New head coach Stan Van Gundy has made it an extra pressure point in New Orleans to focus on the defensive side of the ball. A weakness in last year’s team, Van Gundy is aiming to build a stronger defense this season for the Pelicans and has spent much of the season on that side of the ball.
On Monday in their preseason opening against Miami, the team showed off their new defense for the first time and, after a slow start, put up a strong effort. After conceding 30 points in the first quarter, New Orleans conceded no more than 23 points for each of the remaining three quarters.
“I think it got better as the game went on,” Lonzo Ball said after Wednesday’s practice. “Guys were trying. Obviously, we’re just trying to learn a new defense this year and it starts with an effort. The second thing speaks. I think we did a lot of what we did before. ”
Van Gundy was pleased with the defensive improvements but still wanted to see more from his side move forward, especially in communication on that end of the floor.
“We’re still not doing a good job communicating what we want to defend so that needs to be built, really as we go along,” he said. “Then a lot of little things (like) our selective defense and roll development need to improve. Communication in these other areas will help. “
Ball has stood for the Pelicans during training camp with his communication on each end of the court as one of the reasons. Ball has a way of going to be considered one of the best communicators on the floor with Van Gundy pointing out Josh Hart, JJ Redick and Sindarius Thornwell as the best communicators.
It would have been better, however, for Van Gundy to have one of his big men as the most vocal player in the team on the floor, celebrating for Dwight Howard during his time in Orlando for example.
“I’ve found that when you get really good protection, it’s your big people, your institutions, that can play a big part in that because, in general, they’re the ones who see the action and direct traffic, ”said Van Gundy. “If they’re good communicators, I think your teams have a chance to be really, really defensive … All our boys are working on it. I have no doubt that we will get there but if we talk about our priorities in terms of what we need to work on, that is certainly a big one. ”
On paper, Steven Adams, one of the most established big men in the league, would fill that desire for Van Gundy. He could eventually fill that position but in addition to learning a new system, Adams is learning a new license and new players after being traded to New Orleans this season.
All the work will still be a work in progress for the Pelicans as a short preseason allows them just one more warm-up game before the start of the regular season. If Monday ‘s game is anything to go by, however, the Pelicans are on track for a major improvement from last year.