The New Orleans Pelicans identity will need to be defense
By Chris Conner
With game one of the preseason for the New Orleans Pelicans in the books, we look into keys for what many hope to be a fun season. Offseason roster additions point to a team looking to win big, just not in the way many expect.
During the craziness of Media Day for the New Orleans Pelicans last week, there were numerous topics of interest.
We saw things we expected, such as countless questions about the rotation and chemistry. We saw some we didn’t expect, like NOLA star Chris Trew having cup stacking contests with the players…
You can guess who won.
One of the more interesting tidbits from the day was point guard Rajon Rondo’s comments on the team’s focus and what he looks to bring this season. Previous Pelican teams have talked about this rhetoric, but no one had ever sounded as confident as Rondo did.
"“What I’m trying to bring to this team is a defensive mentality.” Rondo said “We’re not gonna out shoot Golden State, no team will. It won’t be offense why we beat those particular teams, it’s going to be our defense.”"
Teams often try to match up with Golden State’s high octane/fast-paced offensive system. Fight fire with fire if you will. Oddly enough, however, the teams who had the most success against the Warriors last season did the exact opposite.
Both the San Antonio Spurs and the Memphis Grizzlies defeated the Warriors twice during the regular season. They both were bottom five in the NBA in pace last season but were ranked within the top six in defensive efficiency.
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While both teams had the lineup flexibility to run when needed, they both controlled the game with their bigs and defense. Sound familiar?
The Pelicans have a lot of work to do before they reach the Warriors status, and they are aware of this. However, they didn’t build a team like this to be a pushover in the West. For a team that played solid and finished 9th themselves in defensive efficiency last year, they know an equal or higher rating is critical for a successful 2017.
Last season was the first time the Pelicans finished outside the bottom ten in defensive efficiency since Anthony Davis’ rookie season. They were not pleased with this reality, so they made sure to change that in free agency.
NOLA managed to sign 2 strong defenders this summer in six-time all-defensive team member Tony Allen and 2010 NBA steals leader Rajon Rondo.
Unfortunately, in their first outing against the Bulls last night, effort and toughness were absent. Whether it’s due to a lack of respect towards Chicago’s offense or a sign of things to come is relatively unknown at this point.
Tony Allen didn’t log a single minute and it’ll be intriguing to watch the rotations as the regular season inches closer. While we shouldn’t expect teams to shoot 46 percent from three every night like Chicago did, a better performance was definitely expected.
No game is complete without some sort of concern unless you’re Golden State or San Antonio. Preseason basketball can be misleading and NOLA without a doubt has the tools to patch up their errors prior to the start of the season.
Next: New Orleans Pelicans drop preseason opener to Chicago Bulls
Put your panic buttons away Pelicans fans, there’s still ample time for New Orleans to fix some of the nooks and crannies in their game and become a great defensive team.