New Orleans Pelicans: Player Grades in Uninspiring Win over Washington

New Orleans Pelicans: Grade for the coaching.

The Coach

I’ve been rough on Gentry, so I’ll start by talking about the things I liked. He seemed to have a much better feel for when to make changes and stick with what was working in this one.

Gentry rode the bench when they were getting the Pelicans back into it, deployed Jackson, Melli and Hart effectively, and figured out ways to get stops and buckets with his bench unit.

But the Pelicans turned the ball over 20 times, something that has plagued them all year. I don’t put this all on Gentry, as the players have to take care of the ball, but it has to be noted.

The Pelicans also got out to another horrible start, something I do put on the coach’s shoulders. He has to do something different to get this team prepared, as they are getting behind early in every game.

It’s probably unfair to judge Gentry based off the bubble, as Zion has been limited and these circumstances are not ideal or normal.

But he will have a short leash next season if things start to go south with this young team, so Gentry would benefit from some good performances in these last three games.

It wasn’t an inspiring performance by any means, but the New Orleans Pelicans were able to get the W, which is all that matters.

They wanted to play meaningful games and now they have set up what could be a huge matchup with the San Antonio Spurs on Sunday.