I’ve stood on this train in support of Alvin Gentry since it’s departure. As things turned from bad to worse this season, it was hard to blame Alvin because he was doing his best to manage an incredibly difficult situation — a common theme throughout his tenure in New Orleans.

I didn’t care about his career 487-576 record without proper context of each coaching gig. Making Gentry the scapegoat didn’t seem fair in most of his previous stops and this current one seemed no different: all the injuries, no dominant alpha, and a delicate house of cards roster construction designed to split being competitive now and gearing up for the future. Moreover, as a New Orleans native who is passionate about his city and basketball team, Gentry has handled every pitfall, hurdle, and roadblock with class and dignity.

When things have been at their worst and we’ve been forced to view Gentry’s living hell smeared all over his demeanor, Alvin’s never elected to enter a witness protection program. He’s kept it real with the media in ways most head coaches won’t while balancing protection of his players. If anything, this Pelicans locker room knows Alvin is riding with them since here refuses to throw anyone under the bus, choosing to suffer all the heat individually.

But unfortunately no matter how brave or supporting Gentry has been, we’ve finally reached time for a change that some will tell you is long overdue. And as battered as Gentry has appeared nightly due to various levels of stress and frustration, even he may secretly agree.

Please do not confuse this with some admittance that all of the team’s problems lie at Gentry’s feet. In other words, do not expect New Orleans season arc to change dramatically because most of the issues will not be fixed by his departure. And for a team looking to maintain some semblance of a family, getting rid of the Father of sorts doesn’t ring that wish home easy.

There will be some who say that moving on from Gentry now does zero for a young team with frustrated veterans. That it’ll only make things worse. But let’s get real here:

Through every obstacle New Orleans has been through from the start of the season, this shouldn’t be a 7-23 basketball team at this point in time. They shouldn’t be rivaling the 2004-05 team for the worst winning percentage in franchise history. And the consistent pattern of losing can’t be wearing well for a roster that expected to be at worst in the thick of things at the bottom of the Western Conference playoff race.

The players are responsible for a large share of the blame when considering the mental breakdowns and the inconsistent efforts, but as in most other professions, there’s always one person who must be held accountable in the end.

These Pelicans have got to be one of the lowest basketball IQ teams I’ve ever seen. — Scott Kushner (@ScottDKushner) December 21, 2019

So what stands ground for firing a coach that’s been through the hell Gentry has seen even before Zion Williamson, the biggest NBA attraction in years, makes his official debut?

One element involves looking at NOLA’s biggest struggles beyond youth and injuries because there are a plethora of teams battling one or both inconveniences that have outperformed the Pels.

Consistency

We often follow the habits of those in charge to lead us. Just think about your job every day for a second. If you see your boss being inconsistent in some facet, it’s only natural that trait slips down to you or others someone else in your office. To be fair, Gentry’s been forced once again to make lemons out of lemonade when it comes to man power.

According to the In Street Clothes website, the Pelicans ranked 29th in games lost to injury going back to the 2013-2014 campaign when coming into this season. And all fans know this year hasn’t helped that standing as New Orleans is identically ranked 29th with having 11 players miss 96 games coming into last night’s matchup.

But what about the things that can be controlled?

Since Alvin Gentry’s arrival in New Orleans, the Pelicans have been identified as an offensive team reliant on pace to improve their odds of victory every night. In turn their defense has often been a painstaking problem. The only season the Pels have finished higher than 14th in defensive rating under Gentry was back in 2016-17, when the team missed the playoffs at 34-48.

No worries, the offense has been there to save the day right?

Wrong.

NOLA currently ranks 21st in offensive rating, the worst output since that odd 2016 season where everything seemed to flip upside down. That leaves a team still top five in pace but running fast into bad possessions and transition baskets for the opposing team.

New Orleans ranks 25th in opponent fastbreak points given up a game which pairs tellingly next to a 23rd ranking in turnovers per game. If you don’t think the coach is failing the Pelicans, the system sure as hell is. You can’t be the defensive doormat the Pelicans have been and ever expect to create a winning environment with such lousy results.

Now let’s talk about some of the lineup decisions. Alvin Gentry often decides on a game-by-game basis of what rotation he’s going to use based off of the matchup, game flow and the previous outcomes of the last game or two. The benefit as a player being, if you’re playing well or if the coach thinks you have a good matchup upcoming, you should receive a solid opportunity.

The problem with this methodology is that this can disrupt the momentum of another player slowly finding his stride or just working through his individual issues. When the said player is thrust back into battle, it’s easy to expect confidence or rust to play a factor, causing possible indecisiveness and a simple lack of rhythm/chemistry down the line.

From Nickeil Alexander-Walker to Frank Jackson to E’Twaun Moore to Lonzo Ball, every game feels unpredictable as to who you’ll see and for how long. And once there’s an idea, the amount of time is the next question at hand

You would assume a group of professionals could get used to that if that’s how their leader operates more times than not. But what if he doesn’t?

Zo should be closing this game. Kenrich is not helping anything offensively on the floor right now. Alvin has been known for playing the hot hand, play your point guard who’s having a great game. — Chris Conner (@Impatientbull) December 21, 2019

In their latest loss last night to what’s left of the Golden State Warriors, the Pelicans overcame a large deficit to a position where they were up by six late in fourth quarter. A big part of their comeback was led by Lonzo Ball’s defensive pressure on the ball throughout the second half which resulted in five steals and a number of easy ensuing baskets.

