One thing to say, the Pelicans have played more generally this season. Of course, this is generally compared with those strong teams. Compared to the Kings' type of team, the Pelicans have played well this season. And in terms of trends, the Pelicans have every potential to become the dark horse team next season. Someone asked before that Zion's comeback had a big impact on the Pelicans. It's still big, but Zion isn't a key factor in directly influencing the Pelicans' potential for next season. The overall squad of their players, and the chemistry they've shown this season, is that!
To be honest, I first noticed the Pelicans because someone said that the Pelicans could make a big difference in the playoffs. Through this news, I looked at the Pelicans' current resources and found that they were very different from what they had imagined before. At least in most areas, the Pelicans already know how they should use them and have used the resources they have left. Where have the Pelicans shined this season? On the defensive end! After All-Star Weekend, the Pelicans had the fifth-highest 100-round loss in the league, in other words, only four teams had fewer 100-round misses than the Pelicans. For a team that has not been taken seriously, such a result is enough to make people happy.
But in addition to the euphoria, many people also began to wonder what really happened to Coach Green that could make the Pelicans change so obviously after a short All-Star Weekend. Quite simply, the Pelicans found the team's instruction manual. They start to know how to play and how to allocate their resources. After all, in terms of talent, the Pelicans can also be called the first team.
Coach Green obviously saw that there were still a lot of swingers left in the team that were not used, so he had the current change of team. To be honest, league defense in the small-ball era is sometimes really simple. Let a bunch of swinging forward players surround the opponent and drag the opponent down with the ability to move. This actually reflects the concept of positionless basketball that Zen Master and Riley said before, and the essence of basketball game evolution to the end must be the duel of ten James. Green may also have been inspired by this concept to launch such a lineup.
Let's first look at the changes that this lineup has brought. After reusing the swingsters, the Pelicans averaged more than ten steals per game, the only team in the league to average more than ten steals per game after the All-Star game. Moreover, the number of times the Pelicans interfered with the opponent's offense also came to the third place in the league. Using flanking man routines, the Pelicans confine their opponents to a reasonable offensive range. In other words, if the offense is stepped up at this time, the pelicans' net efficiency value can be directly raised several notches under the same defensive intensity.
Friends who observe pelicans game closely may find that the Pelicans have a different fascination with the change of defense than other teams. Although, changing the guard can greatly avoid the influence of the card slot. However, if the opponent's misalignment advantage is large, once the change of defense is formed, the opponent can completely use his misplaced advantage to score. Of course, in the previous game, the Pelicans were worried about this problem. But after using this group of defenders, the Pelicans' problems were solved. For the Pelicans, it was just a matter of changing defense. Their defensive heights are all at the same level, which is the five-in-one. The dislocation advantage generated by the opponent under any circumstances cannot play at the right level in front of this group of long-handed monsters, which is the pelican's confidence.
So with the talent bonus of this group of players, the Pelicans have become the league's favorite team to play defensively. Even against James' roll call tactics, against Giannis' misplaced offense, they are still the same defense. Can't stop one? What about the two? A group of monsters with an arm span that maintains extremely maneuverability. And their goal is never just to limit their opponents from attacking their own baskets, they are also ready to attack and attack their opponents' baskets. This has led to most of the offensive players having to protect the ball in advance when holding the ball. This group of defensive monsters are all staring at their ball, and if they are not careful, they will be completed with steals and quick attacks. This season, the Pelicans have the 6th fast-break score in the league and the 5th in the league in fast-break shooting percentage. It is worth mentioning that of all the teams that score fast attacks higher than the Pelicans, no team can be more efficient at fast-attack shooting than the Pelicans. In other words, the Pelicans are the most efficient team in this production class.
Some people may say here, isn't it just a group of forward players? If other teams apply this configuration, can they achieve the same effect? After all, the Pelicans have this configuration, many teams have accumulated. Especially now that there are a lot of forward players in the league who are not valued, if you apply them all, wouldn't it be beautiful? In fact, everyone misjudged a problem, the physical talent of these players is only the foundation, and their consciousness and attitude are the key to determining the Pelicans defensive system.
Previous review articles have pointed out that the Pelicans' awareness on the defensive end is better than other teams overall. How exactly does this manifest itself? Generally speaking, teams that like to change defenses will inevitably have mistakes and omissions due to negligence. This is a good offensive opportunity for the ball carrier. But for pelicans, they rarely make such mistakes. The reason is that all pelicans players will get where they should go in a very short time. If it is a change of guard, they will also coordinate as much as possible. First of all, the first big premise is that their discipline is sufficient, and there will be basically no mistakes and omissions. The second is the positivity, the Pelicans' defensive enthusiasm after the All-Star Game is significantly higher than the previous game, which fundamentally eliminates the leakage of people.
And the Pelicans are also very rare, cultivating a defensive premonition of the opponent's attack. You know, it's not one person who has this sense of defense, it's all people who have this awareness. It's terrifying. Everyone is staring at your ball at the same time, but also calculating your next attack, so many players in the moment of falling the ball, directly by this group of monsters, there is no way.
For the team, this enthusiasm only needs to continue, then the team's defensive system will not be a problem. With Zion as an interior match next season, the Pelicans' development will be even more terrifying. Ingram's evolution on offense will be a key factor in the Pelicans' next takeoff.