New Orleans Pelicans: 3 important trends from the preseason

New Orleans Pelicans: The Pels have reduced their turnovers

Trend #2: Fewer Turnovers

Another point of emphasis for Stan Van Gundy was to reduce turnovers. The Pels were near the bottom of the NBA last season, coughing it up 16.4 times per game.

This was a huge issue, as turnovers lead to easy fastbreak points on the other end, another area where the Pels were near the bottom of the league.

In the first two preseason games it appears that Stan Van Gundy has made an impact. The Pels had just 11 turnovers in the first game and just 14 against the Bucks.

More importantly, those 14 turnovers only led to nine Bucks’ points, so the Pels were getting back on defense even when they turned it over.

This is another point of emphasis in Stan Van Gundy’s defense. The Pels are winning the turnover battle so far, which is leading to far fewer easy buckets, a cornerstone of SVG’s defensive philosophy.

This is even more impressive when you consider the Pelicans have been experimenting with a number of ballhandlers and are trying to learn a new offense built around ball movement.

The Pels should continue to improve in this area, which will lead to a few more W’s this season.