Is a lack of defense and depth catching up with the Pelicans?

HOUSTON, TX - OCTOBER 17: Anthony Davis #23 of the New Orleans Pelicans warms up prior to a game against the Houston Rockets on October 17, 2018 at Toyota Center, in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images)
HOUSTON, TX - OCTOBER 17: Anthony Davis #23 of the New Orleans Pelicans warms up prior to a game against the Houston Rockets on October 17, 2018 at Toyota Center, in Houston, Texas. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Bill Baptist/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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When DeMarcus Cousins tore his Achilles last February, it appeared to be the death knell for the Pelicans season. Unexpectedly, though, it served to revitalize them stylistically, establishing a pattern of play that would lead to their sweeping of the Trail Blazers in the first round. Without Cousins, the team was able to move Anthony Davis to center and pick up the pace, which is what they’ve continued to do in the opening weeks of this season. Davis is playing more minutes at center than last year, and the Pelicans are attempting to win games by running the other team ragged, placing more emphasis on outscoring their opposition than on slowing them down defensively.

Yet, despite a promising 4-0 start that began with an evisceration of the Houston Rockets, the Pelicans have lost four in a row and things are already looking a bit less than ideal in New Orleans. While the core of a good team is there, if you look closely, you can see the cracks pretty easily. Although their attempts to continue pushing the pace have certainly worked wonders for them offensively — they are currently the third-speediest team in the NBA and the fourth best team offensively — the Pelicans have not been able to match their offensive fireworks with a competent defense. In spite of being the fourth-best offensive team in the NBA, their point differential is negative, exceptional offense counteracted by their 24th-best mark in defensive efficiency.

Part of the problem is that the Pelicans are as top heavy as any team in the NBA. They rely so much on Anthony Davis, which makes sense considering he’s far and away their best player, but you’d like to see more viable second options on both ends of the floor as he is both their best offensive and defensive player. Essentially, the Pelicans are two different teams, depending on whether Davis is on or off the court. When Davis is playing, the Pelicans outscore their opponents by 16.2 points per 100 possessions; however, they are outscored by 14.5 points per 100 possessions when he sits, a 30.7 point swing. Accordingly, among the team’s regular rotation players, the only ones to have positive net ratings are his fellow starters.

Their weak bench does not help, either as the vast majority of their reserves could be best described as serviceable. Once you get past their top six players, there’s hardly anyone on the Pelicans roster that would be envied by any other team. You have Jahlil Okafor and Wesley Johnson — two top five picks who have bounced around the league since being drafted, unable to stand out. There’s also Ian Clark who can shoot 3’s adequately but now appears to have been signed more because of being on the 73-9 Warriors than because of his actual abilities. And Solomon Hill who, despite making a ‘mere’ $12 million this year, is perhaps the most overpaid player in the NBA. Collectively, their bench is 22nd in the NBA in scoring and 21st in plus-minus per NBA.com. Basically, the Pelicans have to hope their starting five steamrolls the opposition and that their bench doesn’t blow the lead when they come in, which is not a preferable arrangement.

The Pelicans have already begun to suffer a few nagging injuries to Davis, Randle, and Elfrid Payton, and while small injuries are a fact of life over the course of an NBA season, the Pelicans just have no margin of error considering the depth of the Western Conference alongside their own team’s lack of depth. They are relying so much on so few players that losing any of them — even for a single game — hurts their chances not just for that night, but of making the playoffs in light of how tight the playoff race is bound to be.

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New Orleans still appears to be one of the better teams in the Western Conference, although a team with some major issues that need to be addressed. First, they need to find a way to shore up their defense. They have some good individual defenders in Davis and Holiday but have yet to discover a way to reliably get stops as a team. Secondly, they should try exploring lineups that can perform well when Davis is sitting. Perhaps they should look at staggering minutes a bit so that a starter or two is always on the floor. A team with Anthony Davis is going to contend for a playoff spot and be a team that no one wants to face in a seven-game series, but if the Pelicans are going to make any noise moving forward, they need to be more than just the team with Anthony Davis.