One thing is certain in this up and down season: The New Orleans Pelicans have the talent to play with and beat any team in the NBA.
They have one of the best scoring tandems in the league in Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram and have enough talent up and down their lineup to hang with anyone on any given night.
Talent is not the problem.
What is the problem is that the Pelicans are not a very smart team. They lack late-game execution and continue to make the same mistakes over and over again.
This was on full display in the disappointing loss to the Knicks, where the Pelicans’ talent got them a lead only for their late-game execution to let them down.
Stan Van Gundy was not happy and agreed that his team needs to play smarter basketball if they want to make a leap into the playoffs next season:
"“Our lack of concentration coming out of timeouts both offensively and defensively to do and execute what we’re supposed to do is not good enough. We’re good enough to compete with people but we don’t do the things that it takes at the end of games to win. Part of that’s the learning experience but today, no excuse whatsoever today. None. None.I don’t care if you’re a senior in high school, you can execute what we were supposed to be doing with 7.8 seconds to go. No excuse whatsoever.”"
I agree with him and am not one to blame the coach when players make mistakes. Eric Bledsoe had the chance to own up to it and instead offered the excuse that he “wasn’t paying attention” a comment that should get him benched.
I blame the players for their lack of focus, but some of this also has to go on Stan Van Gundy.
New Orleans Pelicans: Stan Van Gundy has to communicate better
If the Knicks’ loss were the first time this had happened this season then you just shrug your shoulders and move on, as players sometimes make mental errors, it’s part of the game.
But this is not the first time or the second or the third….
In fact, the Pelicans have blown so many games in which they’ve been leading by double digits, I almost expect them to find ways to lose even if they have a big lead.
Again, I put most of this on the players, but SVG has to be a better communicator in these situations, as right now, he is not getting through to his guys.
As SVG pointed out, any high school kid would know what to do in that situation, but the Pels played it like a bunch of guys who had never played the game before or weren’t familiar with how a clock or numbers work.
Some of this comes down to the fact that the Pels have a very young team and have had very little practice time, but SVG needs to be hammering home these late-game scenarios before they come up, not after.
There will need to be some personnel changes to be sure, but the New Orleans Pelicans also have to get smarter and it is on SVG to get them there.