And came to Zion Goel: the secrets of New Orleans' success - voila! sport

Tiktukno: summary of today's events in sports, 8.12 (Sport1)

The NBA is loaded with so many stories, angles, discoveries, disappointments and scandals that quite a few things go under the radar.

For example, the success of New Orleans.

Willie Green's team was considered one of the most intriguing in the league before the start of the season, when the question of Zaion Williamson's fitness, fitness and desire hovered over a club that had done almost everything right around him in recent years.

Zaion returned to play after missing a year, in which a team was built that reached the playoffs without him.

It was hard to guess what it would look like together with him, it could be a large group in the making or an unsuccessful soldering.

After a quarter of a season, it can already be said that the first option appears to be correct.

After 24 games, New Orleans rose to the top of the Western Conference and ranks third in the league with a record of 8:16.

The start has been a little shaky, but the Pelicans have won 10 of their last 12 games to move into the top of the league.

The schedule of games was comfortable during this period, but the victories came despite quite a few absences of key players.

And these were convincing victories.

As of Wednesday (like all data from here on), New Orleans' net rating is also third in the league.

Soldering was successful.

Zion Williamson (Photo: Reuters)

A good and connected group

What is the secret of success?

Sometimes the story is simple: New Orleans is a quality, deep and connected team.

Let's start with the essay, because it is the first thing that stands out.

It is enough to watch a few minutes of the Pelicans to feel that this is a militant and cohesive group, one that enjoys playing together and pounces on every possession.

For New Orleans, every block is a block, they don't give up a move in defense, the hands are always active - they are ranked second in the league in deflections, touching the ball during the opponent's attack.

This is a team that the opponents feel.

This is also a group that seems very connected to the city and the home crowd, a group that fits the unique spirit of New Orleans.

Green's roster is filled with the type of players we used to call soul players, those who give their all on the floor and obviously also contribute to a good atmosphere in the locker room.

Two of the most notable are 24-year-old second-year players, one was selected 35th in the draft and one was not selected.

Rabbi Jones is a defensive leader from his first moment in the league, Jose Alvarado is an energy bomb that always makes sure to raise morale.

Larry Nance, who arrived during last season, is a stickler who was looking for the right team to stick with.

Among the senior players, C.J. McCollum settled into the role of veteran who knows what a winning team looks like and came to lift a young squad.

Zaion gives the impression of a player who feeds off the energies around him, and when the energies are so good, he dedicates himself to the team.

The quality can be recognized across the board.

Zaion no longer needs to be introduced, if he stays healthy he will be one of the least unstoppable scorers in the league, a combination of power and agility that makes no sense in the same person.

Brandon Ingram and McCollum are totally worthy Nos. 2 and 3.

Jonas Valenciunas has proven in the last two years that he is a significant attacking center.

We will come to the question of the compatibility of these four later, but in terms of talent there is no doubt that they meet the standard of a potential top team.

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One of the best personal guards in the league for outfield players.

Rabbi Jones (Photo: GettyImages, Sean Gardner)

Around this foursome are a bunch of tall athletes with diverse abilities.

Rabbi Jones is the defensive specialist, one of the best personal guards in the league for outfield players, in the attack he does a little bit of everything;

Trey Murphy has made a leap this year, he is a high 3-point specialist with explosive power that allows him to get to the hoop when going fast for his shot;

Nance maintains several positions, finishes well in the paint, quality morale and with enough shooting from the outside so that he cannot be ignored, he is the substitute center in low formations that usually finish games;

Rookie Dyson Daniels occupies a growing place in the rotation, he is a tall guard with good defense and game vision, meanwhile the shot also looks better than expected.

To these four we can add Alvarado, who always finds a way to positively influence the game and has greatly improved his shooting this year.

Most of these names still don't mean much to the average fan, but they are role players that any team would love to have.

It is not certain that there is a better and more complete group of numbers 5-9 in the league in the hierarchy.

Assuming that the initial sparks of Daniels are real, Green could have a rotation of nine legitimate players in the playoffs, a nine that can be built from a multitude of vehicles of all types and sizes, and most of them already proved in the first round of last year that they have something to sell at the higher levels.

That's a lot, most teams will sign seven legitimate playoff players.

David Griffin deserves praise for a string of successful moves and excellent draft picks over the past year and a half.

And if that's not enough, Green has several other true NBA players at the end of the bench to plug holes of injuries, absences and specific matchup problems: point guard Devonte Graham is another fine outside shooter, veteran Garrett Temple is a wing player who does a little bit of everything, Naji Marshall He is a slightly worse version of the long forwards, Willy Hernangomez is a substitute center who contributes whenever he is needed (against Denver, for example, he got significant minutes when Solanciunas got involved in fouls and did a good job on Nikola Jokic).

That depth makes New Orleans a strong regular season team and could help at certain moments in the playoffs as well.

A squad full of soulful players.

Willie Green (Photo: GettyImages, Sean Gardner)

Surprising protection

The least predictable part of New Orleans' early success is that their defense is one of the best in the league, currently ranked third behind the stout defenses of Cleveland and Milwaukee.

Less expected, because the senior players are not considered great defensive players, with an emphasis on Zaion who seems disoriented on this side in the little time he has played so far this season.

So what does work in defense?

First of all, almost everyone around the top four is a quality guard.

Jones is not only a bodyguard, but also a player who reads moves at the highest level, reaches for help, directs others, an all-around defensive star.

Alvarado is the annoying mosquito in the league, sticks to the ball carrier and does not let go, Nance is one of the players who can be in several places at the same time, Murphy is getting better and better as another worthy guard on wing players of all sizes and Daniels looks like another defensive specialist in the making on guards.

The good spirit that prevails over this team also sweeps the seniors to participate in the defensive effort.

