New Orleans Pelicans season review roundtable: Omer Asik
Mar 1, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; New Orleans Pelicans center
Omer Asik(3) shoots the ball during the first half against the Denver Nuggets at Pepsi Center. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
With the 2014-2015 NBA season over it is time to look back and everything and anything the New Orleans Pelicans did this season and talk about and discuss it. Over the past few weeks we have been rolling out season reviews of just about every player that played in any meaningful moments.
So far all we have had here at Pelican Debrief is a general overview of each player’s season. With that in mind we wanted to dig deeper into key cog in the Pelicans rotation. Today we take a look at Omer Asik, the anchor in the middle of the Pelicans defense.
The expectations were high for Asik after the Pelicans dealt a first round pick for him this summer in hopes that he could sure up the defense and protect Anthony Davis from having to bang with big bodies. While it wasn’t ever pretty, Asik was able to do just that. New Orleans fell apart defensively without Asik on the floor and his rebounding was at elite levels as he finished seventh in offensive rebounding rate, fourth in defensive rebounding rate and third in total rebounding rate this season. Not all Pelicans fans appreciated Asik though as his offensive struggles led to him becoming the most divisive player on the roster.
With all that in mind Joe, Rick and I got together to talk all things Asik including his offense, if he was more important than Anthony Davis on defense and more. As always feel free to join in and answer each question in the comments below.
Next: The offense