Is this team closer to being good than we think?

It's hard to find anything positive to say about this team this year, but MM unearthed some very interesting stats he talked about on the BSS podacast:

quote:

---

Michael McNamara ?@McNamara247 10 hours ago

7 Games in November, Pels Defensive Rating:
First Half - 94.3
Second Half - 118.3

Basically, the Pelicans first half defense is the best in the league by a wide margin. Second half defense is the worst in the league

---

The 2 theories he threw out as to why were 1) the team is so thin they just run out of gas in the 2nd half, and 2) Opponents adjust at halftime, shut down our offense, and not scoring prevents us from getting set on defense.

I dug into the November 1st and 2nd half stats a bit and found a few more things.

In the first half Asik and Ajinca combine for 19.8 minutes, 4.1 pts, and 6.8 rebounds. In the 2nd half they combine for 15.1m/2.8p/3.5r and it's only Asik who loses minutes 11.4 in the first half vs. 7 in the 2nd where Ajinca averages 8.4 and 8.1

Why is this significant? Because Asik and Ajinca lead the team in on/off defensive rating. On the court with Asik the team's DRtg is 100.3, with Ajinca it's an even better 99.1. When Asik is off the court the DRtg falls to 108, Ajinca 109. That's an 8 and 10 point swing in defense. AD is the only other player in that ball park with a 9 point swing.

Now let's talk grease fire, or maybe tire fire. Dante Cunningham and one other player have a similar DRating swing only in the opposite direction. Everyone else is in the ball park of 5 or less difference in On/Off DRtg for November. Dante goes from 113 on to 101.2 off or -12. Anyone care to guess the other player who helps the team to a terrible 115.3 DRtg when he's on the court and it falls, nay plummets, to a 91.3 when he's off? The man with the On/Off DRtg of -24 in November is none other than Ryan Anderson. He also is the only player where the team has a positive NetRating when he's off the court. The team is +6.4 with no Ryno on the court. Everyone else's Off court Net Rating in November is negative suggesting the team is worse when they are off court.

Statistics don't tell the whole story, and Ryan Anderson isn't the basketball devil or the only reason we keep losing, but these stats do seem to suggest more Asik/Ajinca and less Ryno would be an improvement.