That wasn’t how Anthony Davis’ 2015-16 season was supposed to start. This was billed as the year for The Brow, the one where he flaps his wings, soars past the rest of the league and transforms from budding star and statistical monster into the league’s best player and possible MVP.
Anthony Davis and the terrible, horrible, no good, very bad season opener
The Pelicans’ superstar will probably never play worse than he did in New Orleans’ season-opening blowout loss to the Warriors.
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That's why his his 4-for-20, five-turnover performance in a 111-95 blowout loss to the defending champion Warriors in front of a national audience Tuesday night was so jarring to watch. Davis looked like a different person out there, as if the Monstars had come down to Earth and sapped his power. When he needed to be fast, he hesitated. When he needed to hesitate, he was too fast. His jump shot was flat and clunky. His decisions were poor. His reactions were slow. He even missed five of his nine attempts from the foul line, uncharacteristic for a career 79-percent shooter.
The Pelicans were bad as a team and were severely undermanned due to myriad injuries, but they were also outscored by 16 points when Davis was on the floor.
“I knew the attention would be on me, and I just have to find out a way to score the ball and get my teammates involved,” Davis said after the game, via NOLA.com. “It is tough when nobody is making shots, because they don’t really have to guard their man. We will put tonight behind us. We have 81 games left and one tomorrow.”
Everything Davis said is right. The Pelicans do have an entire season in front of them, and while it can be tempting, it's never smart to overreact to the first images of a new year. That is, unless you believe that Pau Gasol is actually stronger and more athletic than LeBron James.
Also, the lineups the Pelicans used Tuesday night were not the units that new head coach Alvin Gentry plans on riding this season. Injuries forced Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson into the starting lineup and Alonzo Gee and Ish Smith into the main rotation. Going into the game, the Warriors had a clear plan: load up their defense against Davis and force someone else to make a play.
Setups like that one were common. Davis was swarmed on pick-and-rolls and Golden State collapsed on him every time he went down to the post. Here’s his shot chart from the game:
Most frustrating is that Davis got off to a promising start. After winning the tip, he jogged down the right side of the floor, then quickly sprinted across the baseline off a couple of screens and into the right corner, where he received the ball. His three-point attempt clanked off the side of the rim, but Gentry's decision to open the game with his star running a play normally designated for sharpshooters like Ray Allen was both intriguing and exciting.
Better yet, on New Orleans' next play, Davis took the smaller Draymond Green down to the left block, received a pass, gathered himself, took a hard dribble towards the baseline and hit a baby hook before the help could make it over. The ball went through the net with 11:19 left in the first quarter.
From there, it was all downhill. Davis missed his next 15 (!) shots from the field, and his next basket didn’t come until the 8:11 mark in the fourth quarter, well after the game was decided.
For the rest of the night, he seemed more than happy to play into Golden State’s hands. He settled for way too many perimeter jump shots, which the Warriors were no doubt thrilled to see him take. When the Pelicans tried to post him up, he allowed smaller defenders, such as Green, to push him out near the three-point line.
When slower defenders like Andrew Bogut were guarding him, Davis responded by taking wild shots off the dribble.
Davis also struggled when Golden State slotted inferior players onto him. Marreese Speights often defends as if he has rocks in his shoes, yet even he was able to force Davis into well-contested misses.
The Brow wasn’t much better on the other end of the floor, either. Last year, he averaged three blocks per game, was 14th in defensive win shares and improved New Orleans’ defense by nearly four points per 100 possessions from when he was off the court (via NBA.com). Davis is everything you look for in a defensive star: astute, strong, quick and athletic.
But none of those traits were on display against the Warriors. Davis spent most of the night aimlessly gliding around the floor. He pulled down just six rebounds and allowed the Pelicans to get out-rebounded, 56-33. He was repeatedly late on help rotations.
Of course, this is just one game against the league’s best team. The crippling injuries, the adjustment to Gentry’s system, the elite opponent and the raucous crowd overjoyed by their team’s championship ring ceremony played a major role in the Pelicans’ flat performance.
But for one game, it seemed as if the moment and hype got to Anthony Davis. Considering he’s still just 23 years old, that isn’t something that should worry the Pelicans. Tuesday night was a minor setback, but here’s no reason to begin sounding any alarms.
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SB Nation video archives: Anthony Davis devastating opponents last season
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