Watch New Orleans (16-26) play enough and you’ll occasionally see the bane of many basketball coaches’ existence: A possession in which only one Pelicans player touches the ball, because he fired a contested jumper with only a few seconds expired on the 24-second shot clock.
During his Wednesday pregame comments to the media, Pelicans second-year head coach Alvin Gentry pinpointed shot selection as one element that’s contributed to the team’s underperforming offense, which ranks 27th in the NBA in efficiency (101.1 points per 100 possessions). Gentry has periodically desired better ball movement throughout the season, which can go hand-in-hand with improving the decisions on which shots to take.