New Orleans Pelicans Blog – Page 35 – NBA Blog

Celtics assistant headed to Pelicans

Here’s the Boston Herald reporting some assistant coaching job news:

There are comings and goings on the Celtics staff these days, with assistant coach Darren Erman set to leave to become associate head coach for New Orleans under new leader Alvin Gentry. Also, Alex Barlow, who just completed a four-year playing career at Butler, is joining the C’s as assistant video coordinator.

Said director of player personnel Austin Ainge of Erman, “I know they are in discussions. I don’t know if anything’s final or what, but Erman’s a great guy, and if he does leave, we’ll miss him.”

Erman spent four years with the Celts as a coaching assistant before leaving to work for Golden State as an assistant under former coach Mark Jackson. The Warriors fired him in April 2014 for “violation of company policy.” It was later reported that he was secretly taping conversations between players and coaches.

Once Finals end, Alvin Gentry set to lead Pelicans

Once Finals end, Alvin Gentry set to lead Pelicans

Here’s the New Orleans Times Picayune reporting on the Pelicans, who have found their new head coach. Alvin Gentry, currently the top assistant with the Golden State Warriors, will begin with the Pelicans after the conclusion of the upcoming Warriors-Cavaliers NBA Finals series.

When the New Orleans Pelicans initiated their extensive coaching search, sources confirmed the franchise was willing to spend up to $4 to $5 million for Monty Williams’ replacement.

But the Pelicans hired Golden State Warriors lead assistant Alvin Gentry at a bargain price after he agreed to a four year, $13.7 million contract on Saturday, a league source confirmed Sunday.

Yahoo sports was the first to report Gentry’s contract terms with the Pelicans on Saturday night.

Gentry’s salary will average $3.4 million a season, which includes a $4 million team option in the final year of the deal. Gentry’s deal is higher than Williams’ $2.7 million per season salary he earned after signing a four-year, $11 million extension in 2012.

Pelicans may want Jeff Van Gundy as head coach

Will Jeff Van Gundy return to coaching?

For now, there’s no reason to actually expect a Jeff Van Gundy NBA coaching return. But it seems like a possibility. Here’s the New Orleans Times-Picayune reporting:

Jeff Van Gundy declined to acknowledge on the “Dan Patrick Show” on Wednesday if he has been contacted by the New Orleans Pelicans for their vacant head-coaching job.

But Van Gundy didn’t make a point to publicly deny his interest in replacing Monty Williams and coaching superstar forward Anthony Davis.

When asked on the show if he would like to coach Davis, Van Gundy said: ”There is no one who ever coached that wouldn’t want to coach a great player with great character. And so I’ve been able to do that in my life. I’ve already coached a player with a great character and you know how important that is if you want to win big in a situation. I had Patrick Ewing, Yao Ming and (Tracy) McGrady in Houston, (Charles) Oakley and all these guys.

”Anybody who that says, nah … I wouldn’t want to coach (Davis) who is a top-five player and a great person, I wouldn’t believe that if someone said that.”

Tyreke Evans undergoes knee surgery

The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that guard Tyreke Evans underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Wednesday evening. A timetable for his return to basketball activities will be announced in the near future.

Evans, 6-6, 220, appeared in 79 games during the 2014-15 regular season, posting averages of 16.6 points, 6.6 assists and 5.3 rebounds. The University of Memphis product appeared in all four of the Pelicans’ post-season games against Golden State, averaging 10.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists.

The Pelicans qualified for the NBA playoffs this season, but were rudely swept 4-0 in the first round by the Golden State Warriors.

Report: Pelicans interested in Alvin Gentry

Report: Pelicans interested in Alvin Gentry

Here’s the San Francisco Chronicle reporting on the NBA’s coaching scene:

Clippers head coach Doc Rivers said this month that he didn’t think Warriors associate head coach Alvin Gentry would be in Golden State for very long — a statement that is starting to look pretty prophetic.

New Orleans president Mickey Loomis and general manager Dell Demps met with Gentry on Monday night in San Francisco, according to Yahoo Sports. ESPN reported that the Warriors granted permission for Gentry to interview for head-coaching vacancies between playoff series.

He also has been mentioned as a front-runner for Chicago’s top coaching post, should Tom Thibodeau be fired, and among the candidates for open gigs in Denver and Orlando. Gentry declined comment on the subject.