Zaion is much more committed than before and is learning to time his help correctly.

When he is sharp, he is a kind of mobile wall that pops up suddenly and changes moves in defense.

He still loses concentration from time to time, but there are defensive metrics where he already looks like a quality guard.

Ingram works on defense and when that happens he is a legitimate guard.

McCollum's shortcomings are less noticeable as a relatively tall center than as a shooting guard alongside Damian Lillard.

And Lan'tsiunas remains a weak link, looks heavier than before, reacts slowly, he has a big part in the fact that the only area in which the Pelicans are not good defensively is the shooting percentage of the opponents under the basket.

But he also provides a very large body and is a quality rebounder.

The area in which the Pelicans are very good defensively is the percentage of three-pointers of the opponents, who score them at 32.5 percent, the lowest in the league.

This is the kind of data that depends quite a bit on luck, but not only.

One of New Orleans' most important defensive strengths is that they are a very big, physical team.

Except for Alvaro, all of them are tall for their positions and most of them have hands that refuse to run out.

These long arms manage to interfere even with shots that at first glance look good, almost always someone is enough to make the opponent's three-pointer difficult, even a little.

Green didn't reinvent the wheel on defense.

Against blocks, he mainly uses a moderate drop or automatic exchanges, and gives his players the freedom to decide how to react according to the situation that develops.

Jones and Alvarado specialize in passing blocks and often do not need a replacement nor do they need excessive help, which makes it easier for the other players to stay close to the opponent's outside goals.

A combination of size, mobility, quality, commitment and flexibility allows the Pelicans to be a defensive team almost without shortcomings: it is good at rebounding, rarely commits fouls, forces quite difficult shots and forces a lot of turnovers.

This is how the third defense in the league is created without the extraordinary ring defense that Cleveland and Milwaukee have.

His shortcomings are less noticeable as a center.

McCollum (Photo: Reuters)

A non-template attack

The fact that the attack is also good, ranked sixth in the league, is less surprising.

Zion, Ingram and McCollum are players who consistently create good shooting situations for themselves and others, and Valencia is a chinless paint beast with a big body that is hard to stop from celebrating close to the basket.

Except for Zion and Jones, all the rotation players shoot well from the outside, although some of them shoot a little.

All the rotation players are able to put a ball on the floor, reach the ring, pass to a free player on the way.

But Willie Green is not satisfied with the talent he has, he has developed a method that helps maximize this talent.

New Orleans rarely uses a simple pick and roll or isolations, even though they have players who can do it.

Green prefers to start an attack with a few blocks, he has several basic sets whose purpose is to help one of the scorers get the ball with an initial advantage.

Because the blocks are strong and accurate and the movement of the ball receivers is sharp, this initial advantage that makes the offense easier is usually created.

So, while New Orleans really enjoys the run, they also look like a good offensive team in the standing game.

This is especially noticeable with Zion.

Compared to his previous rather full season, Zaion very rarely initiates attacks himself.

Most of the kings he starts from a position he likes very much, in the half corner on the right side.

A particularly effective drill is one in which Zion receives a graded block from the center and the center, a combination that makes it very difficult to exchange and takes the opponent's tall guards out of the ring area.

If Zaion's guard tries to pass under the blocks, by the time he arrives Zaion has already received a ball with momentum and is on his way to the ring.

In general, Green likes to use double blocks of all kinds and defenses find it very difficult to respond.

This way the attack works great even during the minutes when some of the stars are resting and during the days when some of them are injured.

Still effective first of all in color.

Valenciennes (Photo: Reuters)

Looking ahead

Everything sounds good, but in the end we come back to the fact that the future of New Orleans depends first of all on the health of Zion Williamson.

The club is doing the right thing in this regard as well, being very careful with the combination of the human tank, preferring to let him recover for a whole season last season, but the club's control over the health of its star is limited.

What the club does have control over is the squad, and here the main question mark is whether the four players who are considered senior are suitable to play together.

It takes time to figure it out.

Zion, Ingram and McCollum have only played 172 minutes together to date, the net rating in those minutes is 16.5, a very promising number.

You can imagine it working.

They are three different players who create their shooting situations differently, Ingram and McCullum are good outside shooters and that is what Zion needs around him.

Ingram has gotten used to being a leading scorer and needs the ball in his hand, but the initial feeling is that he came into this season with a readiness to make a switch and position himself as number 2, as a player who will have days in which he will star but there will also be days in which he will move to the side.

The one who seems the least suitable is Valenciennes.

Although there are moments when his collaboration with Zion looks good and he has developed outside shooting in recent years, his ball release is very slow and he is still effective primarily in the paint, in Williamson's natural habitat.

He is also far from being the defensive anchor in the paint that is important to have next to Zion.

A center who combines shooting from the outside and protecting the ring, someone like Myles Turner, would be much more suitable next to him.

The question is whether Valenciennes can be marketed today.

In the last two years, he provided impressive numbers of about 17.5 points and 12 rebounds per game, but he is 30 years old and most big teams are not looking for a player of his type.

It may be that in order to strengthen Griffin will have to give up one of his future assets.

And future assets are definitely there, thanks to the trades for Anthony Davis and Jrue Holiday who continue to provide toppings.

The Pelicans could trade a pick with the Lakers this year, which could definitely turn into another lottery pick, and could choose between the Lakers' pick next year or two years from now, and they'll also have some picks from Milwaukee in the next few years.

It is very rare that a team that is already starting to position itself at the top has so many assets that can help Griffin get stronger in the coming years or simply try to get more quality players in the draft.

If Zion stays healthy, it is not certain that there is a team with better starting conditions for the rest of the decade.

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• New Orleans Pelicans

• Zion Williamson