it comes to small lineups. I think we’ve got a chance to change things; change the way the style of play of basketball is going right now…It’s just a matter of time.”

A big key for that has been Cousins and Davis understanding each other. Beyond the Xs and Os of practice, the two have worked on their on-court relationship to make sure they both succeed. They also both understand the pressure of carrying a franchise on their shoulders, something Cousins is glad to share.

“I think we both eased up the pressure on each other,” Cousins added. “In the past (in Sacramento) there were games where I just felt there were a hundred people just hanging all over me. Since I’ve been here I’m seeing new defensive schemes I’ve never seen in my career before and I notice that with AD and vice versa. I definitely think we’ve eased the pressure on one another and we’re a little more free out there but it’s still the same type of responsibility.”

“They for sure have a groove,” Holiday said. “They pass to each other like they’ve done this before. Things are a lot easier when you see a person diving, one person popping, and they’re definitely figuring that out, and it makes it easier.”

Now with seven games to go, whether the Pelicans make the postseason or not, they will use the rest of the season to hopefully build on their recent successes heading into next season.

“At the end of the day, if we don’t make it (to the playoffs), we can still use this as an opportunity to learn one another, to get better every game and use this as a training camp…before training camp,” said Cousins.

“We’re still playing to win games,” Gentry said. “It doesn’t matter what the playoff situation is, we’re playing to win and we just gotta keep competing and trying to get better. We want to be playing our best basketball when we play the last game of the season.”

Davis and Cousins lead the way as Pelicans top T-Wolves, 123-109

NEW ORLEANS — The New Orleans Pelicans picked up their fourth win in their last five games with a 123-109 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves.

After trailing 54-48 at the half, the Pelicans outscored Minnesota 75-55 after the break to pull away from the T-Wolves.

Anthony Davis led the way with 28 points and 12 rebounds, collecting his 42nd double-double of the season. DeMarcus Cousins returned from his one-game absence with 15 points and 11 boards. Jrue Holiday bounced back from a sluggish start to finish with 21 points and seven assists, while Solomon Hill continued his strong play as of late with 13 points, five boards and five assists.

Jamal Crawford (22 points) and E’Twaun Moore (14 points) led a bench unit that outscored Minnesota’s reserves 43-26.

“We are getting contributions from everywhere,” said Head Coach Alvin Gentry. “It’t not like we have to depend on one or two guys. I think everybody is stepping up. We’ve got some firepower off the bench. Jordan Crawford is playing great off the bench, but so is E’Twaun and so is Tim, (Frazier).”

Karl-Anthony Towns had a game-high 33 points for the Timberwolves, who lost their third straight game, all on the road.

Minnesota came out and picked the Pelicans apart in the halfcourt during the first quarter. The T-Wolves shot 65 percent in the opening period, including 50 percent from three-point range on their way to an early 34-28 lead.

The pace slowed considerably in the second, with both teams making eight field goals appeace and each scoring 20 points in the quarter.

Both teams did most of their scoring in the paint in the half, with the Pelicans holding a 26-24 edge down low.

At the outset of the second half, it would be Holiday who led the comeback for the Pels. Over the first 4:37 of the third quarter, he scored 10 of New Orleans’ 15 points, tying the game at 63 on a step back three.

Prior to the game, Gentry shifted his lineup by putting Tim Frazier in as the starting point guard and moving Holiday off the ball. For one game at least, it had the desired effect of getting Holiday into an agressive mindset offensively.

“I just thought having him be the guy that catches the pass after the initiation of the offense gave him the ability to, in one or two dribbles, be able to score,” said Gentry. “Or, in one or two dribbles, to be able to make a play. I thought it helped him out.”
“The last couple of games, I felt really comfortable,” added Holiday. “No reasons. Sometimes it happens. Obviously, basketball is up and down, and tonight I guess I had it.”

Anthony Davis would add 10 more in the quarter and the Pelicans would scorch the nets by shooting 15-for-21 (71.4 pct) from the floor on their way to outscoring Minnesota 40-30 in the third to take an 88-84 lead into the fourth.

After an early bucket by Towns to start the fourth, it was Jordan Crawford’s turn to get going. Crawford, who recently picked up a two-year contract with the team, scored eight straight points to give the Pelicans a 96-88 lead with just over 10 minutes to play.

