Sunday evening, the New Orleans Pelicans started a new era, as it was the team's first game under interim head coach James Borrego. The Pelicans gave a good effort, but the Golden State Warriors came out on fire, and while New Orleans fought, it was a tough lead to overcome, resulting in the 124-106 loss for the Pels. In the first quarter, the Warriors set a season record for most points in a quarter with 44 points, and Moses Moody had 21 points and was 7/8 from three.
Although the box score may tell you that the coaching change didn't change much, the eye test says otherwise. Coming out of the gate, there was way more energy and a major emphasis on getting out of the backcourt and running in transition. Whenever the Warriors scored, there was no pause from the Pelicans when inbounding the ball — they tried to move it right back up the court and get into their offense early in the shot clock.
Defensively, I thought the in-game adjustments were much more evident than they were with Willie Green. For example, early in the second quarter, the Warriors were getting into the paint and scoring with ease, so what did Borrego do? He switched the team to a zone defense, packing the paint. This led to the Pelicans holding the Warriors scoreless for over three minutes.
Another big change tonight was seeing other guys get a chance. The Pelicans have two really talented two-way contract players in Bryce McGowens and Trey Alexander, but when Willie Green was in charge, they never got a chance to come off the bench. Tonight, the whole team was struggling to get it going offensively, so Borrego decided to switch up and go away from the team's regular rotation by giving McGowens some run.
Tonight may not have been the result the team wanted, but the future looks bright.
When you have two young pillars like Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen, playing with pace and speed is going to be your friend. And Borrego's understanding of that is crucial for the future of this organization.
One of a head coach’s primary responsibilities is establishing an identity that your team plays with every single night. This was something Borrego acknowledged when speaking to the media following practice Saturday and will be something he works on building over the rest of this season.
The playoffs may still be a long shot for this year’s Pelicans, but the decision to move on from Willie Green and hand the reins to James Borrego is already looking like the right move — even just one game into this new chapter.