Anthony Davis (Photo : Stacy Revere | Getty Images Sport)
Not all is well for the New Orleans Pelicans, despite all the pre-season hype.
On a pre-season Power Rankings from ESPN, the Pelicans were ranked 8th. Not in the West, but in the entire league. They were ranked higher than the Atlanta Hawks, the Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors.
As of this writing, the only worse teams are the Los Angeles Lakers and the Philadelphia 76ers.
Will the Pelicans become the next team to have a "players only meeting?" That usually happens next when the star player calls out teammates in the media, as Anthony Davis did in NBA.com.
"We have to play together, harder and tougher," said Davis. "We are just trying to find a way to win. Whatever we have to do to win. We need to become closer as a team and believe in each other. We need to stop playing selfish basketball."
While they have been severely ravaged by injuries, it is never an excuse to be this bad, especially with Davis around. Even the players who are healthy are not performing well. Fran Blinebury of NBA.com blames the roster, and more.
He points out that Eric Gordon "is connecting at a career-low 39.8 percent and has made half his shots only once in the last eight games" and he's supposed to be the team's next best scorer besides Davis.
The roster is also flawed and he blames the Jrue Holiday trade with the Philadelphia 76ers. The intention was right, and the Sixers sold high on Holiday after his first (and only) All-Star appearance. The Pelicans gave up top 10 draft picks in 2013 and 2014 while Holiday was often injured.
Even coach Alvin Gentry is won't go scot-free. The Pelicans have the lowest ranked defense in the league even when they have one of the best defensive players in the league. They're even worse than the team that's trying to lose!
Practically everything is wrong except for Anthony Davis and it begs one to wonder if he ever regrets staying in New Orleans. He did not even entertain thoughts of leaving but he probably did not see this coming.
The challenge for the team ownership is to make some moves to improve Davis' support group. Otherwise, there will be a trade demand that will outrank the ones made by Shaq and Melo.
