Pelicans.com continues its look back at the 2015-16 season with player-by-player analysis of the team:
2015-16 OVERVIEW
What appeared to be a mostly forgettable individual season for Alexis Ajinca did a 180 in late March, when the 7-foot center’s playing time and production jumped dramatically. The silver lining of so many key Pelicans injuries was that Ajinca gained ample opportunities to be on the floor, after he had received DNPs and minimal minutes for much of 2015-16.
Over a 10-game span from March 24 to April 9, Ajinca averaged 13.9 points and 7.9 rebounds, highlighted by a career night against the Lakers and two of the four games in his NBA career in which he’s scored 20-plus points. In 59 regular season appearances, the native of France registered a total of 352 points and 269 rebounds, meaning 39 percent of his scoring and 29 percent of his boards were generated during that three-week period.
“I’m so relieved,” Ajinca said when asked specifically about how the change in responsibility affected his perspective on 2015-16. “I finally have some playing time and am finally able to show what I can do offensively, defensively. I showed that last year a little bit at the end of the season, when I started having more playing time. This year it’s the same scenario. It’s very frustrating to not have the minutes I wanted and not to be able to bring more to the team, to help the team win games. I’m trying to take (advantage of) everything I can, to show the coach and other teams – because you never know what can happen – that I’m still here and I’m still able to play.”
Prior to his workload increasing, Ajinca was in and out of the mix, playing in just 47 of New Orleans’ first 68 games. The Pelicans often used center-less lineups – Anthony Davis played 54 percent of his total minutes at the “five” position, according to Basketball-Reference.com – decreasing opportunities for Ajinca and Omer Asik. Ajinca also battled foul difficulty when he was in the rotation, being whistled for four-plus fouls nine times in games where he played fewer than 25 minutes.
Ajinca, who has three years remaining on the four-year contract he signed with New Orleans last summer, mostly avoided foul issues late in the season, despite his significant playing time. He was a key part of the extremely undermanned Pelicans putting together a 4-3 stretch bridging March and April.
“I think we played unselfishly, moving the ball,” Ajinca said of that span. “Defensively, we’ve had each other’s backs. It doesn’t really matter who scores. We have a lot of injured guys – all of us are trying to take advantage of the situation and show our games, show what we can do and play as hard as we can.
“Most of us are taking the opportunity and trying to have fun. (I’m) trying to show that I’m still here and show what I can do.”
TOP THREE ALEXIS AJINCA GAMES OF 2015-16
#3, Nov. 13: Toronto 100, New Orleans 81
Just hours after learning of the horrific terrorist attacks on Paris in his native country of France, Ajinca played his best early-season game, coming off the bench to notch 10 points and nine rebounds against the Raptors.
#2, April 3: New Orleans 106, Brooklyn 87
Ajinca threw down dunks off Tim Frazier dishes on his way to a 16-point, six-rebound, four-block Sunday afternoon at Barclays Center. Ajinca finished 7/9 from the field and was a primary recipient as Frazier handed out 13 assists.
#1, April 8: New Orleans 110, L.A. Lakers 102
It was Kobe Bryant’s farewell game in New Orleans, but it turned out to be the best game of Ajinca’s NBA career. The big man managed to post career highs in both scoring (28 points) and rebounding (15 boards), as the Pelicans built a commanding second-half lead and notched their final win of 2015-16.
BEHIND THE NUMBERS
1.5: Blocks per 36 minutes this season for Ajinca, ranking him second on the Pelicans (Davis led the team at 2.1).
27: Ajinca dunks during the 2015-16 regular season. That was only one fewer slam for him than in 2014-15, despite logging 96 less minutes.
2,769: Total minutes for Ajinca in his three seasons with New Orleans. In three previous NBA seasons split between Charlotte, Dallas and Toronto, he played an aggregate of 552 minutes.