Anthony Davis was upbeat this season with the hopes of at least duplicating their feat last year but so far, the going has been rough.

Davis and the Pelicans are 1–11 in the Western Conference standings and in a situation far from where they were in 2014–15 season which saw them surprisingly enter the National Basketball Association (NBA) playoffs.

Right now, Alvin Gentry seems to be struggling with the new head coaching gig, although all is not entirely to blame on the first year head coach.

Injuries have taken their toll on the Pelicans, not to mention on Anthony Davis. He is far from the dominant player of last season and making things worse is a seemingly mysterious shoulder injury.

Reports have it that Davis got the injury in their game against the Knicks and the bump to the shoulder while he was setting a screen against Denver Nuggets rookie Emmanuel Mudiay seems to have aggravated it even more.

Davis was out against the Oklahoma City Thunder, although there is a chance that he may play against the Spurs this Friday.

Davis is reportedly having trouble lifting his left arm above his head and has been dealing with a lot of pain. Ryan Anderson has been tasked to fill in for the injured Davis, although there are more slots that need to be taken up as well.

Aside from Davis, other players on the injured list include Tyreke Evans (knee), Quincy Pondexter (knee), Norris Cole (ankle), and Kendrick Perkins. The players in sick bay are practically key players for the Pelicans starting unit, which somehow tell the story why the team has not panned up to expectations.

Although still early in the season, the Pelicans cannot afford to be lag behind in the team standings. It may be a steep uphill climb for New Orleans and the earlier they start racking up wins, the better.