NEW YORK – Based on traditional or advanced statistics, there’s no doubt that ball movement is the biggest X-factor behind New Orleans’ success on offense – or lack of it – according to Pelicans Coach Alvin Gentry. During his pregame meeting with the media in Madison Square Garden on Monday, Gentry noted that “we’ve shown that when we move the ball, and get into the high 20s as far as assists, we’ve been really good as a basketball team. When we become isolated, it slows down everything for us. It creates situations where the defense is able to load up, and that’s where we’ve struggled.”
A quick look at the team’s season shows that the Pelicans (14-24 overall, 1.5 games out of eighth place in the Western Conference) are 12-12 when they hand out 22 or more assists, but just 2-12 when kept under that number. New Orleans’ only victories this season with assists in the teens occurred Nov. 14 vs. Boston (16 assists) and Dec. 23 vs. Miami (17) – and both of those were narrow home wins in the Smoothie King Center.
The Pelicans have jumped roughly 20 spots in the defensive rankings compared to last season, but need to make major strides on offense in order to win more games, especially on the road. New Orleans is just 4-13 in away contests and has four more road tilts on its current trip, which runs through Martin Luther King Day at Indiana.
“You look at what we’ve done defensively, we’ve made a huge jump from last year,” Gentry said. “Offensively, we’ve gone the other direction. I don’t think you can have that much imbalance in what you’re doing, where your defense is in the top 10 and your offense is in the bottom five. We’ve got to get our offensive efficiency to the point where we’re consistent in what we’re doing, and we’re playing that way every night.”
Other notes from pregame at MSG:
Asked if the Pelicans have considered sending more players to the glass to improve their low offensive rebounding numbers, Gentry said that New Orleans has placed a priority limiting the opponents’ fast breaks.
“For us, we’re not a great offensive rebounding team,” Gentry said. “So our whole thing is let’s try to get back and set our defense, where we’re not giving up easy baskets in transition.”