The Western Conference Has A Sleeping Giant

The Western Conference Has A Sleeping Giant

The Pelicans have won 15 of their last 20 games on the season now playing at a 50- win pace and just one win behind the clippers for homec court advantage yet it sort of feels like nobody’s taking them seriously or even talking about it at all when healthy they’ve been one of

The best two-way teams in basketball and POS some really interesting playoff threats for the entire Western Conference their roster consists of one of the most physically imposing downhill threats in NBA history with Zion Williamson so naturally their offense is built on creating as much space for him

As possible that could mean using the five as a sort of offensive lineman Watch Larry n here as Zion starts his attack he does his best impression of a left tackle to clear the lane which leads to easy points because Zion’s so explosive he’s also a threat to reject

These screens and with just one big to beat and drop coverage he has no trouble getting to the rim for two another thing you’ll see them do quite a bit is actually use their guards or wings to set these screens with that big hanging around the dunker spot again with one

Man to beat Zion easily gets to a layup here it is again Alvarado comes to set the screen he rejects it on a drive that big has to meet him early to take away the momentum so he drops it off to valent chunis for an easy bucket more

Often than not Zion’s going to draw two to the ball right as he starts his attack so instead of setting a screen you’ll see that Wing ghosted into open space as he turns and fires a wide open three something else the Pelicans like to do to clear out space is set him up

For isolations on an open side of the floor he’s a walking mismatch for quite literally every Defender one-on-one then as soon as that second Defender comes he’ll find the open man for some quality offense here’s another example as he sets up his attack he draws a double and

Immediately finds an open cutter and what they’ll do to keep up that spacing is stick their five on the Baseline so in the event that Zion attacks Dr C late help and tries to shoot through it that big can clean up on the offensive glass you’ll see the exact same things when

They isolate Zion from the middle of the floor Shooters are sunk to the corners that big is operating on the Baseline and he’s got basically the entire key to work with here it is again he catches the ball on the elbow they set up some decoy action on the weak side to

Distract the help and that’s just way too much room for him to bully his way in close like I keep saying the defense can’t leave a guy like this one-on-one but when he puts it down and a second Defender slides into his Lane it’s a real easy kick out to an open shooter

For three or they’ll put a highle shooter like Brandon Ingram just one pass away on the wing so if a double comes early all he has to do is make the right read to create a great look from outside speaking of Ingram they’ll run offense through him in virtually the

Exact same way that they do Zion you’ve got those Middle isolations where if given space he’s attacking in the cup but I’d say the big difference with Ingram in place of Zion is that spacing is more of a luxury than a necessity like here you can see a second Defender

Load up at the nail with a shot blocker sitting under the basket so he spins into a jumper he’s one of the best mid-range Shooters in the league with an uncontestable release point so even if the Defense loads up in a wall-like formation he’s a constant threat to

Create shots over the top in addition to that I’d make the argument that he might just be the most underrated passer in the NBA meaning that if he attacks and draws that added attention he’ll consistently find his teammates for high percentage offense with the middle of the floor isolations he’s got the open

Side game a double comes from the middle so he turns Baseline for a fade away and here’s another example he turns Baseline for that same jumper only it’s an up fake before stepping through for aay whenever he initiates from out on the perimeter he can operate like a

Modernized guard here it’s a give and go handoff and when the opposing big sits back and drop coverage that’s an easy pull-up jumper just like with Zion sometimes it’s a guard or a wing setting these high ball screens on this one he draws two and hits herb who uses that

Four on three advantage in the short roll to drop it off to who else but Zion and this time it’s Trey Murphy who’s going to ghost the screen for an opening up top then after drawing a close out he attacks on a drive getting all the way

To the rim rim for two this right here is the key outside of the bigs this roster is loaded with perimeter Talent by every measure Trey Murphy is one of the best off ball shooters in the NBA range volume versatility the guy’s an absolute flamethrower there’s also CJ

McCollum a career 40% guy from three who’s not afraid to let that thing fly seven or eight times a game and outside shooting was viewed as maybe herb Jones’s biggest weakness as a player well he’s shooting 43% on the season and even better 47% from the corners so

Certainly not a guy the defense wants to be leaving open consistently I wouldn’t necessarily call Alvarado a highlevel shooter but he’ll knock him down when given the opportunity leaving only two weak outside Shooters in Dyson Daniels and Naji Marshall but if they really want to lean into the shooting those two

