All of the good vibes that carried over from last year and snowballed throughout the offseason have practically dissipated for the New Orleans Pelicans. After a 2-0 start, they suddenly find themselves at .500, a spot that they're extremely familiar with as one of the most middling teams of the current era. Not only have they dropped two games in a row, they lost two straight that they should have won against lesser opponents, first to the rebuilding Portland Trail Blazers and then to a Stephen Curry-less Golden State Warriors squad.
This time around, the Pelicans were able to mount a 20-point first-half lead behind a scoring explosion from Zion Williamson out of the gates. After two disappointing offensive games from him, Zion came into this one with a vengeance, going 8-13 in the first two quarters for a total of 19 points.
He wound up finishing with 31 while Brandon Ingram poured in 30. Despite those two catching fire together, the Pelicans blew their massive lead and almost fell behind by just as much, losing by 18 late in the fourth quarter before ultimately succumbing to the Dubs, 106-124. This kind of defeat — a blowout gut-punch against a much lesser opponent featuring an embarrassing blown lead — is one that rapidly heats up a coach's seat, but Head Coach Willie Green's job is the last thing that the New Orleans Pelicans need to worry about right now.
The Pelicans need to keep Willie Green around to build continuity
After this latest loss, Willie Green's coaching record now stands at 129-121, for a win rate of 51.6 percent which is good for second-best in the franchise history. In fact, Coach Green is only 74 wins away from becoming the winningest play-caller for New Orleans.
That's not only a testament to his success in the Big Easy, but also a stark reminder of New Orleans's abysmal coaching history. Since the 2002-03 NBA season, when the Charlotte Hornets first moved to the Bayou, the team has gone through eight different play-callers. The only coaches to make it more than four seasons have been Byron Scott, Monty Williams, and Alvin Gentry.
Willie Green inherited a 31-win team ahead of the 2021-22 season and has visibly improved the Pelicans ever year since his arrival. He went from 36 Ws in his first season with the clipboard, to 42, to 49 dubs last year. Not only has he fostered more team success incrementally, he's also overseen some meaningful growth from his individual players in his tenure, such as CJ McCollum's shift into an off-ball shooter and tertiary option, Brandon Ingram's playmaking leap, and Zion Williamson's development as a primary ball-handler.
Despite the results he's brought to New Orleans, there's significant noise already calling for his job after this uninspiring four-game start from the Pels, including from Locked on Pelicans host, Jake Madison. Making Green the scapegoat here would be a huge misstep from the organization, one that hasn't seen an objectively better coach in its entire franchise history.
Let's see how the rest of it goes but this game makes me feel the Pelicans might need to make a coaching change
— Jake Madison (@NOLAJake) October 30, 2024
This roster is far from perfect, with plenty of glaring holes that have directly led to the on-court problems holding the Pelicans down. Green can only scheme over so many of the wrinkles in this team. We've also seen what prematurely firing a coach as a sacrificial lamb can do to a team, such as when the Cleveland Cavaliers fired Tyronn Lue or how the Milwaukee Bucks are faring right now after ripping the team away from Mike Budenholzer.
Michael Malone needed eight seasons with the Denver Nuggets before he finally reached the pinnacle. The Boston Celtics may have won it all two years after replacing Ime Udoka with Joe Mazzulla, but their star duo featuring Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown needed seven years together before they won a title. Coach Willie Green has shown steady improvement year after year; the least the Pelicans could do is give him another full year to see where he can take this team.