New Orleans Pelicans Quarter Season Roundtable
Nov 25, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; New Orleans Pelicans center Omer Asik (3) against the Phoenix Suns at Talking Stick Resort Arena. The Pelicans defeated the Suns 120-114. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
What has been the most disappointing thing to you over the first 21 games?
Rick: I’m going with someone who might come as a little of a surprise pick here…..Alvin Gentry. Look, I understand the “first-year coach” theory and having to figure out a brand new team. However, there’s a lot of issues that are appearing with this team that still have not been fixed. For how much people liked to peck at Monty Williams‘ switching of the lineups game in and game out, Alvin Gentry has not been any different. The defense has been a nightmare with the fact the offense has not really been near what fans are hoping for. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying he was the wrong hire or this is a long-term problem with him. It’s just disappointing for a coach that has plenty of experience at the NBA ranks who just came off such a successful campaign with the Warriors have such a struggle to get this team to play at the capability they can.
Austin: My expectation levels were already low for these two players, but both Omer Asik and Alexis Ajinca have been about as bad as anyone could have dreamed of. If you could have thought of a worst case scenario for both of these guys before the season started, it would be what is happening right now. Neither are playing hardly at all and when they do, the team suffers mightily. Both signed above market value deals in the offseason and both have underperformed those contracts by a large margin. Moving these players is going to be impossible, making the Pelicans stuck with approximately $15 million a year they can’t get out from under. Even that is a lot in the new cap environment.
Matt: I won’t pretend that I liked the Omer Asik contract at all but the way he has fallen off has been incredibly disappointing. The Pelicans have used his injury as an excuse lately by saying he is not 100 percent yet but that only explains so much. New Orleans completely ignores Asik on the offensive end because they can’t trust him and while his defense is better than most players on the team, he still makes the Pelicans only a below average defense. He is flat out unplayable at the moment which is a big problem.
Nathan: Surprisingly, the team’s second leading scorer, Ryan Anderson. Despite posting very good counting stats, Anderson has been a negative for the team. Even though the Pelicans’ offensive rating surges while Anderson is on the floor, so does the defensive rating (higher is worse) and the offensive boost is negated. Ryan Anderson has also notably contributed to the lack of ball movement by being a ball stopper. When teams double him, he has yet to make them pay consistently by finding the open man. Instead, Anderson is more than happy to force shots inside. Fortunately for the Pelicans and Anderson, those shots have fallen a lot more often than they should. Eventually, those shots will stop falling, and Anderson’s field goal percentage will plummet (it has already started). On the defensive end, he’s done exactly how you would expect: horribly. The Pelicans’ rebound percentage takes a nose dive when he comes on the floor as well. Anderson has done very little positive this season besides scoring, and that doesn’t look sustainable.
Next: The good times