DALLAS, TX — Through the first 33 games, the New Orleans Pelicans have been one of the most disappointing teams in the NBA.
But despite many people in NBA circles writing them off, head coach Alvin Gentry and the rest of his Pelicans feel a turnaround is possible.
The Pelicans (11-22) are 5-5 in their past 10 games and 10-11 since starting the season 1-11. In the big picture, New Orleans is only four games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference, and the team remains a confident bunch.
Being relatively close in the standings without playing even close to the team’s best represents a silver lining, and for Gentry it’s all about taking a basic approach.
“We just go one game to the next,” Gentry said after Saturday’s victory over the Dallas Mavericks. “We don’t talk about building. We don’t talk about doing anything. The next game on our mind is the next one on the schedule, and we are thinking very short-term right now.”
The minutes restriction was recently lifted off guard Jrue Holiday, and Tyreke Evans has slowly but surely returned into the fold following his knee surgery.
Maybe now a healthier Pelicans squad, which still hasn’t been at full strength for a single day this season, can get on a much-needed run to make the playoff push they expected to make.
“It’s very frustrating because I think we could be right in the thick of things right now,” Gentry said before the Pelicans’ big win in Dallas. “I don’t want us to get to the point where everything becomes so critical and you have to have the perfect storm to be able to stay in it. So we have to start playing good basketball right now — which translates into wins and not close losses.”
A New Orleans turnaround will start and end with the play of All-Star forward Anthony Davis. Despite not living up to preseason expectations of morphing into a legitimate MVP contender, Davis is having another All-Star-caliber season by producing 21 double-doubles while averaging 23.4 points, 11.1 rebounds and 2.6 blocks.
With the Pelicans needing Davis to produce more than ever, their confidence in the young superstar is at a sky-high level.
“He plays at an MVP level that we are expecting him to play at,” Pelicans veteran center Kendrick Perkins said. “Besides his skill set, he can do anything. He can jump hook, jab, jumper, step back, all of it — you got the lobs to the rim. He’s just improving as more of a vocal leader, and he’s doing a great job at it.”
Besides leaning on Davis and getting healthier, the Pelicans must improve on the defensive end of the court and learn how to win games away from the “Crescent City.”
Heading into their big road win in Dallas on Saturday, New Orleans was averaging 107.5 points per game on 46.2 percent shooting at home, compared to just 97.1 points and 43.4 percent shooting on the road.
If the Pelicans can display the tough defense they played in Dallas, along with using a softer schedule that consists of a ton of home games to their advantage, maybe, just maybe, they could have the formula they need to make their postseason dreams a reality for the second season in a row despite their terrible start.
“It’s the NBA. Anybody can win at any time, and anybody can get hot because this league is a tough league,” Evans said. “We got to just not take any team for granted and go out there and play everybody the same way and try to get a win.”
The Pelicans must go 34-15 the rest of the way if they want to match last season’s 45-37 record, which allowed them to make the Western Conference Playoffs as the eighth seed. Luckily for them, only about 40 wins should do the trick this season, so it shouldn’t take that crazy of a record.
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