The New Orleans Pelicans need major changes at home

The New Orleans Pelicans need to improve their home-court advantage.

It seems like it’s been about five years since the New Orleans Pelicans played a game at Smoothie King Arena. The question is, would anyone even notice?

The Pelicans continued their streak of poor home attendance again this year, finishing 23rd in the NBA in total fans.

There are several reasons for this: New Orleans is a football town and always will be. The Saints have had sustained success and NOLA is in the heart of college football country as well, so the Pelicans are always going to be the second banana.

The team has also not won consistently, making the playoffs just seven times in its existence and never more than two years in a row.

New Orleans has also been through some tough times that have caused people to be more conservative financially, which means no basketball tickets.

The fans are also distrustful of a Pelicans organization that squandered two Hall of Fame players in Chris Paul and Anthony Davis, so the team has to earn some trust.

But the Pelicans have one of the most exciting trios of young players in the league in Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball, so can they turn their home court into an advantage?

New Orleans Pelicans: Lack of fans leads to no home-court advantage

The lack of fans is a chicken and egg thing. Do the Pelicans not win because no one shows up or do the fans not show up because the Pelicans don’t win?

It’s a little bit of both, but if the Pelicans want to climb into the Western Conference elite, they simply must play better at home. The Pelicans had identical home/away records of 15 wins and 21 losses.

Look at the top teams in the West and you’ll see all of them have a significant home-court advantage, in fact, if you add the home losses of the Lakers and Clippers, they still have fewer than the Pelicans.

The Pels must start out better at home next season so the Smoothie King Center will be filled and they can develop a real home-court advantage. If they don’t get better at home, the Pelicans will be watching next year’s playoffs from their homes.