What Kind of Panic is Justified for New Orleans Pelicans?

After Anthony Davis’ unreal performance opening night ended with a loss, is the panic around the league justified for the New Orleans Pelicans?

The National Media is going all out on the New Orleans Pelicans’ Opening Night Loss to the Denver Nuggets.

In all honesty, they have some pretty good reasons to be.

Anthony Davis had one of the best games of his career, putting up 50 points, 16 rebounds, six steals, five assists and four blocks. Those numbers do not usually go next to a loss in the NBA.

However, the Pelicans did lose to the Nuggets by a score of 107-102. It’s the fact Davis’ efficiency in his monster game was not enough to beat a team not expected to be in the playoffs this season. Those numbers should beat the best teams in the NBA on a team’s bad night.

National TV Analysts are blowing the roof off of New Orleans. Many are blaming General Manager Dell Demps. Others are blaming ownership when it comes to the health of the team over the years and acquiring talent. The phrase most heard since opening night, as said from ESPN’s Zach Lowe, “They are backups that are starting for the Pelicans”.

Fellow Pelican Debrief Editor Brendon Kleen wrote last night on the failures of the team in the loss. The Pelicans fell short in many areas of the game. This includes decision making, spacing and isolation offense.

Today, it is time to ask a new question.

Is the panic justifiable in the short and long-term, or is this something that is overblown?

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First off, there are a few different degrees of panic and reasons for it. Some are legit to this team’s future. Others may not be.

The first one is the most obvious one. The earlier quote in this article from Zach Lowe. The criticism that the Pelicans are starting backups. Which is not completely true or false.

Tim Frazier is a backup filling in for Jrue Holiday. E’Twaun Moore is also a backup, filling in for Tyreke Evans. The talent jump from Frazier to Holiday and Moore to Evans is a big one. The ability to score is massive on both jumps. Frazier has some of Holiday’s passing. Moore has some of Evans’ all around game.

However, that can not be said for Solomon Hill or Omer Asik. In all fairness, Asik did not have an awful game. Still, he did not have a solid impact on the contest.

His two points in 17 minutes is expected, however his measly one rebound in his time on the floor is not. This guy is a starter for the long haul. While the team has a good defensive rebounding rate with him on the floor, his impact is not enough as the starting center to justify his play.

Then comes Solomon Hill. This was the worst-case scenario kind of game from Hill. Two points on 1-7 shooting with one rebound and two turnovers.

He is seen more as a defensive impact player, however his defense on Danilo Gallinari was not enough. Danilo looked like the young, exciting Gallinari with Hill guarding him. For a guy whose flexibility is praised, it is his starting defense against solid scoring small forwards that needs to show up. Otherwise, his starting role on this team becomes a major question mark.

Still, Hill and Asik are starters, even when everyone is healthy. No one returning from injury should be replacing these guys in the near future. Maybe, MAYBE there’s a case for starting Terrence Jones for Asik, if they can find a way off his contract.

To put it simply, the “bench players are starting” argument misses a lot. But, it does bring reasonable panic to the long-term solution of this team, if Solomon Hill does not pan out in the future.

Then comes the awkward topic of Buddy Hield. The preseason hype thought Hield would be a starter sooner than later. However, his performance suggests he’ll need plenty of time before he surpasses Moore for that role. He was not comfortable in the offense and could not find the bottom of the net, even with open space.

Panic will fly when the 15th man on the roster in Lance Stephenson is getting more run than the number six pick in the draft. However, maybe this is New Orleans playing it safe with Hield. Still, fans are not happy with the high lottery pick not getting the minutes. Is he not ready to fill his role, or is the coaching staff not ready to give him that role? That itself may be worth panic.

The next big topic is scoring, highlighted by the Pelicans 28th ranking in offensive efficiency. Which is bad. However, that problem was expected, when looking at the departures and who was replacing them. This was no longer going to be a team that scores the basketball with ease.

The much bigger issue is where their offense was suppose to be effective. Despite 16 steals by the Pelicans on 24 Nuggets turnovers, New Orleans scored just 26 points off turnovers last night.

While the speed and athletic abilities of the Pelicans became a topic of excitement in the preseason, the execution in transition fell apart. Guys like Lance Stephenson had awkward positioning on the break and the inability of the players to properly space out shooters killed scoring opportunities in the fastbreak.

