Was Boogie’s benching more about performance than strategy?

The  New Orleans Pelicans escaped another sloppy narrow win against the Atlanta Hawks Monday night. Surprisingly, they did it with DeMarcus Cousins on the bench from 8 minutes left in the game until to 37 seconds left. Coach Alvin Gentry claims it was for strategic purposes, we wonder if he was making a subtle statement.

You may not like Alvin Gentry as the coach of the New Orleans Pelicans.

Gentry starting Dante Cunningham over Darius Miller going forward may be your biggest gripe. Maybe the rest of the rotation irks you, or perhaps Alvin’s suit preferences really grind your gears. Collect yourself regardless and find a way to like Gentry benching DeMarcus Cousins.

Whether for strategic purposes or subtle discipline, Boogie Cousins missed most of the crunch time Monday night. Gentry chose to go with Anthony Davis, Jrue Holiday and a mixture of three shooters to close the game. That combination was crucial in the Pelicans finding another weird way to win a game of basketball. Depending on which night it is, Boogie Cousins is arguably NOLA’s best shooter.

No matter the circumstance, however, him being off the floor for almost the remaining 8 minutes is eyebrow-raising. Gentry claims this was more about Atlanta crowding the paint on defense, and spreading the floor on offense.

That may indeed be the case, but what if it wasn’t? What if Gentry was sending a message that he was tired of the lack of ball security and risky decisions? Especially after speaking in the pregame about it.

“You just can’t make high-risk plays,” Gentry said according to Scott Kushner. “We’re not Brett Favre. Let’s be Tom Brady. Let’s make the easy, simple ones.”

Gentry, unfortunately, was forced to again be frustrated with the Pelicans’ sloppy play. Monday may have been the most visibly upset that we’ve seen Gentry all season.

Can you blame him?

After beating the Clippers Saturday, the Pels preached accountability and taking better care of the basketball. That seemed to easily be forgotten Monday as NOLA ridiculously turned the ball over 19 times. Coming into Monday, the Pels were already the NBA’s fifth-worst team in turnovers at 16.7 (now 17.6) a game.

To make matters worse, Boogie is responsible for 5 of the teams’ total per night which leads all of the NBA. Boogie added seven more to his average against the Hawks, in a game where he never seemed in rhythm. A mixture of frustrated shots and questionable maneuvers led Boogie into some rough patches.

Many of them due to stubborn choices.

And some, just bad decisions altogether.

Gentry could have easily been using Cousins as an example, one that no player is exempt from. We’ve seen a lot of great coaches not be afraid to discipline their star players, most notably Spurs coach Gregg Popovich.

It creates a level of respect and an environment where everyone feels equal. We know that certain players will always get preferential advances. Hell, certain people do, you see it in your day to day environment.

Take your personal life for example:

You may come to work late one morning and get yelled at, but there’s a person who’s been there longer or is highly favored that wouldn’t. Maybe they’re perceived as more talented than you, or they perform slightly better. The special treatment, however, still bothers you, as it should. This happens to everybody, and whether we like it or not, it’s commonplace.

But the one time something changes or is addressed is when people take notice. Make no mistake, DeMarcus Cousins is as crucial to the New Orleans Pelicans success as anybody. His decision on whether to commit long term in NOLA or to jettison will shape the future of basketball in New Orleans entirely. Even he, however, has to be held accountable. And disciplining HIM could mean that one player isn’t bigger than the team.

Gentry’s decision may have had been the right one in the end as the team still found a way to win. There may even be a game where Jrue or AD isn’t playing late down the road. But, overall, the message will have to continue to be more important than the person involved.

Next: Battle Of The Bird’s: Pelicans Win Nail-Biter Against The Atlanta Hawks

Either way, we’ll probably never know Gentry’s true intentions. We should just hope he took a brave and fearful stance. One that even DeMarcus will hopefully agree with.