Pelica Debrief
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New Orleans Pelicans: Grading Alvin Gentry’s coaching job in 2019-2020

By Willie Lutz

NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JANUARY 16: Josh Hart #3 of the New Orleans Pelicans talks with Alvin Gentry of the New Orleans Pelicans during the game against the Utah Jazz at Smoothie King Center on January 16, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. 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 the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA - JANUARY 16: Josh Hart #3 of the New Orleans Pelicans talks with Alvin Gentry of the New Orleans Pelicans during the game against the Utah Jazz at Smoothie King Center on January 16, 2020 in New Orleans, Louisiana. 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 the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /
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New Orleans Pelicans, Zion Williamson, Alvin Gentry
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 23: Head coach Alvin Gentry of the New Orleans Pelicans shakes hands with Zion Williamson #1 (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) /

There were ups and downs to this New Orleans Pelicans season, but Alvin Gentry kept finding ways to coach through the obstacles.

Shedding off early-season struggles to turn this New Orleans Pelicans team into one of the league’s most exciting bunches, head coach Alvin Gentry kept the ship afloat and found ways to make his team start to thrive.

Receiving heavy criticism early in the 2019-2020 season after struggling to boost the Anthony Davis-era past the second round of the playoffs, Gentry found ways to silence a lot of doubt as the season progressed.

While the team’s best days seemed like they were in the near future, as Zion Williamson started to look more comfortable in his own skin, the league suspended play Mar. 15, with the Pelicans never taking the floor on the road against the Sacramento Kings.

Gentry’s season started pretty poor and eventually turned to one of the most exciting runs in the history of basketball in the Big Easy.

Despite their 13-game losing streak and slow start overall, the team was 28-36, just 3.5 games behind the Memphis Grizzlies for the eighth seed in the Western Conference Playoffs. Further, the team had the hardest schedule in the league through the All-Star Break.

The New Orleans Pelicans battled through a lot of adversity this season and eventually found a way to be a hard team to handle, even for some of the league’s elite teams.

8.4. . . . PLAYER DEVELOPMENT

If there’s one area where Alvin Gentry proved his value to David Griffin this season, it was his ability to start turning the young New Orleans Pelicans into better professional players.

Brandon Ingram, Lonzo Ball, and Josh Hart all took strong steps forward from their prior seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers, with Ingram, of course, making his first trip to the NBA All-Star Game.

The team seemed to really enjoy playing as a unit and a majority of the roster showed the ability to keep the ball moving within their offense, something that’ll be important as the team develops a style of play for its young core.

Notably, Jaxson Hayes seemed to develop quickly with Gentry providing the center a heavy dosage of playing time early in his career, despite being someone the team viewed as a G-League stash when picking him tenth in the 2019 NBA Draft.

While there were higher hopes for Nickeil Alexander-Walker and there was never untapped potential to turn Jahlil Okafor into a modern rotational center, many members of this team took developmental leaps this season.

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