Crawford has averaged 14.2 points per game since joining the Pels two weeks ago and has provided the scoring punch off the bench the team had been searching for since Langston Galloway was traded to Sacramento. Never one to shy away from a shot, Crawford has also brought confidence to the locker room as well.

“It’s just a focus,” said Crawford. “A focus that wants to win every game, and we have a chance to win every game. If we believe and play with a little confidence, things can happen for us.”

The Pelicans were able to maintain their focus throughout the fourth quarter. Defensively, they forced five turnovers and stymied any chances for a Minnesota comeback. On the offensive end, New Orleans shot nearly 54 percent and dominated the offensive glass with five offensive rebounds that led to six second chance points.

New Orleans also did an outstanding job in transition, outscoring the Timberwolves 33-13 in fast break points, which was a huge accomplishment considering the athletic talent on the Minnesota roster.

“They are really good offensively,” Gentry added. “You’ve got two guys out there that are very capable (Towns and Andrew Wiggins), and it keeps the pressure on you at all times. But other than that, I thought we did a pretty good job as far as defending them.”

“I just thought overall we played well.”

Still 4.5 games behind Denver for the eighth Western Conference playoff spot with only 12 games to play, the postseason seems like more than a long shot. But, if the Pelicans can close the season by figuring out an identity, fans may point to this recent stretch of solid basketball as the beginning of something good.

What to do with Jrue

NEW ORLEANS – When the New Orleans Pelicans acquired DeMarcus Cousins, it was said by some that the Pelicans now had their “Big Three” in place with Cousins, Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday.

Davis and Cousins have done a good job of living up to their billing, averaging a combined 58.6 points (50.7 pct. Shooting), 22.6 rebounds, 6.3 assists and 2.6 blocked shots.  Unfortunately, Holiday has been missing in action as New Orleans has lost its last three games by an average of 17 points per contest.

The Pelicans’ point guard is averaging 10 points per game during that span, his worst of the season.  For the season, Holiday is shooting just under 46 percent; over the last three games his shooting percentage is down to 29 percent (11-38).

It gets worse.

Holiday is making 14 percent of his three-pointers and turning the ball over more than five times each night.  Both his assist and steal numbers are down as well.

Yes, as with every column about the Pelicans these days, we must offer the caveat that this team is a work in progress. But the very notion that Holiday is worthy of being placed in the category of Davis and Cousins is just wrong.

Jrue Holiday is a good basketball player.  He’s averaged 14.3 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists in his career.  Those are solid numbers, but they serve to prove that Holiday’s lone All-Star campaign in 2012-13 was an aberration and shouldn’t be an expectation moving forward.

Holiday is also a free agent at the end of this season. After earning more than $11 million this season, he’ll certainly be looking for a pay raise. Especially when he looks down the bench and sees Omer Asik making $10 million and Solomon Hill making $11 million.  Relative to the value of those two players, Holiday could easily ask for $18-20 million annually in negotiations.  Increasing his value to the Pelicans is the lack of experienced and effective guard play and the limited options the team will have in free agency.

The list of available point guards is bleak, especially ones ready to start:

• Derrick Rose – injury prone, overpaid and past his prime.
• Stephen Curry – not a chance of him leaving Golden State.
• Jeff Teague – not necessarily an upgrade over Holiday.
• George Hill – effective, but age and injury are concerns.
• Darren Collison – a familiar name, but a career backup.

After that, just a series of retreads or unproven youngsters. Even if the Pelicans wanted to take a flyer on a less expensive point guard, the market for wing players is just as thin, meaning there is no third star out there this offseason.

That makes it critical that Holiday play good-to-very good basketball each and every night. Unless the Pelicans can pull off another amazing trade, this is pretty much the team we’ll see next season as well.

Is that good enough to become one of the top four teams in the Western Conference?  I don’t think so.  But this experiment has no chance of working if Holiday continues to struggle. There will be some tough assessments to be made by Dell Demps and/or Alvin Gentry this offseason.  None will be tougher than what to do with Jrue.

 

Davis’ 33 leads New Orleans past Pistons, 109-86

NEW ORLEANS – Without DeMarcus Cousins in the lineup, the new New Orleans Pelicans look a lot like the old New Orleans Pelicans. Tonight, that wasn’t a bad thing.

Anthony Davis scored a game-high 33 points and Jrue Holiday broke out of his slump, adding 22 to lead the Pelicans to a 109-86 win over the visiting Detroit Pistons.

It was the first win for the Pelicans since the All-Star break.