Can be replaced with Jordan Hawkins or Matt Ryan both of which are incredibly effective movement Shooters and with all of this shooting Talent they can run set action for these guys watch CJ McCollum here they set up the defense with some decoy ball screens then he Sprints

Baseline off a couple pin Downs which leaves him with space on the wing to catch and shoot here’s a really cool play that starts with what looks like Hawkins setting a ball screen for Ingram only to ghost it while Nance stays up top to set a flare and that leaves

Hawkins with room to attack off the catch as he gets to a floater that’s actually one of their go-to actions here it is again with Zion initiating and again it leads to a driving lane this time drawing help and leaving it for the rolling Nance even more important than

The shooting is the fact that every single one of these players is capable of playing off the catch and making decisions with the ball and I don’t just mean playing off of advantages all it takes is a close out for CJ to burn Miles Turner off the catch and get to a

Floater here’s another example the defense is perfectly set and by simply moving into open space and quickly attacking CJ draws some help at the nail which leaves Trey Murphy with room up top as he catches and fires from Deep this time it’s just a slight load up at

The nail as Zion sets up the offense and by kicking it to Murphy it creates a long close out that he attacks then when help comes to him he’s moving it to Ingram for the exact same thing and they end the possession with a wideopen dunk having so many capable attackers and

Decision makers brings a ton of variety to the offense like here CJ could hand it off to Ingram but by rejecting it and creating himself he ends up with a great look from the elbow CJ can also run pick and roll and when he kicks it out to

Herb that’s a guy who can attack off the catch himself as he gets to the rim for aay and then because herbs got those skills they can even run some action through him this time it’s a dribble handoff from Zion and a sharp pocket pass leads to easy points when you look

At the pelic offense in its entirety it really comes down to two key traits first is that they have two very good on ball scorers who can isolate run pick and roll and will make the right plays to create openings for teammates second is how those teammates capitalize whether it’s through outside shooting

Quick attacks off the catch extra passes you get the idea I also think there’s a pretty interesting wrinkle to consider that I didn’t really touch on with Jonas valent chunis being one of the better low post scorers in the NBA so in certain matchups who are maybe undersized or struggle to defend the

Interior he’s another guy they can go to for consistent production with enough passing talent to find the open man himself overall the Pelicans have had the eightth best offense in the NBA scoring about 118 points every 100 possessions and that’s held up against top 10 defenses as well ranking 10th in

Those tougher matchups I think their offense translates pretty well to the player offs although I do think it’ll be interesting to see how opponents scheme those role players meaning they respect guys like herb or Alvarado enough to close out and what that means for Zion as a slasher one thing that bodess well

Is how comfortable they are throwing out weird lineups with the versatility to sort of counter any approach for more shooting they can replace Zion with Murphy for more speed and Above the Rim finishing they can replace yonas with Nance and these big lengthy Wings make sacrifice in size possible which is sort

Of a perfect transition to the other side of the ball because defense has actually been the driving force behind their success this season most strong defenses are built around a highlevel rim protector but they don’t have a single one of those on the roster actually their defensive approach

Reminds me a lot of the Miami Heat in that the goal is to not let the ball touch the paint that starts at the point of attack for them where they might just have the best options of anyone in the league of of course their go-to is Herb

Jones who really just checks every single box you want in a guy defending on the ball as does Dyson Daniels with the size and strength of a forward but the agility and hit mobility of a smaller guard to always stay in front of attackers another guy they’ll throw out

There is Jose Alvarado who obviously lacks size but will get up into the airspace of whoever he’s guarding and really limit their ability to get where they want to go with one of these three guys always matched up with primary ball handlers you’ll also see them sit one of

Their wings at the nail to offer immediate help here po attacks the middle and Ingram turns him away then it’s just a one-on-one with Daniels and because they have multiple options whenever there’s screening action between these guys it’s a seamless switch as they always keep someone in

Front of the ball to limit dribble penetration for the most part really they’re comfortable switching with any of their wings this time it’s Marshall who gets screened and Ingram who picks up once again preventing a drive to instead give up a tougher pullup three and these sorts of plays really speak to

Their personnel because while I know I said they lack a truly Elite rim protector what they don’t lack is a huge surplus of lengthy athletic forwards just take a look at this play even without herb on the floor they’ve got a lengthy athletic forward covering each major option Daniels on the ball Ingram

On kawhai on the weak side and when it’s entered to George in the mid post it’s Trey Murphy and his 7 Foot wingspan having so many of these guys on the floor is what allows them to cover for smaller or weaker links CJ is obviously a mismatch in the post so herb doubles

