The New Orleans Pelicans made it clear ahead of this season that they will expect much better results on that end of the floor.
New Orleans Pelicans boss Joe Dumars knows that this team didn't change much this offseason, but is still confident that this year is going to end much better than the last two, especially on the defensive side of the ball. That was one of the biggest takeaways from Media Day on Monday.
The expectations are clear. This same Pelicans team that has failed to reach 30 wins over the previous two campaigns is supposed to make the postseason without many major changes to its roster.
Last season, the Pelicans ranked No. 23 in the NBA with a defensive rating of 117.6. It's fair to see why one would be concerned about that side of the ball, especially with the additions that were made not historically being known for their defense.
Dumars mentioned "quality over quantity" when it comes to adding players like Bennedict Mathurin, Trendon Watford and AJ Johnson.
Johnson hasn't been a great defender in the past, but Dumars cited his frame as something to be excited about. He described Mathurin and Watford as very "tough." The New Orleans boss views defense as much about effort as anything else, so as long as everyone is bought in on the vision, the results should come.
"I've said this to a lot of people in the building, defense is just about how hard you want to compete to not let the other guy do what he wants to do. You can talk about technique, but how bad do you want to stop this guy? That's what defense is."
Perhaps Jamahl Mosley and his staff really will be the missing piece that they needed to turn things around. These coaches could be viewed as an addition as important as any single player would have been.
With Mosley and mostly the same group of assistants, the Orlando Magic had a 113.6 defensive rating last year, ranking No. 13. Even in their first year there, when the rebuilding team won just 22 games, they still finished better than New Orleans last year at No. 19 with a 112.3 rating.
It also won't be just on the new players; the returning stars need to buy in as well. The same group at the core of this team has to be better than they were on that.
“I don’t think all your improvement is brought from the outside,” said Dumars, citing the need for a better effort from within.
The general consensus from the players is that they are eager to learn from this group, knowing how aggressively their defenses have performed in the past. Herb Jones went so far as to call the hiring of Mosley "music to my ears." There wasn't a player throughout media day who didn't talk about the defensive side of the ball.
Dumars said Mosley's primary focus is getting guys to compete on the defensive end. While that might not excite people in the same way that putting up points will, they are confident it will result in wins.
