New Orleans Pelicans: Why the Indiana Pacers are a stressful match-up

#2- The chess match-up of New Orleans Pelicans head coach Stan Van Gundy and Indiana Pacers head coach Nate Bjorkgren will represent a clash of philosophies

The second reason why I say this match-up will be a test is coaching. While many think coaching is minimum in the modern-NBA, games with such even talent often still come down to who’s the better-coached team. Against the Pacers, that’ll be a big question for the Pelicans.

See, there is no doubt that Stan Van Gundy has totally reinvigorated this year’s New Orleans Pelicans, but he’s doing it in an old-school fashion. The Pelicans are focused on defense, and limiting turnovers on offense rather than pace and space. They’re playing a brand of basketball that definitely comes from an older era.

The Pacers, on the other hand, have been reinvigorated by Nate Bjorkgren who comes from Nick Nurse’s staff in Toronto. Bjorkgren has shifted the Pacers by taking them away from the throwback style they were running last year and playing a more modern game with an emphasis on motion.

One of those two philosophies will win-out tonight, but it won’t be without adjustments. Can Stan Van Gundy adapt this team to play more uptempo? We haven’t seen that a lot this season, and if we see it in this game it’ll be a major tell about the Pelicans’ future.

If Stan Van Gundy makes the proper adjustments then fans will know that this Pelicans team can handle the best competition in the league, but if they can’t then the Pelicans might not be much different from who they were last season.

These two factors will put pressure on tonight’s match-up for the Pelicans, and it’ll be great for fans to finally get a real taste of what this team is made of!