Ball would have been a perfect closing candidate for New Orleans, who has struggled with perimeter penetration all season, as he was having his most disruptive game on the defensive side of the basketball in a long time. Instead, Gentry opted for a lineup that included Kenrich Williams, who is having a December to forget.

Including his four misses from the field tonight, Kenrich Williams has had a December to forget thus far.



21 points in 205 minutes (!)

19.0 FG%

11.8 3PT%

20.0 FT%



His defense/rebounding/intangibles cannot overcome this super subpar production, right? — Oleh Kosel (@OlehKosel) December 21, 2019

If a coach is unable to make adjustments against a bad team like Golden State after their first win in close to a month, what happens when a good team comes back in town? Will it even matter?

There was zero reason Kenrich Williams should have been playing late. ZERO! GS doubled Ingram and cut off spacing ignoring Kenrich like a prime Tony Allen. Play Josh Hart, play Lonzo, hell bring in Zion in his suit. GS got open shots all game, this was going to be won offensively — Chris Conner (@Impatientbull) December 21, 2019

It’s hard to get on the players about consistency if their leader isn’t conveying those tendencies when they need him the most. From playing Frank Jackson in clutch minutes then starting a cold Lonzo and company in overtime on opening night, we’ve seen several head scratching lineup decisions on more than one occasion this season.

Want to know why the Pelicans are second to last in clutch winning percentage situations? It’s honestly because of circumstances like these, which go beyond any missed time due to personal reasons or knee soreness.

Culture

David Griffin, the executive vice president of basketball operations, didn’t hesitate over the summer in letting all of New Orleans know that the Pelicans were going to try and beat people’s asses. And for a team that appeared to have depth for the first time in over a decade, not even an injury to Zion Williamson was supposed to derail that plan.

At 7-23 — and after it’s most inexcusable loss of the season, the Pelicans don’t seem to be trending for anything more than another high percentage lottery pick.

With veterans such as Jrue Holiday, JJ Redick and Derrick Favors all playing valuable minutes, it’s time to wonder when NOLA might be doing their future a disservice by not giving younger players the lionshare of minutes to develop while allowing the vets to go enjoy a playoff run elsewhere.

If you see a light on right now at Pelicans facility maybe it’s David Griffin & Trajan Langdon working on plans to pivot this season.

Probably time to start setting up trades for:

Lonzo, Jrue, Redick & Favors.



Play the kids, go young.

They can’t be any worse than 7-23. — Fletcher Mackel (@FletcherWDSU) December 21, 2019

The most concerning aspect of this damage fam is that the Pelicans simply put themselves in this same position seemingly every night. And they make the same mistakes. They’re either playing catch-up for the majority of a game, getting blown out, or shooting each other in the foot as they squabble a chance at victory. Sometimes they manage to do all three.

Has Gentry’s voice been tuned out? Are players just simply not retaining information in a play style that doesn’t help their flaws together? Either way, a new voice needs to be considered. There’s still much to play for and someone needs to ensure that a fire will be lit when rookie phenom Zion Williamson returns.

That aforementioned group of veterans continue to say all the right things, and we’ve seen several fans and media members echo them; however, fatigue has to have set in for everybody by now.

23 losses in the first 30 games on the schedule.

How can it not?

How much longer before the fans who have already raised their eyebrows about this season completely mail it in and make the determination they’re out in following years too? At what point does David Griffin need to make a distinction between a team that has underachieved versus one that was snake bitten or simply unlucky? But the question that needs answering quickest right now: Is Gentry the coach we envision leading this team into the promising years of Zion’s career? Or is he more akin to Dell Harris who was eventually replaced by Phil Jackson?

Facts and opinion strongly point to the latter.

As a black man, it’s hard to accept that another minority as passionate and intelligent about the game as Gentry be shown the door. But his system is stubborn, and with this generation of ever growing and adjusting players, it just doesn’t seem the right fit for this current group of Pelicans.

Alvin’s coaching history and previous opportunities have been marred by environments you’d have to bring miracles around daily to expect to see a winning pipeline develop. He was given a raw deal at almost every single one of those stops. Maybe New Orleans completely fits that mold. Or possibly, the time for excuses is over and the realization of record versus talent and potential is too strong to ignore.

Ask yourself this, are the Cavaliers more talented than the Pelicans? What about the Grizzlies or the Wizards? Or worse — I’m sorry David Grubb, the New York Knicks?

The answer to each of those should be no, injuries and all.

That falls on the head coach.

Gentry at one time gave an example for his players to walk behind. Things they could count on. It doesn’t appear he’s been able to provide that and it’s shown through every shot clock violation, every turnover and every defensive lapse. The errors and mistakes have all too often been of the awful variety and things only seem to be getting worse as we near the midway point of the season.

So as we stand, no matter what direction the Pelicans decide to go next summer, it’s time to give serious consideration to put another in charge of running the show now. As much as it hurts to say, New Orleans is begging for a more diverse system and a head coach who is more adaptable and consistent towards the young talents at hand.