Is Stan right? Didn’t realize a lot of things until I read the article. “Should the Pelicans rethink their approach to sports science? Their former coach thinks so.”
Is Stan right? Didn’t realize a lot of things until I read the article. “Should the Pelicans rethink their approach to sports science? Their former coach thinks so.”
> In the four years he’s been in the NBA, Zion Williamson has played the majority of a regular season just once.
> Williamson appeared in 61 of 72 games in 2020-21, his second season. It was by far his most complete season as a pro. The 2,026 minutes he logged in that campaign represent 56% of all the minutes he has played since the Pelicans drafted him No. 1 overall in 2019.
> That season, Williamson was coached by Stan Van Gundy, an old-school hand who never hid his disdain for the Pelicans’ new-age approach to sports science. Van Gundy, who’s now a color commentator for TNT, teed off on the Pelicans’ player care and performance team multiple times in the spring.
> “The Pelicans have to figure out what they’re doing wrong that they can’t keep their players healthy,” Van Gundy said March 28 during a TNT broadcast of a Pelicans road game against the Golden State Warriors.
> The Pelicans revamped their player care and performance team in 2019 with the hiring of Aaron Nelson. He had spent 26 seasons with the Phoenix Suns, where he developed a reputation for helping players stay on the court. Nelson explained his philosophy to Pelicans.com in 2019.
> “The point is to correct problems now, before you put players on the court,” Nelson said.
> He seemed to have evidence to back up his point.
> Grant Hill, whose career had gone sideways after a string of injury-marred seasons with the Orlando Magic, signed with the Suns in 2007 and proceeded to play in 70 or more games in four consecutive seasons. Mike Clark, who worked closely with Nelson in Phoenix, said player care and performance became such a strength for the Suns, players like Hill signed with them specifically because of it.
> But Nelson’s time with the Pelicans hasn’t gone as well.
> Two of three coaches Nelson has worked with, Alvin Gentry and Van Gundy, hated how much power Nelson wielded and believed he sometimes came across as arrogant. Even worse, Nelson’s relationship with Williamson, New Orleans’ best player, frayed within months of them working together.
> Williamson tore the lateral meniscus in his right knee before his rookie season. The Pelicans estimated he would return to the court in six to eight weeks. It took Williamson 13 weeks to play again. As The Times-Picayune first reported in September 2021, Williamson became frustrated at the way the Pelicans handled his return, believing Nelson and his staff exhibited too much caution.
> Williamson’s NBA debut against the San Antonio Spurs in January 2020 was memorable. He scored 17 straight points in the fourth quarter. He was subbed out with 5:23 remaining in the game while in the midst of his hot streak and never returned. Williamson played 18 minutes and 18 seconds. The Pelicans lost. Afterward, Williamson and Gentry were incensed that a predetermined limit on Williamson’s playing time had impacted their chances to win the game.
> The Pelicans hired Van Gundy shortly before Williamson’s second season. Practices — at least during training camp — lasted much longer than they had under Gentry. Backup center Jaxson Hayes said practices were “around 45 minutes” under Gentry and lasted close to “three hours” under Van Gundy.
> In an interview with the Green Light Podcast, Van Gundy explained that he believed practicing Williamson a lot was key to keeping him on the court.
> “When I got the job, I called coach (Mike) Krzyzewski at Duke,” Van Gundy said. “I remember him saying to me about Zion, ‘Stan, the best way to get Zion in shape and get him ready is, he needs to play. He needs to scrimmage in practice. He needs to play in games. He needs to play.’
> “My experience with Zion is, he absolutely loves to play basketball. It’s also on the organization. To all these performance guys, OK, you’ve got your approach with Zion. He’s played 114 games in four years, 61 of them in one year. Whatever you’re doing is not working. That doesn’t mean what you’re doing is wrong. But what it should force you to do is say, ‘This hasn’t worked.’ We have to give serious thought to, ‘Is there a better approach?’ ”
> The Pelicans went a disappointing 31-41 during Van Gundy’s lone season in charge, and he was fired after eight months on the job. That summer, Williamson broke his right foot and showed up to training camp heavier than 300 pounds. He missed all of his third season.
