After watching the film and studying his new team, Stan Van Gundy identified one of the biggest enemies of the New Orleans Pelicans from last season: the Pelicans themselves. Whether it was committing costly turnovers, being whistled for too many fouls or other unforced errors, New Orleans often hurt its chances of winning with self-inflicted wounds. A team that has plenty of young talent and offensive firepower did many of the “little things” poorly, a major factor behind a 13-28 record in clutch games, the NBA’s second-worst winning percentage (31.7) in that stat.
As a result, prior to leading his first training camp in New Orleans, Van Gundy delivered a simple, overarching message to Pelicans players.