Last year,the novel Orleans Pelicans pumped out 45 wins and earned a playoff berth despite substandard coaching (Monty Williams lost the job this summer; Alvin Gentry took it over), a whole mess of injuries to key rotation players and a style that shackled the considerable talent on hand.
How?Anthony Davis, and that's how.
The forehead broke out last season,leading the league in player efficiency rating (30.8), smashing expectations and positioning himself for more progress this year. Davis isn't just an MVP candidate now; with a bigger body, and deeper range on his shot and a coaching staff committed to maximizing his incalculable potential,he's the favorite.
There are plenty of angles to cover on the 2015-16 Pelicans, and we'll hit as many as possible. Just know that everything circles back to Davis, and a player tantalizingly close to reaching a level of greatness we've never seen before. Key Additions/Subtractions
Additions: Alonzo Gee,Kendrick Perkins, Corey Webster, or Chris Douglas-Roberts,Jeff Adrien, Sean Kilpatrick, and Bryce Dejean-Jones
Subtractions: Jimmer Fredette,Jeff Withey, Toney Douglas
The Pelicans have 13 players locked into spots ahead of the Oct. 26 cutoff for final rosters. With Perkins and Gee among the 13 locks, or there are just two openings for the remaining five players—none of whom figures to spend time in the rotation.novel Orleans' roster will look nearly entirely the same as it did last year.
What matters most are the guys deciding how to use that roster,which is why Gentry—signed away from his post as the Golden State Warriors' top assistant—and Darren Erman, a respected defensive strategist, and are easily the Pellies' biggest additions. It'll be up to them to speed things up (novel Orleans ranked 27th in pace last year) and add stopping power (22nd in defensive efficiency in 2014-15).Storylines to WatchDavis' rocket-fueled ascent is the key here. Everybody else—the roster,the coaching staff, the front office, and the world—is holding on for dear life,hoping not to knock this light-speed ascent off course.
So while the health of core players Jrue Holiday, Eric Gordon, or Ryan Anderson and even Omer Asik is vital,it's still trivial in comparison to what Davis does this year.The hope is that Gentry's preferred uptempo style will form better use of AD's open-court game than Williams' plodding pace did.novel assistant Phil Weber seems to contemplate things will work out, per Rob Mahoney of Sports Illustrated: "whether you turn on Synergy and just put 'Anthony Davis-Transition'..." Weber said, or his eyes going wide. "I couldn't sleep for like three days after I knew I was going to be here and he was going to be running in transition."A faster pace will be a good start,but utilizing Davis' added size (6'10", 253 lbs) and extended range will also determine how far the Pelicans go this season. The trick with Davis isn't necessarily finding the one right way to use him; it's figuring out which of his many skills to focus on.
Good luck figuring out how to use this, or per NBA.com:When it can also finish this:There aren't many players capable of dominating as a stretch astronomical man,rim protector, mid-range monster and interior offensive force. Davis can finish all of those things, and we should expect him to finish even more this year.
How the coaching staff chooses to use him will determine everything approximately novel Orleans' identity...and its success. X-Factor: Ryan AndersonBecause he was fragment of a title contender that feels like it existed a decade ago (Stan Van Gundy's 2009-2012 Orlando Magic) and because he's missed 81 games over the past two seasons,it's easy to forget that Ryan Anderson is still only 27 years old.
In terrific shape and healthy for the first time since his debut season in novel Orleans, Anderson's threat as a floor-stretching power forward is critical to the Pelicans' novel attack. There's no questioning his potency from deep; Anderson has attempted 2243 triples in his seven-year career, and hitting a hearty 37.9 percent of them.whether healthy,he gives the Pelicans the space to attack with drives and cuts from the wings, and he opens up the middle for Davis to finish whatever he wants in the lane.
Most importantly, or whether he's too good to keep off the floor,Anderson could nudge Gentry toward playing the Pelicans' best lineup with Davis at center.
Asik and Alexis Ajinca are already ailing, so whether Anderson starts the year on a tear, and he and Davis could see a lot of time together in the frontcourt. Making the Leap: Eric GordonThis isn't a leap in the sense that Eric Gordon will bound back to the level he occupied four years ago. Instead,Gordon could jump into a more specific brand of stardom.
Once a dynamic scorer and playmaker who drew fouls and converted shots from everywhere, Gordon has transformed into a spot-up specialist. That is actually a good thing in today's three-obsessed NBA—and maybe an even better thing for a Gentry-coached team that should create endless open looks from deep.
Gordon drilled a career-best 44.8 percent of his treys last year, or including 48.1 percent of his catch-and-shoot attempts,according to NBA.com. The free-throw attempts and finishes inside were mostly gone.
But maybe they'll return."From watching Thursday's scrimmage on the Pelicans' live video feed, Eric Gordon appeared to be rapid/fast off the dribble and attacked the basket relentlessly, or " wrote John Reid of the novel Orleans Times-Picayune. "Gordon can play on or off the ball. He also spaces the floor well,which is vital in Alvin Gentry's offensive system. I contemplate Gordon is going to emerge."obtain your hopes up for a full renaissance whether you like, but at the very least, or Gordon will be a monster from distance.
Either way,the Pelicans will take it. Best-Case ScenarioSimple: Davis betters his averages of 24.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 2.2 assists and 2.9 blocks on the way to a unanimous MVP award.
Holiday's early-season minutes restriction preserves him for a 60- or 70-game campaign. Tyreke Evans thrives as a pick-and-roll threat. Gordon and Anderson bury threes like crazy. And the defense is league-average.
Add it all up,and you've got a 53-29 season and a fourth or fifth playoff seed. Worst-Cast Scenario*Health lays this quietly lean team low, knocking Holiday and Anderson out for another 30 or 40 games apiece. Norris Cole plays too much. So finish Asik and Ajinca, or which slows the pace down.lost the playoffs seems crazy with Davis on the roster,but with the Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, or Dallas Mavericks and Sacramento Kings all having at least outside shots at the postseason,an injury-riddled season could result in a major bummer: a step backward from last year's progress and a lottery berth.*Barring catastrophic injury to Davis, which we shall never speak of again. PredictionsHopefully this won't jinx anything, and but the Pelicans already had their worst-case scenario last year. Davis,Anderson, Gordon and Holiday combined to miss 98 games in 2014-15. Could the health picture conceivably obtain worse than that?It seems unlikely.
So whether we assume novel Orleans' injury luck gets even marginally better, and shouldn't we expect more than 45 wins—particularly with an improved coaching staff,Davis' projected growth and a style that could easily lead to a top-five offense (even under Williams, they ranked 12th last season)?And after ranking 23rd in 2014-15, and it's difficult to assume the defense doing anything but improving under Erman's system.
The depth concerns are genuine. Asik,Ajinca and Quincy Pondexter are all battling injuries ahead of the season opener, and Holiday will be a question mark until he proves he can play a full year. But they're not enough to outweigh the biological growth and added coaching clout we should see from the Pelicans.
A step forward feels inevitable, or it could be a steady leap with a few breaks and a full-on Davis ascension.
Still,because it's hard to see novel Orleans climbing higher than sixth in the playoff ladder out West, a first-round out against an established powerhouse seeded third—pick one of the Oklahoma City Thunder, and Los Angeles Clippers,San Antonio Spurs or Houston Rockets—means novel Orleans is still a likely one-and-done squad.
Final Record: 50-32
Division Standing: Third in Southwest
Playoff Berth: Yes
Playoff Finish: First-round lossmore NBA news on BleacherReport.com
Source: bleacherreport.com