New Orleans Pelicans: 3 reasons the Pels are trending downward

New Orleans Pelicans: Poor guard play is killing the Pelicans

Poor Guard Play

I wrote recently that Lonzo Ball and Eric Bledsoe were big reasons for the Pelicans’ slow start.

They have been one of the worst starting backcourts in the NBA by any measure and really aren’t doing anything to contribute to winning basketball at this point.

But it’s not just them, the Pelicans have gotten little from any of their guards this season.

The Pels play up to six guards and so far, they’ve pretty much all been terrible.

Josh Hart has played good defense but has missed a ton of wide-open shots from the corner and is currently shooting just 34 percent from 3-point range.

JJ Redick is having the worst season since his rookie year, averaging just 8.6 points and shooting an abysmal 32.4 percent from long range.

Nickeil Alexander-Walker has been wildly inconsistent, looking like an All-NBA guard one minute and reverting back to bad habits the next. He is averaging 11.1 points per game, mostly because he scored 37 against the Clippers, but hasn’t shot the ball well, averaging just 34 percent from 3-point range.

The NBA is a league dominated by wings and guards who can score. The Pels have their wing in Brandon Ingram but their guards have not been good, especially the starting backcourt, who are 25th (Lonzo) and 27th (Bledsoe) in scoring at their respective positions.

But part of this is not their fault. The Pels guards are being asked to do too much.