New Orleans Pelicans Player Grades: Effort not quite enough in loss to Milwaukee Bucks
The New Orleans Pelicans hosted the Milwaukee Bucks Tuesday night, searching for their first win. We grade each player’s performance in (another) loss.
The New Orleans Pelicans were back home against the Milwaukee Bucks and looking for their first win of the season. Anthony Davis would continue his usual string of dominance tonight leading the way for the Pelicans, per usual. The Pelicans would answer every Bucks run to keep the game close throughout. Davis would get a lot more help from his teammates tonight, as the Pelicans hit a much higher percentage of their shots from behind the arc than the pervious three games. However, the defensive effort tonight is what did the Pelicans in as they had to many breakdowns that would lead to easy baskets.
C+. Tim Frazier continued to post impressive numbers tonight, finishing with 20 points, 3 boards and 9 assist. Frazier masterfully found teammates all night and penetrated the paint relentlessly putting pressure on the Bucks defense. However for all the positives on offense Frazier struggled mightily on the defensive end of the floor. The Bucks were able to take advantage and got Frazier in a number of bad switches that resulted in easy buckets or double teams that left shooters open.. PG . New Orleans Pelicans. TIM FRAZIER
New Orleans Pelicans. E'TWAUN MOORE . B. E’twaun Moore had a solid if unspectacular game tonight. He scored pretty well overall finsihing with 17 points on 13 shots. He also hit a number of big shots in the 4th to keep the Pelicans close. And on top of that he is the perimeter defending guard the Pelicans have had in quite some time yet it still feels like he is ill suited to be a starting shooting guard. Either way though Moore looks like a safe bet to be a good signing.. SG
SF . new orleans pelicans. SOLOMON HILL . B. Solomon Hill had his best offensive game for the Pelicans tonight. Hill looked like the guy the Pelicans envisioned as he finished with 18 points, 6 boards, 4 assist and 2 steal. Hill filled up the box score and even added three triples tonight. Unfortunately his free throw shooting would let him down, as he missed a late free throw that would have cut the Bucks lead to 3. Overall though, solid game from Hill and credit to him for stepping after his postgame speech.
F. Dante Cunningham got the start tonight against the Bucks and really failed to make an impact. Cunningham finished with a team -16 plus minus and blew a number of easy chances inside. His defense tonight though was also sub par as he got lost on back cuts and was poor on rotations all night. Given how vastly different the two played it was mildly surprising to see Gentry go with Cunningham over Asik tonight.. PF . New Orleans Pelicans. DANTE CUNNINGHAM
New Orleans Pelicans.. ANTHONY DAVIS . A+. Anthony Davis did all he can tonight in another outstanding effort. Davis final line is 35,15,2,3,3. AD has been the definition of a stat sheet stuffer this season, doing everything he can to will his team to a victory. Once again, his effort was in vain but Pelicans fan should appreciate the greatness that Anthony Davis is providing us on a gamely basis. Theres really nothing more to say other than that Davis has been fantastic. Also, Davis got the start at center tonight and while it started of well the number of defensive breakdowns piled up, the lineup showed promise offensively though.. C
D+. Buddy Hield started off the game well. He looked confident as he drove to the rim and finished in traffic, then getting an easy fast break dunk. From there though things got ugly, as Buddy being to miss open three pointers and turn the ball over. Eventually he would hit his first three, late in the 4th quarter, but Buddy needs to let the offense come to him instead of trying to force the issue.. G. New Orleans Pelicans. BUDDY/ HIELD
OMER ASIK. B. Omer Asik did not get the start tonight but played very well. Omer usually matched up with Greg Monroe and did a fairly good job of containing him. Also, Asik allowed AD to play a more free role which resulted in 1) better rebounding and 2) better rim protection. It was odd to see Gentry stick with Cunningham so much and it will be interesting to see if Asik gets back into the starting lineup tomorrow against the bigger Grizzlies front court.. C. New Orleans Pelicans
G/SF. New Orleans Pelicans. LANCE STEPHENSON . C. Lance did not find many scoring opportunities tonight in his limited minutes. Still, Lance was able to get the crowd going with a nice finish and some fancy passes. Gentry has shown a commitment to Moore Frazier and Hill so it might be tough for Stephenson to find consistent minutes
Langston Galloway was so quiet tonight if you blinked you would of forgot he played. Galloway played 8 minutes and did not take a shot.. G . New Orleans Pelicans. LANGSTON GALLOWAY . N/A
F. It only took 6 first half minutes for Alvin Gentry to realize that Alexis Ajinca does not belong in an rotation. Its a shame because guy hisses having such a soft touch is rare but his lack of rim protection and foul rate make unplayable.. C. New Orleans Pelicans. ALEXIS AJINCA
Final Thoughts
Alvin Gentry shortened the rotation tonight, with all the starters playing over 35 minutes. Terrance Jones, who had appeared in every other game so far this season, did not play at all. Lets see if that changes tomorrow, considering the Pelicans will be on (another) back to back.