New Orleans Pelicans: 3 habits worth building early on in training camp

The New Orleans Pelicans have to buy-in on defense, starting with the stars

Stan Van Gundy often remarked that the Pelicans of last season were one of the quietest teams he’d ever coached.

He wasn’t just talking about their personalities off the court, but they literally didn’t talk on defense last season. I think this will be something that Willie Green will try to change, namely by promoting guys like Josh Hart and Naji Marshall into more prominent roles where they can be vocal leaders.

But again, this starts at the top, so Zion Williamson and Brandon need to buy-in on defense and set an example for their young teammates.

They don’t have to be the best defenders on the team, but if guys like Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones, Didi Louzada and Kira Lewis Jr. see the two stars giving effort on defense, they will step up their games as well.

The young Pelicans were getting after it defensively in Summer League and I hope that ethos carries over and inspires the stars to be better.