November a big month for Pelicans

The LSU football team already has multiple losses. Barring a minor miracle or several teams contracting Ebola and being forced to forfeit, they won’t be a part of the 2014 College Football Playoff. 

Heck, the Saints aren’t much better. Through the team’s first six games, New Orleans sat with a 2-4 record and still can’t win a dog-gone road game – a phenomenon that has plagued the team for each of the past two seasons.

Can’t you tell that we’re a little bit bitter with how football season has gone? 

But alas, there’s light at the end of the tunnel in the form of the New Orleans Pelicans – our local pro sports hoops franchise.

The Pels have high hopes for 2014-15, and with good health (something that has been a challenge), the team expects to make a push to be among the playoff teams in the NBA’s brutal Western Conference. 

“We’re excited because we’re still getting better,” New Orleans Pelicans head coach Monty Williams said. “We’re still trying to figure out our offensive system and we’re putting the pieces in place. We’re always trying to get better and that’s our goal going forward.” 

“I think we have a lot of pieces in place,” added Pelicans’ small forward Tyreke Evans. “I think we’re coming together, growing as a team and are in a position to make some strides.” 

For New Orleans, it all begins and ends with elite power forward Anthony Davis.

The Pelicans’ standout is now entering his third professional season, and he’s already firmly established himself as one of the most dominant interior players in the entire NBA.

Davis averaged 20.8 points and 10 rebounds per game last season, shooting a ridiculous 51.9 percent from the floor.

Davis followed up his second NBA year by serving as one of the best players on Team USA this summer, winning a gold medal with the Americans at the 2014 World Championships.

Now more experienced and with more bulk added to his frame, Davis believes that this year can be his best – both as a player and in terms of the success the team enjoys, as well.

“Right now, we’re trying to gel,” Davis said. “We’re trying to figure out what we can do and what we can’t do together as a team with our first unit. Right now, our focus is getting to where we’re clicking on all cylinders. … I think that we can get there. I think that we’re much improved.”

Of course, anyone with basketball knowledge knows that Davis, alone, will not equal victories – he needs help along the way.

The Pelicans think that they have just that with returnees like Eric Gordon, Jrue Holiday, Ryan Anderson and Evans.

But they are also incredibly excited about the prospects of new center, Omer Asik.

The Pels acquired Asik this offseason from the Houston Rockets, shooting their 2015 first round pick to the team in the process.

In Asik, New Orleans gains one of the best defensive big men in the NBA – a commodity that became expendable to Houston when the Rockets signed Dwight Howard in NBA free agency.

Through several preseason games, Davis said Asik’s presence in the paint on defense has been a big asset. 

“It’s huge,” Davis said. “He’s a big body. He can rebound well and run the floor, set screens and do all of the things on the floor to get people open shots. He’s a great team player, and we all love playing with him.”

Around the perimeter, Gordon, Holiday, Anderson and Evans are proven commodities – guys who have experience succeeding in the NBA. 

But all of the above-listed players missed time in 2013-14 with various injuries – a bug that New Orleans knows it must rid from its locker room to have any hope in 2014-15.

The team figures to start Holiday at point guard, Gordon at the two-guard, Evans at small forward, Davis at power forward and Asik at center.

If Williams elects to keep Evans on the bench to be the team’s sixth man, New Orleans would then have a lethal one-two punch off the bench with he and Anderson – a tall, lanky player with the ability to hit shots from the outside.

If Evans plays as a reserve, expect veteran John Salmons or Luke Babbitt to serve as the team’s starting small forward.

“We’re working on all of our lineups and rotations,” Williams said. “We have things to figure out, but we like where we’re headed.”

But for New Orleans, it won’t be easy. 

The Pels open the season on Oct. 28 with a home game against Orlando.

From there, they play a murderer’s row November schedule that pits that team against some of the best squads in America.