From one pass away while Ingram and Murphy both shift over a position and the result is a turnover it also allows them to mitigate any advantages that the offense is able to create this time it’s a pick and roll that forces valent chunis to the ball and watch Ingram as

He not only tags the role but also reaches into that corner skip pass for a steal here’s another example Alvarado gets hit by a screen forcing Nance to step in front of a drive and when the ball handler thinks there’s a lob Here Comes Ingram to send it away just like I

Said they always have someone to put in front of the ball at the point of attack so much size and length also means they always have someone to step in front of Bigs like on this one valent chunis jumps out to the ball creating a four on

Three but Ingram comes over from the weak side to take away ad’s role those early tags from the weak side are a staple in their scheme this play starts with a ball screen but kissper does a good job of slipping the switch only to turn right into herb for a charge

They’re comfortable throwing aggressive coverages at the pick and roll not because valent chunis is some switchable mobile big but because as soon as ad catches the ball Zion’s already there to take away the space and it all comes back to that emphasis on not letting the ball get close to the basket Valen

Chunis takes away any potential drive then Zion rotates to force baggley into a tougher push shot the best way to counter this sort of aggressive defense is to have a ball handler capable of making the skip pass to the opposite corner and that’s when you’ll see the

Defense X out to near Perfection with herb flying to the corner as Murphy covers the now open Wing the luxury of having so many capable defensive forwards here it is again valent chuna steps in front of the ball Zion comes over way early to pick up the short roll

And with herb rotating down to the corner what the Bulls end up with is a Demar D rozan 3 not exactly ideal the way they so aggressively rotate behind the play when paired with so many lengthy athletic forwards and more than capable options at the point of attack

Has turned them into a turnover forcing machine they’re second in the NBA this season at over eight steals a game and those come in all different forms from reaches at the nail to taking away away a weakside lob to Grand Theft Alvarado sneaking from behind and in the event

That Alvarado tries to make a play on the ball but is unsuccessful then it’s right back to that aggressive help not just from Nance but also Zion as he flies in for a rejection remember I talked about lineup versatility and how they can structure their units to cover

For any sort of strategy that the opponents throw out there that point is really hammered home when you consider their options at the five I know valent Chun is isn’t a great rim protector but he’s one of the biggest players in the NBA so just by proxy of having him on

The court you have a more traditional anchor look and when the lineup calls for more versatility whether that means switching or some aggressive coverages they can go to Larry Nance with a more small ball type of look what I find Most Fascinating though is when they go with

No big these Ultra small lineups where you could call anyone the five and it’s made possible by the vast amount of lengthy athletic forwards on the season they’ve got a 113 defensive rating sixth in the NBA which is really strong however I think they’ve turned it up to

Another level in this recent stretch which is why over their last 20 games that number is down to 109.5 good for third just like on offense that’s more than held up against the toughest competition holding top 10 offenses to a 113 offensive rating which ranks fourth I do think it’ll be

Interesting to see how some of what they do translates to the playoffs like against a Luca or yic type of passer those aggressive rotations behind the play can be punished pretty consistently but when you put them against teams who run their offense through guys who lean

A lot more heavily into scoring like OKC or Minnesota I think they cause some serious matchup issues especially when considering the fact that herb was basically built in a lab to defend these stars all that’s to say the statistical indicators Bode extreme ex well for this

Team a net rating of plus five ranks fourth behind just the Celtics Thunder and Timberwolves who you could argue have been the three best regular season teams and against top 10 opponents they’ve had a net rating of plus 2.3 also fourth behind those exact same teams I really think it comes down to

Health Dyson Daniels just returned to practice so if he’s good to go that’s a huge defensive piece then guys like Ingram Zion and Alvarado have all struggled in previous years but if they head into the playoffs with a fully healthy Squad and find a way to snag homec court advantage in round one

By then this is a scary team that truly should be getting more hype as a potential Dark Horse Contender if you enjoyed this breakdown make sure to drop a like subscribe and turn my post notifications on to be first on more content if you’re interested in my more

In-depth research make sure to check out my website and social media profiles you can find those links in the description feel free to let me know down in the comments what you think of the Pelicans as always I hope you all have a great day and I’ll catch you guys in the next

One

The New Orleans Pelicans have been one of the best 2-way teams in the NBA, and should be getting more hype as a “dark horse” contender.

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