On paper, the New Orleans Pelicans shaped up to be a strong defensive side heading into the season. Jrue Holiday, a former All-Defensive team member, was expected to anchor a core that featured a respected veteran defender in Derrick Favors and youngsters in Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball that had shown flashes of being plus defenders.
But 27 games into the season, the Pelicans are a disaster defensively. New Orleans is 29th in defensive rating, allowing 114.9 points per 100 possessions. During its recent 12-game losing streak, that number has ballooned to 118.2.
Ball has drawn a lot of the focus on the defensive miscues this season. After playing at nearly All-Defensive levels last season, Ball was recently demoted to the bench. Head coach Alvin Gentry stated it was a move made to improve the flow of the offense, though it has had little effect on either the offense or defense.
In an effort to figure out where the Pelicans and Ball’s struggles have come, we took a look at some of the tape on the Pelicans’ defense this year. And it is as ugly as advertised.
There is no one specific issue that has led to the poor defensive effort but the one overlying thing present when watching the Pelicans is the lack of communication and clarity defensively. Plays like this happen too often where switches aren’t communicated and it leads to open shots.
The same thing happens in the next clip, but off the ball. Ball starts in the far corner on Evan Fournier. When Fournier takes off to the top of the key, Ball looks to expect Ingram to take his man on a switch. The moment of hesitation is ample opportunity for Fournier to get an open three-pointer off.
Even when the defense is good, things go poorly. In this clip, Ball plays good defense on Markelle Fultz and forces a miss. However, neither Holiday and Josh Hart, who appeared to assume Holiday had Jonathan Isaac, boxed out and thus gave up an offensive rebound and putback.
The reoccurring theme when watching the Pelicans this year, though, is how poorly they defend the pick and roll. Much of their issues stem from the big men on their roster and the way they use them in screen and roll situations.
The Pelicans most often opt for drop coverage on ball screens. When Favors is in, that coverage is generally effective, or at least more effective than his alternatives. Unfortunately, he’s been unable to stay on the court this season for both medical and personal reasons.
In his place has been the likes of Jahlil Okafor and Jaxson Hayes. And while the latter is young and developing, the former has a reputation as a poor defender that has been apparent. Ball has shared the court with Okafor for 171 minutes this year. When both are on the court, they have a defensive rating of 118.0 and it shows.
Okafor’s inability (and sometimes unwillingness) to be an engaged defender in ball screens means more often than not, he’s little more than a speed bump on the way to the rim.
Hayes is athletic and energetic enough to stay in front of guards more but is still working on the defensive IQ part. Here, he doesn’t contest JJ Barea, who has already knocked down a three in a similar vein. Instead, he drops too quickly and the result is an open three-pointer.
Compare those videos with this from Favors, who meets the ballhandler high to take away the three-pointer and force him to put the ball on the ground. Ball still has his ball-hawking instincts, reads that the guard is cutting back and gets a hand on the ball to poke it away.
Here’s another example of the scheme being run correctly and the result being positive. Okafor this time shows correctly and forces Kyrie Irving to hesitate which allows Ball to get back in the play. Ball still has solid footwork and stays with Irving to force a contested shot and a miss.
Ball hasn’t bathed himself in glory this year, though. Too often, he struggles to get around and through screens whether on or off the ball, leaving the ballhandler matched up with a big for too long. His biggest area of struggle continues to be staying attached to players off the ball, where he ranks in the 29th percentile this season.
But he still finds success when isolated. His high IQ, length and athleticism all lend itself to success in those situations. He’s ranked in the 71st percentile, albeit in a small sample size, in defending isolations. And that’s including plays like this next clip where he does a great job of staying with Derrick Rose and forcing a contested shot that still drops.
That shot accounts for one of only three made against Ball in isolation possessions this season, according to Synergy. Opponents are shooting just 25 percent in isolation against Ball.
The problem with Ball this season is that he isn’t in a role he was last season. Last year, Ball was more of a free safety that flew around the court and made plays, highlighted by his sequence against the Magic. This season, it’s a new scheme that doesn’t afford him those luxuries. Pair that with a host of miscommunications and poor execution in a variety of ways and you have the recipe for a terrible defense.
Many of the problems are fixable and will get better as the team continues to play with one another. And while Zion Williamson can hide some of the mistakes – he’s athletic enough to show on ball screens and still recover to his man, for example – he won’t be able to fix everything.
The Pelicans’ problems are far and wide defensively and require every player to step up. Whether the team still has that desire in the midst of a 12-game losing streak will be a sign of where the season goes the rest of the way.
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