All of the great one-name classical artists that share names
with the Ninja Turtles had apprentices they held in high regard.
Willie Green, now going into his third season as one of the NBA’s
youngest head coaches, has been shaping a vision with the New
Orleans Pelicans but there was an obvious need for a reshaping of
the assistant coaching staff this summer. The franchise’s
scaffolding was in place, but the young coach was working with old
hands from previous artists; he needed to bring in a trusted
apprentice.
New assistant James Borrego is no apprentice outside of this
analogy. He is a well-traveled former head coach with a proven
track record of building top-10 offenses, which Green admitted
during media day will alleviate some burdens on the offensive end.
The new assistant will also have plenty of freedom to have some
experiments fail.
One of Bob Ross’ most famous sayings is, “We don’t make
mistakes, just happy little accidents.” He encouraged artists to
embrace unexpected turns and use them to their advantage. Like Ross
cashing in on “happy accidents,” the Pelicans are betting on
Borrego’s schemes to raise their long-term offensive ceiling this
season, and the missteps along the way are just learned experiences
to be blended into the mosaic.
Green’s focus on defense and deep personal connections took
priority over offensive nuances the last few seasons, but there was
an obvious need for some changes to the playbook and how the
lessons learned are implemented. So, Green brought in Borrego.
Ross, with his trademark permed hair, paint brushes and soothing
voice, often emphasized the importance of mastering the basics.
Build creations from simple brushstrokes, with sound structures.
Likewise, Borrego’s offense is built on a foundation of
fundamentals. He emphasizes ball movement, spacing and player
movement to create scoring opportunities. Just as Ross began his
paintings with a few basic elements, Borrego starts his offense
with simple, well-executed plays.
Last season’s formula was too simple. And basics? The Pelicans
had problems just inbounding the ball in critical situations and
often would not begin an action until there were under 10 seconds
left on the shot clock. Then, it was predictable: Brandon Ingram
methodical in the midrange. Zion Williamson rumbles to the rim off
of actions with very little space or off-ball movement. CJ McCollum
was mostly stationary and waiting on the perimeter when not having
to bail out a short-handed team late in the shot clock. Jonas
Valanciunas was frustrated with his role, while Herb Jones was
still growing into his on offense.
Trey Murphy III continued developing but everything was a reset
of the same few actions, and it all fell apart once the injury
report started filling up. Still, the sketches of a championship
contender are already on the canvas in New Orleans. Borrego just
has to bring out the best features. It should be a welcomed change
for a not-so-young-anymore roster looking to show they are serious
about winning a championship. With structure, the team will have a
better ability to adapt on the fly. This hallmark of Borrego’s
coaching style is also reminiscent of Ross turning mistakes into
opportunities on his canvas.
While Ross often started his paintings with a simple sky and
landscape, he gradually added layers of detail and complexity to
create stunning compositions. Similarly, Borrego’s offense is
designed to be layered. It begins with basic actions but can evolve
into intricate plays with multiple options. Just as Ross patiently
added trees, mountains, and rivers to his paintings, Borrego’s
teams gradually added complexity to their offense as the players
became more comfortable with the system.
Alvin Gentry was an abstract artist with not a lot of museum
showcase pieces, constructing a portfolio that was an interesting
smorgasbord of ill-fitting talents and philosophies. Sure, it
sometimes produced good-looking, free-flowing hoops but not often
was the end product something worthy of the NBA Playoff platform.
Stan Van Gundy tried to implement structure but just wound up
erasing almost all of the goodwill between the locker room and
front office.
Willie Green has mended those fences, taped together the
tapestry if you will, and has a team on the verge of a breakout
season. They just need an offense that is a bit more unpredictably
efficient and some injury luck. Just get repetitions and a spot in
the playoffs, then see what happens. An accidental, out-of-nowhere
championship is still a banner raised. Some teams have to take
smaller steps to a title, but why not dream of a historical
breakout season? Even eighth seeds have made runs to the NBA
Finals.
It all starts with Ingram. He needs to step into a bigger No. 2
role more than CJ McCollum, who would be perhaps the best fourth
option in the NBA should Murphy III make a jump. Borrego should be
able to get Ingram into easier-to-read actions and the former
All-Star’s assists numbers should take a jump. The team said Ingram
is expected to be more of a ball-in-hand offensive initiator this
season. This draws attention away from Williamson, instead of the
Point Zion experiment that sometimes induces ball-watching.
That’s not to say Point Zion does not have artistic merits.
Williamson is a great passer, draws the attention of all 20,000 in
attendance, and can be a one-man wrecking ball when the rest of the
offense is just not working. It’s just that Williamson cannot be
the only attraction, dominating the canvas at the detriment of the
rest of the bigger picture. It puts too much pressure on internal
relationships and makes the team too predictable.
No worries. The Charlotte Hornets finished in the top-10 in
three-point attempts in three of four seasons under Borrego.
Charlotte was a top-10 team in points (fourth), three-pointers made
(fifth), three-pointers attempted (sixth) and three-point
percentage (sixth) that season. They were 11th in field goal
percentage and snatched the ninth-most offensive rebounds.
Charlotte led the NBA with 28.1 team assists per game and had the
10th-fewest turnovers.
Work hard, keep moving to provide options, don’t get caught
looking and fight for extra opportunities. Build greatness on the
back of the basics, just like Bob Ross taught. Borrego’s clear
directions during training camp should have everyone on the same
page to start the regular season in a few weeks. They also
understand a few messy mistakes early will not have much of an
effect on how this season is eventually framed. It’s how they adapt
to those moments that matter most.
New Orleans was near the bottom in offensive rating,
assist-to-turnover ratio and true shooting percentage last season.
Borrego had a rebuilding franchise’s mismatched roster eighth in
offensive rating, third in assist percentage, second in
assist-to-turnover ratio, second in assist ratio and ninth-best in
turnover percentage. Those Hornets played with the sixth-quickest
pace, were third in shots at the rim, and second in corner
three-pointers.
“For the first three-quarters of the game, I’m drawing stuff up
based on concepts that we already know. I’m just adding a little
tweak here to maybe a few sets to disguise it,”
Borrego has explained. “I think that’s one of the things that
we do as coaches. You’re just trying to disguise a concept. You’re
running your sets, your flow, throughout a game. Your ATOs, you’ve
got to try to come up with something a little bit trickier. But the
concepts are the same, you’re just trying to disguise it. The tough
ones, and they’re getting tougher now, are the fourth
quarter/end-of-game situations because these timeouts are so quick.
I don’t even have time to think. I’ve already got to know what play
I have in mind.”
When things start shaping up where everyone can see the bigger
picture, the tougher moments start to become easier. That
philosophy and Borrego’s style will help hide the flaws and
accentuate the strengths of role players like Jose Alvarado, Larry
Nance Jr., Jones, Valanciunas, Dyson Daniels and Kira Lewis Jr.
Borrego was Green’s NBA coach just over a decade ago. Now, the
roles are reversed but cultural expectations and goals are the
same. The Pelicans hope everything comes together in a way that
looks like the Larry O’Brien trophy.
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