The New Orleans Pelicans and first-time head coach Willie Green are still getting to know each other in the early stages of training camp.
Green has a calm and even demeanor that is probably somewhat different from his predecessor, which will hopefully benefit his young team.
Coach Green spoke with reporters after the second practice and answered questions about a number of things, including the offense, Jonas Valanciunas and come of his coaching philosophies.
He spoke about “non-negotiables” in training camp, rules which are core tenets of his coaching philosophy as he tries to instill a new culture of winning in New Orleans.
I thought these were interesting and spoke directly to huge flaws the Pelicans had last season.
New Orleans Pelicans Rule #1-Compete at a high level
The Pelicans definitely didn’t always do this last season, as they would often go through long stretches where it didn’t look like everyone was dialed in. This season the Pels have more depth and competition for minutes, and we could see a number of players in and out of the starting lineup.
The Pelicans also need to compete defensively for the entire shot clock, a problem from last season, so I am glad to hear coach Green stressing this point.
Rule #2: Defend at a high level
The New Orleans Pelicans definitely didn’t do this much last season. I am hoping the additions of long wings like Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones and Naji Marshall will help improve the Pelicans’ overall defense and effort but it starts at the top.
For the Pels to really improve, Zion Williamson and Brandon Ingram need to buy in. This team has the athletes to be very good defensively, which is the next step to becoming a playoff team.
Rule #3: Share the ball
The Pelicans scored a lot of points last season but it often took great individual effort and was not the result of good ball movement.
When the Pelicans did move the ball in the half court last season it was a thing of beauty at times, but it was more often stagnant with four guys standing around watching Zion or Ingram playing isolation.
I’m really hoping the Pelicans focus more on ball movement and not relying entirely on Zion Williamson to create shots.
I love what I am hearing from Willie Green so far and can’t wait to see if these philosophies are recognizable in real games.