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Training Camp Preview
Posted on 9/27/15 at 7:52 am
Posted on 9/27/15 at 7:52 am
From the Advocate. Maybe my favorite part of the article:
The New Orleans Pelicans were parting ways after voluntary workouts in Los Angeles when Anthony Davis told first-year coach Alvin Gentry and General Manager Dell Demps that he was ready for a few days of relaxation at home.
“So we said, ‘You’re going back to Chicago, huh?’ ” said Gentry, who visited L.A. during those workouts but was limited by NBA rules in what he could do with his players. “(Davis) said, ‘No, I’m going home. I’m going to New Orleans.’ That right there made all of us happy.”
LINK
1. A new look
Last season, the Pelicans ranked 27th in the NBA in pace, but Gentry will look to push the tempo this season, playing a style he favored in Phoenix and which helped the Warriors to the title last season.
“I think that guys really like playing that way,” Gentry said this week during a speech to the 3-Point Club of New Orleans. “I think fans really like seeing that type of basketball. So we’re gonna try to get the ball up and down the floor, we’re gonna try to play extremely fast and we’re gonna try to score a lot of points.”
That means more possessions, more running and altered roles for key players, including Davis, who will be given more freedom to step outside the 3-point line in addition to post-ups and pick-and-rolls.
***********
2. Defensive commitment
New Orleans allowed 32.6 field-goal attempts per game inside 5 feet of the basket, a league high. The Pelicans’ opponents shot 45.6 percent, 11th-worst in the league and fourth-worst among teams that reached the playoffs. And opponents’ 104.7 points per 100 possessions ranked ninth-highest in the NBA.
“In order for us to be really, really good, we have to be great defensively,” Gentry said. “As we go into training camp, we’re gonna emphasize defense as much as anything.”
****************
3. Healthy Holiday?
Perhaps no player will be monitored more closely in training camp than point guard Jrue Holiday, who will be limited early as he looks to bounce back from a lower leg injury that cost him 42 games last season.
Holiday, who will be limited to about 10 minutes per game when the Pelicans open the preseason Oct. 3, will be permitted to practice but will be monitored for fatigue and limited to one practice a day. He’s unlikely to practice on back-to-back days.
“To me, I think he is maybe the second-most-important guy on our team from a standpoint of what we want to do and how we want to play,” Gentry said. “A healthy Jrue was good enough to make the All-Star team. I just think if we can get him healthy — not just from an offensive standpoint, but defensively — he makes us a really good basketball team."
****************
4. How’s your health?
Holiday’s is the most critical health issue facing the Pelicans, but it’s not the only one. In his speech to the 3-Point Club, Gentry focused on health and how key it will be in the Pelicans taking a step forward.
“We wanted to bring back the team intact to see how we could fare with a healthy team — a healthy Jrue Holiday, a healthy Ryan Anderson, being in a situation where we try to keep Anthony healthy the whole season instead of him missing 14 games,” Gentry said. “I just thought that if we could bring this team back and keep them healthy, they had a chance to be a special team.”
So far, it’s a mixed bag. Davis and Anderson are good to go. Center Omer Asik is ready to go after suffering from back spasms earlier this summer, and center Alexis Ajinca’s offseason Achilles injury was “not anything to be alarmed about at all,” Gentry said"
************************
5. A spot to fill
The Pelicans enter camp with 13 roster spots — Ajinca, Anderson, Asik, Cole, Davis, Evans, Holiday, Pondexter, Luke Babbitt, Dante Cunningham, Alonzo Gee, Eric Gordon and Kendrick Perkins — secured. That leaves five players competing for one spot.
NBA veterans Jeff Adrien and Chris Douglas-Roberts; rookie Bryce Dejean-Jones; New Zealand standout Corey Webster; and former Cincinnati star Sean Kilpatrick, who played four games for Minnesota last season, will be in camp with an eye on making the cut.
“I’m excited to see that competition in camp,” Demps said. “They’re all good players.”
The New Orleans Pelicans were parting ways after voluntary workouts in Los Angeles when Anthony Davis told first-year coach Alvin Gentry and General Manager Dell Demps that he was ready for a few days of relaxation at home.
“So we said, ‘You’re going back to Chicago, huh?’ ” said Gentry, who visited L.A. during those workouts but was limited by NBA rules in what he could do with his players. “(Davis) said, ‘No, I’m going home. I’m going to New Orleans.’ That right there made all of us happy.”
LINK
1. A new look
Last season, the Pelicans ranked 27th in the NBA in pace, but Gentry will look to push the tempo this season, playing a style he favored in Phoenix and which helped the Warriors to the title last season.
