Diagnosing the Pelicans Offense

Interesting article from The Bird Writes comparing the Pelicans to other top offenses. There's really too much to copy and paste, the bottom line is the elite offenses in the league focused on the few play types they were good at and avoided the play types they weren't good at. The Pelicans on the other hand thought it was a good idea to run more of the stuff they're not that good at. The article is well worth a click, but here's the conclusion.

quote:

---

For the Pelicans to improve on offense, much of the focus has centered on the need for another outside shooter, particularly at the small forward position. Others have called for a more offensive-minded center over Omer Asik, or at least a center who is better at a catch and dunk under the rim. And some even want to send off one of our bevy of guards.

All could help; however, before making big changes like adding personnel, simple changes in the frequency of plays or getting slightly better at certain plays can take this offense to the next level. If the Pelicans simply brought down the frequency of their isolation plays below the statistical minimum and shifted those play to their off-screen plays, their offensive rating would increase by .8 and vault New Orleans to sixth in offensive rating. The Pelicans are just tenths of a point per possession from being elite at points resulting from cuts, roll-man, and post-ups.

Take the foundation already there, run those plays until fans are sick of them, and watch the Pelicans make another jump into the upper echelon of NBA offenses.

---

LINK