Pelica Debrief
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Coaching Will Be The Key To A Pelicans Victory Tonight

By Mark Nilon

OAKLAND, CA - May 1: Head Coach Alvin Gentry of the New Orleans Pelicans writes a play during the game against the Golden State Warriors in Game Two of Round Two of the 2018 NBA Playoffs on May 1, 2018 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CA - May 1: Head Coach Alvin Gentry of the New Orleans Pelicans writes a play during the game against the Golden State Warriors in Game Two of Round Two of the 2018 NBA Playoffs on May 1, 2018 at ORACLE Arena in Oakland, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Tonight, the New Orleans Pelicans will be squaring off against the Golden State Warriors for game five of this best-of-seven playoff series. As everyone will attest, Golden State is a great team, but they are far from unstoppable. If NOLA wishes to bring this series back home for a game six, it falls upon Alvin Gentry’s shoulders to bring this hope to life.

It’s do-or-die time for the New Orleans Pelicans. Currently speaking, the franchise finds themselves down three games to one in this best-of-seven series to the Golden State Warriors and are a mere loss away from playoff elimination. What makes the task of winning out for NOLA that much more difficult is that they would need to play in Oracle Arena two more times to complete their comeback attempt – this includes tonight.

If we’re being honest here, Golden State is clearly the more talented team in this series (duh), let alone the entire league (arguably). If New Orleans wishes to win tonight’s matchup, they cannot rely solely on their star players. In fact, quite possibly the biggest factor in whether NOLA lives to see another day is how well head coach Alvin Gentry performs.

Sometimes a great game plan is more valuable to a team than talent. We’ve seen this type of idea executed many times throughout league history. Recent examples of this include 2003’s Detroit Pistons and 2010’s Dallas Mavericks. We’ve even seen this logic pay huge dividends this year for the Boston Celtics.

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Both teams they’ve played against thus far during this years playoffs were considered huge favorites to win the series due to their advantage in the talent department. However, as fate would have it, the Celtics are now one win away from heading to their second consecutive Eastern Conference Finals appearance with Terry Rozier as the teams best player. While we have to give the players a lot of credit for being where they are now, the genius that is Brad Stevens is the main reason for Boston’s success this postseason.

Am I comparing Alvin Gentry to Brad Stevens? No! Many few are on the level of Stevens. However, what I am saying is Gentry is in a better position than Stevens in regards to roster. At his disposal Gentry has Anthony Davis (MVP candidate), Jrue Holiday (All-NBA candidate) and Rajon Rondo (NBA Champion), just to name a few. Though these players alone barely compare to that of the Dubs, what coaches like Stevens have done may bring a glimmer of hope to New Orleans and it’s fan base. Though on paper it would appear the Warriors are superior, with a great game plan drawn up by Alvin Gentry, the Pelicans may be able to steal a win on the road against the defending champs. After all, they’ve already beaten them once this series!

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Game five of this best-of-seven series commences tonight. Tip-off starts at 10:30 PM, ET. Will the Pelicans be sent packing, or will they bring this series home to NOLA for game six? All questions will be answered after the final buzzer sounds. As always, GO PELS!

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