New Orleans Pelicans: How Willie Green’s defense will be different
Another year, another new coach for the New Orleans Pelicans who will be tasked with improving the team’s defense. Can coach Willie Green turn it around?
The Pelicans were 23rd in defensive rating last season under Stan Van Gundy, a slight improvement from the year before but still not enough to get the Pels into the playoffs.
Willie Green will have a much different roster to work with around Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram, two guys who are not known for their defense.
Related Story. 3 teams the Pelicans could overtake in the Western Conference. light
Can coach Green manage to build a quality defense that can propel the Pelicans into the playoffs? He’s got the resume.
New Orleans Pelicans: Willie Green and the Phoenix Suns’ defense
Willie Green was the assistant in charge of defense for the Phoenix Suns last year under head coach Monty Williams.
The Suns have never been a team known for defense, but Williams and Green changed that last season, as the Suns were one of the best defensive teams in the NBA.
They ended up 6th in defensive rating and were top-5 in several key categories, which is one of the reasons they were able to make a deep run in the playoffs last season.
This was partially due to some key veteran additions, specifically Chris Paul and Jae Crowder, whose experience and quality team defense helped make everyone else better on that end.
Coach Willie Green was also a big part of that improvement, so can he do the same thing for the New Orleans Pelicans? Here are some ways his defense should be different.