Pistons Host Anthony Davis’ Pelicans
By J.M. Poulard
Essentials
- Teams: New Orleans Pelicans (18-19) at Detroit Pistons (14-24)
- Date: January 14
- Time: 7:30 p.m.
- Television: FSD
Get in the Game
The Detroit Pistons, fresh off beating the Toronto Raptors on the road, will host a talented but flawed New Orleans Pelicans team tonight.
Anthony Davis is the headliner for the Pelicans, and he will soon become the same for the NBA. From where I sit, Davis is the best big man in the sport by virtue of his quick-hitting offensive arsenal coupled with an emerging defensive brilliance that practically puts him on even footing with luminaries such as Ben Wallace and Hakeem Olajuwon.
In truth, in a year lacking a clear NBA alpha dog – is it James Harden, Stephen Curry or LeBron James still? – as the midway point of the season approaches, one could actually conclude that Davis is the league’s best, period. He tops the PER rankings and his averages place him in the top-10 leaders in scoring (24.1), rebounding (10.4) and blocks (2.9).
Furthermore, Davis also appears among the top-six on the leaderboard for Win Shares (7.6), Value Over Replacement Player (5.7) and double doubles (21). Interestingly enough, Davis does it all without much flash or fanfare. He is a generational–type talent, but few realize this given the Pelicans’ fortunes.
New Orleans doesn’t have a roster to complement the skills of its best player. There isn’t a player on the team that anyone would qualify as a perfect running mate for Davis. Ryan Anderson is a stretch four who makes it rain from downtown, but playing him alongside the Brow means Davis is forced into playing center, where the league’s biggest and nastiest men get to pound on him with impunity.
Eric Gordon is a shooter who hardly plays like one. Sure, New Orleans is more than happy to watch him take spot-up jumpers, but he gets himself into trouble when handling the ball in an effort to create. Gordon is mostly looking to set himself up, which is less than ideal on a team that houses perhaps the sport’s premier player.
And yet, Gordon isn’t the biggest impediment of the team’s flawed makeup. Tyreke Evans is unequivocally the biggest question mark on the Pelicans. First the positives: Evans can play both backcourt positions by virtue of his ball-handling and even masquerades as a small forward at 6’6’’ and 220 lbs. He’s a creative scorer and dynamic playmaker when the mood strikes him to operate as such, and that’s where he poses issues for New Orleans.
Evans’ game has a playground feel to it. It constantly looks as though he’s sizing up his defender and preparing his best one-on-one move at the expense of openings for others. Sure, Evans dishes the ball every now and then, but he has far too much of grip on the offense. On nights where he has it going, he’s a below-the-rim terror with a combination of herky-jerky moves and ball fakes. However, he is for the most part a player looking to get his, which doesn’t go over well when shots aren’t going in. It’s worth mentioning that Evans is making 42.9 percent of his shots.
Keep in mind, his usage rate (26.6) outpaces Davis’ (26.2), and Evans’ field-goal attempts per game (15.5) compare favorably with the team’s star (16.7), despite the gap in production.
I think it’s safe to say that Evans takes more things off the table than he actually brings, a fact that only reinforces the lack of fit as it pertains to the New Orleans pieces.
To be fair, all is not lost.
Jrue Holiday and Omer Asik enhance the Davis Takeover by playing in conjunction with him, albeit in limited fashion. Holiday assists as a playmaker while Asik handles the dirty work on the inside. These two are probably the only ones on the team that I could see having any semblance of a future with the Pelicans going forward with Davis.
On the flip side, Holiday isn’t a great orchestrator, nor does he consistently anticipate defensive rotations in an effort to routinely find the open man.
As for Asik, his defensive skills are appreciated by his teammates, but his lack of offensive polish means he crams the spacing and allows opponents to double-team Davis.
And yet, the Pistons shouldn’t take the Pels lightly. New Orleans has been a superior club in comparison to Detroit this season by virtue of record. What’s more, the Pelicans have been competitive in a Western Conference that exposes the weak and limited clubs. That’s a clear sign that the Pelicans are not to be trifled with.
Davis and Asik are a formidable tandem, and Greg Monroe and Andre Drummond will certainly have something to say about that by night’s end.
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