There haven’t been many times in NBA history when teams would be wise to follow the example of the New York Knicks, but right now, that is exactly what the New Orleans Pelicans should do.
The Knicks and Pelicans are at similar stages as franchises, as both are rebuilding around young talent and hoping to find sustained success after hiring veteran coaches to lead young teams.
The Knicks are currently the 6th-seed in the Eastern Conference and are one step ahead of the New Orleans Pelicans, who are on the outside looking in and hope to use the controversial play-in tournament to find a back door into the playoffs.
Look, it’s not like the Knicks are a real contender, but they have improved and taken the next step in a rebuild, which is to get into the playoffs.
The Pelicans might be one season away, but the Knicks have given them a blueprint for how to get there.
New Orleans Pelicans: Similarities with the Knicks
Before we get into how the Knicks improved, let’s take a look at some of the many similarities between the two teams.
Both are coming off sustained losing and hired veteran coaches to try and set up long-term success. The Pelicans hired Stan Van Gundy and the Knicks Tom Thibodeau, defensive-minded coaches who are trying to instill good habits into young teams.
Both teams are built around versatile, playmaking forwards in Julius Randle and Zion Williamson. Though Williamson gets a little more attention, it is Randle who is likely to take home the Most Improved Player award.
Both teams have talented wings in Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett, promising rookies in Immanuel Quickley and Kira Lewis Jr. and both have veteran big men patrolling the lane.
The Knicks have only won four more games than the Pels this season and if the Pels were in the Eastern Conference, this might be reversed, but either way, the Knicks are likely headed to the playoffs and the Pels aren’t.
So how did the Knicks do it? Let’s take a look.
New York Knicks: How the Knicks improved under Tom Thibodeau
When Tom Thibodeau was hired by the New York Knicks, everyone knew their defense would improve.
Thibodeau has a long history of coaching defense and his teams have always been near the top of the league in that category.
But no one thought he would improve it this much. The Knicks went from the 23rd ranked defense in the NBA last season to the 3rd ranked this season.
If you want to know why they are in the playoffs and the Pelicans aren’t, there is your answer.
Stan Van Gundy was brought to New Orleans to work similar magic with the Pels’ defense but it just hasn’t happened.
In fact, the New Orleans Pelicans got worse. The Pels went from the 21st ranked defense last season to the 28th ranked this season and are giving up three more points per game under Stan Van Gundy.
There are myriad reasons for this, namely that the Pelicans don’t have the personnel but the fact remains that Thibodeau has done exactly what he was hired to do and because of it, the Knicks are headed to the playoffs.
But there is more to the defensive numbers.
New Orleans Pelicans: Turnovers are killing the Pels
If the New Orleans Pelicans want to make the leap into the playoffs next season, then one thing they have to do is clean up the turnovers because they are killing the Pelicans on both ends of the floor.
I would argue that the Pelicans have more overall talent than the Knicks, but the Knicks do a much better job of taking care of the ball.
The Knicks are just 8th overall in turnovers, while the Pelicans are 19th, but it gets even worse. When it comes to allowing points off turnovers the Pels are a miserable 28th in the NBA, while the Knicks come in at 6th overall.
Limiting turnovers and stopping fast break points are key components of SVG’s defensive philosophy, but he Pelicans have just not gotten it done in his first season.
They are not only turning the ball over a lot but are allowing opponents to score off those turnovers which is a recipe for easy buckets.
The New Orleans Pelicans have the talent to make a big leap as a team next season and the Knicks have shown them the way to do it.
The Pels have to get into the top half of the league at least in defense and they have to cut down on the turnovers if they want to improve.
I’ve rarely ever said that a team should emulate the New York Knicks but that is exactly what the New Orleans Pelicans should do.