Prior to the game, Head Coach Alvin Gentry felt like Holiday needed to be a catalyst, especially with Cousins out.  Holiday came out and scored the team’s first two baskets, setting a tone with his aggressiveness.

“I think Jrue is such a conscientious kid that I told him he was trying too hard to be a point guard, and we just need him to be Jrue Holiday,” said Gentry.  “We just had a talk about him being aggressive and picking his spots and just playing and not worrying.”

“In order for us to be really good, then Jrue has to go back to being Jrue and not worry about being so much a facilitator, he’s going to do that anyway, but I think he’s got to be aggressive on the offensive end.”

Jrue took the words to heart. “Obviously when your coach tells you something over and over and over and over it kinda resonates.”

Holiday’s four points were the only ones that he scored in the period, but Anthony Davis continued his string of hot starts with 16 points in the first quarter.  Davis reached double figures in the first quarter for the third straight game and the 26th time this season.

Alexis Ajinca got into the act as well, coming off the bench with eight points, five rebounds and a pair of blocked shots as the Pelicans built a 31-18 lead after 12 minutes.

“I know it’s tough for (Alexis) because he doesn’t see the floor a lot, but he always stays ready,” said Davis. “He’s always in the gym working and he came out tonight and played aggressive for us; played well, rebounding the ball, scored…all that stuff.  That’s what we need from him.  Whenever your number is called you have to be ready.”

With the reserves in the game for much of the second quarter, the Pistons would claw their way back into the ballgame.  Jon Leuer had 10 of his 22 points in the frame and Tobias Harris added seven.

Outside of Davis, who went 3-for-4 in the quarter, the rest of the Pelicans were ice cold. The other Pels were 4-of-16 from the floor and 1-for-7 beyond the arc as the team was outscored 32-22, leaving New Orleans with a tenuous 53-50 lead at the half.

But it was a resurgent Holiday who helped the Pelicans open the third quarter on a 18-10 run.  He scored eleven points during that stretch as New Orleans extended its lead to 71-60 halfway through the period.

Again, the Pistons came back, closing to within six points with under two minutes to go in the third. But the game would take a sharp turn.  Following an Andre Drummond blocked shot, Tim Frazier slipped behind the Detroit center and stole the ball.  He and Drummond became tangled up before the 6-11 Drummond pushed 6-1 Frazier in the head, resulting in a Flagrant 2 being called and Drummond’s ejection from the game.  He left with 13 points and 17 rebounds.

Detroit guard Ish Smith thought it was the turning point of the game.  “He was impressive tonight, it’s just unfortunate,” Smith said.  “He was very, very dominant tonight and (the ejection) made a difference.”

Frazier kept his composure, and his teammates were quick to come to his aid.  Though, to hear Frazier tell it, he wasn’t worried at all.

“I’m not going to back down from anybody,” said Frazier. “It’s how I was raised, and I had to fight for a lot of stuff to get where I am, to be successful.”

“Tim is tough,” added Davis. “He loves the game of basketball, he’s passionate about it.  We gotta make sure that we don’t lose him, because he comes in and plays well for us, off that bench running that second unit.”

New Orleans ended the third quarter up by eight, 78-70.  Detroit would cut the lead to six on a Tobias Harris jumper with 10:40 to play, but from there it was all Pelicans.  The Pels went on a 19-8 run over the next seven minutes.  Dante Cunningham was the primary beneficiary, scoring 10 of his 16 points during that span. E’Twaun Moore had eight points in the final quarter, becoming the fifth Pelican to reach double figures as he finished with 11.

New Orleans closed the fourth outscoring Detroit 31-16 to set the final margin of victory.  On the night, the Pelicans held the Pistons to 39 percent shooting as a team (3-for-23 on three-pointers).  Detroit also missed 14 of 17 free throw attempts (17.6 percent), tying a franchise record for fewest free throws made by a Pelican opponent and setting a new record for the worst free throw shooting performance by a team in NBA history.

Pistons Head Coach Stan Van Gundy was unhappy to say the least. “It’s incredibly disheartening when you make a good offensive play and you draw the foul and it amounts to zero. It’s the same thing as a turnover.  You just can’t shoot the ball like that.”

Meanwhile, the Pelicans finished the night shooting 50 percent, and converted 22 of 23 free throw attempts.

