There were plenty of rumors going around this season that Monty Williams was on the hot seat despite a season where the New Orleans Pelicans had success. They were in the playoff race, Anthony Davis was playing like an MVP, and despite a flurry of injuries the team never went into a tailspin. It didn’t seem to add up, outside of looking to find a better option, but there was no real explanation for why Williams was going to be fired. That was until the Pelicans won their final game of the regular season and clinched a playoff spot.
Ownership gave GM Dell Demps and Monty Williams preseason mandate to make playoffs to keep jobs, w/ no allowance for injuries. They made it.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) April 16, 2015
Yahoo! Sports Adrian Wojnarowski dropped that tweet shortly after the Pelicans clinched, and it answers a lot of questions that we’ve had about the Pelicans over the last couple years. Why does Dell Demps seem to hate young talent? For what reason do the Pelicans choose to go with peaked out veterans over draft picks and development? What is their reason for choosing what appears to be short term goals over long term success? We all knew the Pelicans were swinging for the fences this season, but it didn’t add up cause they never felt ready. Now, it all makes sense.
There’s been a general fear with the team that ownership has been forcing them to rush the process, and this all but confirms it. After all, anybody with job security wouldn’t be looking for such short term gain. When a general manager, and a coach, feel that their jobs are at risks then they make decisions that they feel gets them the most wins, and that usually means picking veterans over youth, and making sure they have bodies that can play. When players are injured, Demps would immediately go find a replacement, because he couldn’t afford to go on a losing streak. Neither could Williams.
In Monty Williams case, every night he was coaching for his job. If the Pelicans fell too far under .500, he knew there was a chance that was going to be the end of his job. Injuries didn’t matter, it was the playoffs or the door and he was going to have to deal with that.
Which really, despite the many flaws in Williams coaching style, makes what he did this season really impressive. Not many people can handle that kind of pressure. They give players short leashes, refuse to try what’s new, and can get noticeably irritable during down stretches. Williams never let any of that happen to him. The Pelicans always stayed afloat, despite injuries to key players, and Williams was always ready to adjust his lineups.
Now, does this excuse Williams of his flaws? Definitely not. It’s been well documented that he is a coach that needs improvement. However, we can certainly take a moment to appreciate that, with his job on the line in a very unfair situation, he performed to the best of his ability and met expectations despite the odds being stacked against him. Right up to the final game of the season it looked like the Pelicans could miss the playoffs. Even when in control of their own destiny there was never confidence with this team. They always gave us more reasons to not trust them than to put our faith in them. Now, with the playoffs on the line, Williams has to coach his team to victory over a killer San Antonio Spurs? No way, he can’t do that, but he did. He was literally coaching for his job and he came out on top.
Now that, is truly impressive.
Next: Some thoughts on Monty from just a few weeks ago
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