Those who don’t learn from the past are destined to repeat it, a saying the New Orleans Pelicans hope won’t apply to them this season. After back-to-back sub-30 win seasons, the team begins its regular season on Wednesday night against the Indiana Pacers.
New head coach Jamahl Mosley must ensure his team gets off to a fast start this year.
Good start is key for Jamahl Mosley's first days with Pelicans
With a roster that remained largely intact from a season ago, it would be easy for the team to fall back into its bad habits if it starts off slow again. Last season, New Orleans started 0-6 and quickly dismissed former head coach Willie Green after just 12 games. Mosley must build belief in the team through good habits and game planning that put this talented but somewhat mismatched roster in the best position to win.
New Orleans did some things well in its 3-1 preseason campaign, especially on defense. Pelicans guard Dejounte Murray told reporters this week that defense was what stood out to him, especially since he watched the final couple of games from the sideline after injuring his toe. “We was guarding. We was guarding,” Murray told the local media. “I think that’s most important…You don’t get bored or content doing great things.”
Defense is Mosley’s calling card, and he led his former Orlando Magic teams to top-three defenses in two of his last three years coaching in Orlando. The Pelicans had their best success under Willie Green when they had a top-rated defense, so reigniting that mindset will go a long way toward rekindling success in New Orleans.
One key emphasis will be guarding the paint and defensive rebounding, areas where the team has struggled over the past couple of seasons. They ranked 25th in the league last year in opponent points in the paint and 28th in defensive rebounding percentage. Most thought the organization would pursue a defensive center in free agency, but no deal materialized.
That puts the onus on players on this roster, like Zion Williamson and Derik Queen, to raise their defensive game to help this team win. Coach Mosley told reporters this summer that he believes Williamson has the skill set to be a very capable defender in this league.
“He’s too gifted, too athletic, too strong, too with a high basketball IQ to not be able to defend some of the best players in this league," Mosley said.
Mosley needs to establish the expectation that his players defend at a high level every night, something you heard from him after the team’s recent preseason game against the Washington Wizards, when he said, “it’s going to be a dog fight every time you step into this building.”
Mosley’s approach to games differs from the previous coaching staff’s view, focusing on smaller sample sizes and treating them like a series rather than a longer period of time. He told ClutchSports’ Chris Dodson, "I'm not doing 10-game sample sizes. I won't do that," Mosley said. "We will break it down more into five-game segments, treating it like a series."
He continued, "You can understand what you did well within that series. Analyzing our offense, analyzing our defense, the different lineups. I think that will be something to look at for our guys to see what we are doing well and what we can improve on."
That shift in focus may help curb bad habits faster once he sees his team heading in the wrong direction. Last season's 0-6 start buried any hope the team had for the remainder of the year, something Mosley would like to avoid by getting off to a faster start this season.
That starts with Wednesday night's game, where Mosley will look to implement his culture shift, built on accountability and force, to change this franchise's fortune. With a fast start, the Pelicans won’t just start the season on solid footing—they will finally look like a team ready to shed its past.
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