“I thought we played well as a team,” Gentry added. “I thought defensively we were really good.  I think that they decided they were going to double AD, and AD did a good job of getting the ball out and we had wide open shots that went in tonight.  When you do that, that’s when you get separation.”

Now the Pelicans will look for the effort they showed tonight to carry over when Cousins returns.

“We just have to keep playing the same,” said Solomon Hill.  “(Demarcus) is going to get his regardless – on a good night or a bad night he’ll be effective. We just have to keep moving the ball and stay the same, defensively be the same, and take care of the ball a little better.”

“A lot of guys stepped up and made shots,” Davis said.  “We gotta carry it over to Friday’s game (against San Antonio) when (Demarcus) is back. Of course, it’ll be different, but we just gotta find a way to do it with or without him. He brings a different look to our team but we just need everybody to play the same way they played tonight.”

Kobe gets hot late, Pelicans falter and lose to Lakers 99-96

NEW ORLEANS – At times it was hard to tell if tonight’s game was being played in the Smoothie King Center or the Staples Center.

In the end it was the visiting Los Angeles Lakers who walked off the floor with a 99-96 victory, handing the New Orleans Pelicans their third straight defeat.

Kobe Bryant scored 12 points in the fourth quarter, including a three-pointer with 58 seconds remaining and free throw in the final seconds to help stave off a late New Orleans rally.

Bryant would finish the game with 27 points and a season-high 12 rebounds.

The Pelicans were once again unable to put together four quarters of solid basketball.  They fell behind by 12 points in the first quarter as Bryant scored 11 of the Lakers first 24.

The Pelicans started the game making one of their first nine field goal attempts with the Lakers cruised to a 13-2 start.

But once Bryant went to the bench at the 3:50 mark New Orleans rallied, outscoring L.A. 16-2 to take a 28-26 lead at the end of the first.

Rookie Bryce Dejean-Jones, who continues to impress with his aggressiveness on offense, had seven points during that stretch.

The second quarter belonged to the Lakers.  Second-year guard Jordan Clarkson led the charge, going 4-for-4 from the floor for 10 points.  Reserves Nick Young and D’Angelo Russell combined for 15 points as Los Angeles outscored the Pelicans 33-20.

Only the hot shooting of Ryan Anderson, who scored 10 points in the period, kept the Pelicans within striking distance.  His teammates failed to capitalize on their free throw opportunities throughout the first half, going just 7-for-16 at the line.

“When we miss free throws”, said Anthony Davis who finished the night 7-of-12 at the stripe, “we give them a chance to stay in the game and then they start getting confidence and feel like they can win.”

The Lakers maintained their lead in the third quarter even as Davis got going.  The Pelicans superstar made an assortment of shots on his way to posting 17 of his game-high 39 points in the quarter.

The rest of his teammates could only muster four points in the quarter and the Lakers held on to a ten-point advantage heading into the fourth.

New Orleans entered the game 2-26 when trailing after three quarters and they were unable to improve upon that mark tonight.

Julius Randle would put the Lakers up 12, 85-73 with 8:31 remaining in the game.  After a 6-0 Pelicans run cut the deficit to six, Bryant reentered the ballgame with 6:30 to go.

The crowd rose to its feet hoping for one more magical moment, not for the home team, but for Bryant.  After a pair of missed free throws by Davis, Bryant buried back-to-back three pointers to push the lead back to 12.

Then Kobe would steal an errant Jrue Holiday pass starting a fast break.  Dante Cunningham would run down Julius Randle, blocking his shot from behind, but Bryant was there to clean up the play and score a lay-up.

A 11-4 run by the Pelicans, capped by a Ryan Anderson dunk right over Bryant and a Davis dunk off of a Dejean-Jones steal would momentarily get the Smoothie King Center back on the home team’s side.  New Orleans was within three, trailing 92-95 with just under a minute to play.

But as he had all night, and as he has done so often in his remarkable career, Bryant had the final answer.   He calmly knocked down a three pointer, holding his shooting form for good measure and walking back to his bench wagging his index finger.

Alvin Gentry was extremely disappointed in his team’s effort.  “It frustrates me because we don’t have any margin for error.  It’s a home game and we lose for all the wrong reasons.  We can’t play uphill against any team, especially a team that has Kobe Bryant.”

Two late Pelicans baskets weren’t enough as New Orleans has now lost both meetings this season to a Lakers team that entered the game with just 10 victories all season.

New Orleans also fell to 0-23 when they score fewer than 100 points.