> Williamson dedicated himself to getting in great shape before his fourth season. He showed up to training camp looking trim and healthy. He was playing the best basketball of his career before he got hurt in January. He got close to returning to the court shortly before the All-Star break, but when he re-injured his hamstring, things went awry.
> Griffin said Williamson would miss “multiple weeks” after the All-Star break. Williamson missed multiple months. Multiple team sources believed his lack of professionalism played a part in his inability to get back on the court. Williamson had trouble showing up on time, which has been a problem for him since his rookie season. Questions persisted about his diet as well.
> The Pelicans were eliminated from the postseason by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the play-in tournament on April 13. Afterward, CJ McCollum pinpointed availability as the team’s biggest problem.
> “We have to be available,” McCollum said. “We have to do what we need to do off the court in terms of preparation. In terms of getting treatment. In terms of getting the right type of sleep. The right hydration. The right diet. Everything has to matter to us. This is a job that is a performance-driven job.”
> Williamson played in 29 games. Brandon Ingram played in 45 games. Collectively, those two have appeared in 10 games together since Willie Green became the team’s coach in July 2021.
> The Pelicans finished last season ranked seventh in games lost because of injury, according to Man-Games Lost. In Nelson’s four years in New Orleans, the team’s best season in terms of player availability came during Van Gundy’s lone season as coach. The Pelicans finished 27th in games lost to injury that season, posting the fourth-best mark of any NBA team.
> Last week, Griffin was asked if he believes the Pelicans must rethink their approach in the player care and performance department. He said the Pelicans must fix “a lot of stuff.”
> “I really don’t like the conversation being ‘player availability, player availability,’ ” Griffin said. “It’s also, ‘Let’s do the right things with the players who are available. Let’s get those guys doing the right things every day. And let’s build the right culture where we can be critical of each other in ways we need to be.’ I failed miserably in that. We have to do a better job in a lot of ways.”
Doktor_Nic
Aaron Nelson didn’t get his reputation by accident. He knows his shit, though there is the POSSIBILITY that he favors molding players into his program rather than the opposite. Who knows.
That said, IF everything about Zion and his work ethic are accurate, changing anything else besides him is pointless.
These things can both be true. They could also both be untrue. We have no way to be sure.
2 Comments
> In the four years he’s been in the NBA, Zion Williamson has played the majority of a regular season just once.
> Williamson appeared in 61 of 72 games in 2020-21, his second season. It was by far his most complete season as a pro. The 2,026 minutes he logged in that campaign represent 56% of all the minutes he has played since the Pelicans drafted him No. 1 overall in 2019.
> That season, Williamson was coached by Stan Van Gundy, an old-school hand who never hid his disdain for the Pelicans’ new-age approach to sports science. Van Gundy, who’s now a color commentator for TNT, teed off on the Pelicans’ player care and performance team multiple times in the spring.
> “The Pelicans have to figure out what they’re doing wrong that they can’t keep their players healthy,” Van Gundy said March 28 during a TNT broadcast of a Pelicans road game against the Golden State Warriors.
> The Pelicans revamped their player care and performance team in 2019 with the hiring of Aaron Nelson. He had spent 26 seasons with the Phoenix Suns, where he developed a reputation for helping players stay on the court. Nelson explained his philosophy to Pelicans.com in 2019.
> “The point is to correct problems now, before you put players on the court,” Nelson said.
> He seemed to have evidence to back up his point.
> Grant Hill, whose career had gone sideways after a string of injury-marred seasons with the Orlando Magic, signed with the Suns in 2007 and proceeded to play in 70 or more games in four consecutive seasons. Mike Clark, who worked closely with Nelson in Phoenix, said player care and performance became such a strength for the Suns, players like Hill signed with them specifically because of it.
> But Nelson’s time with the Pelicans hasn’t gone as well.
> Two of three coaches Nelson has worked with, Alvin Gentry and Van Gundy, hated how much power Nelson wielded and believed he sometimes came across as arrogant. Even worse, Nelson’s relationship with Williamson, New Orleans’ best player, frayed within months of them working together.
