The New Orleans Pelicans Have Shooting, Now They Need Volume

NBA fans and critics are rightfully obsessed with three-point shooting and percentage. Threes are worth more points and the better you shoot on these attempts, the better you are.

This is an obvious dissection but one could argue that the number of times you shoot matters even more than the percentage at which you shoot. The Houston Rockets are widely regarded as one of the best three-pointing shooting teams on Earth right now and yet they shot just 35.7% from distance.

This is because 35.7% on 3,306 attempts compared to the league-leading Spurs at 39.1% on just 1,927 attempts is 1,284 more points.

They are particularly deadly because of how often they release from deep and the various ways their players can shoot threes. Even if not at a fantastic clip, the threat of a three is constant. The New Orleans Pelicans need to follow this blueprint now that they have some of the players for it.

In fact, the Pels have six players on their roster that shot above 36% from beyond the arc last year, the same number as the Rockets.

They also have an equally as important quality, they have not one, but two players that can create havoc in the belly of the defense.

It will be up to DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis to find these teammates along the outside when either player is inevitably double teamed down low. This will mean passing up a few contested shots at the rim for open threes.

These passes are what make the Rockets so special, James Harden is an expert at driving into the lane and locating the open man.

They are capable of this! Last season the duo combined to create 228 threes and their versatility will allow for small lineups to work. These two bigs proved their defense will be formidable and the biggest problem with going small is giving up shots at the rim and grabbing fewer boards, two things neither Boogie or AD should allow.

With the paint protected, New Orleans should be able to run out some combination of Jrue Holiday, Rajon Rondo, Ian Clark, and Jordan Crawford with little defensive implications.

Cousins has also already transitioned to this “volume over everything” strategy as he shot 5.6 threes per game as a Pelican while shooting 37.5%.

Gentry has indicated he will want at least one big man on the court at all times and both should use that time alone on the court to have the offense run through them either on the block or in the pick and roll.

While together, New Orleans should run double high pick and rolls while having one big stay at the 3pt arc while the other dives towards the hoop, they should also run more Horn actions like this play below.

Jrue Holiday should be running these plays. He is the only player who shot well off the dribble while Rajon Rondo shot an incredible 41% from downtown in catch and shoot situations, Jordan Crawford 42.6% and Ian Clark 42.3%.

Shooting a high volume of threes is as much about the game plan as it is about mindset. Cousins won’t want to always hang around the arc but he needs to understand he will get his touches with AD off the court

Anthony Davis won’t love losing shots from 5-10 feet to feed Rondo in the corner (a spot on the floor that he is lights out) for a three but he has to know that is actually the better and more efficient shot.

Rajon Rondo may be displeased with how unoften he has the ball in his hands but he can still get plenty of assists in transition and his unique passing ability may open up better looks on the inside after it bounces out to him beyond the arc.

Next: New Orleans Pelicans Schedule – How Tough is The Start?

Shooting a massive amount of three-pointers is a conscious effort that not every player can accomplish. Having the correct mindset is as much of a skill as being able to run a pick and roll. Shooting more threes makes sense and would make all players on the New Orleans Pelicans better.

They have players who can shoot accurately from three-point range but now they need to find out if they can do it at a high volume. Their season may depend on it.