What's the problem with the Pelicans? And is Gentry a solution?

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My biggest fear of the Gentry hire is, will he recruit a big name free agent?

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The Case for Alvin Gentry

by: Chris Romaguera

Alvin Gentry has been on the staff of the last two number one rated offenses in the NBA. The last time he had a head coaching job, in his first year, he took a 40+ win team and led them to the Western Conference Finals. Those are two trends he’d like to continue.

Gentry’s teams play with a faster pace, and will probe the defense early. Not 7 seconds or less, but 12 seconds or fewer. Based on how the Clippers used Griffin in his year there, Gentry will give the ball to Anthony Davis early, and let him probe the defense. Davis will work a lot out of horns, and be a triple threat from 16 feet from the basket.

Jrue Holiday will also greatly be utilized, with his ability to run a pick and roll and fire from beyond the arc at a solid rate off the bounce will keep opposing defenses honest. Gentry’s teams utilize the pick and roll often, and you can expect Gentry to get a lot out of pick and rolls with Holiday and Davis. Holiday’s ability to hit threes off the dribble, as well as find open teammates, is exactly what Gentry looks for in a point guard. Eric Gordon also fits Gentry’s system perfectly, and can fill the role of Klay Thompson for Gentry. In an interesting twist, Gordon signed the offer sheet with the Phoenix Suns in 2012 when Gentry was their head coach, so the two are quite familiar with each other, with both valuing the other (Gordon specifically cited Gentry as one of the reasons he had wanted to go to Phoenix after signing the offer sheet.)

As for additions, a bigger wing who can cover multiple positions would be a priority. Gentry was an assistant during Shawn Marion’s prime, when he covered nearly anyone on the court. For the Warriors, Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala have been crucial. Dream list wise, a wing like Tobias Harris would be perfect, for he continues to get better at shooting, can dribble drive, defend multiple positions, and rebounds extremely well. DeMarre Carrol is another strong option. With Holiday, Davis, and Harris/Carroll, Gentry can implement a switch heavy defense similar to the one Golden State used this year.

A deep bench is also key to Gentry, based off of his Suns teams (which unearthed Goran Dragic) and this Warriors team. This Warriors team has two players under rookie contracts, so expect the team to start keeping draft picks in order to fit valuable players under the cap. You may also see some role players added from Gentry’s past, such as Jared Dudley.

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The stats say it's defense, but as someone who watched most of the games and was in most of the game threads, the IRL eye test says most of the problems stemmed from the poor flowing offense. That's what we complained about and blamed night after night.

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Remember that the rationale behind the once popular #HireKarl movement was to get the team to the next level for 3 years and then have your pick of coaches ready to lead a contender. There's no reason to think his floor is any lower than that because we all feared the talent on the team was enough to get Monty an extension.

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