That is an area that may get better with the return of Holiday and time together. It’s hard for Lance and others to know where to go in game one. While it probably is a major reason for the first loss, it is not a huge area to freak out over, with a team still learning.

Must Read: Grades from the Pelicans loss to the Denver Nuggets

The panic issue that deserves more attention is defense. This was the primary objective for the offseason. Go from an offensive-first team into a balanced attack. However, the defense did not look better against Denver.

Sure, the Nuggets shot 44.6%. That does not mean the defense played well. Denver found themselves open, especially from behind the arc, constantly in this game. Players got caught in no-mans land on defense, spotlighted by Alexis Ajinca in the pick-and-roll. The entire game was covered in Pelicans fouled, which resulted in 33 attempted free-throws for Denver.

When the Nuggets offense did not get the job done, New Orleans bailed them out. That is not the improved defense fans were hoping for. Can that get better in time? Possibly. However, Head Coach Alvin Gentry has not gotten his team there yet. With the season in full swing, that is definitely worth panic, even after just one game.

The worst of it all in game one became the rebounding. New Orleans was outrebounded 58-34 by Denver. That’s a difference of 24.

TWENTY-FOUR.

The Nuggets are a much better equipped team in that category. No one is arguing that. It is what happens when a team decides to play small ball for a majority of the game. Still, 24 is a massive difference. The only two players to get over three rebounds were Anthony Davis and Tim Frazier. Which, to put it simply, is bonkers.

The bigs could not find position on Denver’s active rebounders all night. The bench especially found struggles, with Kenneth Faried killing New Orleans on the offensive glass. If any one category swung the game against the Pelicans, it is simply the rebounding.

Panic is all over the rebounding woes, because it is not going to get better. Jrue Holiday nor Tyreke Evans’ returns will help rebounding and boxing out. That’s on the coaching staff and each individual player. If that is not addressed and fixed, it could doom the Pelicans season.

So the defense and rebounding is a big problem, the offense is going to be a struggle and injuries are forcing some players out of their comfort. The panic seems fully justified. However, it’s not about the panic going around the league. It becomes about what this team can realistically fix short and long term.

Let’s face the facts. A coaching change is not happening this season. Neither is a General Manager change happening. This is not the time to talk roster changes one game into the season. Drastic changes will not happen, no matter how much bashing of Demps and Gentry will happen. The Pelicans are preparing for a back-to-back with Golden State and San Antonio.

The start to this season is more than likely going to be bad.

There are reasons to be very concerned for the long-term future of this team. There are even more for the short term.

This team lacks a second-star next to Anthony Davis. Buddy Hield does not look ready for a big role on this team, when his scoring is a desperate need. The coach’s rotations are suspect for yet another season. There is not a strong defensive presence as a team. The lack of size in rebounding is a problem against bigger teams like the Denver Nuggets.

The categories are all panic worthy because from what those watching have seen, these are all true. However, it is not yet time to proclaim the season over or start planning for life without Anthony Davis.

In time, the players will get more comfortable in their roles. While the scoring is not a strong suit, the defense is an area that can see progress in time.

With all the panic swarming and creeping into the mind of everyone that is a fan and even involved on the New Orleans Pelicans, one thing needs to stay in the mind:

This was one game. One.

There are still 81 games to go in the season. The team’s flaws deserve panic. However, it is way too early to begin trying to re-dissect and change the Pelicans again, before seeing what this team can do in more than just one contest.

This is a Pelicans team set for the future. The 2016-2017 campaign is meant to be a big learning curve for a roster with massive changes. How big of a learning curve it will become is the likely “panic topic” at the end of the day.

The questions that are on the mind of the media and fans are for farther down the road. Are they legit questions? Of course. It is just a bit early to think so far ahead, with so many more games and minutes to see out of the Pels and their players.

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The New Orleans Pelicans left a bad taste in the mouths of viewers on opening night. A game that saw the Pels’ best player put up career numbers did not even end with a victory over a likely lottery team. It’s justifiable to feel frustration and panic. Still, the Pelicans have a long road ahead. The last thing that should be on their minds is what the media is saying. If they can focus on improving from their mistakes and playing up to their potential talent, the craze of panic should settle down as the season presses on.

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