Pelican Defense

While I fully recognize the individual offensive skills of DQ, 3M3, Williamson and JF, these four cannot co-exist on the court at the same time no matter who the fifth player might be. All are defensive liabilities of the highest ilk.

^^ Defensively, Queen is little more than a traffic cone right now and he is faced with the daunting task of over-coming a lack of athleticism just to become adequate. He's, at least, two years away from being a viable option on the defensive end (if ever). I don't (and won't) ever question DQ's basketball IQ or his will to succeed.

^^ Five years in, Murphy still has that 'deer in the headlights' look on the defensive end. I don't doubt his athleticism or his 'want to', but I do question his mental toughness; he's very soft and is often pushed around. Because of his superior shooting skills, however, he would make an ideal 'Sixth Man' off the bench.

^^ Zion is one-of-a-kind. He's an anomaly blessed with more athleticism than anybody else in the game for a 'man of his size', when healthy. In the same vein, it's his size that impedes him from ever being more than very, very average on the defensive end. His lack of a first step (and height), defensively, allows svelte well-conditioned athletes a decided advantage and is, too frequently, his undoing. He can (and does on occasion) recover by making an awe-inspiring defensive play, but you can't succeed in basketball if you are always playing from behind. Also, ZW falls asleep on the weakside all the time which is simply a matter of self-discipline.

^^ With Fears, it's all between the ears. For a young man of his skill level, his basketball IQ is (to put it kindly) sub-par. He takes far too many chances and plays undisciplined (actually on both ends of the court). He's got to learn how to and when to 'play over the top' and when to go under top-of-the key screens. Players like Colin Gillespie Craig Porter, Jr, and Tyler Kolek have looked like Steph against him. There's a reason we give the second most three pointers on average in the league. With this said, more than any of the other Pelican listed, I believe he can fix his flaws the fastest.

There's a reason we can't win close games late in the game and it's all because our starters can't play defense. You might be able to get away with one defensive liability on the court, maybe even two, But, when you have team full of sub-par defenders (apologies to Herb) you are in a heap of trouble.