> Williamson tore the lateral meniscus in his right knee before his rookie season. The Pelicans estimated he would return to the court in six to eight weeks. It took Williamson 13 weeks to play again. As The Times-Picayune first reported in September 2021, Williamson became frustrated at the way the Pelicans handled his return, believing Nelson and his staff exhibited too much caution.
> Williamson’s NBA debut against the San Antonio Spurs in January 2020 was memorable. He scored 17 straight points in the fourth quarter. He was subbed out with 5:23 remaining in the game while in the midst of his hot streak and never returned. Williamson played 18 minutes and 18 seconds. The Pelicans lost. Afterward, Williamson and Gentry were incensed that a predetermined limit on Williamson’s playing time had impacted their chances to win the game.
> The Pelicans hired Van Gundy shortly before Williamson’s second season. Practices — at least during training camp — lasted much longer than they had under Gentry. Backup center Jaxson Hayes said practices were “around 45 minutes” under Gentry and lasted close to “three hours” under Van Gundy.
> In an interview with the Green Light Podcast, Van Gundy explained that he believed practicing Williamson a lot was key to keeping him on the court.
> “When I got the job, I called coach (Mike) Krzyzewski at Duke,” Van Gundy said. “I remember him saying to me about Zion, ‘Stan, the best way to get Zion in shape and get him ready is, he needs to play. He needs to scrimmage in practice. He needs to play in games. He needs to play.’
> “My experience with Zion is, he absolutely loves to play basketball. It’s also on the organization. To all these performance guys, OK, you’ve got your approach with Zion. He’s played 114 games in four years, 61 of them in one year. Whatever you’re doing is not working. That doesn’t mean what you’re doing is wrong. But what it should force you to do is say, ‘This hasn’t worked.’ We have to give serious thought to, ‘Is there a better approach?’ ”
> The Pelicans went a disappointing 31-41 during Van Gundy’s lone season in charge, and he was fired after eight months on the job. That summer, Williamson broke his right foot and showed up to training camp heavier than 300 pounds. He missed all of his third season.
> Williamson dedicated himself to getting in great shape before his fourth season. He showed up to training camp looking trim and healthy. He was playing the best basketball of his career before he got hurt in January. He got close to returning to the court shortly before the All-Star break, but when he re-injured his hamstring, things went awry.
> Griffin said Williamson would miss “multiple weeks” after the All-Star break. Williamson missed multiple months. Multiple team sources believed his lack of professionalism played a part in his inability to get back on the court. Williamson had trouble showing up on time, which has been a problem for him since his rookie season. Questions persisted about his diet as well.
> The Pelicans were eliminated from the postseason by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the play-in tournament on April 13. Afterward, CJ McCollum pinpointed availability as the team’s biggest problem.
> “We have to be available,” McCollum said. “We have to do what we need to do off the court in terms of preparation. In terms of getting treatment. In terms of getting the right type of sleep. The right hydration. The right diet. Everything has to matter to us. This is a job that is a performance-driven job.”
> Williamson played in 29 games. Brandon Ingram played in 45 games. Collectively, those two have appeared in 10 games together since Willie Green became the team’s coach in July 2021.
> The Pelicans finished last season ranked seventh in games lost because of injury, according to Man-Games Lost. In Nelson’s four years in New Orleans, the team’s best season in terms of player availability came during Van Gundy’s lone season as coach. The Pelicans finished 27th in games lost to injury that season, posting the fourth-best mark of any NBA team.
> Last week, Griffin was asked if he believes the Pelicans must rethink their approach in the player care and performance department. He said the Pelicans must fix “a lot of stuff.”
> “I really don’t like the conversation being ‘player availability, player availability,’ ” Griffin said. “It’s also, ‘Let’s do the right things with the players who are available. Let’s get those guys doing the right things every day. And let’s build the right culture where we can be critical of each other in ways we need to be.’ I failed miserably in that. We have to do a better job in a lot of ways.”
Aaron Nelson didn’t get his reputation by accident. He knows his shit, though there is the POSSIBILITY that he favors molding players into his program rather than the opposite. Who knows.
That said, IF everything about Zion and his work ethic are accurate, changing anything else besides him is pointless.
These things can both be true. They could also both be untrue. We have no way to be sure.