Alvin Gentry vowed to alter his starting five after Wednesday’s disappointing home defeat vs. an undermanned Dallas team. Two days later, the first-year New Orleans head coach followed through on that intention, changing the forward spot next to Anthony Davis in the Pelicans’ frontcourt.
Roughly 90 minutes before tip-off of Friday’s home game against Indiana, Gentry told the media that Dante Cunningham will take over at small forward, replacing Alonzo Gee. Gentry stressed that the move is not an indication that he is blaming Gee – a starter over each of the past 26 games – for the team’s recent play or inconsistency.
“I want to make sure that everyone understands that it has nothing to do with Alonzo’s play,” Gentry said. “What we’re trying to do is generate a little more spacing and a little more offense. That’s basically the reason for it. There might be other situations, so we’ll see.”
Cunningham has played very sparingly recently, including picking up a DNP-coach’s decision on Saturday and logging five minutes vs. Dallas on Wednesday. Gentry had said Thursday of a potential rotation change that “we want to take a look at some guys now. There are some guys that haven’t been on the court very often; we want to put them out there and see how they do.”
Other notes as the Pelicans wrap up a two-game homestand at the Smoothie King Center:
Gentry said on his Thursday radio show that he did not want to change Jrue Holiday’s current role as a reserve due to how well the guard has performed in recent weeks. “Jrue is probably playing the best basketball he’s played in a while, so we want him to stay in that role,” Gentry said. …
New Orleans (11-23) needs to improve its perimeter shooting, with only Holiday connecting on over 38 percent of his three-point attempts (he’s at 40.7). The Pelicans have been outscored by 90 points over the course of the regular season from beyond the arc, allowing 322 treys and making 292.