“I think that guys really like playing that way,” Gentry said this week during a speech to the 3-Point Club of New Orleans. “I think fans really like seeing that type of basketball. So we’re gonna try to get the ball up and down the floor, we’re gonna try to play extremely fast and we’re gonna try to score a lot of points.”
That means more possessions, more running and altered roles for key players, including Davis, who will be given more freedom to step outside the 3-point line in addition to post-ups and pick-and-rolls.
***********
2. Defensive commitment
New Orleans allowed 32.6 field-goal attempts per game inside 5 feet of the basket, a league high. The Pelicans’ opponents shot 45.6 percent, 11th-worst in the league and fourth-worst among teams that reached the playoffs. And opponents’ 104.7 points per 100 possessions ranked ninth-highest in the NBA.
“In order for us to be really, really good, we have to be great defensively,” Gentry said. “As we go into training camp, we’re gonna emphasize defense as much as anything.”
****************
3. Healthy Holiday?
Perhaps no player will be monitored more closely in training camp than point guard Jrue Holiday, who will be limited early as he looks to bounce back from a lower leg injury that cost him 42 games last season.
Holiday, who will be limited to about 10 minutes per game when the Pelicans open the preseason Oct. 3, will be permitted to practice but will be monitored for fatigue and limited to one practice a day. He’s unlikely to practice on back-to-back days.
“To me, I think he is maybe the second-most-important guy on our team from a standpoint of what we want to do and how we want to play,” Gentry said. “A healthy Jrue was good enough to make the All-Star team. I just think if we can get him healthy — not just from an offensive standpoint, but defensively — he makes us a really good basketball team."
****************
4. How’s your health?
Holiday’s is the most critical health issue facing the Pelicans, but it’s not the only one. In his speech to the 3-Point Club, Gentry focused on health and how key it will be in the Pelicans taking a step forward.
“We wanted to bring back the team intact to see how we could fare with a healthy team — a healthy Jrue Holiday, a healthy Ryan Anderson, being in a situation where we try to keep Anthony healthy the whole season instead of him missing 14 games,” Gentry said. “I just thought that if we could bring this team back and keep them healthy, they had a chance to be a special team.”
So far, it’s a mixed bag. Davis and Anderson are good to go. Center Omer Asik is ready to go after suffering from back spasms earlier this summer, and center Alexis Ajinca’s offseason Achilles injury was “not anything to be alarmed about at all,” Gentry said"
************************
5. A spot to fill
The Pelicans enter camp with 13 roster spots — Ajinca, Anderson, Asik, Cole, Davis, Evans, Holiday, Pondexter, Luke Babbitt, Dante Cunningham, Alonzo Gee, Eric Gordon and Kendrick Perkins — secured. That leaves five players competing for one spot.
NBA veterans Jeff Adrien and Chris Douglas-Roberts; rookie Bryce Dejean-Jones; New Zealand standout Corey Webster; and former Cincinnati star Sean Kilpatrick, who played four games for Minnesota last season, will be in camp with an eye on making the cut.
“I’m excited to see that competition in camp,” Demps said. “They’re all good players.”
This post was edited on 9/27/15 at 8:03 am
1
Posted on 9/27/15 at 8:39 am to VOR
this is a new writer at the advocate?
very good piece...stats and analysis and not cheap shots and conjecture
how refreshing
very good piece...stats and analysis and not cheap shots and conjecture
how refreshing
Posted on 9/27/15 at 8:57 am to cgrand
Yes. Points per possession, FGA/rim, etc in a newspaper article in NO? Times are a changing.
Posted on 9/27/15 at 9:06 am to corndeaux
quote:
Yes. Points per possession, FGA/rim, etc in a newspaper article in NO? Times are a changing.
IMO, a close look clearly reveals that the Pels' supposedly "decent" defensive ranking was illusory.
I just hope Davis' references to home aren't illusory.
Posted on 9/27/15 at 9:40 am to VOR
quote:
a close look clearly reveals that the Pels' supposedly "decent" defensive ranking was illusory.
The way he worded some of the stats in the article was awkward and a little misleading to me, particularly FG% at the rim.
The Pels were better on defense after the All Star break. But the rest of the league was better too. So the improvement they made didn't really push them up league wide, compared to what happened in Utah.
That said, there really is no reason they can't be top 15, at least, on defense with the guys on board. There is good reason to believe Erman can clean them up. If they hit that goal and keep the offense around where it was, if not improving, then they have the potential to make a little bit of noise come spring time.
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