“We’ve been playing well the last couple of weeks”, added Davis.  “Now we’ve been taking steps backward and we can’t allow ourselves to do that if we wanna be able to achieve our goals.”

The Pelicans got little production from anyone other than Davis, Holiday, Dejean-Jones and Anderson.  That quartet finished with 92 of the team’s 96 points.  The other six players in the rotation combined to shoot 1-for-17 from the floor.

New Orleans was bad from behind both lines, going 4-for-20 on three point attempts and 14-for-26 at the free throw line.

It’s a good thing there weren’t any Pelicans players on Mardi Gras floats tonight.  Cries of “throw me something mister” would probably result on beads scattered in powerlines or trees; based on the team’s accuracy from the field over the last two games.

Breaking the losing streak will be a tall order with the Pels heading to Cleveland to face LeBron James and the Cavaliers on Saturday.

Pelicans have to do more than show Davis the money

Anthony Davis has to decide if New Orleans can build a winning foundation like the Spurs did for Tim Duncan (#21) before accepting the Pelicans offer of a contract extension. (Photo courtesy NOLA.com)

The New Orleans Pelicans are expected to offer superstar forward Anthony Davis a five-year contract extension on July 1.  The deal is expected to be worth more than $143 million, or an average salary of nearly $29 million over the life of the deal.

Sounds like a great deal on the surface.  $29 million is certainly nothing to sneeze at.  Locking up an MVP-caliber talent as he gets into his prime is a no-brainer for the Pelicans, no matter the cost.

But Anthony Davis lives in a time where NBA players of his caliber rarely give up leverage, even if it is in exchange for exorbitant amounts of cash.  Right now, Davis has plenty of it.

I’m sure that A.D. has watched how LeBron James has wielded his power over the Cleveland Cavaliers.  Since rejoining the Cavs last summer, “King” James has placed his fingerprints on just about every move the franchise has made.  He’s essentially taken a “one year at a time” approach to his team, making sure that owner Dan Gilbert feels sufficient pressure to make the moves that will both keep Cleveland competitive and appease James.

While Davis has not displayed the same Machiavellian tendencies at LeBron, he has no less incentive to exert whatever influence that he can over the Pelicans and their front office.

The Pelicans have yet to demonstrate that they are worthy of Davis making the same commitment to them that they seem to be willing to make to him.  The Pels haven’t drafted well; Davis is currently the only player on the roster picked by New Orleans.  A number of their core players have shown an inability to stay healthy (Jrue Holiday, Eric Gordon, Ryan Anderson), putting the burden on Davis to be spectacular nearly every night.  Fortunately, he rarely disappoints.

There’s no history of winning to lean on either.  New Orleans has been to the playoffs just once with Davis, a first round sweep at the hands of the eventual champion Golden St. Warriors, and only six times since 2002-03.  The Hornets/Pelicans have never advanced past the second round.

A look around the landscape of the ultra-competitive Western Conference shows that for a team to be counted among the elite it needs at least two All-Star caliber players.  As of today, they have one.  Finding that second star has to be as important to general manager Dell Demps as getting Davis’ signature on an extension.

What makes the most sense for Davis is to wait it out.  He should see if he meshes with Gentry (I think he will).  He should see if he can get a full season out of his backcourt (I don’t think he will).  He should see if the Pelicans can retain their free agents and if they can solve their problem at the small forward position (I’ll wait and see as well).

Alvin Gentry compared Davis to future Hall of Famers Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett when discussing the forward’s impressive skill set.  The two also represent two possible glimpses into Davis’ future.

Duncan came into the league matched with a Hall of Fame center and a group of veterans and nearly 20 years later has five championships with the same organization.  His career has been stable, steady, and incredibly successful.

Garnett joined the Minnesota Timberwolves and dragged a moribund franchise into respectability.  He was a beloved icon in Minny, but his front office struggled to build around him, resulting in a number of early playoff exits and just one trip to a conference final series.  KG had to look elsewhere to realize his championship dream, knowing he stayed too loyal for too long to the franchise that drafted him.

If someone asked you today which path seems more likely for Davis, even the most ardent Pelicans fan would have to choose Garnett’s.  That doesn’t mean it is what will be, but it has to be something that Davis’ advisors, if not A.D. himself, must consider.

Mickey Loomis and Dell Demps could be standing on Davis’ doorstep at 11:00:01 PM tonight, but I can’t imagine a scenario where Davis signs that extension.  There’s too much that isn’t in that contract that could determine how much it’s really worth.

