New Orleans Pelicans: Grade for the coaching.
The Coach
There were some things from Gentry that I liked:
I liked how he rewarded effort and put in the guys who were actually playing hard. The “all hustle” lineup worked in the third quarter and got the Pels back into it.
I liked how he benched Lonzo and Ingram after they were not showing effort.
That’s about it.
Gentry once again let his team get down by double digits before the first commercial break, refusing time and time again to call a timeout until it was too late.
In my opinion, coaches are given way too much credit and blame, but the difference between Gentry and Popovich is HUGE.
Sometimes it’s just the little things: Three times in the first half Pop called a timeout after the Pelicans scored five points in a row. He yelled at his team, demanded more effort, then promptly ran a solid set play to get his team a good shot. They made two of them and missed a wide-open ten footer on the third.
Juxtapose this against Gentry’s effort: Gentry called his first timeout when his team was already down 11 points and had turned the ball over three times. The game was essentially over already, and Gentry just stood on the sidelines.
Then there are the big things: Gentry’s rotations were again baffling, and he tried to ride the hot defense too long in the third quarter and into the fourth, leaving NAW in there even though he was turning the ball over nearly every play.
I don’t put all of this on Gentry, but is there any doubt that the Pelicans would have been better prepared to play if Popovich were the coach?
That doesn’t bode well for Gentry’s future with the team.
The New Orleans Pelicans weren’t disappointing because they lost, they’re disappointing because the effort and intensity has been absent.
They have to look hard in the mirror in the offseason, make some adjustments to this imbalanced roster and find some guys who are willing to play defense.