The New Orleans Pelicans have dropped their first five games of the 2015-16 season and are now sitting dead last in the Western Conference. After sneaking into the playoffs with 45 wins last seasons, expectations rose in the Big Easy, and rightfully so. However, things haven’t quite gone exactly to plan thus far. The Pelicans are joined by the Brooklyn Nets and Philadelphia 76ers as the only winless teams left. Injuries have certainly plagued them early on, and the fact that they have had to play the defending champs twice in the first week of the season hasn’t helped the cause much either. Considering how stacked the Western Conference is, one has to wonder how much more time the Pelicans can afford to figure things out before the 2015-16 season turns into a year of disappointment.
Four key players for the Pelicans have all been unable to help the team on the court this season due to injury. Tyreke Evans, who completely revived his career last year, hasn’t played at all this season, and it doesn’t look like he will be returning anytime soon. Evans is slated to miss at least the next five weeks recovering from arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, which is a tremendous blow for New Orleans. Without Evans, the Pelicans lack a playmaker who can create shots for not only himself, but for others, too. In addition to Evans, the Pelicans have been without starting center Omer Asik, who has been limited to just ten minutes this season due to a nagging calf injury. He is currently day-to-day, so he should return soon and hopefully kickstart this team defensively and on the boards. Lastly, backups Quincy Pondexter and Norris Cole are injured and will be on the shelf for quite a while. Pondexter had knee surgery in May and has no set date to return, and Cole figures to be out for at least the next three or four weeks while he recovers from a high ankle sprain. Injuries have left the Pelicans without two of their starters and two of their best bench players so far this season. To say the very least, the injury bug has certainly found its way down to New Orleans.
As for the players on the court, Anthony Davis is certainly not the one to blame. Through the first five games of the season, he has averaged 25 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks per game. He is still on the verge of overtaking LeBron James’ title as the best basketball player in the world, so there should be no concerns with the play of The Brow. After Davis, Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson have really been the only other players new head coach Alvin Gentry can rely on, but they haven’t shot the ball as efficiently as they need to. Even though Gordon and Anderson have had some nice games this year, neither of them is shooting better than 40% from the field, a statistic that must improve. Jrue Holiday’s minutes and production are both limited due to his injury history, which will be a problem moving forwards. It has looked increasingly unlikely that Holiday will ever come remotely close to the player he was when he made the All-Star team in 2013 with Philadelphia.
Two of the Pelicans’ first three games this season came against Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors, so it’s tough to criticize them for those losses. The way the Warriors are playing right now, I’m not sure that the Dream Team of ’92 could stop them (Okay, maybe that’s a stretch). But seriously, the Dubs have been that incredible throughout their first six games, so there’s nothing for the Pels to hang their heads about there. However, getting blown out by the LaMarcus Aldridge-less Portland Trailblazers should not happen, and the loss to Orlando doesn’t look too great either.
If the Pelicans continue to struggle this season, general manager Dell Demps should take the heat for it. Many who follow the NBA, including myself, are still confused as to why the Pelicans decided to fire Monty Williams after he guided them to an unexpected playoff berth. Nothing against new head coach Alvin Gentry, but it just didn’t make much sense at the time to fire Williams. Of course, the young season is just five games old for the New Orleans Pelicans, but one has to wonder what the future holds if the losing continues in New Orleans.
If Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans plan on improving upon last season’s success and returning to the playoffs, they need to, at the very least, play as a .500 team until Tyreke Evans is fully healthy again. It’s not time to panic yet, but if the Pelicans don’t turn their season around quickly, it will be tough to make the playoffs in the loaded Western Conference.
