One week ago, the New Orleans Pelicans looked like they had things figured out. They were coming off a three-game winning streak and were sitting at 10-7 in the Western Conference.
On Tuesday, he stood before the media as the coach of a team on a four-game losing streak and a sub .500 record.
“We’ve just had a weird season up until this point,” Gentry said Tuesday afternoon (Nov. 27).
Monday night’s loss to the Boston Celtics was just the Pelicans second at home this season and the first with Anthony Davis on the floor. New Orleans tied a season-high with 22 turnovers and Boston capitalized with 32 points on turnovers alone.
It was a game that left a bad taste in player’s mouths so Gentry didn’t even have the team watch tape on Tuesday.
“Everybody knows if you made a bad pass, if you’re not running back, if you’re not guarding the ball,” Gentry said. “(Watching film) was not anything we needed. We need to be on the floor and try and correct those things.”
Davis said the time out of the film was time well spent.
“We had to sit down like men and just talk,” Davis said. “That was all.”
On the floor, Davis said the team had a good practice with guys flying around on defense and making shots on offense.
“Hopefully that’ll get us back in a rhythm on both ends of the floor,” Davis said.
One thing that would help get the team back in rhythm is limiting turnovers at the start of games. Boston forced eight first-half turnovers on Monday and the Pelicans were playing from behind throughout the night.
Jrue Holiday finished with eight turnovers, only the second time he’s had that many since joining the Pelicans in 2013-14.
With Elfrid Payton out of the lineup, Holiday has shifted to being a full-time point guard once again which is something the team wants to get him out of. Holiday jokingly had a suggestion on how to fix the issue.
“Get me off the ball, put Anthony at point guard,” Holiday said with Davis standing over his shoulder.
Davis laughed and replied, “We ask him to do a lot. Every other guy on the team has to fill some of the responsibility that he has to do. Of course, I think he’s better off the ball. I think we’ll make some adjustments to that.”
Gentry tried different things with the bench on Monday to try and help Holiday out. Forward Solomon Hill functioned as a point guard at times on the second unit and Tim Frazier came in to give Holiday a break in the fourth quarter.
“We’re thinking about some situations that can make the game easier for him,” Gentry said. “We’re asking an awful lot of one guy. We’re trying to get some of that burden off his shoulder and get him in a position where he’s more comfortable.”
While the team looks like to figure out ways to lighten Holiday’s ball-handling duties, it will also look back to establishing its identity.
Earlier in the season, the Pelicans were leading the NBA in pace – the number of possessions a team has per 48 minutes – but have as of late. They’re currently third in the NBA but that’s not what Gentry wants to see.
“We have to get our identity back,” Gentry said. “Our identity is we’re a running team that pushes the basketball and plays at a high pace.
“We have to get back to being who we are. That’s playing at a fast pace with the floor spread. That creates opportunities for AD to not get double teamed.”