The New Orleans Pelicans saw their postseason hopes dashed away in a fairly lifeless performance against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday afternoon. Playing unlike a team fighting for its playoff lives, New Orleans came out of the gate and was punched in the mouth repeatedly as the Kings scored 49 first-quarter points, setting an ominous tone fo the day.
The Pelicans themselves had a tremendous offensive performance after struggling inside the bubble at times on that end of the ball. But none of that mattered as the Kings got in a groove early and never broke stride during the remainder of the game.
While New Orleans had a handful of small runs to cut the lead down to within a possession, the Pelicans never seriously threatened Sacramento and the Kings put the pedal to the metal in the fourth to win comfortably.
Much of the Pelicans problems came down to the first quarter and how they started. From the onset, they struggled defensively and showed their mindset on the night.
Here’s a look at three key plays from the first quarter alone on Thursday.
The Pelicans started out just as fast as the Kings out of the gate with a pair of ball screen actions with Zion Williamson as the big. The first saw Jrue Holiday find Williamson for an easy finish at the rim. After a Kings three-pointer (more on that later) the Pelicans come right back and run the play above.
The Pelicans clear out one side of the court for Brandon Ingram and Williamson to run a pick and roll. Ingram does a great job of rubbing shoulders with Williamson to ensure his man is slowed down and, as a result, force Richaun Holmes to make a decision.
Holmes shows to stop a drive into the lane and Ingram does a great job of delivering the pass at just the right time to Williamson. From there, it’s an easy finish for the rookie.
Ingram and Williamson have the potential for a terrific two-man game. Ingram is adept as a pick and roll ballhandler and Williamson is nearly as good a passer as he is a finisher on rolls to the rim. Seeing those two develop chemistry in the coming seasons will be fascinating.
Now that the positive is out of the way, here come the defensive negatives.
After the game, both Alvin Gentry and Holiday, while citing defensive lapses, also noted that the Kings hit tough shots from the onset and that got them in a groove. Gentry also discussed Bogdan Bogdanovic specifically and the gameplan coming in involving him slipping screens for threes.
Which brings us to the second possession of the game for the Kings. Lonzo Ball is on Bogdanovic at the top of the key. Sacramento’s set looks to be a ball screen between De’Aaron Fox as the ballhandler and Bogdanovic as the screener. Ball plays to switch the screen when Fox comes off.
Instead, Bogdanovic slips the screen and races across the court. By the time Ball realizes his error, Bogdanovic is well on his way to a wide-open three.
At the point in the game of the third clip, Bogdanovic is certifiably on fire. The Pelicans’ subs are in the game and are surely aware that he is on fire. In fact, they probably received instructions on him before checking in.
That makes this miscommunication inexcusable. Bogdanovic sets up for a back screen from the weakside corner before, again, slipping the screen. Again, the Pelicans aren’t expecting it as Josh Hart and Nicolo Melli get caught in two minds between switching or staying with their men. And as a result, again, Bogdanovic gets a wide-open three.
Obviously, the Pelicans aren’t going to make their scouting reports available. But if Gentry is able to specifically mention a sequence that twice led to open Bogdanovic three-pointers after the game, it’s safe to assume it was mentioned at some point in the lead up to the game.
As much as fans look to blame coaching, if players aren’t executing a scouting report, there’s nothing coaches can do. Their job is to prepare the players and give them the necessary information to succeed. It’s up to the team to execute.
