The Pelicans have two of the best players in the entire NBA in their starting frontcourt. The duo of Anthony Davis and DeMarcus Cousins makes them one of the most dangerous offensive teams. Combine the power up front with Alvin Gentry’s high-speed, perimeter-oriented system, and New Orleans should be a formidable foe in a strong Western Conference this season.
However, outside of Cousins, Davis and the re-signed Jrue Holiday, there really isn’t much else on this roster to inspire confidence in this year’s Pelicans team. With that said, New Orleans should lean on the fact that they are top-heavy and they could do a lot of intriguing things centered around those three players mentioned above. Cousins and Davis can both operate inside and out and Holiday has shown comfort working on and off the ball as a guard.
Gentry has shown the flexibility to make the proper changes to ensure that his best players are heavily involved in the offense. In Cousins and Davis, he has the most versatile and talented duo he’s ever had in his head coaching career.
Hopefully, that means we see Gentry get creative this season. There were flashes of that creativity last season as the team tried to workout how to best combine Cousins and Davis on the court. This play here is an example of what their array of skill sets can allow Gentry to do:
Cousins is an above average ball handler for a center. With him on the perimeter, it usually drags away a rim-protector. Davis’ athletic ability makes him a handful as the role man and also brings the added bonus of involving two big men in pick-and-roll action.
The final piece of this play is stationing Holiday in the strong side corner. If his defender helps on the action between Cousins and Davis, that leaves Holiday with an open perimeter look. He can serve as an outlet for Cousins as well if he can’t get into the lane.
When executed properly, this play is unstoppable. The lesser of the three evils for the defense is likely giving up a corner 3-pointer to Holiday, which he made at a 45 percent clip from the left side on 20 attempts last season. After bringing in Rajon Rondo in free agency, Holiday will play off the ball more this season and he could become an even deadlier catch-and-shoot option.
Fouling Cousins or Davis isn’t a great option, either, as the two shot 77 and 80 percent respectively from the free throw line last season. Once either of those players start driving downhill, they are a handful to stop and trying to foul them could result in a three-point play for New Orleans.
We’ve seen other teams — mainly the Clippers — use the four-five pick-and-roll to their advantage. Cousins and Davis offer much more of a perimeter threat to this action than either Blake Griffin or DeAndre Jordan possess. This will also help define the roles for the lesser talented players on the roster. They will even have to be knockdown shooters or time their cuts right to take advantage of the defense overreacting to Davis and Cousins in the pick-and-roll.
Next: Cousins and Davis are just getting started
Cousins is an impending free agent following this year and the Pelicans need to do whatever they can to make sure that the tandem of Cousins and Davis works if they hope to keep their modern era twin towers together going forward. This season could be pivotal to determining what type of future this franchise faces. Having a play like the one described above up your sleeve could help this team save face in the long run.
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