Monty Williams’ exit isn’t enough for Pelicans to become legit contenders

Monty Williams was 173-221 in five seasons as head coach of the New Orleans Pelicans.

Monty Williams the basketball player was an NBA journeyman.  In ten seasons he never averaged more than nine points per game, but he gained a reputation as one of the league’s “glue guys”, the type of player who wasn’t a star but could hold a team together.

After five seasons in New Orleans, Monty Williams the head coach appears to be much the same.  He isn’t a star, but he held the Pelicans together during some difficult times.

Tom Benson, Mickey Loomis, and Dell Demps don’t believe that’s good enough anymore.  Today, the Pelicans brain trust notified Williams that it was relieving him of his coaching duties.

They were absolutely right to do so.

There were rumblings down the stretch of the regular season that if New Orleans didn’t make the playoffs both Demps and Williams were on the chopping block.  A dramatic victory in the last game of the season over the defending champion Spurs sent the Pelicans into the postseason as the Western Conference’s eighth seed.  New Orleans was competitive while being swept by top-seeded Golden State, but blew significant leads in games two and three of the series and struggled to execute on both ends down the stretch.

That was a common complaint during the Williams era.  His teams always played hard, but they didn’t necessarily play very smart.  Minutes would pass without franchise player Anthony Davis even touching the ball in the half court.  Too often, possessions ended with the clock running down and Tyreke Evans storming headlong into the opposing defense, looking for contact but rarely a teammate.  With Davis and Omer Asik anchoring the back line the Pelicans should have been a very good defense, instead they were one of the worst in the league, ranking 22nd in defensive rating.

Yes, the Pelicans dealt with injuries.  They played without Jrue Holiday, Ryan Anderson and Eric Gordon for significant chunks of the season and still won 45 games, an 18 game improvement since Davis’ rookie campaign.  However, they also finished in last place in the Southwest division for the fourth time in Williams’ five seasons, a full five games behind the Dallas Mavericks in the standings.  The Pelicans were getting better, but with Davis’ impending free agency just two seasons away, they have to make the leap right now or risk losing the greatest player in the franchise’s brief history.  Nothing indicated that Williams was capable of leading them into the Western Conference’s upper echelon.

But today’s action doesn’t absolve General Manager Dell Demps of his role in all of this.  It was Demps who built this roster.  Rather than build his team through the draft (which most Pelicans fans thought he would do considering his background in San Antonio with the Spurs, one of the NBA’s best at selecting young talent), Demps decided to build through trades and free agency.  Results have been mixed.

When an unhappy Eric Gordon was offered $58 million to take his services to Phoenix, Demps decided to match that offer.  Since then, Gordon has averaged just over 55 games played per season, missing 79 contests over the past three years.  His scoring average has decreased from 22.3 points per game in his last season with the Clippers to just 13.4 ppg this year.

Tyreke Evans has had moments of occasional brilliance, but he’s an inconsistent shooter and a turnover machine who has to have the ball in his hands to be effective.  He’s also been shuttled through all three backcourt positions, though he is best suited to play shooting guard, same as Gordon.  Evans had arguably the best season of his career since winning Rookie of the Year in 2009-10 but he disappeared during the playoffs, scoring just 10 points per game on 33 percent shooting.

Jrue Holiday, who the Pelicans gave up Nerlens Noel and another first rounder for, has played in only 74 games since that draft night trade two years ago.  He has not come close to matching the 17.7 points and eight assists he posted for the 76ers as an All-Star in 2013.

The Pelicans were also never able to develop Austin Rivers, who has seen a career resurgence with the Los Angeles Clippers under his father, “Doc”.

The team has little to offer in potential trades, considering that Demps has overpaid for nearly everyone not named Anthony Davis.  New Orleans is up against the salary cap with more than $56 million in guaranteed money on the books for just six players; so the team that got Williams fired is the one that will likely take the court at Smoothie King Center this fall, with a few minor changes on the bench.

Demps has to be hoping that his franchise centerpiece is enough to lure a quality basketball mind to New Orleans, the prospect of coaching a once-in-a-generation talent like Davis blinding the eyes to the flawed roster surrounding the superstar.  Perhaps he is right.  For his sake, he’ll have to be.  Because if he doesn’t get this hire right, he’ll be the next to go.

And that may not be bad for the Pelicans either.