Nov 15, 2015; New York, NY, USA; New York Knicks guard Arron Afflalo (4) shoots over New Orleans Pelicans center Omer Asik (3) during the first quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports
The New Orleans Pelicans can stand to see everyone on the roster improve at something after a 1-11 start.
Well, the New Orleans Pelicans are not in the position nearly everyone predicted at this point. Sitting at just 1-11, the Pelicans have lost some terrible games and some close games along the way. The blame can be passed around like a hot potato; some losses can be pinned on the bigs, some on the guards, some on coaching and so forth. The point is, everyone involved can improve.
So who can improve what? Lets take a look by going in order of minutes played and finding a not so obvious way each player can improve going forward
(Note: players with long-term injuries are not included).
Omer Asik: Get in shape
The fact that Omer Asik has the fewest minutes of all the Pelicans’ rotation players right now is troubling, especially when it is factored in the Pelicans just extended him with a
fairly large
massive contract. Yes, he has missed some time due to injuries and ailments, but he has averaged just 17 minutes a night in the games in which he has appeared.
While it’s clear some of this issue is a result of Alvin Gentry preferring to just not play a big half the time, Asik has looked absolutely exhausted every time he has had to play more than five consecutive minutes this season. While he has been on the floor, Asik has done his job by instantly making the interior defense more formidable and preventing opponents from grabbing second chance rebounds, but with him sucking air every time his pace quickens to a jog, he has been borderline unplayable. For the Pelicans to improve, the interior defense needs to improve, and that means Omer Asik needs to get in shape.
Alexis Ajinca: Stop fouling
So, these are supposed to be not so obvious ways for each player to improve, but it is obvious to every breathing human who has watched a Pelicans game that Alexis Ajinca fouls far too often. Alexis Ajinca has only played 148 minutes so far this season, yet he has fouled an incredible 26 times. For every six minutes Ajinca is on the floor, he commits a foul. His constant fouling has kept him from playing meaningful minutes on multiple occasions.
On November 17th against the Denver Nuggets, Ajinca racked up three fouls in four minutes. After that, Gentry had seen enough, and Ajinca did not see the court again that night. This situation has repeated multiple times over and leaves the Pelicans without a viable big for stretches because of all the injuries. In a similar situation as Omer Asik, Ajinca was just extended this offseason and cutting down his fouls will go a long way to proving the extension wasn’t a mistake.
Next: Two familiar faces