Monty Williams fired

Monty Williams fired by Pelicans

New Orleans Pelicans head coach Monty Williams has been fired. The team qualified for the playoffs, and although they were swept 4-0 in the first round by the Golden State Warriors, they played pretty well and were competitive for large parts of each game. This has been looming for a while now, though.

More info here: Pelicans fire coach Monty Williams.

Quincy Pondexter undergoes knee surgery

Quincy Pondexter recovering after knee surgery

New Orleans Pelicans forward Quincy Pondexter underwent successful arthroscopic surgery on his left knee this morning. A timetable for his return to basketball activities will be announced in the near future.

The Pelicans qualified for the 2015 playoffs as the Western conference 8th seed but were swept in the first round by the Golden State Warriors.

Pondexter, 6-7, 220, was acquired by New Orleans on January 12, 2015 in a three-team trade with Boston and Memphis. Appearing in a total of 75 games this season with Memphis and New Orleans, Pondexter averaged 7.2 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 23.9 minutes per game. Pondexter appeared in all four playoff games against Golden State, averaging 7.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists.

Warriors sweep Pelicans in first round

Warriors sweep Pelicans in first round

The Golden State Warriors have quickly escorted the New Orleans Pelicans out of the the playoffs and into the offseason. Which is either rude or polite, depending on how you look at it. Rude, because nobody wants to be swept from the playoffs. But polite, because the Warriors ended the Pelicans quickly. They didn’t draw it out. No time was wasted. Time is valuable. Yeah. Anyway, here’s the San Francisco Chronicle reporting:

For about a month now, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has been waiting for his team to take its game to another level.

The wait is over.

They practiced most everything Kerr has preached this season in a 109-98 victory over the Pelicans on Saturday night to sweep the best-of-seven, first-round series.

The Warriors will play the winner of the Memphis-Portland matchup in the Western Conference semifinals, a series that could start next weekend in Oakland.

With a chance to close out the plucky Pelicans, the Warriors played nearly perfect ball. They outshot the Pelicans 54.2 percent to 22.7 percent from three-point range, dished out 28 assists to 10 turnovers and won in fastbreak points 20-0. The Warriors even beat New Orleans in rebounding (39-36) and paint points (44-40).

The stellar team stats came on the coattails of some brilliant individual efforts. Stephen Curry had 39 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, Draymond Green put up 22 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists, and Klay Thompson added 25 points.

Warriors unleash amazing comeback to win Game 3 vs Pelicans

Warriors unleash amazing comeback to win Game 3 vs Pelicans

The Golden State Warriors unleashed an amazing comeback to push Game 3 of their first round playoff series against the New Orleans Pelicans into overtime, and then coming away with a shocking win. Golden State now has a 3-0 series lead. Here’s CSN Bay Area reporting:

The Warriors became the third team in postseason history to overcome a deficit of at least twenty points entering the fourth quarter, and win.

Steph Curry’s miraculous game-tying 3-pointer with 2.8 seconds left in regulation will be remembered forever, but he wouldn’t have been able to play the role of hero without a lot of help from his teammates.

“We were pretty desperate,” Steve Kerr said following the historic win. “We went small. We put Shaun Livingston in there. We gave Steph a brief rest to start the fourth … our small unit in the fourth quarter just came in and turned it into a track meet.

“Draymond was fantastic. When you go small and you have to guard (Anthony) Davis, you’re really not getting much help on the backside and Draymond thwarted several lobs and plays at the rim, and got rebounds and then we were able to get out and run.

But I’m gonna have to watch the tape. I’m not quite sure what happened. I’m as startled as everybody else.”

Pelicans re-sign Toney Douglas

Pelicans re-sign Toney Douglas

The New Orleans Pelicans announced today that the team has re-signed unrestricted free agent guard Toney Douglas.

Douglas, 6-2, 185, appeared in three games for New Orleans, averaging 9.0 points, 4.0 assists, 2.3 rebounds and 1.3 steals in 22.0 minutes per game while signed to two 10-day contracts with the team. Prior to joining the Pelicans, Douglas played for the Jiangsu Dragons of the Chinese Basketball Association, appearing in 35 games while averaging 19.1 points, 4.8 rebounds, 3.3 assists and 2.1 steals. Drafted 29th overall out of Florida State in 2009 by the Los Angeles Lakers, Douglas has appeared in 300 career NBA games with New York, Houston, Sacramento, Golden State, Miami and New Orleans, averaging 7.8 points, 2.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists.

Douglas will wear #16 and be available for Wednesday night’s home game against Houston.

New Orleans’ roster stands at 14.