The New Orleans Pelicans hired Alvin Gentry on Saturday afternoon to a mixed reaction from the fanbase.

Some of the negative responses were expected.  I’ll address the two I heard the most.

1. "Why didn't they hire Tom Thibodeaux or Jeff Van Gundy?"

It’s about offense. Pelicans general manager Dell Demps has constructed a roster that can excel with improved pace. At 22 years old, superstar Anthony Davis will be unleashed in a Gentry offense. He is the team. Demps did not want to see Davis’ young years spent in an offense that ranks at the bottom of the league in pace.

According to Monty Poole of CSN Bay Area, Gentry brought a detailed chart with various graphs to show Demps and Pelicans executive Mickey Loomis why Davis was underutilized offensively, then displayed how he could improve it.

Photo by Skip Bolen/Getty Images for American Express
Photo by Skip Bolen/Getty Images for American Express
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Watch the Golden State Warriors offense in the NBA Finals this week. Will they get out on a fast break? Sure, when the opportunity presents itself, but the pace is all aspects of the offense. It never stops moving. They use quick motion and constant ball movement, all while getting into their sets quickly.

As associate head coach of the Warriors, Gentry was charged with running the Warriors offense. They own the best pace and second best offensive efficiency in the NBA this year.

Many fans will point out the defensive ranking of his prior teams.

Gentry never had strong defensive personnel on his rosters. For example, his Phoenix Suns team that reached the Western Conference finals was anchored by Amar’e Stoudemire, Steve Nash, Leandro Barbosa and Jason Richardson.

This season, he’s on a Warriors staff that owns the league’s best defense. Last season, he was associate head coach of the Los Angeles Clippers, who finished 9th in the NBA in defensive efficiency. Was he in charge of running the defense? No, but it’s safe to say he learned a thing or two.

While Thibodeaux and Van Gundy would bring strong defensive pedigree, the chances of the pace improving would be slim.

2. “Can someone tell me why the Pelicans hired a guy with a 47% winning   percentage in his career as a head coach?”

Is that it? Did you look up one thing on the internet and make a decision on why this was a bad hire in your mind? If so, let me help you dig a little deeper.

In his season as head coach of the ‘94 Miami Heat, he took over on an interim basis after the team’s ownership had a shake up mid season and key player Kevin Willis was injured. He didn’t come in as a new head coach at the beginning of a season with a full deck of cards. It was an expansion team in its 7th season that was experiencing major transition. He was a stop gap interim coach and was gone at the end of the season.

Photo by Christian Peterson/Getty Images
Photo by Christian Peterson/Getty Images
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During his time as head coach with the Detroit Pistons, he actually finished one game above .500, despite less than ideal circumstances. He took over as head coach from Doug Collins in the middle of the ’97-’98 season, then coached an injury riddled team the following season in a strike shorted year, and in his final season, had the Pistons in playoff contention before being fired with 24 games left.

His next head coaching stint was with the Los Angeles Clippers who had an extremely young roster (remember, this was the heyday of kids going straight from high school to the pros) and the worst owner in American Sports in Donald Sterling. The fact that he won 39 games with the roster in 2001-2002 is impressive in and of itself.

Gentry later became interim head coach of a Phoenix Suns team after they fired Terry Porter and was named head coach in 2009-2010. The Suns had a talented offensive roster, and wouldn’t you know it, they reached the Western Conference Finals and Gentry had success.

Stating the obvious here. Talent + good coaching = more wins.

When it comes to Gentry’s overall winning percentage as a head coach, each situation needs to be assessed before looking at the W-L number and nothing else.

Will Alvin Gentry be the right hire for the New Orleans Pelicans? I believe he will be, with one big caveat. His lead associate head coach needs to be defensive minded and focus on that side of the ball.

Steve Kerr has had tremendous success in his first season as head coach with the Warriors. He’s empowered Gentry to run the offense, while giving defensive assistant Ron Adams the reigns on the defense. While Kerr has the final say, he lets his assistants use their skill sets and have a voice.

Gentry will likely do the same thing with his staff in New Orleans, but needs to hire the right guys to do so. I believe he will.

He’s coached in the NBA for over 30 years. You don’t make it that long if you burn bridges. Gentry’s not that kind of guy.

His M.O. is that of a leader, a great offensive mind and a respectable motivator that is respected among NBA circles across the league.

The hiring of Gentry is more steak than sizzle. Making a splash with a hire can be fun for a few weeks, but ultimately, winning is all that matters. Barring catastrophic injuries or a severe loss of talent, I expect Gentry to win in New Orleans if he acquires the right staff under him. I suspect he will.

Flock up Pelicans fans. Gentry is the head coach, and he may bring a 2014-15 championship ring with him from California.

 

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