## [Zion Williamson](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4395628/zion-williamson) and the lowest pick-and-rolls in the league
The [New Orleans Pelicans](https://www.espn.com/nba/team/_/name/no/new-orleans-pelicans) are the league’s most confounding good team. They are 34-22 after winning eight of nine, in sole possession of the No. 5 seed and boasting the West’s fourth-best point differential. Their schedule is manageable. Projection systems give them between a 60% and 80% chance of nabbing a top-six seed in what promises to be a tense race to avoid the play-in.
They start four players generally considered below-average defenders, yet somehow rank in the top 10 in points allowed per possession for the second straight season. (Some of that is luck; New Orleans allows the second-most 3s, but its opponents have hit a league-low 34.6% from deep.)
In stretches, they look unstoppable — the boulder rolling downhill. But there are quarters, halves, entire games when something just seems a little off. They are minus-15 with [CJ McCollum](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/2490149/cj-mccollum), [Brandon Ingram](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/3913176/brandon-ingram) and Williamson on the floor. Those are three ball-dominant players who like to operate from the midrange and in. Only McCollum is a dangerous high-volume 3-point shooter, and he deserves credit for migrating outward to accommodate Williamson and Ingram. (Ingram has launched more 3s recently, and is at 36%.)
Add a center, and both the spacing and the ballhandling hierarchy get clunky — leaving one of Williamson and Ingram to manufacture something in tight confines while the other stands along the sideline. This has manifested in shaky crunch-time offense and blown leads; the Pels are 27th in points per possession in the last five minutes of close games.
Lineups with [Trey Murphy III](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4397688/trey-murphy-iii) in Williamson’s place have thrived. Coach Willie Green has used Williamson at center more over the past two weeks, but that remains a change-up; there will be full games where you won’t see it. New Orleans’ best Zion-at-center group — McCollum, Murphy, Ingram, [Herbert Jones](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/4277813/herbert-jones), Williamson — has logged only 22 minutes. I’d like to see more despite concerns about the defensive viability of Zion-at-center lineups.
It’s nice to have options, but it’s also nice to have certainty about who should play with whom — and when. The Pelicans don’t have that yet.
But their stars are so dynamic, they often make it work. The Pels have leaned more into Point Zion, and they are getting dynamite results with ultra-low-angle pick-and-rolls on the right wing between Williamson and their centers:
[Jonas Valanciunas](https://www.espn.com/nba/player/_/id/6477/jonas-valanciunas) sets that pick below the dotted line. Any lower, and you are nearly out of bounds. That is so low that going under the screen becomes dicey for defenses; get chipped — as LeBron James does above — and Williamson, going to his strong hand, is on top of the basket. Those plays also put the Pelicans’ two weakest shooters in the action, maximizing spacing around the ball.
Even if you dodge the pick, Williamson is already close enough to the basket to plow to a layup. Help coverages:
Williamson is running 17 pick-and-rolls per 100 possessions, a career high. The Pelicans have averaged 1.12 points directly out of those actions — 25th among 192 ball handlers who have run at least 100 such plays, per Second Spectrum.
by kingralek
5 Comments
Thanks for posting the text
“Pelicans have played Zion at center more recently”
“They’ve really leaned into Point Zion”
“They have generally below average defenders”
“They have one of the best defenses”
“They start four players generally considered below-average defenders, yet somehow rank in the top 10 in points allowed”
Because the other starter is a MF monster.
I have always thought Zach Lowe has consistently given one of the best national media takes for the Pels. He was the first national guys to give Herb love, he gives pro’s and con’s of the team.
Too many national guys just watch national game and give takes from those games or retread old takes. Zach truly watches a ton of basketball and has been fairly accurate with teams. This is even the case when earlier in the year he kept saying “I don’t know what to think about the Pelicans”. He would see us get blow out wins vs bad teams then get smoked in a big national game. He sees the pieces, knows we have the talent but provides legitimate questions asking if we could consistently put it together this year and in the playoffs.
“The most confounding good team” feels accurate to me. But keep winning and it won’t matter.