3 adjustments Alvin Gentry needs to make after All-Star break
Alvin Gentry has helped turn the New Orleans Pelicans’ season around, but he needs to make some adjustments for the playoff push.
Alvin Gentry spent much of the first half of the season on the hot seat after the Pelicans had a catastrophic 6-22 start. Gentry managed not to lose the team (or his job), made some adjustments and now the Pelicans have an outside chance at the eight seed in the Western Conference, which would be miraculous given their miserable start. Lately, Gentry has seemed to push the right buttons, but there are some adjustments he needs to make after the All-Star break.
Zion’s Minutes
Coming off a knee surgery and a banged up ankle, Alvin Gentry is going to have to choose when and how much to play young superstar Zion Williamson. Williamson is averaging 28.4 minutes over his last ten games with a usage rate of 29.3, which is 21st in the in NBA and highest for any power forward not named LeBron James. Gentry has to be careful not to overuse Williamson and subject him to further injury because the Pelicans are a completely different team when he is in the game.
The Pelicans are +21 when Zion is on the floor and a staggering -17 when he is not. New Orleans has primarily run their offense through Williamson and when he leaves the game the offense goes with him. The ball stops moving, the offense stagnates and New Orleans stops getting the easy run-outs and open looks that they get when Zion is playing.
Gentry cannot reasonably play Williamson many more minutes than he is currently playing without risking injury, but he needs to better pick and choose when he uses him. Zion has been playing roughly the first seven minutes of quarters and sitting the last five. Sitting Williamson for big chunks has allowed the opponents to go on runs, such as the 19-5 spurt the Oklahoma City Thunder had just before halftime of the final game before the break.
Gentry needs to adjust his rotations so that Zion isn’t sitting for five or six minutes at a time and getting very little run with the shooters in the second unit. Williamson’s minutes and usage will clearly be one of the biggest coaching challenges for Gentry moving forward.